For the thousands of motorists who use the A56 in and out of Altrincham each day it is a familiar sight.
A white cottage behind a hedge with a wealth of colourful blooms for sale outside.
It's a place where motorists can pull into the lay-by conveniently located outside on the highway, just off the M56, and buy fresh bouquets, lilies and roses from early in the morning til 8pm at night.
But few may know the extraordinary history of this flower house first started almost 100 years ago at Streethead Cottage, and continued on by the same family to this day.
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Today, the business is run by Robert Corby, 62, and his son Paul - who are carrying on the flower-selling tradition first started by Robert's nana, May Ellen Corby back in August 1926.
Back then Streethead Cottage was the "tithe cottage" for the gardener of the local Lord and Lady of the manor at the bottom of the hill, where the Bowdon roundabout off the M56 now sits.
Robert's granddad Bob was the head gardener of the estate back in the 1920s, and kept his own garden at the cottage just as immaculate.
Back then, the A56 was the main road from Chester to Manchester.
Bob's wife May Ellen would put flowers on the hedge for people walking and driving past to buy - and it swiftly took off as a small business.
Their son, Tony, would continue the tradition, and they bought the attached cottage to live in, while the flower house became the business side.
And stepping into the flower house today is like stepping back in time - for it has barely been touched in the past 100 years aside from modern electrics and double glazing, with the original old stone floors and old fireplaces but no heating.
It suits boss Robert to keep it that way - as his philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". And while it can be chilly in the winter months, it maintains the perfect conditions to keep the flowers fresh and looking beautiful.
Robert says: "Nana first started selling flowers in August 1926 - by placing flowers on the hedge outside and it really took off.
"Don't forget this was the main road from London to Manchester back then.
"They went on to sell other products like sweets, cigarettes and ice cream in the late 1940s and 50s.
"It used to be a stopping off point for cyclists and I remember it vaguely continuing into the 1960s when we sold bottles of pop.
"Grandad was a genius gardener, he was phenomenal we used to grow our own flowers here."
Nana Corby lived at the cottage until her death in 1980 at the age of 96, while Robert's dad Tony lived next door.
Tony, known as "Top Cat" thanks to his TC initials, would continue to expand the flower business with son Robert coming on board aged 19 in 1978 - and they would buy the best of fresh flowers at the markets in Manchester to bring back to make into mixed bunches at the house.
The gardens in the 80s and 90s were also bursting with dahlias, that would help to see them through one of the toughest times of their business - when supermarkets began to sell bouquets of flowers at bargain basement prices.
Dad-of-three Robert says: "The supermarkets nearly put us out of business in the 80s, it was a very difficult time - we saw our turnover drop by two thirds overnight.
"But we had a garden full of dahlias, so we used the garden, and we just thought if we carry on doing a better job than they do with a higher grade of flower we can see this out."
When Tony died in 1997 at the age of 71, Robert continued with what he knew best selling flowers, and was delighted when son Paul also came on board, and he hopes it will continue for a fifth generation with his grandchildren in future.
Their mixed bouquets remain their top seller - along with lilies - at the business now known as Altrincham and Bowdon Flowers.
Robert laughs: "We sell more bunches of lilies thank you can shake a stick at."
Naturally this is one of their biggest weekends of the year with Valentine's Day on Monday - with Robert expecting to sell "thousands" of red roses over the coming days.
He says: "If you come here on Monday, you can expect to see a queue down the road all through the day."
Now he sources the best blooms from Holland, with deliveries twice a week to provide for the hundreds of customers who stop off here.
Working away in the front room of the house cutting stems and busily putting together bouquets, Robert says they never feel the cold as they are always so busy.
He said: "We literally haven't changed a thing here. There's no heating in here because it kills the flowers.
"We had a rewire and some double glazing but that's about it. My feeling is if it ain't broke, why fix it.
"I’ve been offered Christ-knows-how-much money for this place over the years, but I'm not interested in selling.
"It’s always been busy, but it massively grew over Covid. We shut for nine weeks with the lockdown, which was the longest I’ve ever known it to be closed, but as soon as we could reopen up it went stupid, just so so busy."
Naturally with their location they get a lot of "passing trade" - but Robert says the majority is repeat and regular custom.
As for the future, the impending Clean Air Zone is a worry for the Corbys, as a lot of their business is from "white van man" and lorry drivers who pass by here.
But Robert, now a granddad of two himself, acknowledges that the road outside has been the making of this business over the years - thanks in no small part to that lay-by outside.
It was only created when the council compulsory purchased land at the front of the cottages to turn the A56 into a clear way with two lanes on both sides (it's not classed as a dual carriageway as it does not have a central reservation).
Robert recalls that back in the 1960s his nana and granddad were fuming about the works outside - but of course that lay-by would go on to be the making of the business.
He smiles: "I remember nana and granddad playing merry hell about it because of all the mess outside, they thought it was bad for the business.
"But of course, it's actually been an absolute godsend."
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