Didsbury
Encyclopedia
Didsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester
, in Greater Manchester
, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester city centre
, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
. It is a dormitory community with a resident population of just over 14,000 people.
Historically
a part of Lancashire
, there are records of Didsbury existing as a small hamlet
as early as the 13th century. Its early history was dominated by its association with Withington
under a feudal estate, which covered other areas in what is now the south of Manchester. During the 18th century, Didsbury was being described as a township separate from outside influence. In 1745 Charles Edward Stuart
crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in the Jacobite
march south from Manchester to Derby, and again in the subsequent retreat.
Didsbury was largely rural until the mid-19th century, when it underwent development and urbanisation during the Industrial Revolution
. Introduced into the inner boundaries of Manchester in 1904, Didsbury was integrated into the city 45 years after Manchester gained city status
, perhaps in part to the improvements made to, and the gradual increase in use of, the railway network.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
was formed in Didsbury in 1889.
could be forded. In the 13th century Didsbury was variously referred to as Dydesbyre, Dydesbiri, Didsbury, or Dodesbury.
Didsbury was one of the few places between Stretford and Stockport where the River Mersey could be forded
, which made it significant for troop movements during the English Civil War
, in which Manchester was on the Parliamentarian side. The Royalist
commander, Prince Rupert
, stationed himself at Didsbury Ees, to the south of Barlow Moor. It is also likely that Bonnie Prince Charlie
crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in 1745, in the Jacobite
march south from Manchester to Derby, and again in the subsequent retreat.
line in 1880 contributed greatly to the rapid growth in the population of Didsbury, with stations at Didsbury and Withington and West Didsbury offering easy rail connections to Manchester Central
. The line closed in 1967, although Didsbury station building remained standing until its demolition in the 1980s. The station clock and water fountain have survived, dedicated to local doctor and campaigner for the poor, Dr. J. Milson Rhodes.
On 28 April 1910, French pilot Louis Paulhan
landed his Farman
biplane in Barcicroft Fields, Pytha Fold Farm, on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at the end of the first flight from London to Manchester in under 24 hours
, with one short overnight stop at Lichfield. Arriving at 5:30 am, Paulhan beat the British contender, Claude Grahame-White, winning a £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail
. This was the first powered flight into Manchester from any point outside the city. Two special trains were chartered to the newly-built but unopened Burnage Station to take spectators to the landing, many of whom had stood throughout the night. Paulhan's progress was followed throughout by a special train carrying his wife, Henri Farman and his mechanics. Afterwards his train took the party to a civic reception given by the Lord Mayor of Manchester in the Town Hall. A house in Paulhan Road, constructed in the 1930s near the site of his landing, is marked by a blue plaque
to commemorate his achievement.
of Withington, a feudal estate that also included the townships of Withington
, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
, Moss Side
, Rusholme
, Burnage
, Denton
and Haughton, ruled by the Hathersage, Longford and Tatton families, and within the historic county boundaries
of Lancashire
. Didsbury remained within the manor of Withington for several centuries.
By 1764, Didsbury was described as a township in its own right. It became a civil parish in 1866, and in 1876 was incorporated into the Withington Urban Sanitary District, superseded in 1894 by the creation of Withington Urban District. Withington Urban District was a subdivision of the administrative county
of Lancashire, created as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1894
. In 1904, Withington Urban District was amalgamated into the city and county borough
of Manchester, and so Didsbury was absorbed into Manchester, although it remained a civil parish until 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972
, Manchester became a metropolitan borough
of the metropolitan county
of Greater Manchester
.
, and is represented by John Leech MP
, a member of the Liberal Democrats
.
Until 2004, most of the area formed the Didsbury ward of Manchester City Council with a section of West Didsbury contained within the Barlow Moor ward. However, boundary changes in 2004 resulted in Didsbury being split mainly between the two new wards of Didsbury East and Didsbury West while a small section of West Didsbury was incorporated into the new ward of Chorlton Park. Didsbury East is represented by Labour councillor Andrew Simcock and Liberal Democrat councillors Andrew Taylor and David Sandiford. Didsbury West is represented by Labour councillor David Ellison and Liberal Democrat councillors Graham Shaw and Mark Clayton. All wards within Manchester elect in thirds on a four yearly cycle.
Didsbury, at 53°24′59"N 2°13′51"W (53.4166, −2.2311), is located south of the midpoint of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester city centre. To the north, Didsbury is bordered by Withington
, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
and Burnage
, to the west by Northenden
, to the east and south-east by Heaton Moor
and Cheadle
, and by Gatley
to the south.
The River Mersey
forms Didsbury's southern and southwestern boundaries and certain stretches of the river also demarcate the boundaries of the City of Manchester. The area is generally considered to be roughly enclosed by Princess Parkway to the west, Kingsway to the east and the Ball Brook, just north of Lapwing Lane/Fog Lane to the north. This northern boundary is marked by a boundary stone in the front garden wall of a house on the west side of Wilmslow Road. A "country trail" passes from West Didsbury to East, named the Trans Pennine Trail (National Cycle Route
62). It was sited along a disused railway track, as part of a nationwide initiative to promote cycling.
Didsbury's built environment has developed around the areas of East Didsbury, West Didsbury, and Didsbury Village, which separates the two. The Albert Park conservation area, covering much of West Didsbury, places planning restrictions on development, alterations to buildings, and pruning of trees. The areas adjacent to the Mersey lie within the river's flood plain, and so have historically been prone to flooding after heavy rainfall. The last major flooding was in the late 1960s. In the 1970s extensive flood mitigation work carried out along the Mersey Valley through Manchester has helped to speed up the passage of floodwater. Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden
also acts as an emergency flood basin, storing floodwater until it can be safely released back into the river.
The United Kingdom Census 2001
recorded Didsbury as having a population of 14,292, of whom 87% were born in the United Kingdom. A large majority of residents, 88%, identified themselves as white
, 8% as Asian, 2% as mixed ethnicity, 1% black
, and 1% Chinese or other ethnic group. The under-16s accounted for 17% of the population, and the over-65s for 15%. The population density in 2001 was 5,276/square mile (2,037/km²).
As of the UK's 2001 census, Didsbury had an estimated workforce of 10,755 or 75% of the population. Economic status in Didsbury was: 48% in full-time employment, 11% retired, 10% self-employed, 8% in part-time employment, 4% full-time student (without job), 4% housewife/husband or carer, 4% permanently sick or disabled, 4% unemployed, and 2% economically inactive for unstated reasons. Didsbury's 48% rate of full-time employment compares with 33% in Manchester and 41% across the whole of England. The area's 4% unemployment rate is in contrast to Manchester's rate of 9%, and broadly in line with the 5% rate of unemployment for England.
In 2001, the main industries of employment in Didsbury were 20% property and business services, 15% education, 15% health and social work, 10% retail and wholesale, 9% manufacturing, 6% transport and communications, 5% financial services, 4% hotels and restaurants, 4% construction, 4% public administration and defence, and 8% other. These figures were similar to those from surrounding areas, but Didsbury did have a relatively larger education sector than other nearby wards, perhaps explained by the high density of schools in the area. A significant number of people (12%) commute to areas outside Didsbury; at the 2001 census there were 6,555 jobs in Didsbury, compared with the 7,417 employed residents.
Siemens
occupies the Sir William Siemens House in West Didsbury and in 2009 employed 800 people.
The head office of BA CityFlyer
is in Didsbury. British Airways
has an office with 300 employees in Pioneer House on the 292,000 square feet (27,100 m2), Dutch owned Towers Business Park. In 2005, other tenants of the business park included Cisco
, Logica, Regus
, and Thorn Lighting.
Didsbury is considered to form a "stockbroker belt", as it is Manchester's "swankiest" suburb.
The traditional independent retailers are gradually being replaced by multi-national firms, raising fears that Didsbury may lose its individual identity and become a "clone town". The 200-year-old Peacock's Funeral Parlour, one of the few pre-Victorian buildings in the village and regarded by some as the centrepiece of the village, was demolished in the summer of 2005. The owner, United Co-op, blamed changing demographics for the closure of the funeral parlour; with more and more homes being occupied by young professional people, the death rate was falling in the area.
is a 21 acres (84,984.1 m²) recreational park south of the village centre. It is named after local Alderman
Fletcher Moss, who donated the park to the city of Manchester in 1919. In 2008, it won the Green Flag Award
, the national standard for parks and green spaces in England, an award it has held since 2000.
Didsbury Park was also a winner of the Green Flag Award in 2008. It is a community park in Didsbury village centre that comprises a bowls area
, crèche
, football pitch
and play area. Once a year, at the Didsbury Festival, pupils from local schools dress up to a theme and meet in the playground of St. Catherine's Primary School, in East Didsbury, from where they parade to Didsbury Park.
Marie Louise Gardens is a relatively small park to the west of the centre of Didsbury. The park was originally owned by the Silkenstadt family as part of the grounds of their house. The land was bequeathed to the people of Manchester by Mrs Silkenstadt in 1904 in memory of her daughter, Marie Louise. The park was at the centre of controversy in 2007 after Manchester City Council proposed to sell a portion of it to a private property developer.
Between 1956 and 1969, the old Capitol Theatre
at the junction of Parrs Wood Road and School Lane served as the northern studios of ITV station ABC Weekend Television
. Early episodes of The Avengers
and programmes such as Opportunity Knocks were made in the studios. ABC ceased to use the site in 1968 when it lost its ITV franchise, on its merger with fellow ITV company Rediffusion
. The site was then used briefly by Yorkshire Television
until its own facilities in Leeds were ready. In 1971, the studios were acquired by Manchester Polytechnic
, who used it for cinema, television studies and theatre. The building was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for a residential development, but the name lives on in the form of a new theatre space in the heart of the M.M.U. campus in the All Saints area along Oxford Road, just to the south of Manchester city centre.
Until 2009 Didsbury was the base for one of the Manchester Evening News
subsidiaries, the South Manchester Reporter
.
, the M60 motorway
. Manchester Airport, the busiest airport in the UK outside London, is about 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south.
Didsbury is served by several bus routes into Manchester city centre, The Trafford Centre, Northenden
, and other destinations. Wilmslow Road
provides Didsbury with a regular bus service due to the strong demand for travel by students along the corridor. The service is cheap and passengers rarely have to wait more than a couple of minutes. According to some analysts, Wilmslow Road is the busiest bus corridor in Europe.
East Didsbury
and Burnage
are the nearest railway stations, on the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport. Between 1880 and 1967 the area had been served by two other railway stations, Didsbury station
and West Didsbury station
, both on the South Manchester lines into Manchester Central station
. The entire line was shut in 1967 following the Beeching Axe
.
light rail system. Under these proposals, Didsbury Station was to re-open under the name of Didsbury Central or Didsbury Village.
These extension plans were rejected by the government in 2004, due to escalating costs. New plans were drawn up in 2007, with at least some of the money required for the construction of the line planned to come from the proposed Manchester Congestion Charge, which was overwhelmingly rejected by public vote in 2008.
In May 2009, AGMA agreed to the provision of additional funding that will secure the construction of Metrolink to the area. This will include additional stops at Withington
, Burton Road
, West Didsbury, Didsbury Village and East Didsbury.
Final government approval for government funding for the Chorlton cum Hardy - East Didsbury Metrolink extension using a closed railway line was granted in March 2010 by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan. Construction is underway, with the line expected to open through to East Didsbury in 2013.
Didsbury has a non-selective education system, assessed by the SATs
exam. There are seven primary schools and two state comprehensive secondary schools
. The Barlow RC High School is one of those chosen by Manchester Council to benefit from funding made available in wave 4 of the government's Building Schools for the Future
programme, a national scheme for the refurbishment and remodelling of every secondary school in England. It is planned to replace all the current buildings, which date back to 1951. Parrs Wood and The Barlow were two of only six schools in Manchester to achieve the Manchester Inclusion Standard in 2007, awarded by Manchester Council to those schools doing innovative work to ensure that all their pupils are able to participate fully in the school’s activities.
There are two centres of further and higher education in Didsbury: The Manchester College
, (formerly City College Manchester
) Fielden Campus, which was opened in 1972 by Margaret Thatcher
, offers a variety of courses including communication and technology; and Manchester Metropolitan University
's Didsbury Campus, the former Didsbury School of Education
, is home to the faculties of health, social care, and education, along with the Broomhurst Hall of Residence.
Parrs Wood, with about 2,000 pupils on its register, is much larger than the average, and is regularly over-subscribed in Year 7. In its 2007 inspection report by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) the school was criticised for "failing to give its students an acceptable standard of education", and for providing "unsatisfactory" value for money. The Barlow RC High School is an average size secondary school, with about 1,000 pupils. It too is regularly over-subscribed. It was described in its October 2003 Ofsted report as "a successful and effective school that is providing a good education for its pupils".
It is uncertain when the first chapel was built in Didsbury, but it is thought to have been before the middle of the 13th century. When the plague
reached the village in 1352 the chapel yard was consecrated to provide a cemetery for the victims, it being "inconvenient to carry the dead all the way to Manchester".
The BBC Radio 4
Daily Service programme of Christian worship – the world's oldest continuous radio programme – is often broadcast from Emmanuel Church, on Barlow Moor Road. Two of Didsbury's religious buildings are Grade II listed: Didsbury Methodist Church of St Paul, and the Nazarene Theological College
.
Didsbury is in the Church of England
Diocese of Manchester.
and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. It is not as religiously diverse as some other areas of Manchester, but it has the second largest Jewish population in the borough and two synagogues: the Shaare Hayim Synagogue and the Sha'are Sedek Synagogue.
Didsbury has a medium-sized Muslim
population in comparison with areas such as Rusholme
, Longsight
and Levenshulme
; a converted church in West Didsbury houses the Didsbury Mosque
and Islamic Centre.
campus. It provides a fitness suite and classes and facilities for badminton and tennis.
Didsbury has two rugby union clubs, Toc H R.F.C. and Old Bedians. Toc H, founded in 1924, plays at Simons Fields, on Ford Lane. Its first team plays in the North Lancashire and Cumbria league. The club runs four senior teams and a youth section, and has run a 10-a-side competition every May since 1951, as a charity fund raiser for local hospices. Old Bedians is based in East Didbury, and was founded in 1954. It regularly fields three senior teams as well as a junior section. Desmond Pastore, believed to be the oldest rugby player in the world, was a founder member of the club, and later became its president. Formerly a player for Sale and Cheshire, Desmond played his last game for Manchester club Egor on his 91st birthday.
Didsbury Cricket Club fields three Saturday teams and two Sunday teams. The first eleven plays in the Cheshire County ECB Premier League. As well as the five senior teams, the club also has a junior section catering for plyers between 7 and 18 years of age, and has recently formed a Women's section. It is also home to Manchester Waconians Lacrosse
Club and Didsbury Grey's Women's Hockey Team
, which do not actually play at the site but at grounds in Belle Vue
, that were designed for the XVII Commonwealth Games
. Northern Tennis Club, in West Didsbury, is one of Manchester's few racquet clubs; it annually plays host to an Association of Tennis Professionals
tournament in July.
, opened in 2005, occupies part of the site of the former (and much larger) Withington Hospital, developed on the site of a workhouse
some of whose buildings are still evident.
Didsbury is covered by the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester Police. The local Neighbourhood Policing Team is the Didsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team, which covers Didsbury, Old Moat, Withington and Burnage and is headed up by Inspector Dave Nutsey. Didsbury Police Station is situated in the heart of Didsbury village on Wilmslow Road.
The Towers
, now known as the Shirley Institute
, was once the home of engineer Daniel Adamson
– the driving force behind the Manchester Ship Canal
project – and the venue where the decision to build the canal was taken. The house was designed by Salford architect Thomas Worthington
, for the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, John Edward Taylor
.
Daniel Adamson
, promoter of the Manchester Ship Canal
, lived at The Towers (blue plaque
– now the Shirley Institute
) on Wilmslow Road from 1874 until his death in 1890. His Grade II listed home, designed by Thomas Worthington
for John Edward Taylor
, the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, was the venue for the 1882 meeting at which it was decided to construct the Ship Canal project. Sidney Bernstein and Denis Forman
who created Granada Television Manchester
also lived in Didsbury during their work requirements at the Granada Studios
in Manchester. Kirsty Howard
was the final runner to carry the Queen's Baton at the opening of the 2002 Commonwealth Games
, when she was chaperoned by England football captain David Beckham. Born with a rare condition in which her heart is back-to-front, she has been a resident in Didsbury's Francis House Hospice, for which she has raised over £5 million. Lord Marcus Joseph Sieff, the chairman of Marks & Spencer
from 1972 to 1982, was born in Didsbury in 1913. Francis French
, author and noted space historian, grew up in Didsbury, and attended the same school as noted poet and novelist Sophie Hannah
. Carol Anne Duffy, the first female Poet Laurelate
, lives in West Didsbury as of 2009.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the city of Manchester and the continuous metropolitan area that spreads outwards from it, forming much of Greater Manchester in North West England...
. It is a dormitory community with a resident population of just over 14,000 people.
Historically
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
a part of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, there are records of Didsbury existing as a small hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
as early as the 13th century. Its early history was dominated by its association with Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
under a feudal estate, which covered other areas in what is now the south of Manchester. During the 18th century, Didsbury was being described as a township separate from outside influence. In 1745 Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
march south from Manchester to Derby, and again in the subsequent retreat.
Didsbury was largely rural until the mid-19th century, when it underwent development and urbanisation during the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. Introduced into the inner boundaries of Manchester in 1904, Didsbury was integrated into the city 45 years after Manchester gained city status
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
, perhaps in part to the improvements made to, and the gradual increase in use of, the railway network.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
was formed in Didsbury in 1889.
Toponymy
Didsbury derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon Dyddi's burg, probably referring to a man known as Dyddi whose stronghold or township it was on a low cliff overlooking a place where the river MerseyMersey
Mersey may refer to:* River Mersey, in northwest England* Mersea Island, off the coast of Essex in England * Mersey River in the Australian state* Electoral division of Mersey in the state of Tasmania, Australian...
could be forded. In the 13th century Didsbury was variously referred to as Dydesbyre, Dydesbiri, Didsbury, or Dodesbury.
Parish Church
A charter granted in about 1260 shows that a corn-grinding mill was operating in Didsbury, along the River Mersey, but the earliest reference to Didsbury is in a document dating from 1235, recording a grant of land for the building of a chapel. The church was originally called St Oswald's, renamed as St James's Church in 1855. It underwent major refurbishment in 1620 and again in the 19th century, although most of the stonework visible today dates from the 17th century. A parsonage was built next to one of the two public houses that flanked the nearby village green, Ye Olde Cock Inn, so-called because of the cock fighting that used to take place there. The parsonage soon gained a reputation for being haunted; servants refused to sleep on the premises, and it was abandoned in 1850. Local alderman Fletcher Moss bought the house in 1865, and lived in it for more than 40 years. In 1902, he installed wrought iron gates at the entrance to the parsonage's garden, which, because of the building's reputation, became known locally as "the gates to Hell". The parsonage became a museum, now closed, but the gardens are still open to the public. The area around St James Church has the highest concentration of listed buildings in Manchester, outside the city centre.River Mersey
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
, which made it significant for troop movements during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, in which Manchester was on the Parliamentarian side. The Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
commander, Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
, stationed himself at Didsbury Ees, to the south of Barlow Moor. It is also likely that Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
crossed the Mersey at Didsbury in 1745, in the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
march south from Manchester to Derby, and again in the subsequent retreat.
Immigration from Europe
Jewish immigrants started to arrive in Manchester from the late-18th century, initially settling mainly in the suburbs to the north of the city. From the 1890s onwards, many of them moved to what were seen as the more "sophisticated" suburbs in the south, such as Withington and Didsbury. The influx of Jewish immigrants led to West Didsbury being nicknamed "Yidsbury" and Palatine Road, a main road through West Didsbury, "Palestine Road".19th and 20th centuries
During the Victorian expansion of Manchester, Didsbury developed as a prosperous settlement; a few mansions from the period still exist on Wilmslow Road between Didsbury Village and Parrs Wood to the east and Withington to the north, but they have now been converted to nursing homes and offices. The opening of the Midland RailwayMidland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
line in 1880 contributed greatly to the rapid growth in the population of Didsbury, with stations at Didsbury and Withington and West Didsbury offering easy rail connections to Manchester Central
Manchester Central railway station
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester City Centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it now houses an exhibition and conference centre named Manchester Central.-History:...
. The line closed in 1967, although Didsbury station building remained standing until its demolition in the 1980s. The station clock and water fountain have survived, dedicated to local doctor and campaigner for the poor, Dr. J. Milson Rhodes.
On 28 April 1910, French pilot Louis Paulhan
Louis Paulhan
Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, was a pioneering French aviator who in 1910 flew "Le Canard", the world's first seaplane, designed by Henri Fabre....
landed his Farman
Farman
Farman Aviation Works was an aeronautic enterprise founded and run by the brothers; Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aerospace industry, Farman's assets were...
biplane in Barcicroft Fields, Pytha Fold Farm, on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at the end of the first flight from London to Manchester in under 24 hours
1910 London to Manchester air race
The 1910 London to Manchester air race took place between two aviators, who each attempted to win a heavier-than-air powered flight challenge between London and Manchester, first proposed by the Daily Mail newspaper in 1906. The £10,000 prize was won in April 1910 by Frenchman Louis Paulhan.The...
, with one short overnight stop at Lichfield. Arriving at 5:30 am, Paulhan beat the British contender, Claude Grahame-White, winning a £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
. This was the first powered flight into Manchester from any point outside the city. Two special trains were chartered to the newly-built but unopened Burnage Station to take spectators to the landing, many of whom had stood throughout the night. Paulhan's progress was followed throughout by a special train carrying his wife, Henri Farman and his mechanics. Afterwards his train took the party to a civic reception given by the Lord Mayor of Manchester in the Town Hall. A house in Paulhan Road, constructed in the 1930s near the site of his landing, is marked by a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
to commemorate his achievement.
Governance
Civic history
In the early 13th century, Didsbury lay within the manorManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Withington, a feudal estate that also included the townships of Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....
, Moss Side
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
, Rusholme
Rusholme
-Etymology:Rusholme, unlike other areas of Manchester which have '-holme' in the place name is not a true '-holme'. Its name came from ryscum, which is the dative plural of Old English rysc "rush": "[at the] rushes"...
, Burnage
Burnage
Burnage is a neighbourhood of the city of Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire it was included in the county of Greater Manchester in 1974. It is about south of Manchester city centre, bisected by the busy dual carriageway of Kingsway, part of the A34...
, Denton
Denton, Greater Manchester
Denton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is five miles to the east of Manchester city centre, and has a population of 26,866....
and Haughton, ruled by the Hathersage, Longford and Tatton families, and within the historic county boundaries
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. Didsbury remained within the manor of Withington for several centuries.
By 1764, Didsbury was described as a township in its own right. It became a civil parish in 1866, and in 1876 was incorporated into the Withington Urban Sanitary District, superseded in 1894 by the creation of Withington Urban District. Withington Urban District was a subdivision of the administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...
of Lancashire, created as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
. In 1904, Withington Urban District was amalgamated into the city and county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Manchester, and so Didsbury was absorbed into Manchester, although it remained a civil parish until 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, Manchester became a metropolitan borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
of the metropolitan county
Metropolitan county
The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...
of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
.
Political representation
Didsbury is in the parliamentary constituency of Manchester WithingtonManchester Withington (UK Parliament constituency)
Manchester, Withington is a parliamentary constituency in the city of Manchester. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system...
, and is represented by John Leech MP
John Leech (politician)
John Sampson Macfarlane Leech is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington since 2005...
, a member of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
.
Until 2004, most of the area formed the Didsbury ward of Manchester City Council with a section of West Didsbury contained within the Barlow Moor ward. However, boundary changes in 2004 resulted in Didsbury being split mainly between the two new wards of Didsbury East and Didsbury West while a small section of West Didsbury was incorporated into the new ward of Chorlton Park. Didsbury East is represented by Labour councillor Andrew Simcock and Liberal Democrat councillors Andrew Taylor and David Sandiford. Didsbury West is represented by Labour councillor David Ellison and Liberal Democrat councillors Graham Shaw and Mark Clayton. All wards within Manchester elect in thirds on a four yearly cycle.
Geography
Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the city of Manchester and the continuous metropolitan area that spreads outwards from it, forming much of Greater Manchester in North West England...
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester city centre. To the north, Didsbury is bordered by Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....
and Burnage
Burnage
Burnage is a neighbourhood of the city of Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire it was included in the county of Greater Manchester in 1974. It is about south of Manchester city centre, bisected by the busy dual carriageway of Kingsway, part of the A34...
, to the west by Northenden
Northenden
Northenden is a suburban area and electoral ward of the city of Manchester in North West England. It lies on the south side of both the River Mersey and the M60 motorway, west of Stockport and south of Manchester city centre. Northenden is bounded by the districts of Didsbury, Gatley and...
, to the east and south-east by Heaton Moor
Heaton Moor
Heaton Moor is a suburb located in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is one of the Four Heatons and borders onto Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Heaton Mersey...
and Cheadle
Cheadle, Greater Manchester
Cheadle is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It borders the districts of Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and the East Didsbury area of Manchester. As of 2001 it had a population of 14,261.-Early history:There has...
, and by Gatley
Gatley
Gatley is a suburban area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England.-Toponymy:In 1290, Gatley was known as Gateclyve, which in Old English means "a place where goats are kept".-Early history:...
to the south.
The River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
forms Didsbury's southern and southwestern boundaries and certain stretches of the river also demarcate the boundaries of the City of Manchester. The area is generally considered to be roughly enclosed by Princess Parkway to the west, Kingsway to the east and the Ball Brook, just north of Lapwing Lane/Fog Lane to the north. This northern boundary is marked by a boundary stone in the front garden wall of a house on the west side of Wilmslow Road. A "country trail" passes from West Didsbury to East, named the Trans Pennine Trail (National Cycle Route
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
62). It was sited along a disused railway track, as part of a nationwide initiative to promote cycling.
Didsbury's built environment has developed around the areas of East Didsbury, West Didsbury, and Didsbury Village, which separates the two. The Albert Park conservation area, covering much of West Didsbury, places planning restrictions on development, alterations to buildings, and pruning of trees. The areas adjacent to the Mersey lie within the river's flood plain, and so have historically been prone to flooding after heavy rainfall. The last major flooding was in the late 1960s. In the 1970s extensive flood mitigation work carried out along the Mersey Valley through Manchester has helped to speed up the passage of floodwater. Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden is situated in Didsbury, Manchester, England, between the River Mersey and Stenner Woods....
also acts as an emergency flood basin, storing floodwater until it can be safely released back into the river.
Demography
| Didsbury Compared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| UK Census 2001 United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... |
Didsbury | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
England |
| Total population | 14,292 | 392,819 | 49,138,831 |
| Born outside Europe | 8% | 10% | 6% |
| White | 88% | 81% | 91% |
| Asian | 8% | 9% | 5% |
| Black | 1% | 5% | 2% |
| Over 75 years old | 10% | 6% | 8% |
The United Kingdom Census 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
recorded Didsbury as having a population of 14,292, of whom 87% were born in the United Kingdom. A large majority of residents, 88%, identified themselves as white
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
, 8% as Asian, 2% as mixed ethnicity, 1% black
Black British
Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
, and 1% Chinese or other ethnic group. The under-16s accounted for 17% of the population, and the over-65s for 15%. The population density in 2001 was 5,276/square mile (2,037/km²).
Economy
As of the UK's 2001 census, Didsbury had an estimated workforce of 10,755 or 75% of the population. Economic status in Didsbury was: 48% in full-time employment, 11% retired, 10% self-employed, 8% in part-time employment, 4% full-time student (without job), 4% housewife/husband or carer, 4% permanently sick or disabled, 4% unemployed, and 2% economically inactive for unstated reasons. Didsbury's 48% rate of full-time employment compares with 33% in Manchester and 41% across the whole of England. The area's 4% unemployment rate is in contrast to Manchester's rate of 9%, and broadly in line with the 5% rate of unemployment for England.
In 2001, the main industries of employment in Didsbury were 20% property and business services, 15% education, 15% health and social work, 10% retail and wholesale, 9% manufacturing, 6% transport and communications, 5% financial services, 4% hotels and restaurants, 4% construction, 4% public administration and defence, and 8% other. These figures were similar to those from surrounding areas, but Didsbury did have a relatively larger education sector than other nearby wards, perhaps explained by the high density of schools in the area. A significant number of people (12%) commute to areas outside Didsbury; at the 2001 census there were 6,555 jobs in Didsbury, compared with the 7,417 employed residents.
Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
occupies the Sir William Siemens House in West Didsbury and in 2009 employed 800 people.
The head office of BA CityFlyer
BA CityFlyer
BA CityFlyer is a wholly owned subsidiary airline of British Airways based in Didsbury, Manchester, England. It operates a network of domestic and European services from London City Airport...
is in Didsbury. British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
has an office with 300 employees in Pioneer House on the 292,000 square feet (27,100 m2), Dutch owned Towers Business Park. In 2005, other tenants of the business park included Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
, Logica, Regus
Regus
Regus plc is a multinational corporation that provides serviced office accommodation in business centres worldwide. As of March 2011, it operates 1,100 business centres in 85 countries. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
, and Thorn Lighting.
Didsbury is considered to form a "stockbroker belt", as it is Manchester's "swankiest" suburb.
Culture
Didsbury Village, the central shopping area along Wilmslow Road, has developed a European-like cafe culture over recent years, with the opening of many new bars, cafes and delicatessens. The original site of Didsbury Village is in the conservation area now known as Didsbury St James, about half a mile (1 km) to the south of what is today's village centre.The traditional independent retailers are gradually being replaced by multi-national firms, raising fears that Didsbury may lose its individual identity and become a "clone town". The 200-year-old Peacock's Funeral Parlour, one of the few pre-Victorian buildings in the village and regarded by some as the centrepiece of the village, was demolished in the summer of 2005. The owner, United Co-op, blamed changing demographics for the closure of the funeral parlour; with more and more homes being occupied by young professional people, the death rate was falling in the area.
Green areas
The Fletcher Moss Botanical GardenFletcher Moss Botanical Garden
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden is situated in Didsbury, Manchester, England, between the River Mersey and Stenner Woods....
is a 21 acres (84,984.1 m²) recreational park south of the village centre. It is named after local Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
Fletcher Moss, who donated the park to the city of Manchester in 1919. In 2008, it won the Green Flag Award
Green Flag Award
The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards...
, the national standard for parks and green spaces in England, an award it has held since 2000.
Didsbury Park was also a winner of the Green Flag Award in 2008. It is a community park in Didsbury village centre that comprises a bowls area
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
, crèche
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
, football pitch
Association football pitch
An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...
and play area. Once a year, at the Didsbury Festival, pupils from local schools dress up to a theme and meet in the playground of St. Catherine's Primary School, in East Didsbury, from where they parade to Didsbury Park.
Marie Louise Gardens is a relatively small park to the west of the centre of Didsbury. The park was originally owned by the Silkenstadt family as part of the grounds of their house. The land was bequeathed to the people of Manchester by Mrs Silkenstadt in 1904 in memory of her daughter, Marie Louise. The park was at the centre of controversy in 2007 after Manchester City Council proposed to sell a portion of it to a private property developer.
Media
Capitol Theatre, Manchester
The Capitol Theatre was a cinema in Didsbury, Manchester later used as television studios by ITV contractor ABC from 1956 to 1968.The building opened as a cinema in 1931, but was badly damaged by fire in April 1932 and was closed for repairs until August 1933...
at the junction of Parrs Wood Road and School Lane served as the northern studios of ITV station ABC Weekend Television
Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
. Early episodes of The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and programmes such as Opportunity Knocks were made in the studios. ABC ceased to use the site in 1968 when it lost its ITV franchise, on its merger with fellow ITV company Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
. The site was then used briefly by Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
until its own facilities in Leeds were ready. In 1971, the studios were acquired by Manchester Polytechnic
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
, who used it for cinema, television studies and theatre. The building was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for a residential development, but the name lives on in the form of a new theatre space in the heart of the M.M.U. campus in the All Saints area along Oxford Road, just to the south of Manchester city centre.
Until 2009 Didsbury was the base for one of the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
subsidiaries, the South Manchester Reporter
South Manchester Reporter
The South Manchester Reporter is an English weekly newspaper published every Thursday. Distributed in South Manchester, it sells around 6,000–6,200 copies per week and is read by an estimated 57,000 people, making it one of the most widely read subsidiaries of the Manchester Evening News...
.
Transport
Didsbury is close to junction 5 of Manchester's ring roadRing road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
, the M60 motorway
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, or Manchester Orbital, is an orbital motorway circling Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It passes through all Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolton...
. Manchester Airport, the busiest airport in the UK outside London, is about 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south.
Didsbury is served by several bus routes into Manchester city centre, The Trafford Centre, Northenden
Northenden
Northenden is a suburban area and electoral ward of the city of Manchester in North West England. It lies on the south side of both the River Mersey and the M60 motorway, west of Stockport and south of Manchester city centre. Northenden is bounded by the districts of Didsbury, Gatley and...
, and other destinations. Wilmslow Road
Wilmslow Road, Manchester
Wilmslow Road is a major thoroughfare in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood north into Manchester City Centre. Its name changes to Oxford Road at Whitworth Park, north of Rusholme, and changes again to Oxford Street, when it reaches the city centre.The road runs through the centres of...
provides Didsbury with a regular bus service due to the strong demand for travel by students along the corridor. The service is cheap and passengers rarely have to wait more than a couple of minutes. According to some analysts, Wilmslow Road is the busiest bus corridor in Europe.
East Didsbury
East Didsbury railway station
East Didsbury is a suburban railway station in the south of the city of Manchester, England.It stands on the Styal Line, between Longsight and Wilmslow...
and Burnage
Burnage railway station
Burnage railway station is a suburban railway station to the south of Manchester, England. It is located in the suburb of Burnage on the Styal Line, which serves the Manchester – Crewe rail route used by Northern Rail for stopping services to Manchester Airport...
are the nearest railway stations, on the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport. Between 1880 and 1967 the area had been served by two other railway stations, Didsbury station
Didsbury railway station
Didsbury railway station is a former station in Didsbury, in the southern suburbs of Manchester, England, United Kingdom. The station was located on Wilmslow Road, just north of the junction with Barlow Moor Road and opposite Didsbury Library...
and West Didsbury station
Withington and West Didsbury railway station
Withington and West Didsbury railway station is a former station in the southern suburbs of Manchester, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1880 as Withington and Albert Park station when the Midland Railway opened its new Manchester South District line out of Manchester Central Station...
, both on the South Manchester lines into Manchester Central station
Manchester Central railway station
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester City Centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it now houses an exhibition and conference centre named Manchester Central.-History:...
. The entire line was shut in 1967 following the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
.
Metrolink
Proposals have existed since the 1980s to re-open the disused railway line which passes through Didsbury as part of the Manchester MetrolinkManchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...
light rail system. Under these proposals, Didsbury Station was to re-open under the name of Didsbury Central or Didsbury Village.
These extension plans were rejected by the government in 2004, due to escalating costs. New plans were drawn up in 2007, with at least some of the money required for the construction of the line planned to come from the proposed Manchester Congestion Charge, which was overwhelmingly rejected by public vote in 2008.
In May 2009, AGMA agreed to the provision of additional funding that will secure the construction of Metrolink to the area. This will include additional stops at Withington
Withington Metrolink station
Withington Metrolink Station is a future station proposed in Phase 3B of the Manchester Metrolink Big Bang extension plans, which is located on the west side of Princess Road on the fringe of Withington, the stop will be in a cutting...
, Burton Road
Burton Road Metrolink station
Burton Road Metrolink Station is a future station which is to be constructed on one of the new lines on the Manchester Metrolink light rail public transport system in Manchester, England, UK....
, West Didsbury, Didsbury Village and East Didsbury.
Final government approval for government funding for the Chorlton cum Hardy - East Didsbury Metrolink extension using a closed railway line was granted in March 2010 by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan. Construction is underway, with the line expected to open through to East Didsbury in 2013.
Education
National Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...
exam. There are seven primary schools and two state comprehensive secondary schools
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
. The Barlow RC High School is one of those chosen by Manchester Council to benefit from funding made available in wave 4 of the government's Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future is the name of the previous UK Government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England. The program is very ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicians from all English political parties supportive of the principle but...
programme, a national scheme for the refurbishment and remodelling of every secondary school in England. It is planned to replace all the current buildings, which date back to 1951. Parrs Wood and The Barlow were two of only six schools in Manchester to achieve the Manchester Inclusion Standard in 2007, awarded by Manchester Council to those schools doing innovative work to ensure that all their pupils are able to participate fully in the school’s activities.
There are two centres of further and higher education in Didsbury: The Manchester College
The Manchester College
The Manchester College is a further education college in Manchester, England. It opened on 1 August 2008 as the result of a merger between City College Manchester and Manchester College of Arts and Technology to form a 'supercollege'...
, (formerly City College Manchester
City College Manchester
City College Manchester was a network of further education campuses in Manchester, England.It was the largest provider of "Offender Learning" in the Greater Manchester region.-Merger with MANCAT in 2008:...
) Fielden Campus, which was opened in 1972 by Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, offers a variety of courses including communication and technology; and Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
's Didsbury Campus, the former Didsbury School of Education
Didsbury School of Education
The Didsbury College of Education, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, England, is a campus of Manchester Metropolitan University. Originally a "handsome house of 1790", the building was massively expanded for use as a Wesleyan training college in the 19th century and then became a school of...
, is home to the faculties of health, social care, and education, along with the Broomhurst Hall of Residence.
Primary schools
- Beaver Road Primary SchoolBeaver Road Primary SchoolBeaver Road Primary School is located in the centre of Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester, England. It is a large school, built 1931, with some modernisation...
- Didsbury C.E. Primary School
- St Catherine's R.C. Primary School
- Ewing School
- Broad Oak Primary School
Secondary schools
- Parrs Wood High School
- Barlow R.C. High School
Parrs Wood, with about 2,000 pupils on its register, is much larger than the average, and is regularly over-subscribed in Year 7. In its 2007 inspection report by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) the school was criticised for "failing to give its students an acceptable standard of education", and for providing "unsatisfactory" value for money. The Barlow RC High School is an average size secondary school, with about 1,000 pupils. It too is regularly over-subscribed. It was described in its October 2003 Ofsted report as "a successful and effective school that is providing a good education for its pupils".
Religion
| Religion | Percentage of population |
|---|---|
| Christian Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings... |
62% |
| No religion | 20% |
| Not stated | 7% |
| Muslim Islam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~... |
6% |
| Jewish Judaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
2% |
| Hindu Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions... |
2% |
It is uncertain when the first chapel was built in Didsbury, but it is thought to have been before the middle of the 13th century. When the plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
reached the village in 1352 the chapel yard was consecrated to provide a cemetery for the victims, it being "inconvenient to carry the dead all the way to Manchester".
The BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Daily Service programme of Christian worship – the world's oldest continuous radio programme – is often broadcast from Emmanuel Church, on Barlow Moor Road. Two of Didsbury's religious buildings are Grade II listed: Didsbury Methodist Church of St Paul, and the Nazarene Theological College
Nazarene Theological College, Manchester
The Nazarene Theological College, one of several institutions of higher education affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, is a seminary in Didsbury, a leafy suburb in the south of Manchester, England. The seminary supports degree courses in Theology in association with the near-by University of...
.
Didsbury is in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Diocese of Manchester.
and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. It is not as religiously diverse as some other areas of Manchester, but it has the second largest Jewish population in the borough and two synagogues: the Shaare Hayim Synagogue and the Sha'are Sedek Synagogue.
Didsbury has a medium-sized Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
population in comparison with areas such as Rusholme
Rusholme
-Etymology:Rusholme, unlike other areas of Manchester which have '-holme' in the place name is not a true '-holme'. Its name came from ryscum, which is the dative plural of Old English rysc "rush": "[at the] rushes"...
, Longsight
Longsight
Longsight is an area of Manchester, England, about south of the city centre. Its population is about 16,000.-History:Longsight has been known over the past for its gang related violence, similar to that of nearby Moss Side. Most of the violence came from tensions between 2 gangs; The Longsight...
and Levenshulme
Levenshulme
Levenshulme is an urban area of the City of Manchester, in North West England. It borders Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, and is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester City Centre on the A6 road. The A6 bisects Levenshulme. The Manchester to London railway...
; a converted church in West Didsbury houses the Didsbury Mosque
Didsbury Mosque
The Didsbury Mosque and Islamic Centre is located on Burton Road, West Didsbury in Manchester, England. The building was originally the “Albert Park Methodist Chapel”, which opened for worship in 1883, but in 1962 the church closed and was later converted to a Mosque. It has an attendance of around...
and Islamic Centre.
Sports
Didsbury Sports Centre, on Wilmslow Road, is a part of the Manchester Metropolitan UniversityManchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
campus. It provides a fitness suite and classes and facilities for badminton and tennis.
Didsbury has two rugby union clubs, Toc H R.F.C. and Old Bedians. Toc H, founded in 1924, plays at Simons Fields, on Ford Lane. Its first team plays in the North Lancashire and Cumbria league. The club runs four senior teams and a youth section, and has run a 10-a-side competition every May since 1951, as a charity fund raiser for local hospices. Old Bedians is based in East Didbury, and was founded in 1954. It regularly fields three senior teams as well as a junior section. Desmond Pastore, believed to be the oldest rugby player in the world, was a founder member of the club, and later became its president. Formerly a player for Sale and Cheshire, Desmond played his last game for Manchester club Egor on his 91st birthday.
Didsbury Cricket Club fields three Saturday teams and two Sunday teams. The first eleven plays in the Cheshire County ECB Premier League. As well as the five senior teams, the club also has a junior section catering for plyers between 7 and 18 years of age, and has recently formed a Women's section. It is also home to Manchester Waconians Lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
Club and Didsbury Grey's Women's Hockey Team
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, which do not actually play at the site but at grounds in Belle Vue
Belle Vue, Manchester
Belle Vue is an area of Gorton, in the city of Manchester, England. It lies in the eastern part of the city, close to its boundary with Tameside, and is bordered by the Hope Valley Line on the east and the Glossop Line on the west...
, that were designed for the XVII Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
. Northern Tennis Club, in West Didsbury, is one of Manchester's few racquet clubs; it annually plays host to an Association of Tennis Professionals
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
tournament in July.
Public services
Withington Community HospitalWithington Community Hospital
Withington Community Hospital is a hospital in south Manchester, England...
, opened in 2005, occupies part of the site of the former (and much larger) Withington Hospital, developed on the site of a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
some of whose buildings are still evident.
Didsbury is covered by the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester Police. The local Neighbourhood Policing Team is the Didsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team, which covers Didsbury, Old Moat, Withington and Burnage and is headed up by Inspector Dave Nutsey. Didsbury Police Station is situated in the heart of Didsbury village on Wilmslow Road.
The Towers
The Towers (Manchester)
The Towers is a research establishment for new technologies in cotton production. The Shirley Institute was established in 1920 at a cost of £10,000 to accommodate the newly formed British Cotton Industry Research Association...
, now known as the Shirley Institute
Shirley Institute
The Shirley Institute was established in 1920 as the British Cotton Industry Research Association at The Towers in Didsbury, Manchester as a research centre dedicated to cotton production technologies...
, was once the home of engineer Daniel Adamson
Daniel Adamson
Daniel Adamson was a notable English engineer who became a successful manufacturer of boilers and was the driving force behind the inception of the Manchester Ship Canal project during the 1880s.-Early life:...
– the driving force behind the Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
project – and the venue where the decision to build the canal was taken. The house was designed by Salford architect Thomas Worthington
Thomas Worthington (architect)
Thomas Worthington was a 19th-century English architect, particularly associated with public buildings in and around Manchester.-Early life:...
, for the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, John Edward Taylor
John Edward Taylor
John Edward Taylor was the founder of the Manchester Guardian newspaper, later to become The Guardian.-Biography:...
.
Notable people
Daniel Adamson
Daniel Adamson was a notable English engineer who became a successful manufacturer of boilers and was the driving force behind the inception of the Manchester Ship Canal project during the 1880s.-Early life:...
, promoter of the Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
, lived at The Towers (blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
– now the Shirley Institute
Shirley Institute
The Shirley Institute was established in 1920 as the British Cotton Industry Research Association at The Towers in Didsbury, Manchester as a research centre dedicated to cotton production technologies...
) on Wilmslow Road from 1874 until his death in 1890. His Grade II listed home, designed by Thomas Worthington
Thomas Worthington (architect)
Thomas Worthington was a 19th-century English architect, particularly associated with public buildings in and around Manchester.-Early life:...
for John Edward Taylor
John Edward Taylor
John Edward Taylor was the founder of the Manchester Guardian newspaper, later to become The Guardian.-Biography:...
, the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, was the venue for the 1882 meeting at which it was decided to construct the Ship Canal project. Sidney Bernstein and Denis Forman
Denis Forman
Sir Denis Forman is a former executive in the British film and television industry.-Career:Forman was born in 1917 at Cragielands in Dumfries and educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Forman had a distinguished military career during the Second World War and was wounded at Monte Cassino. After...
who created Granada Television Manchester
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
also lived in Didsbury during their work requirements at the Granada Studios
The Manchester Studios
The Manchester Studios is a television studio on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and film drama programmes. The studios have been home to Granada Television since its inception in 1954...
in Manchester. Kirsty Howard
Kirsty Howard
Kirsty Howard is a 16-year-old British girl, most notable for her charity work.Kirsty is the figurehead of Kirsty's Appeal, a charitable foundation in her name, created to raise £5 million for Francis House, the hospice where she receives care. In October 2006, the appeal announced that it has...
was the final runner to carry the Queen's Baton at the opening of the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
, when she was chaperoned by England football captain David Beckham. Born with a rare condition in which her heart is back-to-front, she has been a resident in Didsbury's Francis House Hospice, for which she has raised over £5 million. Lord Marcus Joseph Sieff, the chairman of Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
from 1972 to 1982, was born in Didsbury in 1913. Francis French
Francis French
Francis French is a book and magazine author from Manchester, England, specializing in space flight history. He is a former director of events for Sally Ride Science, and a director at the San Diego Air & Space Museum....
, author and noted space historian, grew up in Didsbury, and attended the same school as noted poet and novelist Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah is an English-born poet and novelist. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a junior research fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford...
. Carol Anne Duffy, the first female Poet Laurelate
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
The Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the Poet Laureate, is the Poet Laureate appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister...
, lives in West Didsbury as of 2009.