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Blackley (pronounced blake-ley (/'bleɪklɪ/)) is a district of Manchester , in North West England . It is about two and a half miles northeast of Manchester City Centre . Blackley lies in a bend of the River Irk , just south of Boggart Hole Clough and on the east and west sides of Rochdale Road, a major route from Manchester to the north and to the M60 orbital motorway. The village (centre) of Blackley is just to the west of Rochdale Rd. HISTORY The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book . The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Blæclēah = "dark wood" or "dark clearing". In the 13th and 14th centuries Blackley was referred to as ''Blakeley'' or ''Blakelegh'', a spelling that is consistent with the local pronunciation.1 By the Middle Ages Blackley had become a park belonging to the lords of Manchester. Its value in 1282 was recorded as £6 13s. 4d, a sum approximately equivalent in buying power to £3,500 today.2 The lords of Manchester leased the land from time to time. In 1473 John Byron held the leases on Blackley village, Blackley field, and Pillingworth fields at an annual rent of £33 6s. 8d. The Byron family continued to hold the land until the beginning of the 17th century, when Blackley was sold in parcels to a number of landowners. By the middle of the 17th century Blackley was a village of just 107 inhabitants. Blackley today is hardly recognisable as the same rural area that it had been at the start of the 20th century. Now only local place names like ''Meadows School'', ''Plant Hill'' or ''French Barn Lane'' hint at its rural past.3 GOVERNANCE Blackley is a part of the UK parliamentary constituency of Manchester Blackley , considered to be the safest Labour Party seat in Manchester. The current Member Of Parliament (MP) is Graham Stringer (Labour). ECONOMY During the 1930s substantial residential development took place in Blackley to provide overspill housing for Manchester's growing population. This is an area with a mix of housing but mainly council homes—owner-occupied, private renting and Housing Association . It is part of the "North Manchester Regeneration Area"—a special project set up by the City Council and private company Bellways to improve existing housing, build new homes and improve the environment. There are about 240 council homes, all managed by Northwards Housing. About 150 are flats in small blocks. The rest are houses (mostly two- or three-bedroom, with a handful of larger properties). LANDMARKS Blackley is well served in terms of green space and parks, with significant open spaces at Tweedale Common, Irk Valley, Blackley Forest, Nutbank Common, Heaton Park and Boggart Hole Clough . Heaton Park is the largest park in Greater Manchester, and the largest municipal park in western Europe, providing some 25% of Manchester's total green space. Boggart Hole Clough Boggart Hole Clough is a country park where many walks can be undertaken, guided or otherwise. Thanks to recent funding the park now has many leisure facilities; a Bowling Green , tennis and basketball courts, a boating lake and a children's play area. It has its own permanent Orienteering course and an athletics track. Visitors can enjoy family fun days in the summer and an annual Firework display. Blackley Forest A site of biological importance and a fine example of one of the country's first Community Woodlands. Planted to commemorate fallen soldiers of the Second World War , the forest is a diverse mix of Woodland , grassland and Wetlands , dissected by a well established network of paths and steps. The River Irk can be seen in its most natural state, fringed by Birch trees with some colonies of autumn Crocus . Heaton Park Heaton Park at around 600 acres (259 hectares or 2.4 km&2), is the biggest park in Greater Manchester, England. It is the grounds of a grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house called Heaton Hall remodelled to a design by James Wyatt in 1772, which still stands and is open to the public as a museum and events venue. TRANSPORT Like many areas in Manchester, Blackley is very well served by buses primarily along the main A664 Rochdale Road directly to and from Manchester City Centre. There are frequent Metrolink trams from Bowker Vale to and from Manchester city centre and as far south as Altrincham and as far north as Bury . Manchester's M60 orbital motorway is the northern boundary of Blackley. EDUCATION Primary schools Blackley has a number of primary schools which include:
Secondary schools Blackley has two secondary state schools; Plant Hill Arts College , and Our Lady's RC Sports College. Each school has in excess of 800 pupils, and both rank poorly in the Manchester district in terms of results achieved and attendance. SPORTS Blackley Golf Club Blackley Golf Club has occupied its present site close to the M60 since 1937, following the acquisition of the original course by Manchester City Council . AFC Blackley The only Saturday team in Blackley they currently play in the Manchester Premier League. The club lost its ground in Blackley Village when it was earmarked for development. The team was relocated to Plant Hill Park. NOTABLE PEOPLE
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