is a ,
2007 . Greater Manchester came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the
Local Government Act 1972 . The county consists of ten
Metropolitan Borough s, including the
City Of Manchester and the
City Of Salford .
Greater Manchester is landlocked, and as a
Ceremonial County borders
Cheshire ,
Derbyshire ,
West Yorkshire ,
Lancashire and
Merseyside . The
Greater Manchester Urban Area is the
United Kingdom's Third Most Populous Conurbation , which spans across most of the county's territory.
,
2007 .
Prior to the creation of the metropolitan county, the name ''SELNEC'' was used for the area from the initials 'South East Lancashire North East Cheshire'. Parts of the
Historic Counties of
Lancashire ,
Cheshire and
Yorkshire covered the area that is now Greater Manchester.
See Also: History of Manchester
Category:History of Greater Manchester
The modern county of Greater Manchester was created in 1974. However, the history and heritage of its constituent settlements and parts stem back for centuries. Manchester is home to a c.2000 year old Roman fort in
Castlefield , and other towns (such as
Oldham and
Bolton ) played a central role during the
Industrial Revolution . Indeed, due to the economic and industrial success of the modern Greater Manchester towns and cities, the connurbation has been forming for the last few centuries and the need for local government and geo-administrative change to reflect this, was postulated in as early as the 1910s.
The first known recorded use of the term Greater Manchester was in 1914 as part of a report put forward as a response to what was considered a successful creation of the
County Of London in 1889. The report suggested that a county should be set up to recognise the "Manchester known in commerce" and referred to the areas that formed
Cottonopolis , or that of South-Lancashire and part of Cheshire.Swarbrick, J., (February 1914), ''Greater Manchester: The Future Municipal Government of Large Cities'', pp.12-15.
Conurbations in England tend to build-up at the
Historic County Boundaries Dearlove, J., (1979), ''The reorganisation of British local government''. and Greater Manchester is no exception.
Most of Greater Manchester lies within the ancient county boundaries of
Lancashire ; those areas south of the
Mersey and
Tame in
Cheshire . The
Saddleworth area and a small part of
Mossley are historically part of
Yorkshire and in the south-east a small part in
Derbyshire . The areas which were incorporated into Greater Manchester in 1974 previously formed parts of the
Administrative Counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, the
West Riding Of Yorkshire and of various independent
County Borough s.
Greater Manchester is today made up of some seventy former
Local Authorities from these former boundaries, and is the only urban area in the
United Kingdom outside
Greater London ever to officially bear the name "Greater".
The
Local Government Act 1958 designated the "South East Lancashire" area (which despite its name included north east Cheshire as well), a Special Review Area. The
Local Government Commission For England never completed its report before it was abolished in favour of the
Royal Commission On Local Government . Draft recommendations were presented in December 1965 and would have seen a new county based on the Manchester conurbation, with nine most-purpose boroughs, corresponding to the modern Greater Manchester boroughs (excluding Wigan).
The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the
Redcliffe-Maud Report , proposed a 'SELNEC' (South East Lancashire North East Cheshire) 'metropolitan area'. This had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester, but covered much more territory in north-east Cheshire including
Macclesfield and
Warrington , and also covered
Glossop in Derbyshire. The metropolitan area was to be divided into nine metropolitan districts, based on
Wigan , Bolton,
Bury /
Rochdale ,
Warrington ,
Manchester (including
Salford and
Old Trafford ), Oldham,
Altrincham ,
Stockport and
Tameside .
In 1969 a SELNEC
Passenger Transport Authority was set up, which covered an area smaller than the proposed SELNEC, but different to the eventual Greater Manchester. Compared to the Redcliffe-Maud area it excluded Macclesfield, Warrington, and Knutsford, but still including Glossop and
Saddleworth , in the
West Riding Of Yorkshire . It excluded Wigan, which was in both the Redcliffe-Maud area and in the eventual Greater Manchester (but had not been part of the SEL special review area).
Although the Redcliffe-Maud report was rejected by the
Conservative government after the
1970 General Election , it was committed to local government reform, and accepted the need for a metropolitan county centred on the conurbation surrounding Manchester. Its original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's SELNEC, but further fringe areas such as
Wilmslow ,
Warrington and
Glossop were trimmed from the edges and remained instead in the shire counties. Other late changes included the separation of the proposed Bury/Rochdale authority (retained from the Redcliffe-Maud report) into the
Metropolitan Borough Of Bury and the
Metropolitan Borough Of Rochdale .
Greater Manchester was eventually established on
1 April 1974 . It is the largest of all the Metropolitan counties of England in that it contained ten boroughs (whilst
Greater London is clearly larger with 32
London Borough s and the
City , it is not officially a metropolitan county).
Some noted historians of Manchester have claimed that "With the creation of the Greater Manchester county, came statutory recognition to what was already as a result of natural evolution, a distinct and recognised region, bound together by innumerable ties extending back over the centuries. Greater Manchester... is the logical outcome of centuries of shared tradition."Frangopulo, N.J., (1977), ''Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County'', EP Publishing, Wakefield.
On ,
2007 .
Unlike most other modern counties (including
Merseyside and
Tyne And Wear ), Greater Manchester was never adopted as an official
Postal County by
Royal Mail for postal addresses and delivery. As part of the Post Office's policy review in 1973,
1 it was noted that "Greater Manchester" would be unlikely to be adopted because of confusion with the
Manchester Post Town .
2 And so the component areas of Greater Manchester held on to their pre-1974 postal counties until 1996, when they were abolished.
On
1 July 1997 , the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester further became a
Ceremonial County by way of the
Lieutenancies Act 1997 . These ceremonial counties are increasingly being seen as the main geographic frames of reference within England.
See Also: Geography of Greater Manchester
satellite image of Greater Manchester.]]
Greater Manchester is a landlocked county. The
Pennines rise along the eastern side of the county, through parts of
Oldham ,
Rochdale and
Tameside . The
West Pennine Moors , as well as a number of coalfields (mainly sandstones and shales) lie in the west of the county.
The rivers
Mersey and
Tame run through the county boundaries, both of which rise in the Pennines. Other rivers run through the county, including the
Beal , the
Douglas and the
Irk .
Black Chew Head is the highest point (
County Top ) of Greater Manchester, rising 542 metres (1778.2 ft) above sea-level, within the parish of
Saddleworth .Dawson, A., (1992),
''The Relative Hills of Britain - Chapter 6: The County Tops'', Cicerone Press, Milnthorpe, Cumbria.
There is a mix of high density
Urban Area s,
Suburbs , semi-rural and
Rural locations in Greater Manchester, but overwhelmingly the land use in the county is urban.
3 It has a strong regional
Central Business District , formed by
Manchester City Centre and the adjoining parts of
Salford and
Trafford . However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has a major town centre - and in some cases more than one.
Greater Manchester is arguably the most complex urban area in the United Kingdom outside
London , and this is reflected in the density of its transport network and the scale of needs for investment to meet the growing and diverse movement demands generated by its development pattern.
The climate of Greater Manchester is generally
Temperate , with few extremes of temperature or weather. The mean temperature is slightly above average for the United Kingdom
4; whereas annual rainfall and average amount of sunshine is slightly below the average for the UK. These are average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the
Met Office weather station at
Manchester Airport :
).]]
,
Bury , the
City Of Manchester ,
Oldham ,
Rochdale , the
City Of Salford ,
Stockport ,
Tameside ,
Trafford and
Wigan .
Each Metropolitan Borough comprises a large town (usually having formed a ,
2006 . URL accessed
March 28 ,
2007 .
The names of two of the metropolitan boroughs are not as obvious however. For these, a neutral name was chosen because, at the time they were created, there was no agreement on the town to be put forward as the ,
2006 . URL accessed
March 28 ,
2007 .
For the first twelve years after the county was created in 1974, the county had a two-tier system of
Local Government , and the metropolitan borough councils shared power with the
Greater Manchester County Council . However in 1986, along with the five other
Metropolitan County councils and the
Greater London Council , the Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers were devolved to the boroughs, which effectively became
Unitary Authorities .
Various .
Greater Manchester council's
County Hall , was located in what is now Westminster House, in
Piccadilly Gardens , central Manchester.
Although the
County Council was abolished a number of local government functions take place at the county level.
The ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operate through the ,
2006 .
In addition to this, some local services are still provided county-wide, but are now administered by statutory
Joint Boards of the ten districts. These are:
These joint-boards which are made up of councillors appointed from each of the ten boroughs.
The ten-boroughs jointly own the
Manchester Airport Group which controls
Manchester Airport and three other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils.
Greater Manchester is a
Ceremonial County with its own
Lord-Lieutenant . The Local Government Act 1972 provided that the whole of the area to be covered by the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester would also be included in the
Duchy Of Lancaster - extending the duchy to include areas which were formerly in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Thus, the
Lord-Lieutenant and
High Sherriff of Greater Manchester are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of The
Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Lancaster rather than, as is more usual, the recommendation of The
Lord High Chancellor Of Great Britain .
The first
Lord Lieutenant Of Greater Manchester was Sir
William Downward who held the title from 1974 through to 1987. The current Lord Lieutenant is Colonel Sir
John Bradford Timmins .
As a geographic county, Greater Manchester is utilised by the government (via the
Office For National Statistics ) for the gathering of county-wide
Statistic s, and organising and collating general register and census material.
5
See Also: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester
.]]
Greater Manchester is divided into 28
Parliamentary Constituencies - 18
Borough Constituencies and 10
County Constituencies .
Most of Greater Manchester is controlled by the
Labour Party , and is generally considered a Labour stronghold, with only four constituencies (since the
2005 General Election ) belonging to the
Liberal Democrats , and one constituency to the
Conservative Party .
, highlighted in red, against the boundaries of the Metropolitan County.]]
The
Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the
Office For National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation surrounding and including the City of Manchester. Its territory spans much, but not all of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.
It discludes settlements such as
Wigan and
Marple from the Greater Manchester county boundaries (Wigan itself forming the
Wigan Urban Area ), but includes some settlements which are outside of the county boundaries, such as
Wilmslow and
Alderley Edge in
Cheshire , and
Whitworth in
Lancashire .
Although neither the Greater Manchester county, nor the ,
2006 .
See Also: List of companies based in Greater Manchester
, the
Central Business District of Greater Manchester, is a major centre of trade and commerce.]]
Due to the overwhelmingly urban, built-up ,
2007 .
2007 . is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and now often considered to be the
Second City Of The UK .
6
•
7
•
8
•
9
•
10
•
11
The
Trafford Centre is one of the largest indoor shopping centre's in
Europe and is located within the
Metropolitan Borough Of Trafford .
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Greater Manchester South at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of
British Pounds Sterling (GB£) .
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Greater Manchester North at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
, is an archetypal redbrick cotton mill built during the
Industrial Revolution . Its structural style remains a common site throughout Greater Manchester.]]
Encompassing several former
Mill Town s, Greater Manchester has been described as "one of the classic areas of industrial and urban growth in Britain, the result of a combination of forces that came together in the 18th and 19th centuries; a pheonmenal rise in poulation, the appearance of the specialist industrial town, a transport revolution and weak local lordship". Much of the county used to be at the forefront of
Textile Manufacture During The Industrial Revolution and beyond into the early 20th century.
1213 and this is represented by former
Textile Mills found throughout the county.
The territory that makes up Greater Manchester experienced a rapid decline of these traditional sectors, partially during the ,
2007 .
Historically, the docks at
Salford Quays were an industrial port, though are now (following a period of disuse) a successfully redeveloped commercial and residential area which includes the
Imperial War Museum North ,
The Lowry Theatre And Exhibition Centre and is also earmarked to become a major centre for the
BBC .
Salford bid wins BBC move north
See Also: Demographics of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester has a population of 2,547,700, making it the
Third Most Populous County in the United Kingdom (after
Greater London and the
West Midlands ). It is the seventh most densely populated county of England.
Greater Manchester is a multicultural agglomeration with significant ethnic minority population comprising 8.49% of the total population.
Regional Portrait of Greater Manchester - 5.3 Population Structure/Migration (demography) , BISER Europe Regions Domain Reporting, 2003. URL accessed
February 18 ,
2007 .
Below is a table outlining population totals of the area for every ten years since 1801. Pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise Greater Manchester.
areas shaded grey.]]
See Also: List of places in Greater Manchester
As a large urbanised county, Greater Manchester is home to two cities and several towns of varying sizes. Some of the ten metropolitan boroughs are named after the largest settlements, including
Rochdale ,
Bolton ,
Salford and
Oldham . However Greater Manchester is also home to many smaller settlements including some rural villages along the outskirts.
The table below outlines many of these settlements, and is formatted according to their metropolitan borough. Each district has a centre of administration; for the most part these correlate with a boroughs largest town (which in further cases gave their name to the boroughs themselves), though for some districts such as the
City Of Salford , other arrangements apply.
This table does not form an extensive list. More settlements can be found at .
Some of these settlements were immortalised on
The Beautiful South 's 2006 single
Manchester (which somewhat erroneously places many settlements within Manchester, rather than Greater Manchester).
tram - part of Greater Manchester's light rail public transport system.]]
Greater Manchester has an extensive railway network, and two mainline stations. A network of bus routes and a modern tram system radiates from Manchester city centre. A canal network also remains from the Industrial Revolution.
Greater Manchester has a higher percentage of the '', it has the most traffic lanes side by side (17), spread across several parallel carriageways (
M61 at Linnyshaw Moss, Greater Manchester, close to the
M60 interchange).
British Roads Database www.cbrd.co.uk URL accessed June 28, 2007
1516
The
2002 Commonwealth Games were staged in Manchester and provided the area with world class sports facilities, including the
Manchester Aquatics Centre ,
Bolton Arena ,
National Squash Centre ,
Eastlands Stadium and the supporting athletics stadium at
Sports City . This built on the success of the
Manchester Velodrome in regenerating the Eastern side of the connurbation.
, the main venue of the
2002 Commonwealth Games and home to
Manchester City F.C. .]]
, dating from 1893, includes numerous amateur teams.
In are competing in National League 1,
Manchester RUFC in National League 2 and Wigan side
Orrell RUFC in National League 3 (North).
In
Rugby League ,
Wigan Warriors and
Salford City Reds compete in the
Super League , while
Leigh Centurions and
Rochdale Hornets take part in National League 1, with
Oldham Roughyeds being local rivals of
Swinton Lions in National League 2. Prominent amateur sides are numerous and include
Leigh Miners ,
Leigh East ,
Wigan St Patricks ,
Eccles And Salford Juniors and
Oldham St Annes .
The Kirkmanshulme Lane stadium in
Belle Vue is the home to top-flight speedway team the
Belle Vue Aces and regular
Greyhound Racing .
Professional
Ice Hockey is set to return to the area in early 2007 with the scheduled opening of a purpose designed rink in
Altrincham , the
Altrincham Ice Dome to host the
Manchester Phoenix , the predecessor
Manchester Storm having gone out of business in 2002 due to the overheads of staging matches in the 17,500 capacity
Manchester Arena .
Greater Manchester had a venue for
Horse Racing for 87 years, initially at
New Barnes and later at
Castle Irwell which is now a student residence for the
University Of Salford . Racing began at New Barnes in 1876 but the site had to be vacated in 1901 to facilitate an expansion to
Manchester Docks - the land is now home to Dock 9 of the re-branded
Salford Quays . Racing then moved to Castle Irwell which later staged a Classic - the 1941 St Ledger, and was most famous as home of the Lancashire Oaks (nowadays run at Haydock Park) and the November Handicap, which was traditionally the last major race of the UK flat season. Through the late 50's and early 60's the track saw legendary jockeys
Scobie Breasley and
Lester Piggott annually battle out the closing acts of the jockey's title until racing ceased on
November 7 1963 . The main stand at Castle Irwell was designed by local architect Ernst Atherton and was the first stand at any UK sports venue to include private boxes, the idea having later been copied by
Manchester United and then made commonplace throughout the country. The structure still survives as a
Students Union building. Although both sites carried the name of
Manchester Racecourse , neither was strictly speaking within the boundaries of
Manchester itself. A proposal to reincarnate
Manchester Racecourse is presently being pursued by
Peel Holdings at a site in
Worsley - which like New Barnes and Castle Irwell is found in the neighbouring
City Of Salford .
Aside from Sports City, which has hosted numerous national trials, alternative athletics venues can be found at
Robin Park in Wigan,
Longford Park in
Stretford (home to Stretford Harriers) and the Cleavleys Track in
Winton (home of Salford Harriers).
). The club is based at the
County Ground , commonly known as
Old Trafford and adjacent to the famous football stadium of the same name. Lancashire contested the original 1890
County Championship Cricinfo - The County Championship and in 2006, the club finished second.
A wide range of new sports facilities that include a 10,000 capacity stadium and athletics venue are presently being constructed at the
Leigh Sports Village .
See Also: Category:Visitor attractions in Greater Manchester
Category:Culture in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester boasts many places of interest, including multiple museums, galleries and centres of art and culture. Along the outskirts of the Greater Manchester conurbation feature many sites of natural beauty, including the
West Pennine Moors , and parts of the
Peak District .
Greater Manchester
