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Didsbury (pronounced /dĭdsˈbûrē/ or dids-burgh-ry) is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in North West England, with a population of 14,292. It is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester City Centre, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. The area is intersected by Wilmslow Road, the busiest bus corridor in Europe.

Didsbury is predominantly populated by young professionals, families and students, and is considered to be a desirable residential area. Didsbury has the lowest rate of unemployment (2.55%) and highest rate of full time employment in the Manchester metropolitan district (48%).

The area can be defined in two ways, it could include the small village in the centre of the urban area on the main thoroughfare from Manchester City Centre, or the term could define the larger area which also includes West Didsbury and East Didsbury.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was formed in Didsbury, in 1889. 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 Grade II* listed house was designed by Salford architect Thomas Worthington, for the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, John Edward Taylor.

History

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. In the 13th century, Didsbury was variously known as Dydesbyre, Dydesbiri, Didsbury, or Dodesbury.

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, but was renamed as St. James in 1855. It underwent major refurbishment in 1620 and 1801, although most of the stonework visible today dates from the 17th century. The two public houses flanking the nearby village green, The Didsbury Inn and The Olde Cock Inn, were described in the late 1780s by local Alderman Fletcher Moss as the "gates of Hell", because of the temptation they offered to drop in for drink rather than go to the church. A charter granted in about 1260 shows that a corn-grinding mill was operating in Didsbury, along the River Mersey.

During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert stationed himself at Didsbury Ees to the south of Barlow Moor. In the Jacobite march south from Manchester to Derby in 1745, it is likely that it crossed the old ford of the River Mersey at Didsbury. As a consequence, of the marches and retreats across the river by Prince Rupert and Bonnie Prince Stuart, the hamlet was made a focal point for the journeys from the North of England to London and so became more economically active than before. Some analysts believe this to be the "early signs of industrialistion" in Manchester.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal settled in the area; it became home for one of the two large Jewish communities in and around Manchester, the other being Prestwich. The large number of Jewish immigrants led to Didsbury being nicknamed Yidsbury and Palatine Road, a main road through West Didsbury, Palestine Road. Their children and grandchildren moved out to areas such as Bowdon, Hale and Hale Barns as they grew wealthier.

During the Victorian expansion of Manchester, Didsbury developed as a prosperous settlement; a few of the old mansions still exist on Wilmslow Road between Didsbury Village and Parrs Wood, now converted to either nursing homes or offices. The opening of the Midland 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 Station. 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 (1847–1909).

On 28 April 1910, French pilot Louis Paulhan landed his aeroplane in Barcicroft Fields, Pytha Fold Farm, on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at the end of the first powered flight from London to Manchester. Paulhan beat the British contender, Claude Grahame-White, winning a GB£10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail. Two special trains were chartered to Burnage Station to take spectators and mechanics to the landing. The site, in Paulhan Road, is marked by a blue plaque.

Governance

Civic history

In the early 13th century, Didsbury lay within the manor of Withington, a feudal estate which also included the townships of Withington, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Moss Side, Rusholme, Burnage, Denton and Haughton, ruled by the Hathersage, Longford and Tatton families. Didsbury remained within the manor of Withington for several centuries.

By 1764, Didsbury was being 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. In 1904, Withington Urban District became a part of the City of Manchester, and Didsbury was absorbed into the city, although it remained a civil parish until 1910.

Political representation

Didsbury is in the parliamentary constituency of Manchester Withington, and is represented by John Leech MP, a member of the Liberal Democrats. Manchester Withington became the first constituency in Manchester since 1929 to elect a Liberal Democrat on Leech's election in 2005. The previous encumbent of the seat, Keith Bradley, had held the seat for Labour for 18 years; Lucy Powell was chosen as the Labour candidate in March 2007 to try to regain the seat at the next general election.

The area is split into two electoral wards of the City of Manchester, Didsbury East and Didsbury West. Didsbury East is represented by Liberal Democrat councillors Helen Fisher, Tony Parkinson and David Sandiford. Didsbury West is represented on the council by Liberal Democrat councillors Graham Shaw, Neil Trafford and Mark Clayton. Both wards elect in thirds on a four yearly cycle.

Geography

Didsbury, at 53°24′59″N 2°13′51″W / 53.41639°N 2.23083°W / 53.41639; -2.23083Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (53.4166, -2.2311), is located below 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, Northenden to the west and south-west, Burnage to the east and north-east and Cheadle & Gatley to the south. The River Mersey forms Didsbury's southern border, and also marks the boundary of the City of Manchester borough. The area (East Didsbury, West Didsbury & Didsbury) 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. The district also has a "country trail" passing through it from West Didsbury to East, named 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 is located in the Mersey Valley and because of this is often flooded, although the last major occurrence happened in the late 1960s. During these occasions, when the River Mersey floods, the Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden and Millgate Lane bridge, which is close to the village's south western boundary, act as emergency flood basins.

Demography

The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a total resident population for Didsbury of 14,292. Approximately 2,751 were aged under 16, 9,721 were aged 16-65, and 2,137 aged 65 and over. 87% of Didsbury's population claim they were born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. In 2001, 80.2% of people identified themselves as White British, 7.8% Asian or Asian British, 1.2% Black or Black British, 0.5% Mixed Race and 1.3% Chinese or other ethnic group. The population density of the entire Didsbury area, including both East and West, was found to be 5,276/sq mi (2,037/km²) in the 2001 census. Inhabitants of Didsbury are known as Didsburians, or Dids for short.

Religion

Even though Didsbury has a varied demography, it is not as religiously diverse as the rest of the city. Didsbury has the second largest Jewish population in the borough and a medium Muslim population in comparison to areas such as Rusholme, Longsight and Levenshulme. It has a larger Christian community than Manchester with many of them originating from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Jamaica and the USA.

Economy

As of the UK's 2001 census, Didsbury an estimated workforce of 10,755 or 75.2% of population. Economic status in Didsbury was; 48% in full-time employment, 8.2% in part-time employment, 10% were self-employed, 2.5% unemployed, 3.8% full-time student (without job), 11% retired, 3.8% housewife/husband or carer, 4% permanently sick or disabled and 2.25% economically inactive for unstated or unknown reasons. Didsbury has a high rate of full-time employment (48%) in comparison to Manchester District (33%) and the North West (38%). The area also has a low rate of unemployment (2.55%) compared with Manchester (5%) and the North West (3.7%).

In accordance with the 2001 UK census, the main industry of employment in Didsbury was 10.5% business and property, 8% education, 7.9% health and social work, 6% retail and wholesale, 4.5% manufacturing, 3% transport and communications, 2.5% financial, 2.2% hotels and restaurants, 1.8% construction, 1.8% public administration and defence, and 3.1% 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.

Culture

Village centre

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 traditional independent retailers are gradually being replaced by multi-national firms, raising fears that Didsbury is losing its individual identity and becoming 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.

A locally famous pub crawl, taking in twelve bars in one night, is known as The Didsbury Dozen.

Green areas

The Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden is a 21-acre (8.5 ha) 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 1914. In 2007, 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 2007. It is a community park in Didsbury village centre that comprises a bowls area, creche, 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 nearby 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.

Sports

Didsbury Sports Centre is on Millgate Lane, part of the Manchester Metropolitan University campus. It provides facilities for football, gaelic football and rugby. Old Bedians Rugby Club, one of two rugby union clubs in Didsbury, is based at the centre. Old Bedians was founded in 1954, and 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 TocH R.F.C, founded in 1924, is Didsbury's other rugby union club. 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. Didsbury Cricket Club fields three Saturday teams and two Sunday teams. The first eleven play in the Cheshire County League Division 1. As well as the five senior teams, the club also has a junior section comprising four age sections between 11 and 18. It is also home to Manchester Waconians Lacrosse Club and Didsbury Grey's Women's Hockey Team, which don't actually play at the site but at grounds in Belle Vue, that were designed for the XVII Commonwealth Games. Northern Tennis Club, located in West Didsbury, is one of Manchester's few racquet clubs; it annually plays host to an Association of Tennis Professionals tournament in July.

Education

Didsbury has a non-selective education system, assessed by the SATs exam, taken by children in Year 6. There are two state comprehensive secondary schools and seven primary schools. Parrswood High School, a specialist school in the visual arts and technology, was described in its 2001 OFSTED report as "very good school with some excellent features". The Barlow RC High School is a secondary comprehensive school and specialist science college. It recently changed its name to The Barlow from Barlow - to avoid confusion with another Barlow secondary school nearby. It has recently got permission from Manchester City Council to boost the new building initative, whereby the current premises will be demolished. The original and current buildings date back to 1951. Both schools recently gained an award for inclusion by Manchester City Council, now known as the Manchester Inclusion Award. Both institutes have in excess of 1000 pupils, as they accept children from adjacent districts such as Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Withington.

Didsbury has two higher education centres. City College, Manchester's Fielden Campus is in West Didsbury and mostly offers courses in communication and technology. Manchester Metropolitan University also has a campus in Didsbury, home to the faculties of health, social care, and education, along with the Broomhurst Hall of Residence.

Media

From 1956 to 1969, Didsbury was home to the northern studios of ITV station ABC Weekend Television. These were actually converted from the Capitol cinema at the junction between Parrswood Road and School Lane. In 1969, ABC closed the site when it was merged with fellow ITV company Rediffusion to become London station Thames Television. For a short while, the site was used by Yorkshire Television until their own facilities in Leeds were ready. In 1970 it was sold to Manchester Polytechnic (later Manchester Metropolitan University) and eventually in the late 1990s it was demolished to make way for a residential development of flats. From this site, part of ITV's history had been created - as early episodes of The Avengers and Armchair Theatre were made there.

Notable people

Daniel Adamson, promoter of the Manchester Ship Canal, lived at The Towers (blue plaque – now the Shirley Institute) on Wilmslow Road from 1874. His home, designed by Thomas Worthington, was the venue for the 1882 meeting at which it was decided to promote the Ship Canal project. Kirsty Howard, made famous by her appearance in the opening of the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester, resides in Francis House, a local hospice.

Transport

Wilmslow Road provides Didsbury Village with an extremely regular bus service due to the strong demand for travel by students along the corridor. The service is cheap and passengers rarely having to wait more than a couple of minutes. According to some analysts, Wilmslow Road is the busiest bus corridor in Europe. The roads in the centre of Didsbury are often overcrowded but it is relatively easy to get to Manchester's motorway ring road - the M60 motorway. The M60 also links Didsbury to Manchester Airport with the journey taking around 20 minutes. East Didsbury station and Burnage railway station are on the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport and thereby provides a link to a number of minor suburban train stations along this route. Didsbury Village and West Didsbury were once served by train services that ran out of Manchester Central (now G-Mex) until that line shut in the 1960s.

• Bus services: Didsbury is served by several bus routes into Manchester City Centre, The Trafford Centre, Northenden, East Didsbury and other destinations.

Manchester Metrolink

The Manchester Metrolink's proposed extension to Stockport had been routed to run down the old railway cutting through Didsbury. However, this line is a lower priority than those to Manchester Airport, Ashton, Oldham and Rochdale that are due to be built in the next phase of Metrolink development. With these lines having fallen behind schedule due to the government refusing to meet costs that have escalated (largely due to the government insisting the development is funded as a Private Finance Initiative, which is more expensive than a public grant as it protects the private sector against risk) the Didsbury line is now unlikely to be built within the next decade.

References

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External links

• Didsbury Magazine — A local "fashionable" magazine
• Didsburylife.com A guide to Didsbury
• Catholic children's rescue society
• Francis House - A local hospice

• Districts of Manchester