Wythenshawe

Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe  Wythenshawe shown within Greater Manchester
Population	66,267 (2001 Census)
Metropolitan borough	City of Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M22, M23
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Wythenshawe and Sale East
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Wythenshawe ( /ˈwɪðənʃɔː/; pop. 66,000) is a district in the south of the city of Manchester, England.

Historically within Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s to resolve the problem of its inner city slums. With an area of approximately 11 square miles (28 km²), Wythenshawe has often been referred to as one of the largest council housing estates in Europe, although a significant proportion of the estate is now privately owned housing.

The district comprises nine areas: Baguley, Benchill, Peel Hall, Newall Green, Woodhouse Park, Moss Nook, Sharston, Northenden and Northern Moor. The boundaries of these areas have changed throughout the district's history, and previously known areas such as Brownley Green and Crossacres have since been assimilated into one of the areas listed above, though many residents still refer to them by name.

History

Wythenshawe Hall, a former stately home and local landmark in Wythenshawe Park

The name of Wythenshawe seems to come from the Old English wiðign = "withy tree" and sceaga = "wood" (compare dialectal word shaw). The three ancient townships of Northenden, Baguley, and Northen Etchells formally became the present-day Wythenshawe when they were merged with Manchester in 1931. Until then, the name had referred only to Wythenshawe Hall and its grounds.

For many centuries the Tatton family owned Wythenshawe Hall and much land in what is now Wythenshawe. Manchester Corporation, which was in desperate need of land to house the city's rapidly increasing population, pressured Mr Tatton to part with the land in 1926. What was once farmland was transformed into one of the largest housing estates in Europe.

Immediately south of Wythenshawe is Manchester Airport, formerly called Ringway Airport.

Before Manchester's Barton and Ringway airports were laid out, three farm fields between Rackhouse Road and Wythenshawe Road in what is now the north edge of Wythenshawe were used as Manchester (Wythenshawe) Aerodrome. This was the UK's first municipal airfield, and operated between April 1929 and early 1930. A barn was converted to act as the hangar and a farmhouse as the administration building. Temporary fuel pumps were installed.

Area where Manchester Airport and Wythenshawe are now, as around 1925

Housing and social history

Wythenshawe is Manchester's largest district, a massive housing estate that was created in the 1920s intended as a "garden city" where an overspill population could be rehoused away from the slums and squalor of industrial Manchester.

Part of Benchill (not the area southwest of Gladeside Road) was built before World War II and called the Wythenshawe Ward of the City of Manchester. The rest was built starting around 1960.

The estate was built initially without shops, amenities or services, and there was very little employment directly to hand: people wanting to buy household supplies had to "wait until the mobile shop came round, or go to Northenden". Various residents' associations were set up to address these problems, but progress was very slow. Wythenshawe eventually expanded, and businesses were attracted to the area with the creation of the Sharston Industrial Estate and, later, the Moss Nook and Roundthorn industrial complexes. Wythenshawe gradually acquired all the amenities and facilities that the original planners had neglected to include, such as schools, shops, pubs and churches. The area also got its own hospital, and Wythenshawe Hospital grew out of the earlier Baguley Hospital after the Second World War in 1948. The largest shopping area was constructed in the 1960s in the town centre (known locally as the Wythenshawe Civic Centre), which has been expanded further since its initial construction. In 1971, the Wythenshawe Forum was opened, which included a library, a swimming pool and a theatre.

Many houses previously owned by the council are now under the control of local housing associations, such as Willow Park in Benchill and Parkway Green in Baguley.

Wythenshawe has 12 parks and 18 woodland areas including Wythenshawe Park which covers over 270 acres (1.1 km²) of green space and is home to Manchester's only community farm. At the centre of the park is the historic Wythenshawe Hall with its Civil War and Tatton heritage. The park also has riding stables, a horticulture centre, tea rooms, children's play area, athletics track, football pitches, tennis courts, bowls and golfing facilities. Other parks include Hollyhedge Park, Peel Hall Park, Painswick Park and Baguley Park. Northenden's Riverside Park is the first new park to be established in the city this century.

Governance

The district is under the authority of Manchester City Council.

The area used to be its own parliamentary constituency, having been Manchester Wythenshawe since the 1960s and represented by Alf Morris of the Labour Party. Before the 1997 election, the boundaries were redrawn and part of the neighbouring area of Sale included in the seat. The constituency is now called Wythenshawe and Sale East. In the same year, Alf Morris stepped down and was replaced by Paul Goggins. It is still considered a safe Labour seat, with Labour securing over 50% of the vote (and more than twice as many votes as its nearest rival) in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections. Labour kept the seat in the 2010 elections, though their share of the vote was decreased to 44.1%.

At the time of the 2001 UK Census Wythenshawe was divided into five local government wards: Baguley, Benchill, Northenden, Sharston, and Woodhouse Park. Each ward was represented by three local councillors, giving Wythenshawe 18 of the 99 seats on Manchester City Council. Following a review by the Boundary Committee for England published in 2003, the ward of Benchill was abolished, and its former territory was divided between the wards of Northenden, Sharston, and Woodhouse Park.

Wythenshawe typically returns all Labour councillors in local elections, although in the 2008 elections the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Northenden and a second seat (in the same area) in the 2010 elections.

Geography

Wythenshawe is approximately 8 miles (13 km) south of Manchester city centre and is the southernmost district within the Manchester boundary.

Public services

Wythenshawe is policed by the South Manchester Division of Greater Manchester Police. The Wythenshawe Neighbourhood Policing Team, which covers Sharston, Benchill and Woodhouse Park is situated on Poundswick Lane.

Wythenshawe's fire and rescue services are the responsibility of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, and are based at a fire station on Brownley Road.

In the media

Wythenshawe is the outdoor filming location for the Channel 4 series Shameless, which shows various shots of the local tower-blocks, housing estates and other architecture unique to this area. Wythenshawe also housed the outdoor sets for the show, which were built on private property. Production moved from West Gorton (in East Manchester) in early 2007, following disruption to filming caused by local youths.

In 2009, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (former wife of Prince Andrew) went to Wythenshawe to make a television documentary for ITV1 entitled The Duchess On The Estate. In it, she visited the Northern Moor area of Wythenshawe to meet locals and discuss their way of life, and to open a new local community centre. Both before and after its transmission, the documentary was widely criticised for being a self-serving publicity stunt by Ferguson, and she was also criticised for her patronising attitude towards the local people.

Economy

The Civic Centre in Wythenshawe. The Park Court multi-storey flats at the far end were demolished in 2007 and a new local authority services hub is being built in its place.

About 43,000 people work in Wythenshawe. There are four areas of industrial activity (estates) - Moss Nook, Ringway (Airport Cargo Centre), Roundthorn and Sharston. It is home to Manchester Airport and UHSM Wythenshawe Hospital which are two of the largest employers in the area, and various national companies also have premises situated in Wythenshawe, including Virgin Media, F. Duerr & Sons, and Wylex / Electrium (now under Siemens ownership) amongst others.

Several greenfield and greyfield sites have been opened up to developers and there are several new housing developments within the area.

The town centre, originally built in the 1960s, was renovated between 1999 and 2002, to include new stores and other new features. The main shopping area now features gates that are locked at night to prevent the vandalism that was seen in previous years. The Forum centre, which houses a library, leisure centre, cafe and other amenities, has also been renovated in a more modern style. In 2007, Asda opened a new superstore with multi-storey car parking on the site of the old Co-operative store that was originally built in the 1970s. A walkway going between the multi-storey car park and the large supermarket building now features a wall mosaic depicting various aspects of the town. After the demolition of two 1960s blocks of multi-storey flats in 2007, a new local authority services hub is currently being constructed by Manchester City Council that will provide a new frontage for the town centre from its north-facing aspect.

See also

• List of large council estates in the UK

References

Bibliography

• Deakin, Derick (1989), Wythenshawe: The Story of a Garden City, Phillimore & Co, ISBN 0-85033-699-6 
• Scholefield, R. A. (2004), Manchester's Early Airfields, an extended chapter in Moving Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, ISSN 0950-4699 

External links

• http://www.realliveswythenshawe.com Local news, information and events
• http://www.manchester.gov.uk/a_to_z/service/1316/wythenshawe_park Wythenshawe Park
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/world/europe/10britain.html NY Times article about Wythenshawe youth
• http://www.wythit-heritagetrail.btik.com/ The Wythenshawe Heritage Trail
• http://www.wythenshawehistory.btik.com/p_TEST.ikml history of Wythenshawe
• http://www.wythenshaweworld.com Wythenshawe's Own Local Newspaper