Levenshulme

Levenshulme
Population
OS grid reference	SJ875945
Metropolitan borough	City of Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M19
Dialling code	0161 22x
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Manchester Gorton

Levenshulme is an urban area of the City of Manchester, in North West England. It borders Longsight, Gorton, Burnage and Stockport, 4 miles (6.4 km) from Manchester City Centre on the A6 road. Levenshulme is also situated on the main Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston railway line. Levenshulme railway station is bypassed by inter-city train services but is served by local commuter trains.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Levenshulme, a former township, is predominantly residential with minimal industrial presence. The majority of its economy is generated via small retail establishments with a predominance of fast food shops, public houses and antique stores. It has a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population and in the 2001 census it was determined that the population was 12,961. Levenshulme is one of the most deprived areas in England.

Levenshulme is referred to locally as 'Levy' (pronounced Leh-vee).

History

The very early history is so obscure as to be virtually non-existent. Many of the surrounding suburbs, such as Withington, Didsbury, Gorton etc, had a history of developing as villages, but for some reason Levenshulme didn't. It has had several names over the millennia (according to East Lancashire expert Eilert Ekwall), including: in 1246 it was called "de Lewyneshulm", in 1322 "Levensholme" and in 1587 it was called "Lensom". The name itself is derived from a possessive version of a person's name, "Leofwine's" and "holm", a Viking term meaning island (usually in a lake or river).

The district of East Levenshulme used to be known as Talleyrand, and it was said the French Statesman Talleyrand once stayed there during his exile from France, presumably during 1792-1794.

Legend has it that the famous Highwayman Dick Turpin regularly visited the Blue Bell Inn on Barlow Road which shares the name of his birthplace. There has been an inn on this site for more than 400 years.

A typical back entry

The typical housing of Levenshulme consists of terraced houses the majority of whom were built circa 1880-1890. The style of houses are what are known colloquially as "two up-two downs". With a bedroom above each lower room, the house is bisected by a steep, narrow staircase. A kitchen was to the rear. Right up to the 1980s it wasn't uncommon for the original outside toilet (to the rear of the kitchen) to still be present.

The layout of the streets which contain these terraces are typical of the area and consist of grid layouts intersected with wide back entries which run the length of the terrace blocks at the rear and at each end of the block. This alley/back-entry layout is supposed to be because of an old of the Levenshulme local authority by-law that every terraced house had to allow access to the back door by a horse and cart to enable rubbish to be removed without the need enter the house.

These back entries are now generally considered to be a threat to home security. Accordingly Manchester City Council has, over recent years, helped residents by funding a "Gated Alley" response to the threat. When all affected residents of a particular entry are in agreement the entries have iron gates set up at all ingress and egress points with all affected residents being issued a key.

Governance

Manchester and its districts had developed into what were referred to as the "Thirty Townships". Levenshulme was one of them and in 1865 got its own 'board' which shortly thereafter developed into an urban district council. Prior to the turn of the century West Levenshulme was considered to be a "dormitory" for Manchester. This description eventually changed to one of "residential suburb" a decade or so later, but East Levenshulme was still primarily industrial in nature comprising mostly of print works, bleach works, dye works, and mattress works. In spite of the preponderance of industrial works there were also several farms, and the area around what is now Levenshulme High School was considered to be semi-rural right up until the 1920s.

Up until the late 19th century Manchester's outlying townships had to supply their own amenities. This was becoming increasingly difficult for the urban councils to do and as a result there was a considerable difference in prices charged to the residents compared to the prices charged by Manchester itself. Manchester refused to alleviate these difficulties unless townships agreed to come under their control. As a result the townships slowly began to amalgamate into Manchester's rule. Along with Withington, Levenshulme protested at the discrepancy of prices for gas in the city and for the outlying townships that were already supplied by Manchester. Nevertheless many of those townships arranged to get their electricity from Manchester, possibly in the hope that they would benefit from the city's plans to electrify the tram system when the existing lease with the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company was due to end in 1901. Along with Gorton, Levenshulme joined Manchester in 1909. The tramways were extended to serve Levenshulme before the start of WW1 in 1914.

The Levenshulme ward is represented in Manchester City Council by John Commons, Alec Cowan and Keith Whitmore.

Levenshulme forms part of the wider Manchester Gorton UK Parliamentary constituency and is represented by Gerald Kaufman (Labour), who has held the seat since 1983.

Although there is some commercial expansion and increasing numbers of entertainment establishments, in some ways Levenshulme is still declining, an example being the reduction of publically funded leisure facilities. As of September 2007, other than three parks (Greenbank Fields, Chapel Street Park and Highfield Country Park) there is only a library and swimming pool that is council run.

Levenshulme also houses the Consulate of the Netherlands located at Apex House, 266 Moseley Road.

Demography

Further information: [[:Demography of Greater Manchester]]

In 1830 Levenshulme had a population of 768.

Levenshulme has an Irish population of approximately 7.0% which is twice the Manchester average, and as a consequence it is sometimes called 'County Levenshulme' in reference to the County structure in Ireland. Irish produce, including soda bread, red lemonade and Irish newspapers, can be bought in Levenshulme's shops, whilst local cafes serve up boiled bacon and cabbage, a traditional Irish dish. The demographics within the district are changing with increasing numbers of (mostly Muslim) people of South Asian origin and a growing number of Africans, settling in Levenshulme. Over a third of the population belong to an ethnic minority. Many students also rent accommodation in the area.

In the 2001 Census, the ethnic make up of Levenshulme was:

Home of ALL FM radio station

Ethnic Group	Person count	Percentage
White: British	8625	65.12
Asian/Asian-British: Pakistani	1714	13.51
White: Irish	884	6.97
White: Other	301	2.37
Black/Black-British: Caribbean	300	2.36
Asian/Asian-British: Indian	185	1.46
Asian/Asian-British: Other Asian	161	1.27
Mixed: White & Black Caribbean	149	1.17
Asian/Asian-British: Bangladeshi	139	1.10
Black/Black-British: African	135	1.06
Chinese	110	0.87
Mixed: White & Asian	94	0.74
Mixed: White & Black African	77	0.61
Other Ethnic Groups	77	0.61
Mixed: Other	61	0.48
Black/Black-British: Other Black	39	0.31

Culture

The Blue Bell Inn

Levenshulme is evolving into an area typical of South Manchester, i.e. a mix of pubs, bars, restaurants, takeaways, cybercafés and terraced housing. In fact, Levy's cyberculture is rapidly growing and demonstrates that the area is embracing a 21st century lifestyle in a thriving mixed-culture environment. Despite these traits, the modern Levenshulme is still considered to be one of the most deprived areas of Manchester, and regeneration efforts are underway to address this problem. Local residents have recently formed the "Friends of Levenshulme" association in order to highlight some of the more acute socio-economic and environmental concerns that Levenshulme faces including the lack of a basic supermarket due to the nationwide closure campaign of late by discount supermarket, Kwik Save.

There is a well organised, annual "Levenshulme Festival" which usually features 120+ multi-cultural events from firework displays to music concerts. The festival has been running since 1998.

The community radio station All FM is based in Levenshulme.

Religion

Statistics

Levenshulme has a varied ethnic mix. According to the 2001 Census the break down by religion is:

Levenshulme Railway Station

Religion	Person count	Percentage
Christian	7196	56.7
Muslim	2126	16.74
No religion	2061	16.24
Religion not stated	1051	8.28
Hindu	101	0.80
Other religions	49	0.39
Buddhist	44	0.35
Sikh	37	0.29
Jewish	26	0.20
Total	12691	100

Places of worship

Name	Address	Religion	Year built/Established
St Aiden's Church	Clare Road	English Language Orthodox
St Andrew's Church	Broom Avenue
Levenshulme Baptist Church	Elmsworth Avenue	Baptist
Levenshulme Methodist Church	Stockport Road	Methodist	13 May 1865
Methodism in Levenshulme has a history dating back to 1766 (based on financial records of The Methodist Society). In that time there have been five Methodist churches. Levenshulme Methodist Church (formerly Levenshulme New Wesleyan Chapel) is the only one to survive.
Levenshulme United Reform Church	Grange Avenue	URC
Currently Levenshulme United Reform Church is closed and virtually derelict. As of September 2007 there are plans to convert the building into shops.
Madina Mosque & UK Islamic Mission	Barlow Road	Muslim	Islamic Centre opened c.1986
The Islamic Centre is housed in the building which was originally St Peter's School built in 1854 and closed in 1982.
St Mark's Church	Barlow Road	Church of England	Built 1908
St Mark's was declared a Grade II listed building on 6 June 1994.
St Mary of the Angels & St. Clare RC Church	Elbow Street	Roman Catholic
St Peters Church	Stockport Road	Church of England	Consecrated in 1860
In 1852 a donation of 1445 square yards of land and £500 was made to Levenshulme to build a church. The donation came from a member of a family known for generous donations for churches, Charles Carill-Worsley. St Peter's School (directly behind the church) was built in 1854 and was used initially as a temporary place for the congregation to worship.

• 
  St Mark's Church
• 
  Madina Mosque & UK Islamic Mission
• 
  St Peter's Church

Recreation and leisure

File:Highfield Country Park sign 3.jpg

Sign on the old track bed between Reddish and Levenshulme

A small pond in the middle of
Highfield Country Park

Levenshulme Swimming Baths

Levenshulme Public Library

Levenshulme doesn't have much by way of publically funded recreation facilities. But what it does have:

Parks

Green Bank Fields

This park is a green area stretching between Manor Road in the north, Mount Road in the east and Barlow Road in the south and west. It is primarily open grass land but also houses an open-air, enclosed 5-a-side football pitch adjacent to the Mount Road exit.

Up until c.1920 the land that Green Bank Fields was on held a dairy farm called Green Bank Farm (Wolfenden's) and a small house called Botany Bay cottage. The entrance to the farm was originally where the main entrance to the park is now on Barlow Road adjacent to Byrom Parade shops.

Manchester City Council fomented a local controversy by selling off part of Mellands (GMPTE) Playing Fields, Gorton to Dappa Homes to build 149 houses. Dappa is obliged to replace the land they are using to build the homes. In May 2004 Dappa Homes submitted plans to build 3 football pitches, a clubhouse and surround the park with a 3 metre fence on Green Bank Fields. This would have the effect of reducing the versatile open-space into a restricted use site.

Highfield Country Park

Highfield Country Park is a 70 acre area of open land that stretches to the east of Broom Avenue across to the back of Reddish Golf Course and over to the junction of Longford Road and Nelstrop Road.

In the 1970s it was designated as a country park by the council, but at the time it wasn't much more than a landfill site that was formerly the site of a tripe factory, a brickworks, Levenshulme Dye and Bleach works and High Field Farm.

Up until 2004 the park was jointly maintained by Manchester City Council and a group of volunteers called The Friends of Highfield Park. In July 2004 the park came to the attention of the Prudential Grass Roots campaign (run by the BTCV conservation charity). Over a 12 month period the park was transformed from a dreary, vandalised wasteland into a pleasant country park with a picnic area and mapped out country walks.

Sport

Swimming

Levenshulme Swimming Baths was built in the late 1800s and was formerly called "Levenshulme Public Baths and Washhouse" as it also housed the public washhouse at the rear.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s Levenshulme Baths was used as a training pool for Longsight resident Sunny Lowry, who, in 1933, was the first British woman to swim the English Channel (from France to England).

Community

Library

Levenshulme library is what is known as a "Carnegie library" as it was gifted to the people of Levenshulme by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The ceremonial laying of the first brick (in reality an engraved stone plaque) took place on 5 December 1903. The stone was laid by George Paulson in his role as Chairman of The Free Library Committee. The library actually opened its doors to the public in 1904. At the time the money was gifted there was a minor local furore as some Levenshulme residents expressed the opinion that it was "immoral" for the then Urban District Council to accept the money from Carnegie as they believed the money to be "tainted". This was allegedly due to Carnegie's suppression of trade unions in the United States.

Education

Name	Address	Info
Primary Schools
Alma Park Primary School	Errwood Road
Chapel Street Primary School	Chapel Street
St Andrew's CofE Primary School	Broom Avenue
St Mary's RC Primary School	Clare Road
Secondary Schools
Levenshulme High School	Crossley Road
Other Schools

Notable people

• The architect Norman Foster was brought up in Levenshulme.

• Dad's Army's "Captain Mainwaring", Arthur Lowe attended Chapel Street School when he was young.

See also

ALL FM

External links

• Levenshulme then and now: A personal view
• Levenshulme Festival website
• Levenshulme Community Association
• Friends of Levenshulme
• Manchester City Council: Image library, containing 1420 images of Levenshulme (as of September 2007)