Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chorlton is a suburb of Manchester. It is situated about three miles south west of the city centre, on the crossroads of two main roads - A6010 Wilbraham Road & B5218 Barlow Moor Road. Chorlton was originally a separate village outside of the City but, along with Hardy Farm, became a part of the Manchester conurbation due to urban sprawl.

It is a separate area which should not be confused with Chorlton-on-Medlock, a different area in the centre of Manchester.

Chorlton likely derives from 'tún' (meaning farm, settlement or homestead) and 'ceorl' (meaning a freeman of the lowest class), giving us a full title similar to 'settlement of the peasants'. Hardy was an adjoining farm area probably meaning 'hard island' in Old English. These two parishes were brought together in 1555 with the Latin word cum (meaning with) used to seal the union.

Chorlton Green is a conservation area in a tranquil part of Chorlton, and is the last remaining vestige of the original village. Bull-baiting was introduced into Britain around the year 1209, and it remained active in Chorlton Green until it was made illegal in 1835. Now on hot summer days locals congregate and relax on the Green with refreshments from the adjacent pub, the Horse and Jockey.

The area is well-populated with creative people, with many artists, writers and actors based locally. Also, the Bee Gees spent their early childhood living on 51, Keppel Road, Chorlton, and the artist/musician Badly Drawn Boy currently lives in Chorlton. The Stone Roses were another Chorlton band, with guitarist John Squire living and working for Cosgrove Hall in the suburb . Mike Pickering, the M of M people lived on Ryebank Road. Another famous and long term resident of Chorlton-Cum-Hardy was the actress Doris Speed who lived in Sibson Rd. For over twenty years she played Annie Walker - the posh talking landlady of the Rovers Return in the ITV soap opera Coronation St.

Until the 1990s, Chorlton was largely a working class area. Whilst this is still true in many regards, the area has seen much gentrification and urban development, particularly around the Beech Road area. This was perhaps brought about by an influx of outsiders, such as students from the Manchester universities, many of whom chose to live in the area whilst studying and chose to stay in the area after graduation.

Chorlton is also known for Cosgrove Hall animation studios where Chorlton and the Wheelies (which get their name from the area) and Dangermouse were both created, amongst many other series.

Every year, Chorlton has a summer festival called the Beech Road festival, at the end of June, centred around the "Rec" (the recreational area just off Beech Road), Chorlton Green, Beech Road, the Horse and Jockey, and the Beech pub. A traditional tug-of-war game is played between teams from the all the older pubs around the area and stalls are set up the whole length of Beech Road.

Chorlton neighbours Stretford, Didsbury, Old Trafford, Fallowfield, Withington, and Whalley Range.

Chorlton ward is represented by three Labour councillors - Angela Gallagher, Sheila Newman, and Val Stevens.

Bibliography

• Chorlton-cum-Hardy: Britain in Old Photographs. Cliff Hayes. Sutton publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-2065-3

See also

Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station

External links

• Pictures of Chorlton today Eyewitness in Manchester pictures of Chorlton
• Chorlton.web
• Chorlton arts festival
• Chorlton Players Amateur dramatics group
• Chorlton Civic Society An independent organisation campaigning for the welfare of Chorlton and its surroundings
• Old photos of Chorlton
• Chorlton's Councillors on Manchester City Council
• Chorlton Online Chorlton community site
• Chorlton What's On News, interviews, events in Chorlton.