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Greater Manchester

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Greater Manchester
Ceremonial county
Motto: 
Ever Vigilant
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
Origin1974
(Local Government Act 1972)
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
Ceremonial county
Area[convert: needs a number]
 • Rank of 48
 • Rank of 48
Density[convert: needs a number]
Ethnicity
91.1% White
5.6% S.Asian
1.2% Afro-Carib.

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which roughly encompasses the conurbation surrounding the City of Manchester, and has a population of 2.48 million.[1] 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 boroughs, 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.

Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the county, which is some 496 square miles (1276 km²),[2] continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference.[3]

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'. The historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire covered the area that is now Greater Manchester (as well as a very small part of Yorkshire).

History

See also: History of Manchester and Category:History of Greater Manchester

Origins

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/published 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.[4]

Conurbations in England tend to build-up at the historic county boundaries [5] 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 boroughs.

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".

Redcliffe-Maud Report

The Local Government Act 1958 designed 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 based on the Manchester conurbation. 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.

Post 1974

Greater Manchester was eventually established on April 1, 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 thirty-three boroughs it is not a designated 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."[6]

Physical geography

Greater Manchester is a landlocked county. The Pennines run along the eastern side of the county, through parts of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside, and the West Pennine Moors lie in the west of the county.

The Mersey and Tame rivers run through the county boundaries.

Black Chew Head is the highest point (county top) of Greater Manchester.

Local government

File:Gtr Man arms.png
The arms of the Greater Manchester County Council, depicted here, became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (though simillar arms are used by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue).

Metropolitan boroughs

Local governance in Greater Manchester is currently provided by the councils of ten districts, known as metropolitan boroughs, these are: Bolton, Bury, the City of Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, the City of Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

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 civil parishes exist in certain parts of Greater Manchester: see list of civil parishes in Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester council's County Hall, was located in what is now Westminster House, in Piccadilly Gardens, central Manchester.

County level functions

File:Gmpte-logo.gif
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Logo.

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 Association of Greater Manchester Local Authorities (AGMLA), which meets to create a co-ordinated county-wide approach to many issues. The AGMLA funds some county-wide bodies such as the Greater Manchester County Records Office. Through the AGMLA, the ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operate on many policy issues, including jointly producing a county-wide Local Transport Plan.[7]

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 Urban Area

A NASA satelite image of Greater Manchester. Manchester city centre is located right of the centre of this image.

Greater Manchester Urban Area, is used by the Office for National Statistics for the large conurbation surrounding Manchester which contains much, but not all of the area of the county of that name, and thus a level of confusion is instilled by its' status and statistics.

Wigan, for example, is within the county of Greater Manchester, but outside the Urban Area, whilst towns outside the county such as Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Whitworth are within the Urban Area.

Although neither the Greater Manchester county, nor the Greater Manchester Urban Area have been granted city status in the United Kingdom, European Union guidelines stipulate that the conurbation surrounding Manchester constitutes as a homogonous urban city region.[8]

Economy

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.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[9] Agriculture[10] Industry[11] Services[12]
1995 15,242 32 4,077 11,133
2000 21,604 20 4,879 16,705
2003 24,950 26 4,788 20,136

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.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[9] Agriculture[10] Industry[11] Services[12]
1995 10,126 27 4,267 5,833
2000 11,391 18 3,938 7,435
2003 13,350 22 4,185 9,143

Industry and commerce

The towns and cities which now form Greater Manchester were, during in the 19th century, major centres of industrial activity and hence of wealth. Activities included mining and textile production (particularly cotton, but also silk and wool). Many surviving cotton mills from this time still mark the Greater Manchester skyline to this day. Historically, the docks in 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.[13]

As one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom, Manchester is also a spiraling centre of business, and economic might.

Parliamentary representation

Main article: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester
File:329px-GreaterManchesterParliamentaryConstituency2005Results svg.png

Greater Manchester is divided into 28 Parliamentary constituencies - 18 Borough constituencies and 10 County constituencies.

Demographics

Greater Manchester is one of the most populous counties in the United Kingdom. It is also ethnically diverse.

Settlements

Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs and urban area
Main article: List of places in Greater Manchester

As a large urbanised county, Greater Manchester is home to two cities and several towns of varying sizes. 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.

This is not an extensive list. More settlements can be found at Category:Towns in Greater Manchester, Category:Villages in Greater Manchester, and Category:Districts of Greater Manchester.

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).

Ceremonial county

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 ceremonial county, Greater Manchester is utilised by the government (via the Office for National Statistics) for the gathering of county-wide statistics, and organising and collating census material.

Sport

Greater Manchester boasts a breadth and depth of sporting venues and clubs that is unsurpassed in the UK outside London.

The Commonwealth Games that were staged in Manchester in 2002 were a resounding success[citation needed] and provided the area with world class sports facilities, including the Manchester Aquatics Centre, 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.

In football, four Greater Manchester teams, Bolton Wanderers F.C., Manchester City F.C., Manchester United F.C., and Wigan Athletic F.C., play in the 2006-07 FA Premier League. In addition to this, Oldham Athletic play in League One and Stockport County F.C., Bury FC and Rochdale F.C. play in League Two. There are numerous high-profile non-league football teams, including Altrincham F.C., Stalybridge Celtic, Salford City F.C., Atherton Collieries, Hyde United and the recently created F.C. United of Manchester. Manchester United F.C. is the most successful team in the history of the Premiership, having won the title eight times since it was introduced in 1991-92[14]

In rugby union, Sale Sharks compete in the Guinness Premiership, and won the league in 2006. [15]. Whitefield based Sedgley Park RUFC are competing in National League 1, with Manchester RUFC and Wigan side Orrell RUFC in National League 2.

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 Pheonix, 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 where racing ceased on November 7 1963 and is now a student residence for Salford University. The New Barnes site had previously been vacated to facilitate an expansion to Manchester Docks - the land is now home to Dock 9 of the re-branded Salford Quays. Although both these 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 the predecessor sites at New Barnes and Castle Irwell is within the boundaries of the 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).

Lancashire County Cricket Club began in the county as Manchester Cricket Club[16] and continues to represent the area (along with the rest of the historic county of Lancashire). The club's home ground is in Manchester at the Old Trafford cricket ground, near the famous football stadium of the same name. Lancashire contested the original 1890 County Championship[17] 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.

Places of interest

See also: Category:Visitor attractions in Greater Manchester and 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.

Key
Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
Accessible open space Accessible open space
Amusement/Theme Park
Castle
Country Park Country Park
English Heritage
Forestry Commission
Heritage railway Heritage railway
Historic house Historic House
Places of Worship Places of Worship
Museum (free)
Museum		 Museum (free/not free)
National Trust National Trust
Theatre
Zoo

References

  1. ^ Greater Manchester (Met County) Population - Census 2001, National Statistics Online, 2001. URL accessed October 10, 2006.
  2. ^ Greater Manchester Fire Service , stockport.gov.uk. URL accessed December 22, 2006.
  3. ^ Office of National Statistics - Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom, p48. URL accessed December 14, 2006.
  4. ^ Swarbrick, J., (Feb. 1914), Greater Manchester: The Future Municipal Government of Large Cities, pp.12-15.
  5. ^ Dearlove, J., (1979), The reorganisation of British local government.
  6. ^ Frangopulo, N.J., (1977), Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, EP Publishing, Wakefield.
  7. ^ Greater Manchester Local Transport Plan, www.gmltp.co.uk. URL accessed December 12, 2006.
  8. ^ State of the English Cities: Volume 1 Produced for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2006). Online Report Accessed December 17, 2006.
  9. ^ a b Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  10. ^ a b includes hunting and forestry
  11. ^ a b includes energy and construction
  12. ^ a b includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
  13. ^ Salford bid wins BBC move north
  14. ^ Club Profile on premierleague.com
  15. ^ BBC - Rugby Union - English - Sale 45-20 Leicester
  16. ^ Lancashire County Cricket Club - Origins
  17. ^ Cricinfo - The County Championship

53°30′N 2°19′W / 53.500°N 2.317°W / 53.500; -2.317

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