Droylsden

Droylsden
Droylsden town centre
Droylsden  Droylsden shown within Greater Manchester
Population	23,172 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ8998
- London	161 miles (259 km) SSE
Metropolitan borough	Tameside
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M43
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Ashton-under-Lyne
List of places UK England Greater Manchester

Droylsden is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) to the east of Manchester city centre, and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) west-southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne, it has a population of 23,172.

Historically in Lancashire, Droylsden grew as a mill town around the cotton mills established in the mid-19th century, and the Ashton and Peak Forest canals. Beginning in the early 1930s, Droylsden's population expanded rapidly, as it became a housing overflow area for neighbouring Manchester.

Since 1785, the Fairfield area of Droylsden has been home to the Fairfield Moravian Church, a Moravian community which continues to function in Droylsden today.^[1]

History

The Ashton Canal through Droylsden

Droylsden was settled around AD 900. Before Droylsden became a part of Greater Manchester, it was popularly referred to by Mancunians as "The Silly Country".^[2] One suggestion as to the source of that nickname is that once a year, some of the town's folk used to watch an annual carnival by bringing a pig and sitting it on a wall to watch the passing entertainment with them. The Pig on the Wall public house, converted from a farm in 1978, takes its name from that story.

The first machine woven towel in the world – the terry towel – was produced by W. M. Christy and Sons of Fairfield Mills, in Droylsden, in 1851. William Miller Christy's son, Henry Christy, had brought back a looped towel from Turkey in the 1840s, which Christy's managed to copy on an adapted loom. Their Royal Turkish towels became famous, with Queen Victoria having a regular order. The mill closed at the end of the 1980s, and in 1997 Tesco opened a supermarket on the site.^[3]

Construction of a marina began in March 2007, it is expected to be complete in 2012. The marina will have 92 three and four-bedroom houses, and 291 one and two-bedroom apartments as well as waterside offices, restaurants, and shops.^[4]

Geography

A welcome sign at Droyslden's boundary

Droylsden is located at 53°28′58″N 2°9′30″W / 53.48278°N 2.15833°W / 53.48278; -2.15833 (53.4826, −2.1582), about 4 miles (6 km) to the east of Manchester city centre, close to Ashton-under-Lyne, Clayton, Openshaw and Newton Heath.

Transport

Droylsden is not directly served by railway with the nearest station being Fairfield railway station approximately 1 mile south of the town centre, providing a service to Manchester Piccadilly and Rose Hill Marple. The town's former railway station was open between 1846 and 1968 and located on Lumb Lane, approximately 1 mile north of the town centre on the Huddersfield Line. The nearest station on this line is Ashton-under-Lyne.

From 11 February 2013, Droylsden has become a temporary terminus on the East Manchester line of the Manchester Metrolink tram network, with services running to Manchester and Bury.^[5] Trams will eventually run from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne via Audenshaw and Ashton Moss.^[6]

The town has frequent bus services, the majority operated by Stagecoach Manchester, including the high frequency 216 service running between Manchester city centre and Ashton-under-Lyne.

Education

In January 2009, the closure of Droylsden School Mathematics and Computing College for Girls and Littlemoss High School for Boys was approved by Tameside Council. This was conditional on the Secretary of State signing an Academy Funding Agreement by 30 April 2009 for the two schools to be replaced by Droylsden Academy. The co-educational Academy, sponsored by Tameside College, opened on 1 September 2009, in the existing buildings of the two former schools. A new Academy building for 1200 students aged 11–18 opened on the girls' school site in January 2012.^[7]

Fairfield High School for Girls was unaffected by these changes and has been granted Specialist Science College status.

Tameside College also operates a Local Learning Centre for adult learners in Droylsden.

Governance

Arms of the former Droylsden Urban District Council

Droylsden was anciently a chapelry in the parish of Manchester, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.^[8] It became an urban district of the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1894, and was granted its arms on 16 October 1950.^[9] In 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, Droylsden became a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

Droylsden was once a large township, including Big Droylsden, Little Droylsden, and Clayton. In 1889 Little Droylsden was subsumed into Openshaw, and in 1890 Clayton was ceded from Droylsden's control to become part of Manchester.^[3]

From 1918 until 1950, Droylsden was represented by the parliamentary constituency of Mossley. Manchester's expansion to the east and the increase in the electorate, resulted in the seat being divided in the 1950 boundary change. The areas adjacent to Manchester, including Droylsden, formed the new Droylsden constituency, with the remainder forming part of Ashton-under-Lyne. The Droylsden constituency was abolished in 1955, when Droylsden itself became part of the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

David Heyes MP has represented the constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne since 2001. He is a member of the Labour Party.

Culture

The Droylsden Little Theatre has been running amateur productions since 1931.^[10]

Population change

Economy

Robertson's Jam Factory

During the 1930s, Droylsden's population expanded rapidly, as it became a housing overflow area for Manchester. Today the area is predominately occupied by employed home owners.

Robertson's Jam was a significant employer in the area. The factory was established in 1891, on the banks of the Ashton Canal, on Ashton Hill Lane. At its peak it employed around 1,000 workers; that number was reduced to around 400 before closing during 2008. The factory was demolished during the early part of 2010.

Sport

Droylsden is home to Droylsden F.C. who won the Conference North league in 2006–07, gaining promotion to the Conference National for the 2007–08 season, although they were relegated back to Conference North for 2008–09, and into the Evo-stik NPL premier division in 2012-13.

Droylsden is one of a number of locations which are promoted as the birthplace of speedway racing in the UK. Britain's first ever Speedway meeting was staged in Droylsden on 25 June 1927, billed as dirt track racing.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

England's rugby union captain from 1956 to 1958, Eric Evans MBE, was born in Droylsden in 1921.

Harry Pollitt, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, was born in the town.^[12]

Scott Bruton, X Factor finalist in 2008, was raised in the town.

Other famous people who grew up in the town include pop stars Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, 10cc's Eric Stewart, Howard Donald of Take That, cult author Jeff Noon, actress Stephanie Bishop who starred in the Ken Loach movie Looking for Eric, professional boxer Prince Arron, singer and actor Damian.

Twin Town

• Villemomble, Paris, France

References

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Droylsden.

Bibliography