Cheadle, Greater Manchester
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Cheadle is a small town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. Its neighbours include Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
Cheadle is believed to date back approximately 1,500 to 2,000 years and appears in the Domesday Book under the name "Cedde" which means "Clearing in a wood".[citation needed] The village was at that point in history, surrounded mainly by woodland (consisting largely of Common Oak). This is the antithesis of modern Cheadle which is a suburb of Greater Manchester.
The Domesday Book records there being only around 10 individuals or households in the area, and was valued at around 10 Shillings.
St. Mary's Church on the Cheadle High Street was originally built in the 1200s, but was then rebuilt in 1523 under Henry VIII (completed 1550). It is home to the Cheadle Cross, which is the unofficial symbol of the town.
Cheadle grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution when it was used as a stopping point for travellers and merchants on their way to Central Manchester.
[edit] Recent history
Moseley Hall Grammar School was located in Cheadle and was the first state grammar school founded under the Education Act 1944. The original site of the school was opposite the foot of School's Hill and bordered a small river, Micker Brook, (also known as Ladybrook, a tributary of the River Mersey when flowing through nearby Bramhall). The school 3.3 mile cross-country run included a fording of the river near the Seven Arches viaduct landmark close to Cheadle Hulme. The school's Christmas service was always held in St. Mary's church in the village. The school was co-educational until 1956 when the girls moved to the newly built Cheadle County Grammar school for Girls. The girls situated in the 6th form remained on the Moseley Hall site so as to not interrupt their final years education.
In the early 1970s the school moved to a newly constructed building in Cheadle Hulme adjacent to the Cheadle County Grammar School for Girls. In the grounds of the school was a narrow gauge railway track and a diesel engine from a disused quarry, renovated by the boys and masters of the school. It was thought to be the only school with its own railway track in the UK. Latterly, the school was renamed The Manor School, this joined with the Cheadle County Grammar School for Girls to become Margret Danyers college. The building that was formally the Moseley Hall Grammar School became the Moseley Building, and the Cheadle County Grammar School for Girls became the Bulkley Building. In 1992 this became a sixth form college and combined with the Marple Ridge to become Ridge Danyers college. The site of the original school in Cheadle became the "Village" hotel and leisure complex during the 1990s. Part of the Moseley building was declared unsafe in the early 1990s due to the decay of the Reinforced concrete with which it was constructed and it was eventually demolished in August 2001. Ridge Danyers college was renamed Cheadle & Marple Sixth Form College in October 2004.
[edit] Present day
Cheadle has and always will thrive primarily due to its location at the tip of South Manchester and gateway to Cheshire. Modern Cheadle benefits from excellent commuter links, with easy access to both the M60 Manchester Orbital and M56. It is approximately 15 minutes drive from Manchester City Centre (7 miles) It is also near to Manchester Airport (10 mins). The town itself is popular with young professionals who see Cheadle as a good safe place to gain a foot on the property ladder. It is fair to say that the town also benefits from its proximity to Didsbury, a very affluent part of South Manchester and has such established an 'overspill' of people priced out of the Didsbury housing market but still keen to live in an up and coming area with an abundance of local amenities - i.e. pubs, restaurants and the nearby Parr's Wood bowling/cinema/restaurants complex on the Cheadle/Didsbury border.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheadle"
A number of houses in Cheadle that were built in the 1800s still stand today. The houses in the conservation area in the centre of the village, near the railway bridge by the Ashlea pub, and both Frances Street and Brook Street have an abundance of old world character and charm rarely seen in South Manchester urban sprawl.
Cheadle is home to the HQ of sportswear giants Umbro and also has a large John Lewis department store.
[edit] See also
- Cheadle - The Cheadle constituency.
- Cheadle Town Football Club
- Cheadle, Alberta, Canada
