Blackley is a suburban area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, in the county of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. Historically in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, it is approximately north of

Manchester city centre Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...

, on the

River Irk The River Irk is a river in the historic county of Lancashire in North West England that flows through the northern part of Greater Manchester. It rises to the east of Royton and runs west past Chadderton, Middleton and Blackley before mer ...

History

The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Blæclēah, which means "dark wood" or "dark clearing". In the 13th and 14th centuries, Blackley was referred to as ''Blakeley'' or ''Blakelegh''. By the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Blackley had become a park belonging to the lords of Manchester. Its value in 1282 was recorded as £6 13s 4d, a sum approximately equivalent in buying power to £333,500 today. The lords of Manchester leased the land from time to time. In 1473, John Byron held the leases on Blackley village, Blackley field and Pillingworth fields at an annual rent of £33 6s 8d. The Byron family continued to hold the land until the beginning of the 17th century, when Blackley was sold in parcels to a number of landowners. By the middle of the 17th century, Blackley was a rural village of just 107 inhabitants. There was gradual residential development in the 1930s to 1960s, where most farmland was built upon. Today, only pockets of the suburb are undeveloped green space, with farmland remaining close to the

M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through all of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...

Blackley has an important history in the chemical industry, starting with the Borelle Dyeworks founded by Angel Raphael Louis Delaunay in 1785 and run by ICI, who expanded it as a research centre for chemicals and pharmaceuticals. There were several other dye and chemical works. Connolly's Ltd made telecommunication cabling, later becoming part of BICC.

Governance

Blackley, since 2024, has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Blackley and Middleton South . The current Member of Parliament is

Graham Stringer Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackley and Middleton South since the 2024 United Kingdom general e ...

of the Labour Party, who was first elected in 1997 for the predecessor constituency

Manchester Blackley Manchester, Blackley was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom located in Northern Greater Manchester which existed from 1918 to 2010. It elec ...

. The candidate of the

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

came second in the general election of 2024, with 21.1% of the vote compared to Stringer's 53.8%. The suburb is split between the local government wards of

Higher Blackley Higher Blackley is an electoral district or ward in the north of the City of Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 11,688. Heaton Park, one of Europe's largest parks, is in this ward. A new "education villag ...

and Charlestown on

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

. The three councillors for both wards are members of the Labour Party. In the 1860s records show Blackley was a separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, on 26 March 1896 the parish was abolished to form

North Manchester North Manchester was, from 1896 to 1916 a civil parish within the Poor Law Union of Manchester, in Lancashire, (now Greater Manchester) England. North Manchester was a local government sub-district used for the administration of Poor Law legisl ...

. In 1891 the parish had a population of 7332.

Economy

During the 1930s, residential development started to take place in the formerly rural village to provide more homes for Manchester's growing population. It became an area with a mixture of housing: mainly privately owned homes for owner occupation and private renting. In 2014, Blackley appeared on a list of ''Top 10 Places to Live In Greater Manchester''. The suburb is popular for commuters into

. The few opportunities to work in the suburb itself include the Hexagon Tower Development, close to North Manchester Hospital, which is a centre for scientific research into plastics and related innovation.

Church of St Peter

The Church of St Peter on Old Market Street is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church, which was built in 1844 by E. H. Shellard. It was erected at a cost of £3,162. It was designated a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on 20 June 1988. The interior is aisled and particularly impressive for its complete 170 year old interior, with the extremely unusual survival of all the fine boxes and pews. The churchyard contains the war graves of ten service personnel of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and seven of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Green spaces

Blackley has several green spaces:

Boggart Hole Clough

Boggart Hole Clough is a large woodland and urban country park. The park has a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, tennis and basketball courts, a boating lake and a children's play area. It has its own permanent

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

course and an athletics track. There is an old stone bridge across the brook running through the clough. The clough was designated a local nature reserve in 2008.

Blackley Forest

Blackley Forest is a Site of Biological Importance and an example of one of the country's first Community Woodlands. It was planted to commemorate the Queen's coronation and also local people killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The area has had woodland on it since the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066, when there were wild boar, deer and eagles. The forest is a mix of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

, grassland and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, with a network of paths and steps. The stretch of the

in the forest is fringed by

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

trees with some colonies of autumn

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennial plant, perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stem ...

Heaton Park

Heaton Park, at around , is the biggest park in Greater Manchester, and one of the largest municipal parks in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, providing some 25% of Manchester's total green space. It is the grounds of Heaton Hall, a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, neoclassical 18th-century country mansion. The hall was remodelled to a design by

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

in 1772, and is open to the public as a museum and events venue. Although the park is officially part of the

City of Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, two of a number of entrances are accessed from the suburb of Blackley, on Middleton Road.

Transport

Blackley is well served by buses primarily along the main arterial routes of Rochdale Road (A664), and Cheetham Hill Road/Bury Old Road (A665) directly to and from Manchester city centre. Initially these would have been provided by the precursors to, and Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company, and currently by First Greater Manchester. Other journeys are provided by

Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 2818654

, which took over JPT in April 2014. There are frequent Metrolink trams from Bowker Vale to and from Manchester city centre and as far south as

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

and as far north as Bury. The M60 orbital motorway is the northern boundary of Blackley.

Education

Primary schools

Blackley has a number of primary schools, which include: * Charlestown Community Primary School * Crab Lane Primary School * Crosslee Community Primary School * Holy Trinity CE Primary School * Mount Carmel RC Primary School * Pike Fold Primary School * St Clare's RC Primary School * St John Bosco RC Primary School * Victoria Avenue Primary School

Secondary schools

* The Co-operative Academy of Manchester * The Co-operative Academy North Manchester * Our Lady's RC High School. There are nearest secondary schools, including Manchester Communication Academy.

Special and alternative schools

* Camberwell Park School * Manchester Hospital Schools * North Ridge High School

Sports

Blackley Golf Club The course at Blackley Golf club

The award-winning Blackley Golf Club has occupied its present site close to the M60 motorway since 1937. The club celebrated its centenary in 2007, and a new clubhouse opened in 2009. The clubhouse offers use for wedding receptions and private hire. There is a golf shop, open to club members and the public. The course's green is separated by fields from the motorway. A public footpath runs along the perimeter. Blackley Cricket Club Crab lane cricket ground

Blackley Cricket Club currently plays in the Greater Manchester Cricket League. The club is located on Crab Lane. It won the cricket league title for Greater Manchester in 2009.

Notable people

(either born in Blackley, or resident of Blackley) * Hasney Aljofree (b. 1978), Swindon Town footballer *

John Bradford John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English English Reformation, Reformer, prebendary of Old St Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I. He was burned at the stak ...

(1510–1555), Protestant martyr * Roger Byrne (1929–1958), captain of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, and one of eight players who died in the

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

. * Stephen Bywater (b. 1981), professional footballer * Howard Davies (b. 1951), economist and author: current Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and former director of the London School of Economics. * David Heyes (b. 1946), Labour politician: former Labour MP for

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...

* Bernard Hill (1944–2024), actor of film, stage and television * Jon Macken (b. 1977), former Manchester United and Manchester City footballer *

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. He gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and '' The Wheeltappers and Shun ...

(1930–2007), comedian * Wilf McGuinness (b. 1937), former Manchester United player and manager * Joe McIntyre (b. 1971), former professional footballer * John Monks (b. 1945), Baron Monks of Blackley: Member of the House of Lords. Former General Secretary, TUC * Northside singer, Warren "Dermo" Dermody * Malcolm Roberts (1944–2003), musician, entertainer and Eurovision contestant. * Vini Reilly (b. 1953), musician: The Durutti Column * Peter Townley (b. 1955), Church of England Archdeacon – current Archdeacon of Pontefract

References

External links

*
Friends of Blackley ForestSt. Peter's & St. Paul's ChurchesSt. Andrew's Church, Higher BlackleyHeaton Park
{{Authority control Areas of Manchester Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester