Gee Cross is a village and

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Hyde within Tameside Metropolitan Borough, in

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.

History

Gee Cross village centre dates back to the times of 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 ...

. Originally, Gee Cross was the larger village in the immediate area; however, Hyde grew during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

and is now the major town, having merged into the north of Gee Cross. The village contains modern day Hyde's first place of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

worship, Hyde Chapel, built in 1708. This would serve as the main church in the area for over a century until St George's Church was built in the centre of Hyde in 1832. Historically, the village, latterly as part of the borough of Hyde, was a part of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

until the creation of

in 1974. The village has neither statutory boundaries nor

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 ...

status. Tradition would dictate that the northern boundary is at a location known as the ''Big Tree'', just past Lilly Street, which now commemorates those that lost their lives in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

of 1982. Gee Cross is home to a recently instituted well dressing festival, which is an ancient custom in the Pennines. Another recent addition is the annual village fete, which is a major fundraising event for local charities; it is held on the site of the former reservoir, the ''Queen Adeleide Reservoir'', now known as ''Sam Redfern Green'', which is now classified as the village green.

Geography

Gee Cross is built on the side of a hill called Werneth Low, a part of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

, which surrounds the village to the south and east. Werneth Low is a protected country park that was first created as a war memorial by the people of Hyde. The park has a visitors centre and ranger service. On a clear day, there are views across the Greater Manchester, as well as

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 ...

and

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

; the Welsh mountains are sometimes visible. Sightseers can view

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 ...

, including the tallest tower in the UK outside of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

- Deansgate Square South Tower. The ''Hare and Hounds'' pub sits on the top of Werneth Low, as does Hyde Cricket and Squash Club and Werneth Low Golf Club. To the south-west, the village borders Woodley in the

Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is south-east of central Manchester and south of Tameside. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, ...

. Within Tameside, Hyde town centre merges with Gee Cross along its northern border and the village of Godley, also a part of Hyde, is found to the north-east. Across Werneth Low, Hattersley lies to the east and

Romiley Romiley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it borders Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, Bredbury and Woodley, Greater Manchester, Wood ...

to the south.

Amenities

The centre of the village hosts a small commercial district, which has grown in recent years to include some office-based businesses; these include an estate agents, hairdressing salons and barbers, a pharmacy, laundrette, bakers, florists, tattooist, cafes, bistros, takeaways and a wine bar. In addition, at the bottom of Stockport Road, is a large car dealership currently run by

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

. The local

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was formerly located on the corner of School Lane and Stockport Road, but was closed in the phasing out of smaller branches; it has now become a private house.

Pubs

The village is a popular social venue, featuring numerous pubs alongside newer restaurants and bars. These include The Buxton, The Queen Adelaide, The Werneth and The Cheshire Cheese. In 1817, the Cheshire Cheese premises were three private cottages owned by Bristowe Cooper. Behind them was a small dingle called Sugar Loaf Wood and one could walk down a path through this to a plantation which was owned by Samuel Ashton, the cotton magnate. The cottages were later transformed into a school for the children of Gee Cross and Bristowe Cooper became the schoolmaster. Around 1857, the school was closed and the premises became a butcher's shop, a beerhouse and a grocer's shop. The three cottages were then owned by Benjamin Cocker, who was also the first licensee of the beerhouse and who gave it the sign of the Cheshire Cheese. After Benjamin left, Betsy Emery ran the three shops single handedly for many years. The Emery family occupied the "Cheese" until around 1974, the butchers became part of the pub in 1919 and the grocer's shop closed in 1959. It was a freehouse until 1943, when it was bought by Yates Brewery and then it later came under the John Smiths banner. Under new management in 2020, the "Cheese" has once again started to be the heart of the Gee Cross community and the Grapes Hotel. The former Lamb Inn has been converted to a day nursery. Another addition to the already thriving Gee Cross pub scene is the Joshua Bradley. Named after the former Mayor of Hyde and situated on the borders of the village, this 19th-century former private hall (Bamford Hall in its previous incarnation) has been subject to a £3 million transformation by Hydes brewery.

Education

Gee Cross contains two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s: Dowson Primary and Gee Cross Holy Trinity (CofE). Just outside Gee Cross is Alder Community High School, which is a new

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

built in 2004. It is a computing and maths specialist school, which teaches over 800 11-16 year olds.

Religion

There are three churches in Gee Cross: an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and Unitarian Church. The Unitarian Church in the centre of the village is called Hyde Chapel. The Anglican Church is called Gee Cross Holy Trinity and is affiliated with the primary school. Gee Cross Methodist Church is the other church in the village.

Notable people

*Daniel Benson: Four time national Boxing champion * Warren Bradley:

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 ...

footballer * John Bramwell: English singer-songwriter, frontman for the three-piece alternative rock band I Am Kloot. * Tom Cassell ( a.k.a. Syndicate):

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

gamer/Weekday Vlogger *Tommy Chow: Olympic cycling medallist *Mick Coleman: Composer and songwriter of Brian & Michael The Matchstalk Men *Brian Day: Musician, founding member of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. Also worked with

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...

and

Barclay James Harvest Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band, which following a split in 1998 now exists as two successor bands. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (born 1948), guitarist/vocalist John ...

. * Jack Griffiths:

footballer, who worked as a physiotherapist, located at Richmond House, Stockport Road. Initially opened in the early 50s, he worked there before retiring in 1980; he was joined by his son, Keith Griffiths, who has been the principal physiotherapist ever since. *

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and boxing trainer, trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world champi ...

: Famous boxer born in Hattersley but now lives in Gee Cross * Nigel Howard: First class cricketer, born in Gee Cross, Hyde, and played

test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

for England. He played first class cricket for

between 1946 and 1954, he played his four tests between 1951 and 1952. He became Lancashire's youngest ever captain in 1949 and, in 1950, he led Lancashire to a shared Championship title. *Tony Husband: Cartoonist *Benjamin Rowbotham: Footballer,

Left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Hyde United

References

{{Commons category, Gee Cross Geography of Tameside Hyde, Greater Manchester