Wilmslow Opera

Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a population of 25,725.

History

Toponymy

Wilmslow derives its name from Old English ''Wīghelmes hlāw'', meaning "mound of a man called Wīghelm."

Lindow Man

Much about the local Iron Age history of Wilmslow was uncovered with the discovery of Lindow Man, in Lindow Moss. Preserved in the peat bogs for 2,000 years, Lindow Man is one of the most important Iron Age finds in the country. Despite a campaign to keep Lindow Man in the area, he was transferred to the British Museum and is a central feature of the Iron Age exhibition. Lindow Man returned to Manchester Museum in April 2008 for a year-long exhibition.

Recent history

An IRA bomb exploded near the railway station in March 1997, damaging signalling equipment. The original IRA message was confusing and led to the evacuation of the Wilmslow Police Station to the local leisure centre not far from the explosion. Nobody was hurt.

In the general election of the same year, the parliamentary constituency of Tatton, in which Wilmslow falls, made headlines as part of the "sleaze" accusations levelled against the then Conservative Government. Tatton MP, Neil Hamilton, was accused of accepting cash for tabling Parliamentary questions, and subsequently defeated in the election by independent candidate Martin Bell. Bell was supported in his door to door canvassing for votes by David Soul and served a single term as MP.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Wilmslow, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Wilmslow Town Council and Cheshire East Council. The town council is based at the Parish Hall on Cliff Road.

Administrative history

Wilmslow was an ancient parish in the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire. The parish was subdivided into four townships, called Bollin Fee, Chorley, Fulshaw, and Pownall Fee. The town centre and the parish church of St Bartholomew's lay in the Bollin Fee township. From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the poor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Wilmslow, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so the townships each became separate civil parishes, which therefore diverged from the ecclesiastical parish.

In 1862, a Chorley local government district was created, governed by an elected local board. The district covered the eastern part of the Chorley township, plus small adjoining parts of the Bollin Fee and Fulshaw townships. The Chorley district was renamed Alderley Edge in 1894.

In 1878, a separate Wilmslow local government district was created covering the remainder of Bollin Fee and Fulshaw, plus Pownall Fee apart from the area north of the River Bollin and River Dean; the excluded area north of the rivers contained the hamlet of Styal. Local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894. Also in 1894, the civil parishes within the Wilmslow district were united into a single parish of Wilmslow, and Styal was made a separate parish.

On 1 April 1936, the urban district of Wilmslow was enlarged to take in Handforth and Styal. Wilmslow Urban District Council was granted a coat of arms on 21 June 1951.

Wilmslow Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. As part of those reforms, the area had been considered for possible inclusion within Greater Manchester, but it was ultimately decided to place it in the borough of Macclesfield. No successor parish was created for the former urban district, and so it became unparished, being directly administered by Macclesfield Borough Council. In 2009, Cheshire East Council was created, taking over the functions of the borough council and Cheshire County Council, which were both abolished.

In 2011, the area of the former Wilmslow Urban District was split into three new parishes called Wilmslow, Handforth, and Styal.

Demography

Population and ethnicity

According to the 2001 United Kingdom census, the wards of Wilmslow North and Wilmslow South have a combined population of 25,498, of which 13,400 (52.5%) are females and 12,098 (47.5%) are males. In addition, 5,197 (20.4%) are aged 16 and under while 4,780 (18.8%) are aged 65 and over.

Ethnic white groups (British, Irish, other) account for 95.9% of the population, with ethnic minority groups accounting for 4.1% of the population.

Religion

A breakdown of religious groups and denominations:
* Christian – 76.7% (19,567 people)
* Muslim – 1.4% (363 people)
* Jewish – 0.7% (182 people)
* Hindu – 0.7% (168 people)
* Buddhist – 0.4% (94 people)
* Sikh – 0.2% (39 people)
* Any Other Religion – 0.2% (58 people)
* No Religion – 13.3% (3,390 people)
* Religion Not Stated – 6.1% (1,555 people)

Places of worship

There are three Church of England churches in Wilmslow, St Bartholomew's, St Anne's and St John's. St Bartholomew's is a 16th-century building, which was modified in the 19th century. It has a turreted bell tower. The first rector of the church was a Thomas Dale, who is buried beneath a headstone presumably engraved by him outside the entrance to the church.
Wilmslow Methodist Church
occupies a modern building close to the town centre, replacing an 1886 building which itself replaced the original 1798 church, built seven years after John Wesley's death.

The Sacred Heart & St Teresa's Church is the Roman Catholic church and dates from the late 19th century.

Dean Row Chapel, east of the town centre, is a Grade II* listed building built around the end of the 17th century. Initially Presbyterian, it is now a Unitarian chapel.

There is also
United Reformed Church
in Wilmslow close to the town centre.

Geography

Situated in the North of England, 11 miles (18 km) from Manchester city centre and 7 miles (11 km) from Macclesfield, Wilmslow town centre is focused upon Bank Square, Grove Street and Water Lane. Although Bank Square has traditionally provided the location for many of the town's banks, the name in fact originates from the bank, or slope, leading down to the Carrs and up towards the railway station. The River Bollin flows through The Carrs Park and once provided the power source for nearby Quarry Bank Mill, now a National Trust site, and enjoyment for the local population.

Before the railway came in 1842, Wilmslow comprised only a few farms and a church.

For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, Wilmslow forms part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area.

Economy

The town is part of the Golden Triangle together with Alderley Edge and Prestbury. It grew in popularity in the Victorian era as a desirable area for wealthy North West (most generally Manchester) merchants to move out to once the railways arrived and connected the towns.

Wilmslow is the founding location of sports equipment manufacturer Umbro which has its headquarters in the area.

The town is a key location for Royal London, the mutual financial services company. The Information Commissioner's Office, one of the government's executive agencies, is also based in Wilmslow.

The UK headquarters of Waters Corporation, an American manufacturer of analytical laboratory instruments, is located on Altrincham Road in Wilmslow, at the site of Huntingdon Life Sciences' Stamford Lodge facility, which was demolished in 2012.

Wilmslow and its close surroundings are served by several car showrooms of notable marques. These include Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati, Land Rover, Bentley, McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini. The town's Aston Martin dealership sells the highest number of Aston Martins in the UK; a high demand stimulated largely by the high level of affluence in the town.

Recreation and sport

The town has a number of parks including The Carrs Park.

Wilmslow held its first Scarecrow Festival in July 2010 with 85 local businesses taking part and 93 different scarecrows. The week-long festival is organised by the Rotary Club of Wilmslow Dean and the members of the Wilmslow Business Group.

The Wilmslow Festive 10k, organised by Run North West, takes place at the end of November each year. The run starts in Wilmslow town centre with 2479 finishers in 2017. The Wilmslow Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running race, established in 1984 and usually run in March.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Manchester on 95.1 FM, Heart North West on 105.4 FM, Smooth North West on 100.4 FM, Capital Manchester and Lancashire on 102.0 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West on 96.2 FM, Silk Radio on 106.9 FM and Canalside Radio, a community based station which broadcast on 102.8 FM.

The town is served by the local newspapers, ''The Wilmslow Express'' and ''Knutsford Guardian''.

Transport

Railway

Wilmslow railway station is situated on the Crewe to Manchester spur of the West Coast Main Line, via Stockport. The station is also a junction for the Styal Line which takes a different route to Manchester Piccadilly, via Styal, Manchester Airport and Heald Green, but avoiding Stockport.

The station is served by three train operating companies:
* An hourly service between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston, via Crewe, operated by Avanti West Coast.
* There are regular local services to Manchester, Stockport, Manchester Airport, Alderley Edge and Crewe; these are operated by Northern Trains.
* There is an hourly service, operated by Transport for Wales, to Crewe, Shrewsbury and Cardiff; some services continue on to Swansea, Carmarthen and Milford Haven.

Buses

Wilmslow's main bus interchange is at Bank Square; it is served by three regular bus routes, operated by D&G Bus:

* 88 Altrincham – Macclesfield service (Monday – Saturday, hourly)
* 130 Manchester Airport – Macclesfield (Monday – Saturday, hourly)
* 312 Wilmslow - Handforth Dean (Monday – Saturday, hourly)

There is also a free bus service, between Knutsford and Handforth Dean retail park, which operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

There are no longer any direct bus services to Stockport or Manchester, as Wilmslow lies outside of Greater Manchester where Stagecoach Manchester now focus their operations; there are also no Sunday or Bank Holiday bus services.

Roads

The A34 road, which links Salford and Winchester, by-passes the town centre to the east; this was later extended around neighbouring Alderley Edge. It joins the A555 at Handforth Dean, which has been extended to Manchester Airport.

Manchester Airport lies just four miles (6 km) along the A538 to the north-west, but Wilmslow lies away from the approach and departure routes and therefore does not suffer from aircraft noise as Hale Barns and Heald Green do.

Notable people

* James Upton (1670 in Wilmslow – 1749) an English clergyman, schoolmaster, and literary editor.
* Samuel Finney (1719 in Wilmslow – 1798) an English miniature-painter.
* James Tait (1863 – 1944 in Wilmslow) a medieval historian, noted for his retiring, scholarly life in Wilmslow.
* William Ewart Gladstone (1809 – 1898) politician, statesman and Prime Minister four separate times, lived at the Wilmslow Rectory between January and April 1828 to study under the supervision of Reverend John Turner.
* Helen Tolson (1888–1955), suffragette, active in the Women's Social and Political Union
* Sir Thomas Barnes (1888–1964), lawyer, and HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor, 1934/1953.
* Alan Turing (1912 – 1954 in Wilmslow) computer science pioneer and driving force behind the Bombe machine for cracking the German Enigma cypher, is perhaps Wilmslow's most notable resident; he died locally. In 2004, a blue plaque was placed on his house in his honour.
* Patrick George (1923 in Wilmslow – 2016) an English painter who taught at the Slade School of Fine Art
* Roger Thatcher (1926 – 2010) a British statistician, spent his formative early years in Wilmslow
* Antony Grey (1927 in Wilmslow – 2010) pioneer gay rights activist
* Peter Emerson Jones OBE (born 1935), owner of the Emerson Group, a property business lives locally
* Richard Evans (born 1945 in Wilmslow) a graphic designer, photographer and illustrator
* John Harris (born 1969 in Wilmslow) a British journalist, writer, and critic.
* Ronald Brunskill (1929 – 2015) architectural historian
* Iqbal Ahmed (born 1956) the owner and CEO of the Seamark Group's Asian food business, based in Manchester, lives in Wilmslow.

Acting and broadcasting

* Stuart Hall (born 1929) a TV presenter convicted of indecent assault, lived in Wilmslow from 1958 to 2013.
* William Roache (born 1932 in Ilkeston) actor, plays Ken Barlow in ''Coronation Street'' since 1960; he has lived in Wilmslow for most of his adult life.
* John Waite (born 1951) a presenter on British radio and TV, attended Wilmslow High School
* Barbara Wilshere (born 1959) an actress appearing in theatre, films and on TV, attended Wilmslow High School
* Jo Wheeler (born 1963) weather forecaster for Sky News, attended Wilmslow High School
* Fionnuala Ellwood (born 1964) an actress, portrayed ''Lynn Whiteley'' in the ITV soap ''Emmerdale'', attended Wilmslow High School
* Miranda Sawyer (born 1967), journalist and broadcaster and her brother, actor, Toby (born 1969) grew up locally
* Chris Hawkins (born 1975), presenter and journalist and his wife Clare Nasir (born 1970) meteorologist, have lived locally since 2012.
* Simon Gregson (born 1974), actor who plays taxi boss '' Steve McDonald'' in ''Coronation Street.''
* Ashley Taylor Dawson (born 1982) actor and singer, plays ''Darren Osborne'' in the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', also owns a night club in Wilmslow.

Music

* Syd Lawrence (1923 in Wilmslow – 1998), a talented trumpet player and bandleader
* Michael Rother (born 1950) founder of Krautrock legends Neu!, lived in Wilmslow as a 9-year-old.
* Christopher Gayford (born 1963 in Wilmslow) a conductor, currently with the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra
* Doves, an Indie rock band met at Wilmslow High School in the 1980s. Their song " Black and White Town" was inspired by Wilmslow and its contradicting 'rich-poor' divide.
* The 1975, a Pop rock band, formed in 2002 at Wilmslow High School; included guitarist Adam Hann, drummer and lead vocalist Matty Healy, bassist, Ross MacDonald, and George Daniel a later drummer

Sport

* Len Butt (1910–1994), footballer, who played over 370 games, including 150 for Macclesfield Town
* Sir Alex Ferguson (born 1941), former footballer who played 317 games, managed of Manchester United
* Andy Fanshawe (born 1963–1992) a British mountaineer, attended Wilmslow Grammar School
* Park Ji-sung (born 1981), footballer, played 318 games and 134 for Manchester UnitedThe Observer