Altrincham
Encyclopedia
Altrincham is a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford
Trafford
The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

, in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

 about 8 miles (12.9 km) southwest of Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...

, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southwest of Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...

 and 10 miles (16.1 km) east of Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

. As of the 2001 UK census, it had a population of 41,000.

Historically
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 a part of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, Altrincham was established as a market town in 1290, a time when most communities were based around agriculture rather than trade, and there is still a market in the town today. Further socioeconomic development came with the extension of the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

 to Altrincham in 1765 and the arrival of the railway in 1849, stimulating industrial activity in the town. Outlying villages were absorbed by Altrincham's subsequent growth, along with the grounds of Dunham Massey Hall
Dunham Massey
Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouse and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust...

, formerly the home of the Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and younger brother of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk Earl...

, and now a tourist attraction with three Grade I listed buildings and a deer park.

Altrincham today is an affluent commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...

, partly because of its transport links. The town has a strong middle class presence; there has been a steady increase in Altrincham's middle classes since the 19th century. It is also a centre for sport, home to Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...

 and an English Premier League
English Premier Ice Hockey League
The English Premier Ice Hockey League commonly abbreviated to EPIHL, or simply EPL, is a senior ice hockey league in England, and is run and administered by the English Ice Hockey Association...

 ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 club, Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix are a professional ice hockey team from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey to bring top-level ice hockey back to Manchester after Manchester Storm folded in...

.

History

There is evidence of human activity in the area during prehistoric times in the form of two Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 arrowheads. Aside from a concentration of artefacts around Dunham, there are few finds from the prehistoric period in Trafford. There are the remains of a Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 running through the Broadheath
Broadheath, Greater Manchester
Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

 area of the town. It is part of one of the major Roman roads in North West England, and is linked to the legionary fortresses of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

 (Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England...

) and York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 (Eboracum
Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...

). It was in use for a considerable period of time, as it shows signs of having been repaired. After the Romans retreated from Britain in the early 5th century, the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

s invaded Britain. The name Altrincham first appears as "Aldringeham", probably meaning "homestead of Aldhere's people". The name evolved into the modern spelling, but as late as the 19th century, it was spelt both Altrincham and Altringham.

Until the Norman invasion, the manors
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 surrounding Altrincham were owned by the Saxon thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...

 Alweard; after the invasion they became the property of Hamon de Massey
Hamon de Massey
The first Hamon de Massey was the owner of the manors of Agden, Baguley, Bowdon, Dunham, Hale and Little Bollington after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, taking over from the Saxon thegn Aelfward according to the Domesday Book....

. Altrincham was not mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

. The earliest documented reference to the town was in 1290, when it was granted its charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 as a Free Borough by Baron Hamon de Massey V. The charter allowed a weekly market to be held, and it is possible that de Massey established the town to generate income through tolls, dues, and taxes from trade, suggesting that Altrincham may have been a planned market town. That would have been unusual during the Middle Ages, when most communities were agricultural. Altrincham was probably chosen as the site of the planned town, rather than Dunham which would have been protected by Dunham Castle
Dunham Castle
Dunham Castle is an early medieval castle in Dunham Massey, England . The castle is first referred to in 1173, in a document stating Hamo de Masci held the castles of Dunham and Ullerwood. Documentary evidence suggests the castle at Dunham was still standing in 1323. The castle fell into disuse...

, as it had good access to roads, allowing ease of trade.

Altrincham Fair became St James's Fair or Samjam in 1319 and continued until 1895. Fair days had their own court of Pye Powder (a corruption of the French for "dusty feet"), presided over by the mayor and held to settle disputes arising from the day's dealings. On the extinction of the Massey family in 1340, the lands of Altrincham passed to the Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and younger brother of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk Earl...

. By 1348, the town had 120 burgage plots – ownership of land that can be used as a measure of status and importance in an area – putting it on a par with Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...

 and above Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

 and Knutsford
Knutsford
Knutsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in North West England...

. The earliest known residence in Altrincham was The Knoll, on Stamford Street near the centre of the medieval town. An excavation in 1983 by South Trafford Archaeological Group
South Trafford Archaeological Group
The South Trafford Archaeological Group is an archaeological group based in Timperley, Greater Manchester. The group promotes interest in and the study of archaeology and history locally, especially within Trafford but also beyond the borders of the borough...

 on the demolished building discovered evidence that the house dated from the 13th or 14th century, and that it may have contained a drying kiln or malting floor. During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, men from Altrincham fought for the Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

 Sir George Booth
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer , known as Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, from 1652 to 1661, was an English peer.-Civil War:...

. During the war, armies camped several times on nearby Bowdon Downs.

The extension of the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

 to Altrincham in 1765 stimulated the development of market gardening
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...

, and for many years Altrincham was notable for its vegetables. By 1767, warehouses had been built alongside the canal in Broadheath, the first step in Altrincham's industrialisation and the development of Broadheath as an industrial area. When the canal was completed in 1776, it provided a water route from Manchester, through Altrincham, to the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

. In July 1845, the Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 allowing for the construction of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway
The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway was a suburban railway which operated a 13.7 km route between Altrincham in Cheshire and London Road Station in Manchester....

 (MSJAR) was passed. At 8:00 am, 20 July 1849, the first railway train left Altrincham, carrying 65 passengers. The MSJAR had two stations in the town: Altrincham
Altrincham (1st) railway station
Altrincham railway station served the district of Altrincham Cheshire, now Altrincham, Greater Manchester between 1849 and 1881.The station was built by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway and opened on 20 July 1849....

 on Stockport Road, and one called Bowdon
Bowdon railway station
Bowdon railway station served the district of Bowdon, Cheshire , between 1849 and 1881.The station was built by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway , and opened on 22 September 1849, the same day that a short southerly extension to the MSJ&AR line to reach Bowdon was...

 – though not actually in Bowdon – on Lloyd Street/Railway Street. They were both closed in 1881, and replaced by Altrincham & Bowdon station on Stamford New Road. Broadheath Railway Station, at the northern edge of the town, on the London and North Western Railway line, was opened in 1854. The Cheshire Midland Railway
Cheshire Midland Railway
An act was passed on 14 June 1860 to build a railway from Altrincham on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway to Northwich. The line would be 12 miles 65 chains in length...

 (later the Cheshire Lines Committee
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...

) opened from Altrincham to Knutsford on 12 May 1862.

In the late 19th century Altrincham became a base from where professionals and industrialists commuted to Manchester. A notable early commuter was the calico printer William Neild, who travelled daily by coach from High Lawn in Bowdon in the 1840s; however the less well–to–do would commute by express or "flyer" barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

s from Broadheath. With the coming of the railway the areas in and around Altrincham became very desirable places for the middle classes and commuters to live. Between 1851 and 1881 the population increased from 4,488 to 11,250.

The industrial area of Broadheath, spanning an area of 250 acres (1 km²), was founded by Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford
Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford
Revd Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford was an English peer.Harry Grey was born in England, the son of Revd. Harry Grey and Frances Elizabeth Ellis...

, in 1885 for the purpose of attracting businesses. By 1900, Broadheath had its own docks, warehouses and electricity generating station. The site's proximity to rail, canal and road proved attractive to companies making machine tools, cameras and grinding machines. The presence of Tilghmans Sand Blast Co Ltd and the Linotype and Machinery Company established Broadheath as an industrial area of national standing. By 1914, there were 14 companies operating in Broadheath, employing thousands of workers. One of those was the Budenberg Gauge Company
Budenberg Gauge Company
The Budenberg Gauge Company was founded in 1850 by and and is now based in Irlam, Salford. The company is renowned for the manufacture of high quality pressure gauges, thermometers, valves and manifolds. Budenderg also produce monoflanges and close coupled systems, chemical seals, hygienic seals,...

. A direct result of the industrialisation of Broadheath was a population boom and the creation of 172 workers' homes by Linotype near the factory; between 1891 and 1901 the population of Altrincham increased by 35% from 12,440 to 16,831.

There was little change in Altrincham from the turn of the 20th century to the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Although experiencing some bombing as part of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

's raids on Greater Manchester, the town emerged from the war relatively unscathed and, along with the rest of Britain, experienced a boom period shortly after. This manifested itself in the construction of new housing and the rebuilding of the town centre in the 1960s. However, the boom period was followed by a depression in the 1970s, during which time employment at Broadheath fell by nearly 40%. In 1974, Altrincham became part of the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Trafford
Trafford
The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

.

Governance

Altrincham became a Free Borough, a self governing township, when it was granted a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 in June 1290 by the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

, Hamon De Massey. The charter allowed for the creation of a merchants' guild, run by the town's burgesses to tax people passing through the borough. Burgesses were free men who lived in the town. The borough was ruled by a Court Leet
Court leet
The court leet was a historical court baron of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts.-History:...

 and elected a mayor since at least 1452. Amongst the court's responsibilities were keeping the public peace and regulating the markets and fairs.

The borough was not one of those reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835  – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...

, and continued to exist under the control of the Lord of the Manor and the Court Leet until its final abolition in 1886. Altrincham's growing population led to unsanitary conditions in the town and the Public Health Act of 1848
Local board of health
Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their...

 led to the creation of Altrincham's Local Board of Health in 1851 to address this problem, ahead of the rest of Trafford. The local board was reconstituted as an urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

 council in the administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...

 of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 under the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...

.

Altrincham Urban District was expanded in 1920 when parts of Carrington
Carrington, Greater Manchester
Carrington is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Cheshire, the village is west of Greater Manchester Urban Area, and is the site of a large gas and chemical works, which produce gases by fractional distillation of...

 and Dunham Massey Civil Parishes
Dunham Massey
Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouse and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust...

 were added. A further expansion took place in 1936; Timperley Civil Parish
Timperley
Timperley is a village within the Altrincham area, of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Situated within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, Timperley is approximately seven miles southwest of Manchester....

 was abolished and most of its area incorporated into Altrincham UD. At the same time, there was a minor exchange of areas with Hale Urban District
Hale, Greater Manchester
Hale is a village and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is contiguous with the southeast of Altrincham, approximately southwest of the city of Manchester....

; a minor addition from Bowdon Urban District
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...

; and a further substantial portion of Dunham Massey Civil Parish was added. In 1937 the urban district was granted a charter of incorporation
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 and became a municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

. The new borough was granted armorial bearings
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 which featured heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 references to the Masseys and Earls of Stamford. With the passage of the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, the administrative counties and municipal boroughs were abolished and Altrincham became part of the Metropolitan Borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

 of Trafford
Trafford
The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

 in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 on 1 April 1974.

Altrincham was in the eponymous parliamentary constituency
Altrincham (UK Parliament constituency)
Altrincham was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1945. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 which was created in 1885. This lasted until 1945 when it was replaced by Altrincham and Sale. In 1997, this in turn became part of the newly created constituency of Altrincham and Sale West. Since its formation, Altrincham and Sale West has been represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 by the Conservative MP
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, Graham Brady
Graham Brady
Graham Stuart Brady is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale West. He served as a shadow minister for Europe under four Conservative leaders before resigning in 2007 in protest at David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools...

. At the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,159 and 46.4% of the vote. Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 won 30.3% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 21.7% and the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...

 1.7%. This is one of only a small number of seats in the North West held by the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, and the only one in Greater Manchester.

The town is within Trafford Metropolitan Borough
Trafford
The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

; Trafford Council is responsible for the administration of local services, such as education, social services, town planning, waste collection and council housing. The area is divided into seven electoral wards: Altrincham, Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...

, Broadheath
Broadheath, Greater Manchester
Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

, Hale Central
Hale, Greater Manchester
Hale is a village and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is contiguous with the southeast of Altrincham, approximately southwest of the city of Manchester....

, Hale Barns
Hale Barns
Hale Barns is an affluent village in Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, Hale Barns lies about south of Manchester city centre, 2 miles west of Manchester Airport and close to the River Bollin...

, Timperley
Timperley
Timperley is a village within the Altrincham area, of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Situated within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, Timperley is approximately seven miles southwest of Manchester....

, and Village. These wards have 21 out of the 63 seats on the Trafford Council; as of the 2007 local elections seventeen of these seats were held by the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 and four by the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

.

Geography

At 53°23′2"N 2°21′17"W (53.3838, −2.3547), Altrincham is on the southwestern edge of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the city of Manchester and the continuous metropolitan area that spreads outwards from it, forming much of Greater Manchester in North West England...

, immediately south of the town of Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...

, 8 miles (13 km) from Manchester city centre. It lies in the northwest corner of the Cheshire Plain
Cheshire Plain
The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland situated almost entirely within the county of Cheshire in northwest England. It is bounded by the hills of North Wales to the west, and the Peak District of Derbyshire and North Staffordshire to the east and southeast...

, just south of the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

. The Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

 passes through the Broadheath
Broadheath, Greater Manchester
Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

 area of the town. Altrincham's drinking water is supplied by United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...

 and sourced from the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

, about 90 miles (145 km) away. The local bedrock consists mainly of Keuper Waterstone, a type of sandstone, and water retrieved from those rocks is very hard and often saline, making it undrinkable.

The climate of Altrincham is generally temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

, with few extremes of temperature or weather. The mean temperature is slightly above average for the United Kingdom; whereas both annual rainfall and average hours of sunshine are slightly below the average for the UK.

Divisions and suburbs

Altrincham is one of the four major urban areas in Trafford, the other three being Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...

, Stretford
Stretford
Stretford is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Lying on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, it is to the southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Salford and northeast of Altrincham...

 and Urmston
Urmston
Urmston is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of around 41,000. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies about six miles to the southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is marked by the River Mersey and the...

. The Altrincham area, as defined by Trafford MBC
Trafford
The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston...

, comprises the south of Trafford. In addition to the town of Altrincham, it includes the villages of Timperley
Timperley
Timperley is a village within the Altrincham area, of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Situated within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, Timperley is approximately seven miles southwest of Manchester....

, Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...

, Hale
Hale, Greater Manchester
Hale is a village and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is contiguous with the southeast of Altrincham, approximately southwest of the city of Manchester....

 and Hale Barns
Hale Barns
Hale Barns is an affluent village in Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, Hale Barns lies about south of Manchester city centre, 2 miles west of Manchester Airport and close to the River Bollin...

. The Broadheath area of the town was a light industrial centre until the 1970s, but is now a retail park. The most densely populated part of the town is around the town centre, with the less populated areas and more green space further from the centre of town in villages such as Bowdon and Hale. The Oldfield Brow area lies on the outskirts of the town beside the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

 and close to Dunham Massey
Dunham Massey
Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouse and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust...

.• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Retrieved on 24 July 2007.

Demography

Altrincham compared
2001 UK Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

Altrincham Trafford England
Total population 40,695 210,145 49,138,831
White 94.4% 91.6% 90.9%
Asian 1.3% 4.1% 4.6%
Black 0.5% 2.0% 2.3%

As of the 2001 UK census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

, the town of Altrincham had a total population of 40,695. Of the 27,900 households in Altrincham, 38.7% were married couples living together, 30.4% were one-person households, 8.2% were co-habiting
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...

 couples, and 9.0% were lone parents.

The population density is 10272 PD/sqmi and for every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. Of those aged 16 to 74 in Altrincham, 21.7% had no academic qualifications, similar to the 21.3% in all of Trafford and lower than the 28.9% in England. There is a low proportion of non-white people (4.6%). The largest minority group was Asian, at 1.3% of the population.

In 1931, 14.6% of Altrincham's population was middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

 compared with 14% in England and Wales, and by 1971, this had increased to 28.8% compared with 24% nationally. Parallel to this increase in the middle classes of Altrincham was the decline of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 population. In 1931, 30.3% were working class compared with 36% in England and Wales; by 1971, this had decreased to 18.6% in Altrincham and 26% nationwide. The rest of the population was made up of clerical workers and skilled manual workers. The change in social structure in Altrincham was at a similar rate to that of the rest of the nation but was biased towards the middle classes, making Altrincham the middle class town it is today.

Population change

According the hearth tax returns from 1664, the township of Altrincham had a population of about 636, making it the largest settlement locally; this had increased to 1,692 in 1801. In the first half of the 19th century, the town's population increase by 165%, higher than 89% across England and 98% in the Trafford area. The growth of the settlement was a result of the Industrial Revolution, and although Altrincham was one of the fastest growing townships in the Trafford area, but paled in comparison to new industrial areas such as Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...

, Hyde
Hyde, Greater Manchester
Hyde is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2001 census, the town had a population of 31,253. Historically part of Cheshire, it is northeast of Stockport, west of Glossop and east of Manchester....

, and Manchester. In the second half of the 19th century, Altrincham's population grew by 275%, higher than the 235% for Trafford and 69% nationally in the same period. This was due to the late industrialisation
Late Industrialisation
Alice Amsden, building on the insights of Gerschenkron, identifies Late Industrialization as a particular form of industrialisation the study of which is useful for those interested in study of the prospects for material progress in developing countries...

 of the area and the introduction of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway in 1849. The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last census.
Population growth
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....

 in Altrincham since 1801
Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1939 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Population 1,692 2,032 2,302 2,708 3,399 4,488 6,628 8,478 11,250 12,440 16,831 17,813 20,450 21,356 39,940 39,789 41,122 40,786 39,693 40,042 40,695
% change +20.1 +13.3 +17.6 +25.5 +32.0 +47.7 +27.9 +32.7 +10.6 +35.3 +5.8 +14.8 +4.4 +87.0 −0.4 +3.4 −0.8 −2.7 +0.9 +1.6
Source:A Vision of Britain through Time

Economy

Altrincham compared
2001 UK Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

Altrincham Trafford England
Population of working age 29,397 151,445 35,532,091
Full time employment 45.7% 43.4% 40.8%
Part time employment 12.7% 11.9% 11.8%
Self employed 8.9% 8.0% 8.3%
Unemployed 2.2% 2.7% 3.3%
Retired 13.2% 13.9% 13.5%

Historically, Altrincham was a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 and the two main areas of employment were agriculture and market trade. Although the town went into decline in the 15th century, it recovered and the annual fairs lasted until the mid-19th century and the market still continues. During the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, Altrincham grew as an industrial town, particularly the Broadheath
Broadheath, Greater Manchester
Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

 area, which was developed into an industrial estate. In 1801 there were four cotton mills in Altrincham, part of its textile industry, although they had closed by the 1851 census
United Kingdom Census 1851
The United Kingdom Census of 1851 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 30 March 1851, and was the second of the UK censuses to include details of household members...

. The decline of the textile industry in Altrincham mirrored the decline of the industry in the Trafford area as a result of a lack of investment and the development of more established industrial areas such as Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...

, and Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, heavier industries moved into Broadheath, providing local employment. The area steadily declined during the second half of the 20th century, with employment at Broadheath falling from 8,000 to 5,000 between 1960 and 1970. Despite the presence of retailers such as Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...

 in the town, and redevelopment schemes costing over £100 million, Altrincham's 15.5% level of employment in retail is below the national average of 16.9%. Altrincham, with its neighbours Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...

 and Hale
Hale, Greater Manchester
Hale is a village and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is contiguous with the southeast of Altrincham, approximately southwest of the city of Manchester....

, is said to constitute a "stockbroker belt", with well-appointed dwellings in an area of sylvan
Sylvan
Sylvan, Silvan or Sylvian refers to an association with the woods. Specifically, that which inhabits the wood, is made of tree materials, or comprises the forest itself. The term can also refer to a person who resides in the woods or a spirit of the wood...

 opulence.

The historic market town developed as a residential area in the 19th century although it retains its retail heritage in the Old Market Place (a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...

) and a new pedestrianised shopping centre. The retail districts of the town have more recently fallen victim to decline due to competition from the nearby Trafford Centre
Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and leisure complex situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, close to the Trafford Park industrial estate and approximately 5 miles from Manchester city centre. It is the highest valued shopping centre in the...

 and a regenerated Manchester city centre. However the empty shop facilities and run-down sections of the town, are being redeveloped. The Trafford Revised unitary development plan
Development Plan
A development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area...

, which guides and controls all development in Altrincham, was adopted in June 2006. In 2006 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council unveiled plans for a £1.5 million face lift for the town centre. The most noticeable current development is the £40m redevelopment of Altrincham's Stamford Shopping Centre, scheduled for completion in September 2009. The redevelopment will create 146000 square feet (13,563.8 m²) of new retail space and 203000 square feet (18,859.3 m²) of refurbished space, providing 349000 square feet (32,423.2 m²) in total.

Another development, costing £150m and nicknamed "Station Location", is scheduled for completion in 2011. The 4.5 acres (18,210.9 m²) site, bordered by Oakfield Road, Moss Lane and the railway station platform, will include an extreme sport
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...

s centre, an ice rink (the home of Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix are a professional ice hockey team from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey to bring top-level ice hockey back to Manchester after Manchester Storm folded in...

 ice hockey club) with a 3,000-seat capacity, an 85-bedroom hotel, two new public squares, restaurants, shops, flats, 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) of office space and a 960-space car park. A temporary ice rink
Altrincham Ice Dome
Altrincham Ice Dome is an ice rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It has 2,000 seats according to the rink website, and up to 500 standing places. despite this, the building has a capacity capped at 2,000 for ice hockey as standing around the plexi glass is not allowed in the...

 was opened in February 2007, near to the site, to house Manchester Phoenix until the new, larger rink, is completed. A 2010 survey found that despite being in one of the country's most affluent areas, nearly a third of the shops in Altrincham were vacant; Trafford council attributed the high number (78) to the effects of the recession and plans to refurbish Stamford House, which left most of its shops unused.

According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents in Altrincham was 18.4% property and business services, 16.0% retail and wholesale, 12.1% manufacturing, 10.7% health and social work, 8.3% education, 8.3% transport and communications, 5.8% finance, 5.7% construction, 4.2% hotels and restaurants, 4.2% public administration and defence, 0.8% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 4.6% other. This was roughly in line with national figures, except for the town's relatively high percentage of workers in property and business services. The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74, 5.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, 3.2% students without jobs, 2.2% students were with jobs, and 2.4% economically inactive for other reasons. The 2.2% unemployment rate of Altrincham was low compared with the national rate of 3.3%.

Landmarks and attractions

On the outskirts of Altrincham is the 18th-century Dunham Massey Hall
Dunham Massey
Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouse and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust...

 and its 250 acres (1 km²) deer park, both now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

. The hall is early Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 in style, and it, along with its stables and carriage house, are Grade I listed buildings. Another of Altrincham's attractions is the historic market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

, set up over 800 years ago when the town was first established.

Stamford Park is a 16 acres (64,749.8 m²) park designed by landscape gardener John Shaw. It was opened to the public in 1880, as a sports park with areas for cricket and football and is now owned and run by Trafford Council. The land was donated by George Grey
George Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford
George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, 3rd Earl of Warrington was an English peer.George Harry Grey was born in Enville, Staffordshire, the son of George Harry Grey, Baron Grey of Groby . He succeeded his father as 9th Baron Grey of Groby in 1835...

, the 7th Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and younger brother of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk Earl...

. The park is listed as Grade II on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
In England, the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by English Heritage under the provisions of the National...

, as well as having won a bronze award from the Greenspace award scheme. Trafford council intend to build a £7,000 skate park in Stamford Park as part of a scheme to reduce crime by providing youths with activities. CCTV will be installed to monitor the skate park.

The clock outside the main transport interchange was built in 1880, and has been a Grade II listed building since 1985. Royd House
Royd House
Royd House is a Grade I listed building in Hale, Greater Manchester. It was designed by architect Edgar Wood as his own home and was built between 1914 and 1916. The building is regarded as one of the most advanced examples of early twentieth century domestic architecture...

 was built between 1914 and 1916 by local architect Edgar Wood
Edgar Wood
Edgar Wood was an architect who practised from Manchester at the turn of the 20th century and gained a considerable reputation both in Britain and abroad, notably in Germany. British design was then of European significance. His work is principally domestic, but he designed several churches and...

 as his own residence. It has a flat concrete roof and a concave façade and is faced in Portland red stone and Lancashire brick. It is regarded as one of the most advanced examples of early 20th-century domestic architecture, and is referenced in architectural digests. The house has been a Grade I listed building since 1975, one of six such buildings in Trafford.

The Old Market Place is thought to stand on the site of the original town settlement. Now a registered conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...

 it consists of a series of part timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...

 buildings echoing the wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...

 constructions of the original houses and burgage
Burgage
Burgage is a medieval land term used in England and Scotland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town rental property , owned by a king or lord. The property usually, and distinctly, consisted of a house on a long and narrow plot of land, with the narrow end facing the street...

 plots. The cobblestone paving was replaced in 1896. The Buttermarket which stood in the area near the Old Market Place from the 17th century until the late 19th century was also the site for dispensing early local justice. A courtroom, stocks
Stocks
Stocks are devices used in the medieval and colonial American times as a form of physical punishment involving public humiliation. The stocks partially immobilized its victims and they were often exposed in a public place such as the site of a market to the scorn of those who passed by...

 and whipping post
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...

 saw public floggings take place there until the early 19th century. The whipping post and stocks were restored as a tourist attraction by local traders in the 1990s. However the Buttermarket area was also a site of religious importance, since prospective brides and grooms are thought to have declared their intentions here. In 1814 Thomas de Quincey
Thomas de Quincey
Thomas Penson de Quincey was an English esssayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .-Child and student:...

 described the Old Market Place in his Confessions of an English Opium Eater while travelling from Manchester to Chester. He noted how little the place had changed since he had visited 14 years earlier, when he was three, and that "fruits, such as can be had in July, and flowers were scattered about in profusion: even the stalls of the butchers, from their brilliant cleanliness, appeared attractive: and bonny young women of Altrincham were all tripping about in caps and aprons coquettishly disposed".

Cultural events and venues

Altrincham has two theatres, the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse and the Club Theatre. The Altrincham Garrick group was formed in 1913. The Garrick held the world stage premier of Psycho in 1982. In 1998, it received a grant of £675,000 from the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...

 as part of a £900,000 redevelopment of the theatre, which was completed in 1999. The Club Theatre group began in 1896, as the St Margaret's Church Institute Amateur Dramatics Society. It provides a venue for the Trafford Youth Theatre production each year, and it runs the Hale One Act Festival, an annual week-long event started in 1972. The Club has received awards from both the Greater Manchester Drama Federation and the Mid-Cheshire Theatre Guild. Altrincham also had Greater Manchester's only Michelin starred restaurant, the Juniper.

Sports

Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...

, nicknamed "The Robins", were founded in 1903 and play home matches at Moss Lane
Moss Lane
Moss Lane is a multi-purpose stadium in Altrincham, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Altrincham and Manchester United Reserves...

. The club plays in the Football Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

, the highest level of English non-league football
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 and the fifth tier overall. In the 1970s and 1980s Altrincham F.C. built a reputation for "giant-killing" acts against Football League teams in FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 matches. The club has knocked out Football League opposition on a record 16 occasions, including a 1986 victory against top-flight Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

. Altrincham won the forerunner of the Football Conference in its first two seasons, but was denied election to the Football League on both occasions, falling a single vote short in 1980. Altrincham has since had mixed fortunes. Relegated to the Northern Premier League
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...

 in 1997, the club earned promotion two years later, but suffered a second relegation after a single season in the Conference. In the 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08 seasons, Altrincham avoided relegation only as a result of other teams being deducted points, or being expelled from the Conference.

Altrincham is one of the few towns in North West England with an ice rink, and has had an ice hockey team since 1961, when Altrincham Ice Rink was built in Broadheath
Broadheath, Greater Manchester
Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

. The Altrincham Aces (later renamed the Trafford Metros) existed from 1961 until 2003, when Altrincham Ice Rink closed. The town then had a three year period without a rink or ice hockey team, until construction of the 2,500 capacity Altrincham Ice Dome
Altrincham Ice Dome
Altrincham Ice Dome is an ice rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It has 2,000 seats according to the rink website, and up to 500 standing places. despite this, the building has a capacity capped at 2,000 for ice hockey as standing around the plexi glass is not allowed in the...

 was completed. Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix are a professional ice hockey team from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey to bring top-level ice hockey back to Manchester after Manchester Storm folded in...

, a professional team in the Elite Ice Hockey League
Elite Ice Hockey League
Several competitions fall under the jurisdiction of the Elite League. In 2006–07, the EIHL ran a total of four competitions: the league, playoffs, Challenge Cup and Knockout Cup. The league consists of a single division, each team playing three home games and three away games against the other...

, relocated to the Ice Dome during the 2006–07 season, having withdrawn from competition two years earlier due to the high cost of playing matches at Manchester's MEN Arena. When not being used by Phoenix the Altrincham Ice Dome is open to the public for ice skating.

Founded in 1897, Altrincham Kersal RUFC plays rugby union in North One, the competition below the National Leagues, and is amongst the top 80 clubs in England. Altrincham has been promoted five times in the past ten seasons. The club has produced England and Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club who play in England in the Aviva Premiership.The club is an offshoot of Sale FC, which is based at Heywood Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, but Sharks currently play in Stockport at Edgeley Park, ground sharing with Stockport County F.C.Part of the...

 players Mark Cueto
Mark Cueto
Mark John "Frank" Cueto is an English international rugby union player. He plays on the wing for Sale Sharks and England.-Biography:...

 and Chris Jones
Chris Jones (rugby player)
Christopher Michael Jones is an English rugby union footballer. He plays as a lock or flanker for The Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership....

 and continues to produce players for the Sale Jets. Altrincham and District Athletics Club was founded in 1961, and provides training facilities for track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, road running
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

, cross-country running and fell running
Fell running
Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty...

. Seamons Cycling Club was formed in 1948, in the area of Altrincham known locally as Seamons Moss.

Education

As Altrincham was part of the parish of Bowdon, children from the township may have gone to the school that was established at Bowdon in the 16th century; however, before then there was no formal education in the town. A school was founded at Oldfield House, endowed by a salt merchant from Dunham Woodhouses, intended for 40 boys aged 8–11 from the surrounding area. Sunday schools run by were set up in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The increasing population in Altrincham necessitated the need for more schools in the early 19th century. In 1856, there were 9 schools, 1 college, and 23 teachers. The introduction of compulsory education in the second half of the 19th century meant there was a need for more schools, and in 1886 there were 12 church schools and 8 private schools.

Cheshire County Council
Cheshire County Council
Cheshire County Council was a County Council, of the second highest level of United Kingdom Government for the residents of Cheshire. Founded in 1889, it ceased to exist on 1 April 2009, when it and the district councils in Cheshire were replaced by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and...

 became responsible for education in the town in 1903, and Loreto Convent, the County High School for Girls, and Altrincham County High School for Boys were founded in 1909, 1910, and 1912 respectively. These schools are still open and known are called Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is an all girls secondary school situated on Cavendish Road in Bowdon, in Greater Manchester, England...

, Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Altrincham Grammar School For Boys
-Admissions:The school is non-fee paying with admission via an entrance exam. It had foundation school status which allowed a degree of independence from the local education authority, but from 2011 under the UK Government's Free School Programme it attained Academy status.-Foundation:The school...

, and Loreto Grammar School
Loreto Grammar School
Loreto Grammar School is voluntary aided all girls Catholic grammar school in Altrincham, in the borough of Trafford. Although it is a non fee-paying school, pupils must sit an entrance exam to enter, and fulfil several other entry criteria...

. The schools were built after the First World War due to a population boom caused by a post-war housing programme. Altrincham received evacuees during the Second World War, and it was in this period that St. Ambrose College
St. Ambrose College
St. Ambrose College is a leading state Voluntary Aided, Christian Brothers' Roman Catholic boys' grammar school located in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1946. In 2005, St Ambrose College became a mathematics and computing college and the school is today...

 was founded.

There are 18 primary schools, one special school, and 8 secondary schools in the Altrincham area, including 5 grammar schools; the Trafford district maintains a selective education system assessed by the Eleven Plus
Eleven plus
In the United Kingdom, the 11-plus or Eleven plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years...

 exam. Several of the secondary schools in the Altrincham area have specialist status
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...

: Altrincham College of Arts
Altrincham College of Arts
Altrincham College of Arts holds the specialist Arts College status. The college doesn't operate selection procedures. The headteacher is Peter Brooks. There are approximately 60 teachers in the school and approximately 800 pupils. Recent additions to the school include a large sports hall with...

 (arts
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...

); Altrincham Grammar School for Boys (language
Language College
Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages...

); Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (language); Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College is a secondary school based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. The school specialises in maths and computing, and is named after Blessed Thomas Holford, a 16th-century priest from Cheshire...

 (maths and computing
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools Programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus specifically on their chosen specialism but must also meet the requirements of the...

); Loreto Grammar School for Girls (science
Science College
Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics...

); and St. Ambrose College (maths and computing). Altrincham Grammar School for Girls was described in its 2005 Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

 report as "outstanding with an outstanding sixth form". Loreto Grammar – a Voluntary Aided, Catholic grammar school – was also described in its 2005 Ofsted report as "outstanding with an outstanding sixth form". Brentwood Special School is a mixed school for 11–19 years olds who have special needs or learning difficulties.

Religion

During the medieval and post-medieval period, the township of Altrincham was part of the Bowdon parish. Altrincham did not have a church until the late 18th century because of a low population density in the area. A growing population in led to the Anglican church establishing a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

 in the town in 1799. Nonconformists were also present in Altrincham, Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 set up a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 in 1790 Baptists built one in the 1870s. Irish immigrants in the 1830s and 1840s brought Roman Catholicism back to the area, and the first Roman Catholic church built in Trafford was St Vincent's in 1860 Altrincham.

There are five Grade II listed churches in Altrincham: Christ Church, the Church of St Alban, the Church of St George
St George's Church, Altrincham
St George's Church, Altrincham is in the town of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England . The church is a Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Bowdon.-History:The original church was...

, the Church of St John the Evangelist, and Trinity United Reformed Church. All these churches have been listed buildings since 1985. There are three Grade II* listed churches in Altrincham out of only nine Grade II* buildings in Trafford: the Church of St Margaret, the Church of St John the Divine, and Hale Chapel in Hale Barns
Hale Barns
Hale Barns is an affluent village in Altrincham in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, Hale Barns lies about south of Manchester city centre, 2 miles west of Manchester Airport and close to the River Bollin...

. As of the 2001 UK census, 78.8% of Altrincham's residents reported themselves as being Christian, 1.1% Jewish, 1.1% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.1% Sikh. The census recorded 12.1% as having no religion, 0.2% with an alternative religion, and 6.1% not stating their religion. Altrincham is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury, and the Church of England Diocese of Chester. The nearest synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

, belonging to Hale and District Hebrew Congregation, is on Shay Lane in Hale, and there are plans to build another close by to cater for Jews of Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

 origin.

Transport

In 1754, a stretch of road south of Altrincham, along the Manchester to Chester route, was turnpiked
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...

. Turnnpikes were toll roads which taxed passengers for the maintenance of the road. Further sections were turnpiked in 1765 from Timperley to Sale, and 1821 from Altrincham to Stockport. The maintenance of roads passed to local authorities in 1888, although by then most turnpike trusts had already declined.

Construction on the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

 began in 1759, and on its completion in 1776, it provided a link by water between Manchester and the Irish Sea, via Altrincham. Canals were a quicker and more economical means of travel than roads. The Bridgewater Canal is still in use, although now by leisure craft rather than commercial.

After a bill was passed in Parliament in 1845, construction of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway began. It was opened in 20 October 1849 and ran services from Manchester London Road via Sale to Altrincham. In 1931, the MSJAR line was electrified
Railway electrification in Great Britain
Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...

 (1500 V DC OLE
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...

), one of the first electrified railway lines, supplied by overhead current, in Great Britain. At the same time a further Altrincham station was opened on that line, at Navigation Road, to serve the housing developments in the area. By 1937, there were 130 train services daily between Manchester and Altrincham. The line was renovated in the early 1990s and is now part of the Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...

. Broadheath railway station
Broadheath railway station
Broadheath railway station was a station that served Broadheath and the northern part of Altrincham in Cheshire, England between its opening in 1853 and closure in 1962.-Station construction, opening and ownership:...

 served the northern part of Altrincham between 1853 and 1962, on the line from Manchester, via Lymm to Warrington.

Altrincham railway station
Altrincham railway station
Altrincham Interchange serves the town of Altrincham in Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It was originally named Altrincham and Bowdon railway station and is located on Stamford New Road, adjacent to the Altrincham Ice Dome—home to the Manchester Phoenix ice hockey team...

 is the southern terminus of one of the lines of the Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...

 light rail system, which connects it with the centre of Manchester and locations in Greater Manchester such as Sale
Sale, Greater Manchester
Sale is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, the town lies on flat ground on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of the city of Manchester...

 and Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...

. The Metrolink service also serves Navigation Road railway station
Navigation Road railway station
Navigation Road station serves the eastern side of Altrincham, Broadheath and Timperley areas of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. The station also serves as a Manchester Metrolink station...

. Metrolink services leave around every six minutes between 7:15 and 18:30, and every 12 minutes at other times of the day. National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...

 services link Altrincham and Navigation Road stations with Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

 via Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...

, and with Manchester via Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

. Altrincham Interchange, next to the railway station, is a hub for local bus routes. Manchester Airport, the largest in the UK outside London, is 4 miles (6.4 km) to the southeast of the town.

Notable people

Altrincham has been home to notable people, both past and present. Helen Allingham
Helen Allingham
__NOEDITSECTION__Helen Allingham was an English watercolour painter and illustrator of the Victorian era.-Biography:...

 lived in Altrincham and then Bowdon
Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburban village and electoral ward in the Altrincham area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England.-History:...

 as a child. Alison Uttley
Alison Uttley
Alison Uttley , née Alice Jane Taylor, was a prolific British writer of over 100 books. She is now best known for her children's series about Little Grey Rabbit, and Sam Pig....

 wrote the Little Grey Rabbit books while living in Bowdon. The dramatist Ronald Gow
Ronald Gow
Ronald Gow was an English dramatist, best known for Love on the Dole .Born in Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire, the son of a bank manager, Gow attended Altrincham County High School. After training as a chemist, he returned to his old school as a teacher...

 lived in Altrincham in his youth and later taught at the local grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

. It was the birthplace of the actress Angela Cartwright
Angela Cartwright
Angela Margaret Cartwright is an English-born American actress primarily known for her roles in movies and television...

.

Altrincham is home to professional footballers (including Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 and Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 players), other sport stars, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 personalities, particularly Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

actors and music industry celebrities. Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...

 and John Squire
John Squire
John Thomas Squire is an English musician, songwriter and artist.Squire is best known as the guitarist for The Stone Roses, a rock band in which he formed a songwriting partnership with lead singer Ian Brown. After leaving The Stone Roses he went on to found The Seahorses and has since released...

 of The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

 both attended Altrincham Grammar School for boys.. In addition, Paul Young from Sad Café
Sad Café (band)
Sad Café were an English rock band, which formed in Manchester in 1976, as a result of the unification of the rock bands Mandala and Gyro. Sad Café are best known for their song "Every Day Hurts" which reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979....

 and Mike and the Mechanics lived in Altrincham until his death in 2000 Cricketer Paul Allott
Paul Allott
Paul John Walter Allott is a former English cricketer who played county cricket for Lancashire, Minor Counties cricket for Staffordshire and first-class cricket in New Zealand for Wellington, as well as thirteen Test match appearances and thirteen One Day International appearances for England.He...

 was born in Altrincham and played Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 for England. Allott played for Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...

 between 1978 and 1991 and played his 13 tests between 1981 and 1985 Altrincham born Bill Speakman
Bill Speakman
William Speakman-Pitt, VC is a British recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first man to receive a VC from Queen Elizabeth II. He is one of the five living...

 received the Victoria Cross for valour in 1951 in the Korean War. Sir Michael Pollock
Michael Pollock
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Patrick Pollock GCB, LVO, DSC was a British officer in the Royal Navy who rose to become First Sea Lord from 1971 to 1974...

, an officer in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 who rose to the position of First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...

, was born in Altrincham.

External links

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