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Stockport
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'''Stockport''' is a town in
Greater Manchester, in
North West England. The town of Stockport has a population of 136,082 (2001)
List of English cities by population 1. It is the largest town within the
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.
History
Stockport was originally a
Anglo-Saxons Saxon village. Its name may be derived from two
Old English language Saxon words: STOC - a stockaded place or castle, and PORT - a wood. Literally, a castle in a wood. There is sufficient evidence that a fortified stronghold existed in the vicinity in ancient British times, and that
Gnaeus Julius Agricola Agricola in AD79 recognised its strategical advantages and fortified Stockport to guard the passage of the
Mersey.
(Source: [http://www.stockport.gov.uk/content/communitypeopleliving/historyandheritage/localhistory/?a=5441 Local history page on Stockport Council's web site], March 3 2005)
An alternative theory put forward for the derivation of the town's name is that it is a corruption of Stopford, after a ford across the river at the bottom of what is now the town centre street named Market Street Brow. Pupils at the town's principal private secondary school,
Stockport Grammar School (founded 1487) call themselves Stopfordians.
After the
Norman Conquest, it became ruled by a hereditary
Baron of Stockport.
Stockport has never been a sea or river port. The river
Mersey, which starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Rivers
River Goyt Goyt and
River Tame, Yorkshire Tame, is not navigable to anything much above canoe size, and in the centre of Stockport has been
culverted and the main shopping street Mersey Way built above it. The town was connected to the national canal network by the 5 miles of the
Stockport Branch Canal Stockport branch of the
Ashton Canal opened in 1797 which continued in use until the 1930's. Much of it is now filled in, but there is an active campaign to re-open it.
The 1835
Municipal Corporation Act made Stockport a town divided into seven wards. In 1888, its status was raised to County Borough.
Due to its close proximity to Manchester, Stockport rapidly expanded during the
Industrial Revolution, helped particularly by the growth of the cotton manufacturing industries. However, economic growth took its toll, and 19th Century philosopher
Friedrich Engels wrote in 1844 that Stockport was "renowned as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes in the whole of the industrial area".
In
1967 the
Stockport Air Disaster occurred, when a British Midland Airways Argonaut crashed in the Hopes Carr area of the town, resulting in the deaths of 72 passengers.
In recent years,
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has embarked on an ambitious regeneration scheme, known as
Future Stockport. The plan is to bring over 3,000 residents into the centre of the town, and revitalise its' residential property and retail markets, in a similar fashion to the nearby major city of
Manchester. Many ex-industrial areas around the town's core will be brought back into productive use as
mixed-use residential and commercial developments.
Features
Stockport is home to the following:
* League Two football team
Stockport County F.C. Stockport County Football Club. Stockport County's ground Edgeley Park is also where Rugby Union side
Sale Sharks play their home games.
*
Bramall Hall and the
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty National Trust property of
Lyme Park.
*The UK's last working hat factory was located in Stockport; in its place is now
HatWorks hat museum.
*Western Europe's biggest brick structure, the 111 feet (33.85 metres) high, railway viaduct on the line to Manchester which represents a major feat of Victorian engineering. Eleven million bricks were used in its construction, opening in 1842.
*
Bredbury, Stockport is the home for the
National Library for the Blind.
Commerce
Stockport's principal commercial district is located in the town centre, with most common department stores to be found in the Merseyway Shopping Centre.
The Grand Central Leisure Park complex boasts an Olympic sized swimming pool, a
movie theater 10 screen cinema, bars, a bowling alley, health complex, and several restaurants. Stockport is located seven miles away from
Manchester City Centre, making it convenient for commuters and shoppers.
Reputation
Although the suburbs of
Bramhall and
Cheadle, Greater Manchester Cheadle rank amongst the wealthiest areas of the United Kingdom and 45% of the borough is green space, districts such as
Adswood and
Brinnington suffer from widespread poverty and post-industrial decay. Opinions on the general quality of life in Stockport greatly differ. In its favour, some highlight its close proximity to
Manchester, and its abundance of amenities; but its perceived grittiness and loutish youth culture earned it 12th place in the internet-based 2004 guide "
Crap Towns Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places To Live In The UK" (however, given that its fellows on this list were places such as
Oxford,
Winchester, Hampshire Winchester,
Liverpool (European Capital of Culture), and tiny
London commuter belt villages, the relevance of the list is disputed).
Politics
There are four parliamentary constituencies in the Stockport Metropolitan Borough:
Stockport (UK Parliament constituency) Stockport,
Cheadle (constituency) Cheadle,
Hazel Grove (UK Parliament constituency) Hazel Grove and
Denton and Reddish (UK Parliament constituency) Denton and Reddish.
Stockport has been represented by
Labour Party (UK) Labour MP
Ann Coffey since
United Kingdom general election, 1992 1992.
The
Liberal Democrats (UK) Liberal Democrat Patsy Calton was elected in Cheadle in
United Kingdom general election, 2001 2001 over long-standing
Conservative Party (UK) Conservative member
Stephen Day by the smallest margin of any constituency in the country. She died in
2005, a month after increasing her majority to over 4,000 in the
UK general election, 2005 2005 election; in the following
Cheadle by-election, 2005 by-election the
Liberal Democrats (UK) Liberal Democrat Mark Hunter defeated Stephen Day.
Andrew Stunell has been the Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove since
United Kingdom general election, 1997 1997.
The constituency of Denton and Reddish bridges Stockport and
Tameside; the current member is
Andrew Gwynne who holds the seat for Labour with a massive majority.
Notable People from Stockport
External links
-
Stockport Council
-
HatWorks Museum
-
Stockport County Football Club
-
Stockport Basketball Club
-
The Stockport Express
-
The National Library for the Blind
-
National Trust
-
Stockport Harriers and Athletics Club
Category:Towns in Greater Manchester
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