Ashton-under-Lyne

 

town (1991 pop. 43,605), Tameside metropolitan district, NW England, in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area on the Tame River. Its industries include engineering, leather, plastics, textile production and processing, brewing, and the manufacture of diesel, gas, and oil engines.

Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne shown within Greater Manchester
Population	43,236
OS grid reference	SJ931997
Metropolitan borough	Tameside
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE
Postcode district	OL6, OL7
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Ashton-under-Lyne
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°′″N 2°′″W / 53.4941, -2.1032

Ashton-under-Lyne is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England.^[1] Lying under the Pennine hills, roughly seven miles (11 km) east of Manchester City Centre, it has a total population of 43,236.^{[citation needed]}

Although existing for centuries, Ashton (as it is referred in shorthand) grew rapidly in size during the 19th century due to cotton spinning and weaving, and coal mining. Today, Ashton is a predominantly residential town.

History

Toponymy

The 'Ashton' part of its name probably derives from "settlement surrounded by ash trees".^{[citation needed]} The "under-Lyne" part of its name became standard in the 1830s when Ashton was incorporated as a Parliamentary Borough and had its own member of parliament, prior to the 1830s "under Lime" was the norm from the 17th century. It possibly refers to the old county boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire, or the Forest of Lyme which once covered the area. Another popular theory is that it derives from Ashton being under the lyne of the Pennines. Though the original name was thought to be Eston in 1212, changing to Ashton in 1277, Aston in 1278, Asshton, Asheton & Assheton in 1292, Ashton under Lyme in 1307, Assheton under Lyme in 1334.

Early history

In the Middle Ages, Ashton was centred around the parish church of St Michael within the Hundred of Salford. This might have been the same church as that mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as one of the two churches of the parish of Manchester. The first recorded Rector of St Michael's in circa 1262 was Clemment under the patronage of Thomas Grelley.

Industrial Revolution

Ashton's growth occurred from the early 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, with the development of cotton mills and coal mines. By the mid 19th century Ashton had a population of over 40,000 (1841 census 45,235, 1861 Census 65,306, the increase mainly due to the Great Irish Famine victims migration)[1]. Ashton was incorporated as a parliamentary borough in 1832 and a municipal borough with an elected council in 1847 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.

Governance

From 1847 to 1974, Ashton formed a municipal borough in the administrative county of Lancashire.^[2] Since the local government reforms of 1974, Ashton has been the administrative centre of the Tameside district of Greater Manchester.^[1]

Geography

Ashton lies roughly seven miles (11 km) east of Manchester City Centre. The River Tame forms part of the southern boundary of Ashton, while the River Medlock runs to the west of the town and both the Ashton and Peak Forest Canals are routed through the town. The eastern terminus of the early medieval linear earthwork Nico Ditch is in Ashton Moss (grid reference SJ909980); it was probably used as an administrative boundary and dates from the 8th or 9th centuries.^[3]

Since 1956, Ashton has been twinned with Chaumont, France.

Recent developments

Ashton's industries today include: engineering, food processing, leather, limes, plastics, textiles, brewing, and the manufacture of diesel, gas, and oil engines.

Construction on Ashton Leisure Park was completed in 2003. The park houses a Cineworld cinemas multiplex, Hollywood Bowl ten-pin bowling alley, Frankie & Benny's Restaurant, Chiquitos Restaurant, a Chinese buffet called 'Eat Inn', Nando's Restaurant, KFC, Lime Bar and the Harvester pub/restaurant. In October 2006, Ashton also became home to the second IKEA store in the north-west of England (the other being in Warrington) and only the fifteenth in Great Britain.

The past few years has seen a great deal of investment in an area to the west of the town centre, known as St Petersfield. The aim of this investment is to create a business quarter in the town and bring life to a neglected area of Ashton. When complete, the area will house several thousand square feet of office space, spread over numerous new buildings, as well as apartments and amenities such as cafes, pubs, restaurants and a creche. The Pennine Care NHS Trust has already agreed to occupy office space in the first building, which reached practical completion in September 2006. Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust will also be setting up a medical resource centre within the St Petersfield area.

The original plans for the St Petersfield area included the demolition of The Witchwood, a local public house and live venue of some fame. This prompted a campaign to save the building, drawing support from regular customers, local limes (both amateur and professional), live music fans from across the country and even international musicians. The plans were eventually amended and The Witchwood was allowed to stay. The Witchwood has now been put up for sale - the asking price £400,000 (Nov 2006) again putting its future in doubt.

In May 2004, Ashton's Victorian Market Hall was ravaged by a massive fire. Plans are now under way to rebuild the market hall and outdoor market and the work is scheduled to be completed in early 2008. A temporary market hall called the Phoenix Market Hall has built on Old Cross Street on the opposite side of the old market hall. A farmers and produce market is held on the last Sunday of the month on the outdoor market grounds as is a continental market about 3 times a year.

Places of interest

A major tourist attraction in Ashton is the Portland Basin Museum, which is based in a former warehouse next to the canal. The basin is the point at which the Ashton Canal, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Peak Forest Canal join together.

Another place of interest in the town is the Museum of the Manchester Regiment[2]. A large street market is held in the town centre, reputedly one of the largest in England.

Notable also is Ashton Moss Transmitter, one of the few European AM transmitting aerials to use free-standing tower radiators.

Transport

The M60 motorway, cuts through the west end of Ashton (Junction 23). Regular rail services on the Huddersfield Line between Manchester (Victoria) and Huddersfield stop at the railway station in the town centre. A planned extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system is to run through Tameside and terminate in Ashton. As of July 2007, funding is in place to build the extension with a view for completion by 2010. Ashton also has one of the busiest bus stations in Greater Manchester. It is planned to be developed and extended in the coming years.

Politics

Ashton-Under-Lyne is split up of four wards being Ashton Hurst, Ashton St. Michaels, Ashton St. Peters and Ashton Waterloo. After the current 2007 elections held in May, Ashton consists of 10 Labour councillors and 2 Conservative councillors.

Ashton Hurst

• Richard Ambler (Conservative)
• John Kelly (Conservative)
• Alan Whitehead (Labour)

Ashton St. Michaels

• Margaret Sidebottom (Labour)
• Andrew Highton (Labour)
• William Harrison (Labour)

Ashton St. Peters

• Warren Bray (Labour)
• Stephen Smith (Labour)
• Jack Davis (Labour)

Ashton Waterloo

• Catherine Piddington (Labour)
• Lynn Travis (Labour)
• Michael Whitley (Labour)

Post Office privatisation

In an experiment also involving five other post offices, the main post office, which was situated in a Grade II listed building on Warrington Street, has been closed and WH Smith have taken over the franchise at their retail store in the Ashton Arcades, despite a petition organised by a local newspaper. [3] [4]

Sports

Ashton-under-Lyne's most prominent football teams are Ashton United F.C. and Curzon Ashton F.C.. Richmond Park Athletics Stadium is a synthetic running track and is home to the East Cheshire Harriers and Tameside AC. The town also lays claim to having produced two football World Cup winners (see below).

Night life

The town centre houses many bars, pubs and clubs and it is a very popular spot for nights out. With weekends being particularly busy, there is often a large police presence at night. In recent years there has been concern over the binge drinking culture and violence exhibited by youths. In 2002 Stephen Baba-Tunde Amos was shot dead outside a nightclub.[5]

Notable people

Sporting

Football

• Henry Cockburn (Manchester United & England)
• Sir Geoff Hurst (World Cup winning West Ham United and England international)
• Simone Perrotta (World Cup winning Italian international)
• Mark Robins (Manchester United, Norwich City & others)
• Trevor Ross (Arsenal & Everton)
• Bert Whalley (Manchester United player & first team coach)
• Alan Wright (Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough & others)

Cricket

Cricketers Andrew Harris, Harry Pilling and Gary Yates were all born in Ashton-under-Lyne. Harris played for Derbyshire and currently plays for Nottinghamshire.^[4] Pilling played first class cricket for Lancashire between 1962 and 1980.^[5] Yates played first class cricket for Lancashire between 1990 and 2002 and coaches the Lancashire second XI.^[6]

Performing arts

• David Straitjacket

Coronation Street

• Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth)
• Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner)
• Roy Barraclough (Alec Gilroy)
• Amanda Barrie (Alma Baldwin)
• Sue Devaney (Debbie Webster)
• Sean Wilson (Martin Platt)
• Dawn Acton (Former Tracy Barlow)

Others

• George Formby (Senior)
• Ronald Fraser
• Sunny Rogers
• Simon Wright (AC/DC)
• Tony Gardner (My Parents are Aliens)

Artists

• John Louis Petit
• David Vaughan

Others

• Margaret Beckett (Former British Foreign Secretary)
• Arthur Brooke (founder of the Brooke Bond Tea Company)
• Ian Davies
• Thomas Earnshaw
• Peter Hebblethwaite
• Simon Hoggart
• Lisa Huo
• Evan Leigh
• Albert E. Richardson
• Gordon Taylor
• Sadie Frost
• John Kilbride (Moors Murders victim)

Religion

Ashton-under-Lyne is home to St Michael and All Angels’ Church is a Grade I Listed Building. The church dates back to at least 1262. The church was rebuilt in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and nineteenth centuries.^[7]

References

External links

• Ashton-under-lyne.com
• Ashton and Tameside
• Tameside Council

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