Crumpsall

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

Coordinates: 53°31′00″N 2°14′30″W / 53.5167°N 2.2417°W / 53.5167; -2.2417

Crumpsall
Crumpsall  Crumpsall shown within Greater Manchester
Metropolitan borough	Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M8
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Crumpsall is an urban area and electoral ward of the city of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) north of Manchester city centre. The area is adjacent to Cheetham Hill, Blackley, Prestwich, Harpurhey, Broughton and the Rhodes district of Middleton.

History

Historically a township within Lancashire, and a part of the ancient parish of Manchester under the hundred of Salford, the name Crumpsall derives from old English and means a "crooked piece of land beside a river". ^[1] Crumpsall was rural in character during the early part of the 19th century, however, the necessity to house Manchester's growing population of mill workers saw the area become more urbanised. Crumpsall was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1890. ^[2]

The area came to national prominence in 2004 when Detective Constable Stephen Oake, a Greater Manchester Police officer, was fatally stabbed whilst arresting a suspected terrorist in a house on Crumpsall Lane. DC Oake therefore became the first British national to be killed by terrorists in the War on Terror in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

Governance

Crumpsall is a represented on Manchester City Council by three Labour Councillors, Sir Richard Leese, who is currently leader of Manchester City Council, Jon-Leigh Pritchard and Con Keegan.^[3]

Although an unparished area, it can be said that the (Crumpsall) Parkhill and Cleveland Residents' Association effectively operates as a type of parish council and convenes periodically either at the Methodist Church Crumpsall, Saint Matthews' RC Church or Saint Anne's RC Church to discuss local issues.

There also exists a voluntary organisation known as the Friends of Crumpsall Park who oversee the development and well-being of the park in conjunction with the city council, Manchester Leisure and the police. They organise the annual Crumpsall Carnival which takes place on the last Sunday in June. ^[4]

Geography

Crumpsall has only a few small shops. Most of these have been recently renovated and are on Lansdowne Road.

Crumpsall is divided into Higher and Lower Crumpsall, although Lower Crumpsall to the east in the valley of the River Irk is now a much reduced community following large amounts of enforced local authority demolition of the small terraced streets in the 1970s.

Higher Crumpsall is largely composed of houses and schools with little commerce or industry. It is also the location of a large hospital now known as North Manchester General Hospital. This was previously three hospitals: Crumpsall Hospital, Springfield Hospital and Delaunay's Hospital.

The main routes through the district are Crescent Road, Cravenwood Road, Delaunay's Road, Cleveland Road, Crumpsall Lane, Middleton Road, Lansdowne Road (the main shopping area with the post office) and Ash Tree Road (bounded on the east side by Crumpsall Park). Crumpsall is approximately 3 miles away from Manchester city centre. There is also an area known at Cheetham Shopping Centre which is entirely within the Crumpsall Boundary, and the Old Crumpsall Library is in Cheetham due to boundary changes in 1974

Demography

According to the 2001 national census, the ward has a population of 11,363.

Religion

• Christian - 52.05%
• Muslim - 17.26%
• Jewish - 8.99%
• Sikh - 1.00%
• No religion or other (including Buddhist and Hindu) - 20.47%

(According to 2001 census^[6]))

Education

Primary education is provided by Cravenwood Community Primary School, Crumpsall Lane Primary School, Saint Anne's RC Primary School, King David's Infant School, King David's Junior School and Saint Thomas' Primary School. Secondary education is provided by King David's High School and Abraham Moss High School, the latter of which is part of the Abraham Moss Learning Centre. The King David schools are targeted at Greater Manchester's Orthodox Jewish community, whilst Saint Anne's is as a Roman Catholic institution.

The Abraham Moss Leisure Centre hosts the only college in the area and forms part of the Manchester College network of further education institutions. It was previously part of the network of City College Manchester colleges, before the merger with MANCAT on the 1 August 2008^[7].

Transport

Crumpsall is served by three stations on Manchester Metrolink's Bury line. Crumpsall Metrolink station on Station Road is located in the centre of the ward, whilst Bowker Vale station lies to the north western extremity on Middleton Road and borders Higher Blackley. Though lying just outside the ward's borders in Cheetham, Woodlands Road station serves the southern extremity of the ward, and lies close to the Abraham Moss leisure centre and Crumpsall Library. Plans have been put forward to replace the Woodlands Road station with a new stop at the Abraham Moss Leisure centre.^[8]

First Manchester, Bluebird Bus and Coach and JP Travel amongst other private companies operate regular bus services through the ward, via North Manchester General Hospital and onwards to Manchester city centre and other areas of Greater Manchester.

Notable people

Sir Humphrey Chetham was born in Crumpsall in 1580, the son of a successful Manchester merchant who lived in Crumpsall Hall, Harpurhey. He was responsible for the creation of Chetham's Hospital (now Chetham's School of Music) and Chetham's Library, the oldest public library in the English-speaking world^[9], and located in the city centre.

The folk singer, Mike Harding, was brought up on Waterloo Street and Hallworth Road in Lower Crumpsall. He attended St Anne's RC Primary school and was a schoolteacher in the 1960s at Cravenwood County Primary School in Crumpsall and performed with his band, "The Stylos" who were also from Crumpsall.

Henry Normal, known as "The Bard of Crumpsall", had his TV series for Granada set in the mythical "Crumpsall Palladium".

The Moors Murderess Myra Hindley was born in Crumpsall in 1942, and attended Peacocks Primary School in the area from 1947 until 1953.

Howard Jacobson was brought up in Crumpsall and some of his novels, Kalooki Nights and The Mighty Walzer feature descriptions of Jewish life in the area.

Actor and singer Don Estelle (Gunner "Lofty" Sugden in It Ain't Half Hot Mum) (real name Ronald Edwards) was born and brought up in Crumpsall.

Take That's Jason Orange was born in Crumpsall.

References