Ashton-under-Lyne (often referred to as Ashton) is a town in Greater Manchester with a population of 43,236 (2001 census). The town is in the administrative centre of the borough of Tameside.

Ashton lies roughly 7 miles (11km) east of Manchester city centre. The River Tame forms part of the southern boundary Ashton. The River Medlock runs to the west of the town and both the Ashton and Peak Forest canals are routed through the town.

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

1 Places of interest
2 History
3 Recent developments
4 Transport
5 Politics
- 5.1 Post Office Privatisation
6 Sport
7 Night Life
8 Famous Locals
9 External links and references

[edit] 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 [1]. A large street market is held in the town centre, reputedly one of the largest in England

[edit] History

In the Middle Ages Ashton, was centred around the parish church of St Michael's 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 patronship of Thomas Grelley.

The 'Ashton' part of its name probably derives from "settlement surrounded by Ash trees". 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 1830's "under Line" was the norm from the 17th century. It possibly refers to the old 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.

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 Irish potato famine victims migration). 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.

[edit] Recent developments

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

Construction on Ashton Retail 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/A&W and Brewers Fayre pub/restaurant. In October 2006 Ashton also became home to the second IKEA store in the northwest of England (the other being in Warrington) and only the fifteenth in 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 musicians (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 just been put up for sale - the asking price £400,000 British Pounds (Nov 2006) again putting its future in doubt.

[edit] 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 Charlestown Station in the town centre. A planned extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system was to run through Tameside and terminate in Ashton, however this now looks increasingly unlikely. As of July 2006, funding is in place to build the extension as far as Droylsden, with the extension to Ashton possibly coming afterwards, subject to more funding.

[edit] Politics

[edit] 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 Arcades, despite a petition organised by a local newspaper. [2] [3]

[edit] Sport

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).

[edit] 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 [4].