Greater Manchester

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Greater Manchester <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background: white;">Motto: Ever Vigilant</td></tr>
Shown within England
Geography
Status	Metropolitan county Ceremonial county <tr><th>Origin</th><td>1974</br>(Local Government Act 1972)</td></tr>
Region	North West England
Area - Total	Ranked 39th 1,276 km² km²
ONS code	2A
NUTS 3	UKD3
Demographics
Population - Total (2005) - Density	Ranked 3rd 2,547,700 1,997 / km² / km²
Ethnicity	91.1% White 5.6% S.Asian 1.2% Afro-Carib.
Politics
No county council since 1986. <tr><th>Executive</th><td> </td></tr>
Members of Parliament	Hazel Blears, Graham Brady, Andrew Burnham, David Chaytor, Ann Coffey, David Crausby, Jim Dobbin, Paul Goggins, Andrew Gwynne, David Heyes, Beverley Hughes, Mark Hunter, Brian Iddon, Gerald Kaufman, Barbara Keeley, Ruth Kelly, John Leech, Ivan Lewis, Tony Lloyd, Ian McCartney, Michael Meacher, James Purnell, Paul Rowen, Ian Stewart, Graham Stringer, Andrew Stunell, Neil Turner, Phil Woolas
Districts
City of Manchester Stockport Tameside Oldham Rochdale Bury Bolton Wigan City of Salford Trafford

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which roughly encompasses the conurbation surrounding the City of Manchester, and has a population of 2.48 million.<ref>Greater Manchester (Met County) Population - Census 2001, National Statistics Online, 2001. URL accessed October 10, 2006.</ref> Greater Manchester came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of ten metropolitan boroughs, including the City of Manchester and the City of Salford.

Greater Manchester is landlocked, and as a ceremonial county borders Cheshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Merseyside.

As well as Manchester, the county includes major centres such as Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Stockport and Wigan. Greater Manchester is not entirely built-up. Although Manchester forms a conurbation along with Salford, Trafford, Oldham and Stockport, other towns, such as Bury, Rochdale and Wigan are clearly separate.

Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the county, which is some 500 square miles, continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and is also a ceremonial county (with its own Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff).

Prior to the creation of the metropolitan county, the name Selnec was used for the area, from the initials 'South East Lancashire North East Cheshire'. The historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire covered the area that is now Greater Manchester (as well as a very small part of Yorkshire).

[edit] History

See also: History of Manchester and Category:History of Greater Manchester

[edit] Origins

The modern county of Greater Manchester was created in 1974. However, the history and heritage of its constituent settlements and parts stem back for centuries. Manchester is home to a c.2000 year old Roman fort in what is now Castlefield, and other towns (such as Oldham and Bolton) played a central role during the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, due to the economic and industrial success of the modern Greater Manchester towns and cities, the connurbation has been forming for the last few centuries.

Most of Greater Manchester lies within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire; those areas south of the Mersey and Tame in Cheshire. The Saddleworth area and a small part of Mossley are historically part of Yorkshire and in the south-east a small part in Derbyshire. The areas which were incorporated into Greater Manchester in 1974 previously formed parts of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and of various independent county boroughs. Greater Manchester is today made up of some 70 former local authorities from these former boundaries.

The Local Government Act 1958 designed the "South East Lancashire" area (which despite its name included north east Cheshire as well), a Special Review Area. The Local Government Commission for England never completed its report before it was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government. Draft recommendations were presented in December 1965 and would have seen a new county based on the Manchester conurbation, with nine most-purpose boroughs, corresponding to the modern Greater Manchester boroughs (excluding Wigan).

The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed a 'SELNEC' (South East Lancashire North East Cheshire) 'metropolitan area'. This had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester, but covered much more territory in north-east Cheshire including Macclesfield and Warrington, and also covered Glossop in Derbyshire. The metropolitan area was to be divided into 9 metropolitan districts, based on Wigan, Bolton, Bury/Rochdale, Warrington, Manchester (including Salford and Old Trafford), Oldham, Altrincham, Stockport and Tameside.

In 1969 a SELNEC Passenger Transport Authority was set up, which covered an area smaller than the proposed SELNEC, but different to the eventual Greater Manchester. Compared to the Redcliffe-Maud area it excluded Macclesfield, Warrington, and Knutsford, but still including Glossop and Saddleworth, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It excluded Wigan, which was in both the Redcliffe-Maud area and in the eventual Greater Manchester (but had not been part of the SEL special review area).

Although the Redcliffe-Maud report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election, it was committed to local government reform, and accepted the need for a metropolitan county based on the Manchester conurbation. Its original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's SELNEC, but further fringe areas such as Wilmslow, Warrington and Glossop were trimmed from the edges and remained instead in the shire counties. Other late changes included the separation of the proposed Bury/Rochdale authority (retained from the Redcliffe-Maud report) into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Greater Manchester was eventually established in 1974.

Some noted historians of Manchester have claimed that "With the creation of the Greater Manchester county, came statutory recognition to what was already as a result of natural evolution, a distinct and recognised region, bound together by innumerable ties extending back over the centuries. Greater Manchester... is the logical outcome of centuries of shared tradition."<ref>Frangopulo, N.J, Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, EP Publishing, (1977).</ref>

[edit] Recent history

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

Since the creation of Greater Manchester county, several significant events have occurred in the region, including the rise of the Madchester sub-culture, the 1996 Manchester bombing, and the Oldham Riots in 2001.

[edit] Physical geography

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Greater Manchester is a landlocked county. The Pennines run along the eastern side of the county, through parts of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside, and the West Pennine Moors lie in the west of the county.

Black Chew Head is the highest point (county top) of Greater Manchester.

[edit] Local government

[edit] Metropolitan boroughs

Local governance in Greater Manchester is currently provided by the councils of ten districts, known as metropolitan boroughs, these are: Bolton, Bury, the City of Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, the City of Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

For the first twelve years after the county was created in 1974, the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the metropolitan borough councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council.

However in 1986, along with the five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council, the Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers were devolved to the boroughs, which effectively became unitary authorities.

Various civil parishes exist in certain parts of Greater Manchester: see list of civil parishes in Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester council's County Hall, was located in what is now Westminster House, in Piccadilly Gardens, central Manchester.

[edit] County level functions

Although the county council was abolished a number of local government functions take place at the county level.

The ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operate through the Association of Greater Manchester Local Authorities (AGMLA), which meets to create a co-ordinated county-wide approach to many issues. The AGMLA funds some county-wide bodies such as the Greater Manchester County Records Office. Through the AGMLA, the ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operate on many policy issues, including jointly producing a county-wide Local Transport Plan [1].

In addition to this, some local services are still provided county-wide, but are now administered by statutory joint boards of the ten districts. These are:

• The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, (GMPTE) which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county.
• The Greater Manchester Police, who are overseen by a joint Police authority.
• The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, who are administered by a joint "Fire and Rescue Authority".
• The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, which does not include the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan

These joint-boards which are made up of councillors appointed from each of the ten boroughs.

The ten-boroughs jointly own the Manchester Airport Group which controls Manchester Airport and three other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils.

[edit] Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Greater Manchester South at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Greater Manchester North at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

[edit] Industry and commerce

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The towns and cities which now form Greater Manchester were, during in the 19th century, major centres of industrial activity and hence of wealth. Activities included mining and textile production (particularly cotton, but also silk and wool). Many surviving cotton mills from this time still mark the Greater Manchester skyline to this day. Historically, the docks in Salford Quays were an industrial port, though are now (following a period of disuse) a successfully redeveloped commercial and residential area which includes the Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry Theatre and exhibition centre and is also earmarked to become a major centre for the BBC.<ref>Salford bid wins BBC move north</ref>

As one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom, Manchester is also a spiraling centre of business, and economic might.

[edit] Demographics

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Greater Manchester is one of the most populous counties in the United Kingdom. It is also ethnically diverse.

[edit] Settlements

Main article: List of places in Greater Manchester

As a large urbanised county, Greater Manchester is home to two cities and several towns of varying sizes. The ten metropolitan boroughs correspond to most of the largest settlements, including Rochdale, Bolton, Salford and Oldham. However Greater Manchester is also home to many smaller settlements including some rural villages along the outskirts.

This is not an extensive list. More settlements can be found at Category:Towns in Greater Manchester, Category:Villages in Greater Manchester, and Category:Districts of Greater Manchester.

Some of these settlements were immortalised on The Beautiful South's 2006 single Manchester (which somewhat erroneously places many settlements within Manchester, rather than Greater Manchester).

[edit] Ceremonial county

The Local Government Act 1972 provided that the whole of the area to be covered by the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester would also be included in the Duchy of Lancaster - extending the duchy to include areas which were formerly in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Thus, the Lord-Lieutenant and High Sherriff of Greater Manchester are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster rather than, as is more usual, the recommendation of The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

The first Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester was Sir William Downward who held the title from 1974 through to 1987. The current Lord Lieutenant is Colonel Sir John Bradford Timmins.

As a ceremonial county, Greater Manchester is utilised by the government (via the Office for National Statistics) for the gathering of county-wide statistics, and organising and collating census material.

[edit] Sport

In football, four Greater Manchester teams, Bolton Wanderers F.C., Manchester City F.C., Manchester United F.C., and Wigan Athletic F.C., play in the 2006-07 FA Premier League. In addition to this, Oldham Athletic play in League One and Stockport County F.C., Bury FC and Rochdale F.C. play in League Two. Manchester United F.C. is the most successful team in the history of the Premiership, having won the title eight times since it was introduced in 1992-93<ref name="prem">Club Profile on premierleague.com</ref>

In rugby union, Sale Sharks compete in the Guinness Premiership, and won the league in 2006. <ref name="sale sharks">BBC - Rugby Union - English - Sale 45-20 Leicester</ref>

Lancashire County Cricket Club began in the county as Manchester Cricket Club<ref name="cricket origins">Lancashire County Cricket Club - Origins</ref> and continues to represent the area (along with the rest of the historic county of Lancashire). The club's home ground is in Manchester at the Old Trafford cricket ground, near the famous football stadium of the same name. Lancashire contested the original 1890 County Championship<ref name="cricket first championship">Cricinfo - The County Championship</ref> and in 2006 , the club finished second.

[edit] Places of interest

See also: Category:Visitor attractions in Greater Manchester and Category:Culture in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester boasts many places of interest, including multiple museums, galleries and centres of art and culture. Along the outskirts of the Greater Manchester conurbation feature many sites of natural beauty, including the West Pennine Moors, and parts of the Peak District.

Key
	National Trust
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Country Park
	Accessible open space
	Museums (free/not free)
	Heritage railway
	Historic House

[edit] Gallery of images

Salford Quays, between the City of Salford and Trafford.	The Beetham Tower, Manchester - The tallest building in Greater Manchester.	Manchester Town Hall, an example of the Victorian architecture found in Manchester	A Metrolink tram - part of Greater Manchester's light rail public transport system.
Bramall Hall - near Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme, is a historic Tudor hall	Salford skyline, as seen in 2005.	Maple Mill in Oldham, is an arctypal redbrick cotton mill built during the Industrial Revolution. Its structural style remains a common site throughout the Greater Manchester region.	The Imperial War Museum North, at Salford Quays
The B of the Bang - a public sculpture in Manchester	The Printworks an urban entertainment complex in Manchester City Centre	Saddleworth Moor - an area of the Pennines in the rural north-east of Greater Manchester.	Stockport Viaduct - one of several redbrick monuments of Greater Manchester's industrial past

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Association of Greater Manchester Local Authorities
• Greater Manchester Online

cy:Manceinion Fwyaf de:Greater Manchester es:Gran Manchester eo:Greater Manchester fr:Grand Manchester it:Greater Manchester nl:Greater Manchester no:Stor-Manchester pt:Grande Manchester ro:Greater Manchester ru:Большой Манчестер sk:Veľký Manchester fi:Greater Manchester sv:Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°30′N 2°19′W