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Droylsden

Droylsden is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is situated to the east of Manchester city centre, and west-southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne, it has a population of 23,172.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Droylsden grew as as a mill town around the cotton mills established in the mid-19th century, and the Ashton and Peak Forest canals. Beginning in the early 1930s, Droylsden's population expanded rapidly, as it became a housing overflow area for neighbouring Manchester.

The Fairfield area of Droylsden has notably been home to a Moravian community since 1785, and which still exists to this day.

History

Before Droylsden became a part of Greater Manchester, it was popularly referred to by Mancunians as "The Silly Country". One suggestion as to the source of that nickname is that once a year, some of the town's folk used to watch an annual carnival by bringing a pig and sitting it on a wall to watch the passing entertainment with them. The Pig on the Wall public house, converted from a farm in 1978, takes its name from that story.

The first machine woven towel in the world – the terry towel – was produced by W.M. Christy and Sons Ltd, of Fairfield Mills, in Droylsden, in 1851. William's son, Henry, had brought back a looped towel from Turkey in the 1840s, which Christy's managed to copy on an adapted loom. Their Royal Turkish towels became famous, with Queen Victoria having a regular order. The mill closed at the end of the 1980s, and in 1997 Tesco opened a supermarket on the site.

Construction of a marina began in March 2007, it is expected to be complete in 2012. The marina will have 92 three and four bedroom houses, and 291 one and two bedroom apartments as well as waterside offices, restaurants, and shops.

Geography

Droylsden is located at (53.4826, -2.1582), about to the east of Manchester city centre, close to Ashton-under-Lyne, Clayton, Openshaw and Newton Heath.

Education

Littlemoss High School for Boys is a comprehensive school, located in Cryer Street, that educates around 550 boys aged 11-16.. Fairfield High School for Girls has been granted Specialist Science College status.

Governance

Droylsden was anciently a chapelry in the parish of Manchester, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. It became an urban district of the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1894, and was granted its arms on the 16th October 1950. In 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, Droylsden became a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

Droylsden was once a large township, including Big Droylsden, Little Droylsden, and Clayton. In 1889 Little Droylsden was subsumed into Openshaw, and in 1890 Clayton was ceded from Droylsden's control to become part of Manchester.

From 1918 until 1950, Droylsden was represented by the parliamentary constituency of Mossley. Manchester's expansion to the east and the increase in the electorate, resulted in the seat being divided in the 1950 boundary change. The areas adjacent to Manchester, including Droylsden itself, formed the new Droylsden constituency, with the remainder forming part of Ashton-under-Lyne. The Droylsden constituency was itself abolished in 1955, when Droylsden also became part of the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.

David Heyes MP has represented the constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne since 2001. He is a member of the Labour Party.

Culture

Droylsden little theater is a small theater which runs amateur productions. It is a registered charity and the society has been running productions since 1931.

Population change

Population growth in Droylsden since 1801
Year	1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1921	1931	1939	1951	1961	1971	2001
Population	1,552	2,201	2,855	2,996	4,933	6,280	8,798	8,973	8,679	9,482	11,087	13,259	13,878	13,274	25,279	26,363	25,461	24,167	23,172
Source: A Vision of Britain through Time

Economy

During the 1930s, Droylsden's population expanded rapidly, as it became a housing overflow area for Manchester. Today the area is predominately occupied by employed home owners.

Robertson's Jam is a significant employer in the area. The factory was established in 1891, on the banks of the Ashton Canal, on Ashton Hill Lane. At its peak it employed around 1,000 workers; that number is reduced today to around 400.

Droylsden today

Droylsden is still generally considered to be a favourable area to live and massive amounts of investment into east Manchester can only improve this further. Along with the long awaited Metrolink, Droylsden is about to acquire a Marina area near its town centre. This is to include flats, canal-side restaurants, bars & shops. This latest development also appears to have prompted the nearby, local Tesco store to plan for a massive revamp of its premises.

Houses in Droylsden are, in the main, mortgaged and occupied by employed or retired/semi-retired residents, although there has recently (from early 2000s onwards) been an increase in private landlords buying and then renting houses out.

Droylsden borders Clayton, Openshaw & Newton Heath and although it does have some social problems of its own, this can often mean that Droylsden can be prone to a crime "spill-over" from these areas of Manchester. A recent (2008) initiative called the Community Diary, which was created between the partnerships of Tameside Council, the local Reporter newspaper and the police aim to help prevent any increase in crime.

Sports

Droylsden is home to Droylsden F.C. who won the Conference North league in 2006-07, gaining promotion to the Conference National for the 2007-08 season, although they were relegated back to Conference North for 2008-09.

Droylsden is one of a number of locations which are promoted as the birthplace of speedway racing in the UK. An event was staged in 1927, billed as dirt track racing.