City of Salford

The City of Salford is a local government district of Greater Manchester, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Swinton, Walkden and Eccles which each have a population of over 35,000. The city has a population of 218,000.

The current city boundaries were set as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, and cover an amalgamation of five former local government districts. It is bounded on the south east by the River Irwell, which forms its boundary with the city of Manchester, on the east by Crumpsall, Cheetham Hill and Strangeways, and by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south, which forms its boundary with Trafford. The metropolitan boroughs of Wigan, Bolton and Bury lie to the west, northwest and north respectively. Some parts of the city, which lies directly west of Manchester, are highly industrialised and densely populated, but around one third of the city consists of rural open space. This is because the western half of the city stretches across an ancient peat bog known as Chat Moss.

Salford has a history stretching back to the Neolithic age. There are over 250 listed buildings in the city, including Salford Cathedral, and three Scheduled Ancient Monuments. With the Industrial Revolution, Salford grew along with its textile industry. Salford was granted city status in 1926. The city and its industries experienced decline throughout much of the 20th century, until the 1990s. Since then, parts of Salford have undergone regeneration, especially Salford Quays which has become the home of the BBC in the north of England. The city is ranked ninth out of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester by General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exam results. The University of Salford, situated in the city, is undergoing a £150 million redevelopment as of 2008. The Salford City Reds play rugby league in National League One.

History

See also: Salford (History)

Although the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford was a 20th-century creation, the area has a long history, extending back to the Stone Age. Neolithic flint arrow-heads and tools, and evidence of Bronze Age activity has been discovered in Salford. The Roman road from Manchester (Mamucium) to Bury passes through the city; a hoard of over 550 bronze Roman coins dating between 259 AD and 278 AD was discovered in Boothstown; and a Romano-British bog body, Worsley Man, was discovered in the Chat Moss peat bog.

In 1142, a cell and priory dedicated to St. Leonard was established in Kersal. The 12th century hundred of Salford was created as Salfordshire in the historic county of Lancashire and survived until the 19th century, when it was replaced by one of the first county boroughs in the country. Salford became a free borough in about 1230, when it was granted a charter as a free borough by the Earl Ranulph of Chester. The cell in Kersal was sold in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. A 16th century manor house, called Kersal Cell, was built on the site of the priory. In the English Civil War between King Charles I and parliament, Salford was Royalist. Salford was also noted as Jacobite territory; its inhabitants supported Charles Edward Stuart to the Throne of England and hosted him when he rode through the area during the Second Jacobite Rebellion.

During the Industrial Revolution, Salford grew as a result of the textile industry. Although Salford experienced an increase in population, it was overshadowed by the dominance of Manchester and did not evolve as a commercial centre in the same way. On 15 September 1830, Eccles was the site of the world's first railway accident. During a stop in Eccles to take on water, William Huskisson, Member of Parliament for Liverpool, had his leg crushed by Stephenson's Rocket; at the time he was in conversation with the Duke of Wellington, who was opening the railway, and did not get out of the way of the train in time. Although Huskisson was taken to Eccles for treatment he died of his injuries. In 1894, the Manchester Ship Canal was opened, running from the River Mersey to Salford Quays; when it was complete it was the largest navigation canal in the world. Along the route of the canal, it was necessary to create an aqueduct carrying the Bridgewater Canal over the Ship Canal. The Barton Swing Aqueduct, designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams, is long and weighs .

At the start of the 20th century, Salford began to decline due to competition from outside the UK. A survey in 1931 concluded that parts of Salford were amongst the worst slums in the country. Salford was granted city status in 1926. In the decades following the Second World War there was a significant economic and population decline in Salford. In 1961 a small part of Eccles was added to the city. On 1 April 1974, the City and County Borough of Salford was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and was replaced by the metropolitan borough of City of Salford, one of ten local government districts in the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. The city status of the new district was confirmed by additional letters patent issued on the same day. Since the early 1990s, the decline has slowed.

Prior to the metropolitan borough's creation, the name Salford courted controversy. Salford was "thought second-class by those in Eccles", who preferred the new name "Irwell" for the borough (with reference to the River Irwell). A councillor for the then City and County Borough of Salford objected to this suggestion, stating this label was nothing but "a dirty stinking river". The name Irwell won 8 votes to Salford's 7, but a private protest and deliberation favoured Salford as the name for the new city, citing that the River Irwell would pass through two other Greater Manchester districts, and that it "doesn't touch Worsley".

Geography

The City of Salford is bounded to the north by the boroughs of Bolton and Bury, to the south by Trafford, to the west by boroughs of Wigan and Warrington in Cheshire, and to the east by Manchester. The natural mossland of Chat Moss lies in the south western corner of the city; it covers an area of about , accounting for about 30% of the city's area, and lies above sea level. The moss makes up the largest area of prime farmland in Greater Manchester. Kersal Moor is an area of moorland spanning in Kersal; it is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Biological Importance. Greenspace accounts for 55.7% of the City of Salford's total area, domestic buildings and gardens comprise 20.0%, and the rest is made up of roads and non-domestic buildings.

The River Irwell runs south east through Kearsley, Clifton and Agecroft then meanders around Lower Broughton and Kersal, Salford Crescent and the centre of Manchester, joining the rivers Irk and Medlock. Turning west, it meets the Mersey south of Irlam, where the route of the river was altered in the late 19th century to form part of the course of the Manchester Ship Canal. The Ship Canal, opened in 1894, forms part of Salford's southern boundaries with Trafford.

Governance

Parliamentary constituencies

Council

Salford City Council was assessed by the Audit Commission and judged to be "improving well" in providing services for local people. Overall the council was awarded "three star" status meaning it was "performing well" and "consistently above minimum requirements", similar to 46% of all local authorities.

The modern metropolitan borough of the City of Salford is based on the former County Borough of the City of Salford which included the city centre, Pendleton, Weaste, Claremont, Langworthy, Broughton, Kersal, Ordsall and Seedley. The city is entirely unparished and absorbed the municipal boroughs of Eccles and Swinton and Pendlebury and the urban districts of Irlam and Worsley. An urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area.

Electoral wards

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the City of Salford depicts a weaving shuttle surrounded by five bees with a three masted ship above, on a shield flanked by two lions. The blue background with a gold chief is taken from the arms of the County Borough of Salford, who in turn took it from the colours of the Earl of Chester. The shuttle and five bees represent the industry of the area and five settlements who benefited from the textile industry. The ship is borrowed from the crest of the Borough of Eccles and represents the importance of waterways to the city. The ship is flanked by two millrinds – the centres of millstones – symbolising engineering. The lions are taken from the crest of the Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury; they are wearing iron steel chain representing engineering. The shield is topped by a griffin carrying a pennon depicting three boars' heads. The griffin is taken from the crest of Eccles and the boars are from the crest of Irlam Urban District. Beneath the shield is a scroll reading salus populi suprema lex, Latin for "the welfare of the people is the highest law".

Budget

Demography

The population density was and for every 100 females, there were 96.6 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Salford, 35.5% had no academic qualifications, significantly higher than 28.9% in all of England. 5.3% of Salford’s residents were born outside the United Kingdom, significantly lower than the national average of 9.2%. The largest minority group was recorded as Asian, at 1.4% of the population.

The number of theft from a vehicle offences and theft of a vehicle per 1,000 of the population was 21.3 and 7.9 compared to the English national average of 7.6 and 2.9 respectively. The number of sexual offences was 1.1 compared to the average of 0.9. The national average of violence against another person was 16.7 compared to the Salford average of 27.2. The figures for crime statistics were all recorded during the 2006/7 financial year. Although all were above the averages for England, Salford's crime rate was lower than Manchester's.

Population change

Religion

Of Salford’s six Grade I listed buildings, three are churches. St Augustine's Church, in Pendlebury, was built in 1874 by George Frederick Bodley. The Church of St Mary the Virgin, in Eccles, was originally built in the 13th century but was expanded in the 15th. A church has been on the site since at least the Norman period. St Mark's Church, in Worsley, was built in 1846 by George Gilbert Scott. The six Grade II* listed churches are the Church of St Andrew in Eccles, the Cathedral Church of St John, the Church of St Luke in Salford, Monton Unitarian Church in Monton, the Church of St Philip in Salford, and the United Reformed Church.

Economy

Salford Docks (also called Manchester Docks) were opened by Queen Victoria in 1894, providing docks in Manchester and Salford for the Manchester Ship Canal which linked Manchester to the sea. During the 1970s, the docks fell into decline as they proved too small for new, larger ships, and when they were abandoned in 1982 over 3,000 people lost their jobs. Salford City Council purchased the docks in 1984 and since then they underwent regeneration as a centre of tourism in Salford, which included the construction of the Lowry Centre. More than 10,000 people are employed in the Quays in jobs such as retail, construction, and e-commerce. In 2007, it was confirmed that the BBC would be moving five of its departments to a new development on Pier 9 of Salford Quays, to be called . The move, which is expected to be completed by 2011, will create up to 15,500 jobs and add £1bn to the regional economy over 5 years.

As of the 2001 UK census, Salford had 155,376 residents aged 16 to 74. 3.0% of these people were students with jobs, 5.9% looking after home or family, 9.5% permanently sick or disabled and 3.9% economically inactive for other reasons. The City of Salford has a high rate of people who are permanently sick and disabled, nearly double the national average of 5.3%.

In 2001, of 89,920 residents of the City of Salford in employment, the industry of employment was 12.7% property and business services, 18.7% retail and wholesale, 14.4% manufacturing, 11.9% health and social work, 7.6% education, 7.7% transport and communications, 6.8% construction, 4.4% finance, 4.7% public administration and defence, 5.1% hotels and restaurants, 0.7% energy and water supply, 0.4% agriculture, and 4.9% other. This was roughly in line with national figures, except for the proportion of jobs in agriculture which is less than half the national average, reflecting the city's suburban nature and its proximity to the centre of Manchester.

Culture

Landmarks

As of September 2003, the City of Salford has 6 Grade I, 14 Grade II*, and 253 Grade II listed buildings. The city has the equal second highest number of Grade I listed buildings out of the districts of Greater Manchester, behind Manchester. The Grade I listed buildings are the Church of St Augustine, the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, St Mark's Church, Ordsall Hall, Wardley Hall, and a bridge over the River Irwell. Salford Cathedral, built in 1845, is the seat of the Diocese of Salford and a Grade II* listed building. Most of the Salford's tallest buildings are mid-20th century residential tower blocks or 21st century high rise apartments. A study by Professor Christopher Collier of the University of Salford suggested that Manchester's drizzly climate is largely due to the multitude of high-rise blocks in Salford. Collier has proposed that they have a "dramatic influence on the region's weather patterns", and may contribute to the 8 °C (14 °F) temperature difference between Salford and its surrounding countryside.

There are three Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the city. The oldest is an Iron Age promontory fort occupied from 500 BC–200 AD. Also scheduled is Hanging Bridge on the border with Manchester, dating to the 14th century, and an underground section of the Bridgewater Canal in Swinton built in 1759.

Sport

Salford is home to three rugby league teams. Founded in 1873, Salford City Reds play in National League One at The Willows in Salford. They won the Rugby League Challenge Cup in the 1938, and have experienced two stretches in the Super League, 1997–2002 and 2004–2007. They also compete in the Northern Rail Cup which they won in 2003. Construction on a new 22,000 seat £35M stadium for the team, called the City of Salford Stadium, is three months behind schedule; it is unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2009 season. Swinton Lions were founded in 1866 and play in National League Two at Park Lane. They won the Rugby League Championship six times between 1926 and 1964, before it was superseded by Super League. The Broughton Rangers were founded in 1877 and won the Rugby League Challenge Cup in the 1901-02 and 1910-11 seasons. The club folded in 1955, but were reformed in 2007 with the support of Salford City Reds.

Also in Salford are several football and cricket teams. Irlam F.C. is an amateur football team that has played in the Manchester Football League since 1989. They were founded in 1969 as Mitchell Shackleton Football Club and changed their name in 2006. Salford City F.C. was founded in 1940 and play in the North West Counties Football League. Monton & Weaste C.C. and Clifton C.C. have played in the Central Lancashire Cricket League since 2005 and 2006 respectively. Walkden play in the Bolton Cricket League. Little Hulton play in the Bolton and District Cricket Association. Winton and Worsley play play in the Manchester and District Cricket Association.

Education

Overall, Salford was ranked 75th out of the all the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) – and seventh in Greater Manchester – in National Curriculum assessment performance in 2007. Unauthorised absences and authorised absences from Salford secondary schools in 2006-07 were 2.0% and 7.0% respectively, both higher than the national average (1.4% and 6.4%). In 2007, the Salford LEA was ranked 127th out of 149 in the country – and ninth in Greater Manchester – based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) including maths and English (37.8% compared with the national average of 46.7%). In 2007, Beis Yaakov High School was the most successful school in Salford at GCSE, with 90% of the pupils gaining five or more GCSEs at A*–C grade including maths and English. Bridgewater School was the most successful at A–level.

The University of Salford is one of four universities in Greater Manchester and was ranked 81st by The Times. It has over 19,000 students and a 69.7% level of student satisfaction. In 2007, the university received nearly 17,000 applications for 3,660 places. The university is undergoing £150M of redevelopment through investment in new facilities, including a £10M law school and a £22M building for health and social care which were opened in 2006. In 2007, the drop out rate from the university was 25%. Of the students graduating, 50% gained first class or 2:1 degrees, which is below the national average of about 55%.

Transport

The City of Salford is served by nine railway stations on four routes. Eccles and Patricroft are on the northern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Line, while Irlam, in the southwest of the borough, is on the southern route. Clifton is on the line to Bolton and Preston; Swinton, Moorside and Walkden are on the Manchester to Southport Line via Wigan; and Salford Central and Salford Crescent are served by both routes. A station at Pendleton was closed in 1998 after suffering fire damage and a loss of patronage in favour of nearby Salford Crescent, opened a few years earlier. Most train services are provided by Northern Rail, although Salford Crescent is also served by First TransPennine Express as part of its TransPennine North West network.

The Eccles line of the Manchester Metrolink runs through the City of Salford, with stations at Exchange Quay, Salford Quays, Anchorage, Harbour City, Broadway, Langworthy, Weaste, Ladywell, and Eccles. The line was opened in two stages, in 1999 and 2000, as Phase 2 of the system's development.

There are bus stations at Pendleton and Eccles. Buses run to destinations throughout the city, across Greater Manchester and further afield: Pendleton is served by a route to Preston, while the Eccles Interchange, next to the Metrolink stop, has a service to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The council is responsible for the administration and maintenance of public roads and footpaths in the city.

Twin towns

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See also

• Salford Council election 2006
• Salford local elections

References

Bibliography

• Birks, H.J.B (1965). "Late-glacial deposits at Bagmere, Cheshire, and Chat Moss, Lancashire". New Phytologist 64 (2):
• Clark, David M. (1973). Greater Manchester Votes: A Guide to the New Metropolitan Authorities. Redrose.
• Cooper, Glynis (2005). Salford: An Illustrated History. The Breedon Books Publishing Company.
• Nevell, Mike (1997). The Archaeology of Trafford. Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council with the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit.
• Owen, David (1983). The Manchester Ship Canal. Manchester University Press.
• Pain, Stephanie "The Head from Worsley Moss". New Scientist (2414):

External links

• www.salford.gov.uk, Salford City Council.