Everything about Salford totally explained
Salford is a
city in
Greater Manchester,
England. It lies in a
meander of the
River Irwell, which forms its boundary with the city of
Manchester to the east. Together with neighbouring towns to the west, Salford forms the
metropolitan district of the
City of Salford, which is administered from nearby
Swinton. It was granted
City status in 1926 and has a total resident population of 72,750 and an area of . The wider City of Salford district has a population of 218,000.
Historically a part of
Lancashire, Salford's early history is marked by its status as the judicial seat of the ancient
hundred of Salfordshire, to which it lends its name. It was granted a
charter by
Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester, about 1230 which made Salford a free borough. During the early stages of its growth, Salford was of greater cultural and commercial importance than its neighbour Manchester, though most contemporary sources agree that since the
Industrial Revolution this position has been reversed.
Salford became a major
factory town and
inland port during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Cotton and
silk spinning and
weaving in local
mills provided Salford with a strong economy.
Salford Quays was a principal
dockyard of the
Manchester Ship Canal. Industrial activities declined during the 20th century however, causing a local economic depression. The city subsequently became one of contrasts, with regenerated inner-city areas like Salford Quays next to some of the most socially deprived and violent areas in England.
Salford Cathedral is the centre of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford and the city today is a centre of
higher education, being the location of the
University of Salford. Salford is the home of the world's first free
public library, and was the birthplace of the modern vegetarian movement. It also has the first street in the world to be lit by gas, Chapel Street in 1806. Salford is set to become the headquarters of
CBBC and
BBC Sport in 2011.
History
Toponymy
The name of Salford derives from the
Anglo-Saxon Sealhford = "
sallow-tree ford", in reference to the sallows or
willow (Latin
salix) trees that grow alongside the banks of the
River Irwell. The
ford was about where Victoria Bridge is today. Willow trees are still found in
Lower Broughton. Salford appears in the
Pipe Roll of 1169 as "Sauford" and in the Lancashire Inquisitions of 1226 as "Sainford".
Early history
The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Salford is attested by the discovery of
Neolithic flint arrow-heads and workings found on
Kersal Moor and by the River Irwell, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago. Evidence of later
Bronze age and
Celtic activity is confirmed by an ancient archaeological relics found during the excavation of the
Manchester Ship Canal and in the grounds of the Old Broughton Hall. Their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and
Stretford. Following the
Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century,
General Agricola ordered the construction of a
Roman fort in the year 79 named
Mamucium to ensure Roman interests with
Deva Victrix (
Chester) and
Eboracum (
York) were protected from the Brigantes. The
Manor (or Hundred) of Salford comprised all the lands between the rivers
Ribble and
Mersey, contained nine large parishes, and came under the
Diocese of Lichfield in matters ecclesiastical. Roger de Poitou created the subordinate
Manor (or Parish) of Manchester which has ever since been separate in matters of local government from Salford. Poitou forfeited the manor when in 1102 he was defeated in a failed rebellion attempt against William's son,
Henry I. Salford then passed into the hands of the 2nd
Earl of Chester, Ranulph Gernons.
In 1228, the town of Salford received from
King Henry III the right to hold a market and an annual fair. During the years of 1230 - 1232, Ranulf de Blundeville, Earl of Chester, granted the charter by which the town became a free borough, a charter by which Salford was governed until the Manchester and Salford Police Act 1791. There are references in official records to the Manor of Salford being one of the possessions of the
Duchy of Lancaster. Since
Henry IV's accession in 1399, the Duchy has been held by
The Crown, and the Sovereign has thereby always been the Lord of the Manor of Salford. and the unsuccessful siege of Manchester, which was
Parliamentarian, was conducted from its side of the River Irwell. A century later Salford was also noted as
Jacobite territory; its inhabitants supported
Charles Edward Stuart to the
Throne of England. In November of the
Second Jacobite Rebellion, Salford hosted Stuart on his ride through the area.
The first horse-drawn bus service ran between Pendleton and Manchester in 1824, and some of the world's first municipal parks are in Salford.
Industrial Revolution
Salford has a history of textile processing that pre-dates the
Industrial Revolution. It had a cloth hall at Greengate and a considerable trade in the production and finishing of
woollen goods and
fustians before the dominance of
cotton. There were other
cottage industries, including
clogging,
cobbling,
weaving and
brewing during this time. It was
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution that had a profound effect on the
population,
urbanisation as well as
socioeconomic and
cultural conditions of Salford however.
It was the
River Irwell and its tributaries that attracted the entrepreneurs to establish
cotton mills during the first phase of the Industrial Revolution. The first mills were constructed at
Pendleton and
Ordsall along the river banks.
In 1806, Chapel Street in Salford became the first street in the world to be lit by gas, which was supplied by Phillips and Lee's cotton mill.
Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels spent some time in Salford, analysing the plight of the
British working class, particularly in
The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. In 1849 the municipal borough council was the first in England to establish a public library, museum and art gallery, preceding the
Public Libraries Act of 1850.
The effect of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution on Salford has been described as "phenomenal". Houses were crowded together at as many as 80 to the acre.
Decline
At the start of the 20th century, changes in regional transport infrastructre, including new major inter-urban roads, began to supplant Salford's old industries, including those activities performed at the
Salford Docks. Increased competition from outside of the UK began to undermine the competitiveness of local textile processing businesses. In the decades following the
Second World War there was a significant economic and population decline in Salford. Thousands were unemployed during the
Great Depression. By 1939
coal mining had finished and cotton spinning had ceased by 1971. In August 2005, a survey by
Channel 4 television rated the city as the 9th worst place to live in the UK (based on criteria of crime, education, environment, lifestyle and employment).
Regeneration
Salford has had high-levels of unemployment, housing and social problems since around the 1960s, though there are regeneration schemes to reverse its fortunes. The many
high-rise blocks that remain are a striking feature of the city. Work was scheduled to begin on the £180 million redevelopment of the Greengate area of Salford in January 2007. The plans include the construction of what will be the two tallest tower blocks in Salford. Plans also include a five-star hotel, a new public square and park, restaurants, cafes and 403 apartments. Work is ongoing to regenerate the area known as Middlewood Locks, with the restored Salford end of the
Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal forming the centrepiece of a brand new residential development.
Salford now has many tourist attractions, such as
Ordsall Hall, the
Bridgewater Canal and the
Lowry Centre, an award winning art gallery comprising two theatres and three art galleries. The centre is named after the artist
L. S. Lowry, who attended Salford School of Art and lived in
Pendlebury for 40 years. Many of his paintings of Salford and Manchester mill scenes, populated with small matchstick-like figures, are on display there.
Governance
Salford is represented by three tiers of government,
Salford City Council ("local"), UK Parliament ("national"), and European Parliament ("Europe").
Greater Manchester County Council administration was abolished in 1986, and so the city council is effectively a
unitary authority.
Salford was anciently part of the
Manchester parish of the
Salford Hundred, an area much larger than the present-day city of Salford, within the
historic county boundaries of
Lancashire. A stroke of a
Norman baron's pen is said to have divorced Manchester and Salford, though it wasn't Salford that became separated from Manchester, it was Manchester, with its humbler line of
lords, that was separated from Salford. with triple the territory of the former City of Salford. Both Salford and the City of Salford are
unparished areas.
Salford was twinned with
Clermont-Ferrand in
France in 1966. The wider City of Salford district has formal
twinning arrangements with three other towns.
Parliamentary representation
Salford was enfranchised as a
parliamentary borough by the
Great Reform Act of 1832.
Salford lies within the
Salford parliamentary constituency, having done so since its creation in 1997.
Hazel Blears – a member of the
Labour Party – has been the
Member of Parliament for the constituency since 1997.
Geography
At (53.483, -2.2931), and northwest of
London, Salford stands around above
sea level, on relatively flat ground to the west of a
meander of the
River Irwell - the city's main
topographical feature. In 1904 Salford was recorded as "within a great loop of the River Irwell... roughly three quarters of a mile from north to south and one mile from east to west". Salford is contiguous with
Manchester, and has been described "in participation of its trade, and for all other practical purposes, an integral part of it; presents a near resemblance to it in streets and edifices; contains several public buildings and a great public park, which belong fully more to Manchester than to itself." Greengate, the original centre of Salford, is located at a
fording point on the river opposite
Manchester Cathedral. In 1969
Nikolaus Pevsner wrote:
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The Irwell, sourced at
Cliviger in Lancashire, flows from the north and forms the statutory boundary with the City of Manchester to the east. Flooding has historically been a problem and the Irwell has seen much modification along its course in Salford with some bends being removed,
channelisation, and the construction of
levees and bank reinforcements. Salford has expanded along the river valley to the north and south and on to higher ground on the valley sides at
Irlams o' th' Height and
Higher Broughton.
Salford's
built environment comprises a range of building stock. Some
inner-city areas are noted for chronic
urban decay. the
United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. The
M602 motorway enters Salford from
Eccles to the west. The
A580 "East Lancs" road terminates at Salford, entering the area from
Swinton.
Heavy rail lines pass through Salford.
Salford has no
central business district.
Kersal is the location of Salford's highest point above sea level.
Divisions and suburbs of Salford include
Pendleton,
Claremont,
Langworthy,
Broughton,
Weaste,
Ordsall,
Irlams o' th' Height,
Seedley and Wallness.
Demography
It is a city of contrasting demographies. Whilst the area immediately adjacent to
Manchester city centre and
Salford Quays are affluent, other parts of the city are some of the most deprived communities in the United Kingdom.
Salford has not, in general, attracted the same ethnic and cosmopolitan communities as in other parts of Greater Manchester. Salford did attract significant numbers of
Irish people in the mid-19th century however. Many migrated to Salford because of
The Great Hunger in
Ireland combined with Salford's reputation as a hub for employment in its factories and docks. In 1848,
Salford Roman Catholic Cathedral was consecrated, reflecting Salford's large Irish-born community it had at the time.
In the decades following the
Second World War there was a significant
population decline.
Salford Lads Club is a recreational club established in 1903 and located in
Ordsall. It is a
listed building and gained international fame in 1986 when the
pop band
The Smiths posed in front of it for the inside cover of their album
The Queen Is Dead. A report by
English Heritage said "The building is thought to be the most complete example of this rare form of social provision to survive in
England." In 2007, the
Manchester Evening News reported that the club was third in a nationwide hunt to find the most iconic buildings in the country.
Ordsall Hall is a
historic house and a former
stately home in
Ordsall. It dates back over 800 years, although the oldest surviving parts of the hall were built in the 15th century. The hall has been put to many uses – a family home, working men's club and school for clergy amongst them – and was opened to the public in 1972, as a period house and local history museum. The hall is a
Grade I listed building.
Transport
The city is linked to other parts of Greater Manchester by the
Manchester Metrolink tram system, which runs near the docks area to
Langworthy and
Eccles.
There are mainline railway stations at
Salford Central and
Salford Crescent.
In 1824,
John Greenwood started the first
bus operation from
Pendleton to
Market Street Manchester.
Education
On
2 November 1956 the Royal Technical College, Salford, was granted the status of a College of Advanced Technology (CAT). Colleges which transferred to CATs were required to drop lower-level courses and concentrate on both full-time and part-time university-level courses.
In November 1963 the
Robbins Report recommended that the CATs should become technological universitites; and on
4 April 1967 a Charter was established creating the
University of Salford. In 1847 the racecourse at
Castle Irwell was opened just across the
River Irwell from
Kersal and the races were held there. In 1867 they were moved to New Barnes,
Weaste but the site had to be vacated in 1901 when
Salford Docks expanded and built its Dock 9 (which was part of
Pomona Docks). Castle Irwell later staged a Classic – the 1941
St. Leger Stakes, and was most famous as home of the
Lancashire Oaks (nowadays run at
Haydock Park Racecourse) and the
November Handicap, which was traditionally the last major race of the UK flat season. Through the late 1950s and early 1960s the track saw legendary jockeys
Scobie Breasley and
Lester Piggott annually battle out the closing acts of the jockey's title until racing ceased on
7 November 1963. The intention was to sell the land, appart from 4.5 acres, to a property development company.
Salford's first annual film festival, held at the Red Cinema in the Lowry Outlet at
Salford Quays in 2003, was a huge success. The second, in November 2004 achieved similar results, showcasing some new local talent.
Manchester's award-winning international theatre festival 27/4, takes place each July at the North of England's only fringe theatre venue, Studio Salford at the King's Arms, Bloom Street, Salford, which is also a popular live music venue.
Due to its cheap rent and plentiful supply of redundant mill buildings, Salford is host to a number of artists, including those based at
Cow Lane Studios, Kings Arms, Islington Mill and Suite Studio Group. Salford's visual art scene, completely homogeneous with that of
Manchester includes publicly owned galleries at
The Lowry,
Salford City Museum as well as independent spaces such as Bureau.
The Salford Symphony Orchestra is an amateur orchestra originally founded in 1947 by Joseph Needham. It was disbanded in 1985, but re-formed in 1995.
Mediacity is in the process of construction on the Quays near the Lowry and will house several relocated national departments of the BBC
Salford also boasts the birthplace of numerous bands, including
Joy Division.
Cultural references
Salford has been the location for several films, including
BAFTA award winner
East is East, set in 1970s Salford, and A Taste of Honey, whose final scene features the Barton-upon-Irwell swing bridge. Walter Greenwood's 1933 novel Love on the Dole was set in a fictional area known as Hanky Park, said in the novel to be near Salford, but in reality based on Salford itself. A more modern fictional setting based on Salford is Coronation Street's
Weatherfield.
Harold Brighouse's play
Hobson's Choice is set in 19th-century Salford.
Ideal is set in Salford.
Salford is the subject of the folk songs
Dirty Old Town written by native
Ewan MacColl, and
Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs (Lowry's Song), a tribute to local artist
L S Lowry. MacColl's song is the origin of Salford's nickname. Local band
Doves released a song on their 2005 album
Some Cities called
Shadows of Salford. The most famous photograph of band
The Smiths shows them standing outside the
Salford Lads Club, and was used on their album
The Queen Is Dead. None of the longstanding members of the group were actually from Salford, although second guitarist
Craig Gannon – not shown on the photo – was a Salfordian who joined the group for a brief period.
In the first chapter of
J.M. Barry's
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, there's an old man wandering around looking for someone who had been to Salford. He finds another man who spent "from Saturday to Monday" there.
The videos for the
Timbaland song
The Way I Are, and the
Justin Timberlake song
Lovestoned were shot in Salford, and it's mentioned several times in as well as by the band
The Smiths. Salford was recently featured in the
Channel 4 programme
The Secret Millionaire.
Public services
Since 1974,
Home Office policing in Salford has been provided by the
Greater Manchester Police. The force's "(F) Division" has its headquarters for policing the
City of Salford at Pendleton and Salford Quays. Prior to this Salford was policed by the
Manchester and Salford Police.
Public transport is co-ordinated by the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive.
Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, whose headquarters are at nearby
Swinton.
Salford Royal, at Claremont near the boundary with
Eccles, is a large
NHS hospital administrated by
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. The
North West Ambulance Service provides emergency patient transport. Other forms of
health care are provided for locally by several small clinics and surgeries.
Waste management is co-ordinated by the
local authority via the
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Salford's
Distribution Network Operator for electricity is
United Utilities; there are no
power stations in the city. United Utilities also manages Salford's
drinking and
waste water.
Notable people
People from Salford are called Salfordians. The city has been the birthplace and home to notable people, of national and international acclaim. Amongst the most notable persons of historic significance with a connection to Salford are
Emmeline Pankhurst, one of the founders of the British
suffragette movement.
Bernard Sumner and
Peter Hook, who were members of
Joy Division (which later became known as
New Order) are musicians from Salford. Notable sportsmen from Salford include former
England national football team and current
Manchester United F.C. midfielder
Paul Scholes.
Karl Marx,
philosopher,
political economist, and
revolutionary, was a short term resident of Salford in the 1840s.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Salford'.
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