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Salford

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For other uses, see Salford (disambiguation).
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Some of the 1960's built high rise apartment blocks that have had recent multi-million Pound refurbishment

Salford is a city in Northwest England, UK. It is part of the City of Salford - a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, historically part of the county of Lancashire. The city lies to the north and west of the centre of Manchester, within the conurbation of Greater Manchester. The centres of the adjoining cities are divided by the River Irwell. At the 2001 census, the metropolitan borough had a population of 216,103, though the town of Salford has 72,750.

It gave its name to the ancient hundred of Salford, sometimes called Salfordshire.

History

The name of Salford derives from Anglo-Saxon Sealhford = "sallow-tree ford", in reference to the willow (latin salix) trees that grow alongside the banks of the River Irwell that flows through the city. The city's crest is made up of three curved blue lines (representing the ford in the river) surrounded by sallow leaves.

The old medieval centre of Salford was located next to the River Irwell, on the opposite bank to Manchester. Old streets such as Greengate and Gravel Lane formed the market area. However, the centre moved during Victorian era development, with new municipal buildings appearing along the Crescent. As Manchester gained importance, Salford's ancient centre became less vital and the area around Greengate and Salford Bridge shows no signs of the historic importance to the area.

Salford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1844 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The municipal authority was the first to establish a public library, museum and art gallery in 1849, preceding the Public Libraries Act of 1850.

Salford was one of the UK's first industrial cities and gained status at the start of the industrial revolution.

Vast areas of the city were re-developed in the 1960s and 1970s, with the traditional terraced housing giving way to concrete tower blocks and austere architecture. It has taken until the last decade to rectify the mistakes made during these years, and the city is beginning to benefit from government investment. However the many high-rise blocks that remain are a striking feature of the city.

Today

Since the 1960s Salford has gradually restored itself from the grubby, smoky town pictures of the post-war period. Salford now has many delightful tourist attractions such as the Imperial War Museum (located in the neighbouring Trafford MBC area) and the Lowry Centre, an award winning art gallery and theatre.

The modern City of Salford incorporates the former County Borough of Salford (including Pendleton, Claremont, Langworthy, Broughton, Weaste, Ordsall and Seedley), the Borough of Eccles (including Monton, Winton and Barton-upon-Irwell), the Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury, the Urban District of Irlam (including Cadishead) and the Urban District of Worsley (including Walkden and Little Hulton). The city is bounded to the north by Bury and Bolton and to the south by Trafford Metropolitan Borough.

The Salford Quays, with the Lowry Centre arts complex in the centre

The city was once considered a maritime centre, with vast docks constructed along the Manchester Ship Canal. From here, locally-produced goods were shipped all over the world. These docks have now closed and the area has been re-developed, with extensive housing, leisure and shopping facilities. Salford Quays houses Salford's main tourist attractions: Imperial War Museum North and the Lowry Centre, an arts centre comprising 2 theatres and 3 galleries. The latter is named after artist L. S. Lowry, many of whose works can be seen at the centre.

The city is linked to Manchester by the Metrolink tram system, which runs near the docks area to Langworthy and Eccles. There are also railway stations at Salford, Salford Crescent, Swinton, Eccles, Patricroft, Irlam, Walkden and Moorside.

Currently, the city's main shopping area is Salford Shopping City, Pendleton, close to The University of Salford. However this area suffers from extreme depression and is dominated by the CBD of nearby Manchester. There is a shopping precinct at Eccles, with smaller shopping areas at Walkden, Swinton and Little Hulton. Originally, the area around Liverpool Road was a shopping hub, but this has long since declined. Salford Quays has been shortlisted as the new possible city centre by 2020.

The main NHS medical facilities are located at Hope Hospital, near Eccles. The former Salford Royal Hospital was closed in the early 1990s.

The University of Salford was awarded university status in 1967. It is one of four universities in Greater Manchester and has approximately 19,000 students.

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.

In early 2005, Riga appealed to the EU to advise people against travelling to Salford after a Latvian man was stabbed in the head in Broughton. However, local government insist that Salford is a safe place to visit.

Salford is a city of contrasting demographies. Whilst the area immediately adjacent to Manchester City Centre, Salford Quays and suburban areas to the far west of the city such as Worsley are relatively affluent (with the main road colloquially known as 'Millionaire's Row'), other parts of the city are some of the most deprived communities in the UK. 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). [1]

The city has seen a major rise in construction especially in the Salford Quays area with modern living spaces and office buildings. It also has regional offices for major corporations including IBM, McDonald's, BUPA and Citifinancial.

The development of the 'NV Buildings' modern apartments in Salford Quays as at August 2005

Twin towns

Famous people from Salford

Born in Salford

Residents (past and present)

Sport

Salford is one of the few sizeable cities in the UK not to have a professional football team of its own. The nearest team to Salford is Manchester United F.C. just across the Quays and some Salfordians are avid fans, though Manchester City F.C. has sizeable support too. Salford has a strong Rugby League history and has the Super League side, Salford City Reds who are the premier sporting team, and the National League 2 side Swinton Lions. Other lesser-known teams include Langworthy Reds and Folly Lane.

  • The fictional setting of Weatherfield in Coronation Street is based on Salford.
  • Salford is the subject of the folk song "Dirty Old Town" written by Ewan MacColl
  • Local band Doves released a song on their 2005 album "Some Cities" called "Shadows of Salford"
  • Harold Brighouse's play Hobson's Choice is set in 19th century Salford
  • East is East (1999) was set in Salford
  • The most famous photograph of Mancunian band The Smiths shows them standing outside the Salford Lads Club. None of the longstanding members of the group were actually from the city, although second guitarist Craig Gannon - not shown on the photo - was a Salfordian who joined the group for a brief period.

Districts of the City of Salford

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