Whalley Range

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type= Greater Manchester
official_name= Whalley Range
latitude= 53.449887
longitude= -2.253749
population=
metropolitan_borough= City of Manchester
metropolitan_county= Greater Manchester
region= North West England
constituency_westminster= Manchester Gorton
post_town= MANCHESTER
postcode_district = M
postcode_area=
dial_code= 0161
os_grid_reference= SJ831948

Whalley Range is a locality within the City of Manchester, in North West England. It lies about convert|2|mi|km|1 south-southwest of Manchester city centre.

House prices have increased in recent years with the extensive redevelopment. As with nearby Chorlton, parts of it have become gentrified since the 1990s. Whalley Range is also a multi cultural part of the city, with non-white Britons making up the slight majority of the population.

History

Whalley Range was one of Manchester's first suburbs, built by Manchester banker and businessman Samuel Brooks as "a desirable estate for gentlemen and their families". [cite web |title= Whalley Range Conservation Area | publisher= Manchester City Council | url= http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1226&pageNumber=2 | format= HTTP | accessdate= 2007-08-24]

Brooks bought convert|63|acre|ha|0 of land, then called Jackson's Moss, drained it, and built villas for wealthy businessmen such as himself. He was born near Whalley, Lancashire, after which he named his own home Whalley House, which may be the origin of the area's name. A toll gate guarded this exclusive area and this place is still called Brooks's Bar (pron. Brooks Bar).cite journal | author = Brackenbury, Allan | title = The Road from Brooklands Station | journal = Journal of the Railway and Canal History Society | date = November 1993 | volume = 31/4 | issue = 156 | pages = 170–174 | issn = 00338834 ]

Geography and administration

Political divisions

The area is represented on Manchester City Council by Faraz Bhatti, John Grant and Mary Watson.

Education

William Hulme's Grammar School was established as an independent school in 1887, and became a direct grant school in 1976. In 2007, the school rejoined the state education sector, scrapping its annual tuition fees and selective admissions test in exchange for funding as an academy. The school's specialist subject is languages, and it will continue to select 10% of its pupils on the basis of their aptitude for modern languages.

Whalley Range 11-18 High School and Business and Enterprise College is a large non-denominational secondary school for girls. The large majority of students are from minority ethnic backgrounds, mostly of Pakistani origin. Almost all of the students in the sixth form are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The number of students whose first language is other than English is much higher than the national average, with the three most common languages spoken by students being Urdu, Somali and Arabic. The school has specialist status as a business and enterprise college, and from September 2007 it will also be a designated sports college. The school was assessed as "good" in its March 2007 Ofsted report.cite web | title = Whalley Range 11-18 High School and Business and Enterprise College | publisher = Ofsted | date = 2007-03-19 | url = http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?urn=105558&providerCategoryID=8192
accessdate = 2007-05-18] Estelle Morris, now Baroness Morris of Yardley, one time Secretary of State for Education and Skills and Minister for the Arts, is a notable alumna of this school. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Guardian Unlimited
work =
publisher = Guardian News and Media Limited
date =
url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/biography/0,,-3736,00.html
format = HTTP
doi =
accessdate = 2007-04-15]

Musical associations

The area has a number of musical associations.

Mark Collins, guitarist of The Charlatans grew up in Whalley Range, though he today lives in Chorlton.

Whalley Range is home to Extraordinary Rendition Manchester Musicians' Collective (aka EXR) which is based at the Carlton Club, Carlton Road, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 8BE. EXR comprises upwards of 100 Manchester bands and acoustic performers. EXR records, established during 2007 released its first compilation album in December 2007. The EXR websites include [http://www.exr.org.uk www.exr.org.uk] and [http://www.myspace.com/exrmanchesterbands www.myspace.com/exrmanchesterbands]

Dave Formula, Magazine and Visage keyboardist, was brought up in Whalley Range.

An earlier musical association is that Jimi Hendrix stayed in a house on the corner of Wellington Road during his final UK tour.

James formed in 1981, in Whalley Range.

The mother of Irish rock star Phil Lynott, front man of Thin Lizzy, ran the now demolished, Clifton Grange Hotel, on Upper Chorlton Road. The hotel was used extensively by touring rock bands during the 1960s and 1970s. George Best also frequented the hotel. Lynott spent part of his youth living with his mother at the hotel and went to the nearby Princess Road Junior School. He immortalised the hotel on the eponymous track from Thin Lizzy's debut album.

It was immortalised by Morrissey in the 1984 song by The Smiths, "Miserable Lie", which featured the lines:
"What do we get for our trouble and pain? / Just a rented room in Whalley Range". (Morrissey briefly lived in Whalley Range with his friend the photographer and Ludus singer Linder Sterling, in a house shared with other musicians.)

Nico, singer with the Velvet Underground, also lived in Whalley Range in the 1980s.

Former Stone Roses drummer Alan "Reni" Wren lives on Grosvenor Road, in Whalley Range.

Demographics

According to 2001 census [ [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=5941629&c=Whalley+Range&d=14&e=13&g=352072&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1208803962937&enc=1&dsFamilyId=47 Lead View Table ] ]

*White British - 48.86%
*White Other - 4.43%
*White Irish - 3.39%
*Mixed Race - 4.23%
*British Asian - 28.48%
*Black British - 8.24%
*Chinese or Other - 2.37%

Whalley Range became the city's main red light district during the 1960s but the prevalence of prostitution has lessened in subsequent decades.

References

External links