|
Coordinates: 53°23'40?N 2°14'49?W? / ?53.3945, -2.2469
Gatley is a suburb within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. The area borders onto the City of Manchester (namely the Wythenshawe district).
[edit] Geography and administration
[edit] Geography
Gatley is approximately three miles (5 km) from Manchester Airport, and seven miles (11 km) from Manchester city centre. It is separated from its larger neighbour, Cheadle, by the A34.
[edit] Civic history
From 1894 until 1974, Gatley was a part of the urban district of Cheadle and Gatley, within the historic county boundaries of Cheshire. Since 1974, it forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester.
[edit] History
In 1290, Gatley was known as Gateclyve, which in Old English means "a place where goats are kept".[1]
[edit] Landmarks
Gatley’s war memorial is situated on Gatley Green, though the original World War I memorial is the clock tower at the junction of Altrincham Road and Church Road.
There is also what remains of the Tatton Cinema, originally built in the 1930s, but now only the front facade still stands. The cinema closed in early 2001 due to the increase in multiplex cinemas, particularly the nearby Parrs Wood Cinema complex which lies 2 miles away.
[edit] Present day
[edit] Gatley Festival
Gatley Festival is a celebration of village life and is held on the first Sunday in July each year.It is believed to have started in the early 1930's as the Gatley Rose Queen Parade. The current festival format of a large parade and then a funfair and stalls was started around 1986 and was originally in Gatley Park before moving to much larger fields behind Gatley Hill house. Gatley still has a traditional Rose Queen crowned as the center piece of Gatley festival as well as a fun filled day for the whole village on Scholes Fields.[1]
[edit] Music festival
Gatley Music Festival is a non-profit organisation bringing high quality live music to the village of Gatley, while at the same time raising money for local charities. It presents a week of live music every year during March, with something for every age and taste, including classical, jazz, brass, choral and the very best of local indie, acoustic and rock. It has its roots in "Music at St James", set up in 1989 by the Rev Brian Lee, curate of St James in Gatley, and Len Mather. The success of those concerts inspired the establishment in 2005 of a festival of music which was so well received that it is now an annual music festival for a rapidly growing regular audience.[2]
[edit] Playing fields
Gatley has its own playing fields. At the far end of the village, just before the boundary with Manchester, is Gatley Hill House which opens up into the William Scholes Playing Fields. These were part of a sport stadium and playing fields, built in the early 1960s with money from the William Scholes Foundation. Scholes was a Gatley estate agent and resident who died in 1927. The track opened on May 19, 1962 and was the first home of Cheadle and Gatley AC, before it merged with Stretford AC in 1966.
Currently, the fields are the natural home for many Gatley events – from the Gatley Festival to Sport Relief – and are used every weekend by local teams for cricket in the summer and football in the winter and every week by local running clubs.
[edit] Transport
Rail services are provided from Gatley railway station, which sits on the Manchester to Manchester Airport and Manchester–Styal–Wilmslow lines. Gatley also has easy access to the M60 motorway and hence to the wider motorway network in the north west of England.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |