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Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Radcliffe | |
|
  Radcliffe shown within Greater Manchester |
|
| Population | 34,239[citation needed] |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | Bury |
| Metropolitan county | Greater Manchester |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Manchester |
| Postcode district | M26 |
| Dial code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester | |
Radcliffe is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It is south-west of Bury, on the River Irwell.
Historically part of Lancashire, Radcliffe is a former mill town, having been a centre for cotton spinning as a result of the Industrial Revolution.
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Radcliffe became an urban district in 1894, and received a charter as a municipal borough in 1935.[1] It became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972.
Radcliffe takes its name from 'red cliff' (rock) on the River Irwell.[citation needed]
There are few places in the north-west of England with a history as long as Radcliffe's, stretching back more than 6,000 years to Mesolithic times, Roman associations and a mention in the Domesday Book.[citation needed]
During the Industrial Revolution, Radcliffe was a centre of coal and cotton spinning production, and is the Metropolitan Borough of Bury's most westerly town. Medieval buildings in Radcliffe include the parish church, a tithe barn and Radcliffe tower, which was a manorial residence in the kingdom in ancient times.
Prior to the Metrolink being opened in the 1990s, the town was served by the Bury to Manchester branch line. There was also a line to Bolton via Little Lever, though this was closed in the 1960s, with little trace left now.
Radcliffe is home to Radcliffe Borough Football Club and to Radcliffe Cricket Club who play in the Central Lancashire Cricket League. Sir Frank Worrell played for Radcliffe Cricket Club for many years. A street near the cricket ground was named in his honour. Sir Garfield Sobers also played for the cricket club for a while.
Radcliffe has two weekly newspapers, the Radcliffe Times, based at the Bury Times offices, in Bury, and the Salford-based Advertiser, which also covers the neighbouring areas of Prestwich and Whitefield.
In the past couple of decades, the town's shopping area has declined, with many smaller businesses closing their doors forever.[citation needed] The town has retained its Boots and there is a large Asda supermarket. Up until last year Radcliffe had a Kwik Save store (housed in a former cinema). Work had begun in late 2005 to demolish this, to make way for the new Reinventing Radcliffe development.
The town is currently undergoing a multi-million pound revamp (under the banner of Reinventing Radcliffe), which will include town centre living, and a new state-of-the-art school which will replace Coney Green High School and Radcliffe High School.
Until the new school is built, the two high school sites have been renamed Radcliffe Riverside East Campus (Coney Green) and Radcliffe Riverside West Campus (Radcliffe High).
The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal, which runs through Radcliffe is to be cleaned up as part of a wider scheme across Greater Manchester. Work was started in Salford earlier in 2005, and it is expected to reach Radcliffe by 2010.
Radcliffe Riverside School is the biggest high school in Radcliffe and was formed when Coney Green High and Radcliffe High joined together. The lower school students in years 7, 8, and 9 are presently studying at the Coney Green building, while the upper school students years 10 and 11 are studying in the Radcliffe High building. In the near future Radcliffe Riverside students will be reunited in a building that is intended to be the centrepiece of the town.
Radcliffe was the birthplace of Canadian author Donald Jack and also the home of Olympic medal winning cyclist Harry Hill who took bronze at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Radcliffe was also the birthplace of film director Danny Boyle and snooker player the late John Spencer (snooker player).
- Radcliffe.info The official site for Radcliffe, run by Bury MBC
- radclifferiverside.com Radcliffe Riverside School website