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Urmston
Coordinates: 53.4487° N 2.3747° W Urmston shown within Greater Manchester
Population	40,963 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ766947
Metropolitan borough	Trafford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	URMSTON
Postcode district	M41
Dial code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Stretford and Urmston
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Urmston is a district within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. With a population of 40,963 (2001 Census), it comprises the town of Urmston, the smaller suburb of Davyhulme and the village of Flixton and lies 6 miles (10 km) from Manchester City Centre, on the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. Urmston covers an area of 4,799 acres (19 km²).

Contents 1 Geography and administration 1.1 Civic history 1.2 Political representation 2 History 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Early history 2.3 Modern history 3 Landmarks 4 Demographics 5 Present day 5.1 Transport and waterways 5.2 Housing 5.3 Education 5.4 Retail 5.5 Communal facilities 6 Notable residents 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links 9.1 External maps and images

Urmston is an urban area, southwest of Manchester.

Urmston, between 1894 and 1974, formed the Urmston Urban District in the administrative county of Lancashire. This Urban District had its own district council. However, since local government reforms in 1974, Urmston has been a district of Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in the Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

The parliamentary constituency of Stretford and Urmston, of which Urmston forms a part, is currently represented in the House of Commons by Beverley Hughes MP.

Urmston is one of six major urban areas in Trafford, the other five being Altrincham, Sale, Partington, Stretford and Old Trafford. In local elections for Trafford Council, Urmston is split into four wards - Davyhulme East, Davyhulme West, Flixton and Urmston - each of which elect in thirds on a four yearly cycle. Currently all 12 of these councillors are Conservative.

According to the Trafford Council website, Urmston probably started life as Orme's Easton, or Ormestun - the 'tun' or dwelling of Orme Fitz Seward, whose land passed in the 13th century to Richard de Trafford. The land was lost by the de Traffords, but they won it back after a duel; like most long-lasting aristocratic families they enjoyed a fight.

Davyhulme can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was the seat of John Hulme. It is assumed that 'Davy' was prefixed to Hulme, to distinguish it from Hulme in Manchester.

St Michael's Parish Church, Flixton, is able to trace curacy records back to 1198, and is probably even older than this.

In 1948 the then Minister for Health, Aneurin Bevan, conducted the symbolic inauguration of the National Health Service at Davyhulme's Park Hospital (now Trafford General Hospital).

At the time of the 2001 Census the population of Urmston was estimated to be 38,007. This figure was the sum of the electoral wards making up the Urmston area at that time.

Ward	Popn
Davyhulme East	9,139
Davyhulme West	9,593
Flixton	9,473
Urmston	9,802
Total	38,007

However, the electoral ward 'Park' included parts of Urmston and Stretford and was not included in this total. Electoral ward boundary changes in Trafford in 2004 brought all the Urmston population together under new ward boundaries (although the ward names remained the same).

Ward	Popn
Davyhulme East	10,409
Davyhulme West	9,596
Flixton	10,803
Urmston	10,155
Total	40,963

Junctions 9 and 10 of the M60 orbital motorway connect Urmston to the rest of Greater Manchester and the motorway network. A well known local landmark, opened in 1960, is the Barton High level motorway bridge, which crosses the Manchester Ship Canal.

Urmston is also connected to Liverpool and Manchester by the Manchester-Liverpool Railway, which passes through Warrington, and Garston (for Liverpool Airport). There are two railway stations in Urmston (Urmston and Humphrey Park), as well as two stations in Flixton (Chassen Road and Flixton).

The area is well served by bus. Service numbers 15, 253, 256, 258 and 255 connect Urmston with Manchester city centre (Piccadilly Gardens), service 245 with Sale & Altrincham, and service 278 with Lostock, whilst the 22, 23, 23a connect with Stockport, Bolton and The Trafford Centre. The 268 bus connects with Wythenshawe. Since opening, The Trafford Centre has become a major bus hub, with many services terminating there.

Both the Manchester Ship Canal, and the River Mersey pass close by.

The average price for a semi-detached home in Urmston is £155,475, whilst a detached house will cost on average £247,630. Semi-detached prices have more than doubled from an average of £60,000 in 1998, when The Trafford Centre, a regional shopping centre, opened just to the north of Urmston (although house prices in most areas of the country have seen a similar increase). These figures are, however, below the England and Wales average.

Urmston is recognised as an 'up and coming area' and house prices are currently seeing rises above those of the rest of Trafford. This is being exacerbated by the redevelopment of Urmston town centre, the success of the Trafford Centre and the recently announced move of the BBC into nearby Salford Quays.

There are 16 Primary, Infant or Junior schools in the Urmston area. In Davyhulme there is the Davyhulme Infant School, Davyhulme Junior School,Kingsway Primary School, Our Lady of the Rosary RC Primary School, St. Mary's CE Primary School and Woodhouse Primary School.

The schools in Urmston are English Martyrs RC Primary School, Highfield Primary School, Urmston Infant School and Urmston Junior School

Flixton's schools are Acre Hall Primary School, Flixton Infant School, Flixton Junior School, St. Michael's CE Primary School and St. Monica's RC Primary School. Woodsend Primary School was recently closed because the number of surplus places in the school was above the threshold recommended by the DfES.[1] Abbotsford Preparatory School, previously known as Caius House School, is a private school for pupils up to the age of 11.

Secondary schools in the area include Urmston Grammar School Science College, Flixton High School for Girls, St Antony's Catholic College and Wellacre Technology College. Urmston Grammar School has a 99% GCSE pass rate, compared to a national average of 54%. Pupils may also attend Lostock College, which is near the boundary with Stretford.

There are also two special schools in the area, which take pupils for whom mainstream education is not considered suitable. These schools are Delamere Special School (special needs, severe learning difficulties) and Egerton Special School (special needs, emotional/behavioural difficulties).

In the centre of Urmston is its precinct, a shopping area which dates back to the 1960s. To the north of Urmston is situated The Trafford Centre, a shopping and leisure complex which opened in September 1998 and owned by Peel Holdings. It covers 30 football pitches, has free parking for 10,000 vehicles, and it's covered malls host 3 miles of shop frontage. As well as high street names (Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, BHS, Next etc), the centre features The Orient (with well known fast food chains, and restaurants) and a 20 screen Odeon cinema.

The Trafford Centre was a controversial project. Some local residents feel that the Centre has brought traffic pollution and congestion to the town and that it has contributed significantly to the decline of Urmston Precinct, where many units are now either closed or have become 'pound stores'. Much of the precinct will be demolished when a new shopping precinct and supermarket (Sainsbury's) are built on the existing site. The contractor for this redevelopment is Manchester based Ask Property Developments^[1]

Public Leisure facilities are managed by the Trafford Community Leisure Trust. Their facilities include:

• Urmston Leisure Centre in Flixton
• George H Carnall Leisure Centre in Davyhulme
• William Wroe Golf Club in Flixton

In addition to William Wroe, there are two other Golf Clubs: Davyhulme Park Golf Club, and Flixton Golf Club.

Abbotsfield Park, known colloquially as 'Chassen Park', features a miniature railway, and was the venue for an early Beatles concert, booked before they became famous. When they appeared at Abbotsfield, they were international stars.

Urmston Cricket Club is located on Moorside Road, next to the Lawn Tennis Club. The Curzon Cinema is nearby.

Adjacent to The Trafford Centre, is Trafford Quays home to the Trafford Regional Sports Complex. This incorporates a JJB sports soccer dome comprising a gym, swimming pool and 18 indoor football pitches with a David Lloyd health and fitness club nearby. The latest addition to the complex is a £3.5 million state-of-the-art golf driving range - The Playgolf Experience - which is the first in the UK. Proposals were announced in 2006 for Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council to move from their existing Town Hall building in Stretford to a purpose built building in this area. Additionally a new indoor ski centre 'Chillfactor-E', is being constructed, and a BBC Media Zone and new housing are proposed.

Urmston is also home to the The Urmston Musical Theatre (UMT) which was formed as the Urmston Operatic Society in 1911. The well known actor, Matthew Kelly, is their President. Currently UMT perform a main show in October and a Pantomime in January, both at the Urmston Leisure Centre. Their junior section perform a show in May at St Antony's Catholic College, Bradfield Road, Urmston. They have a website which can be found by clicking the following link: The Urmston Musical Theatre with full details of their shows and membership.

Famous people to have come from Urmston include the entertainer Matthew Kelly, the author Stephen Leather, musician Jim Noir, former A Certain Ratio and Quando Quango singer Simon Topping. Piccadilly Magic 1152 weekend breakfast DJ Dave Ward is also from Urmston. Judy Loe, the actress mother of Kate Beckinsale and wife of the late Richard Beckinsale was also born in Urmston, as was BBC weather presenter Suzanne Charlton.

Urmston is mentioned in the BBC sitcom "dinnerladies" starring Victoria Wood and Julie Walters. Petula's (Walters) friend, Babs is seen repeating the lines "I come from Urmston." and "There's two ways to come from Urmston." She is later seen saying "They've chained up all the toilets in Urmston, but I know other places."

1. ^ Ask Property Developments.

• Web site for Urmston and surrounding areas
• Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council web site
• Trafford NHS web site
• Stretford and Urmston Messenger
• The Trafford Centre website
• Trafford Centre Information Pack (PDF)
• The Urmston Musical Theatre
• Canterbury Players is a local amateur dramatic society. Performances are given on stage at the Davyhulme (Wesley) Methodist Church located in Brook Road, Flixton.

• Map of the Borough of Trafford from Trafford MBC
• Map of Urmston Town Centre from Trafford MBC
• Urmston from the air