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Altrincham, Cheshire
This page will be developed to mirror the Sale, Cheshire
page of this site. For the time being, it is largely limited to photographs and a bibliography but more information on the town, its history and buildings will be added in due course. Click on the photos for enlargements. For extensive coverage of ALTRINCHAM FOOTBALL CLUB, please click here.
Location and Approaches
Altrincham lies some eight miles south of Manchester. By public transport the town can be reached by train from Stockport or Chester or by Metrolink tram from Manchester. Buses run to Altrincham from Manchester, Stockport and many other points including the National Express coach service from London. By car, the town is reached from the south by the A556, then A56, after leaving the M6 or M56. The A56 approaches Altrincham along Dunham Road which passes through the Old Market Place but skirts the modern centre of the town, which lies to the east. To reach the town centre turn right down Regent Road or turn right onto the A560 then immediately right again onto Barrington Road which runs into Stamford New Road (A538), which is the main road through the town centre and passes the railway/Metrolink station. From the north (Manchester or the M60), follow the signposts on the A56. The town is generally flat but its southern fringes lie on the Altrincham ridge, which largely comprises glacial gravels and rises to 200ft above sea-level.
Above L to R: (1) Old Market Place. (2) Post Office Buildings, Stamford New Road.
Historical Outline
Although it was not named in the Domesday Book, a number of neighbouring areas, such as Dunham were. At this time Alfward had an estate embracing modern day Dunham, Ashley and Baguley. In Norman times the area came under Hamo of Masci, whose base was initially a wooden castle at Dunham. By 1286 the fifth Hamo, still based at Dunham Castle, was assisting Edward I against the Scots. It was Hamo who obtained for Altrincham its charter as a borough in 1290 and this charter was renewed in 1319. The last of the line of Hamos died in 1342 and the Black Death decimated the area in 1348. In 1494 the ruins of the castle at Dunham were acquired by Robert Booth, whose family was subsequently ruined in the Civil War (c.1640). By 1750 the estate had passed to the Stamford family.
There are relatively few historical remains evident in the town today. The oldest surviving part of the town is that around the Old Market Place and Church Street (on the A56). It was here that Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops were allegedly billeted in 1745. Altrincham's fortunes improved with the arrival of the famous Bridgewater Canal, constructed in the 1760s and this can be seen most conveniently from the A56 at Broadheath Bridge. In the latter part of the 18th century the town had a cotton and worsted trade but it was the opening of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJA) in 1849 which really prompted the town's growth. Also in 1849 the first Town Hall was established adjacent to the Unicorn Hotel. Altrincham endured epidemics of typhoid and cholera in the 19th century but in the latter part of the century many prosperous Manchester businessmen took up residence, particularly in Bowdon, at the southern edge of Altrincham. From here they commuted to Manchester by train. In the 1890s the Broadheath area started to become heavily industrialised. The existing town hall buildings were erected in 1900 and in 1937 Altrincham became a Municipal Borough. From the 1970s Altrincham's industrial base declined and the area is now predominantly residential and commercial in nature.
The town became part of Trafford Metropolitan Borough in 1974 having, till then, been part of the County of Cheshire. Indeed, postally, the town's address is still "Altrincham, Cheshire". The more northerly part of the town includes the formerly industrial area of Broadheath, which lies to the west of the A56 on the Bridgewater Canal. To the east lies the more residential area of Timperley. The Broadheath area developed boomed in the early 20th century as a major industrial complex, with factories of such firms as Linotype and Budenberg Gauges. Today, most of the town's heavy industry has disappeared and much of Broadheath is now a retail park, housing Homebase, B+Q and other national stores. The railway link has also declined, with Altrincham now served only by an hourly service to Chester and Manchester (via Stockport). Other railway lines, through the former stations at West Timperley and Broadheath, have been closed to passengers for years and the latter line was irrevocably severed in the late 1990s to facilitate the building of the new retail park. However, on a positive note, the MSJA has been replaced by Metrolink trams which link the town, via Sale, Stretford and Old Trafford to Manchester and Bury.
The town centre was redeveloped in the 1970s and its shopping centre lies along the pedestrianised George Street and the parallel Stamford New Road/Railway Street, which lead southwards to The Downs, Hale and Bowdon. The town's old market hall survives as does the covered market itself, which is sited between Market Street and Greenwood Street. A number of Georgian buildings also survive in this area on High Street. Sports facilities include Altrincham Ice Rink at Broadheath and Altrincham Football Club on Moss Lane.
Pictures
Please click on the images, below, to enlarge them.
Above L to R: (1) The former Lloyd's Bank, built by George Truefitt for local banker William Cunliffe Brooks in 1877. (2) Old Market Place. (3) Altrincham's Jacobean-style former Town Hall (1900) in High Street. The building is now Council Offices
Above L to R: (1) The Downs from Railway Street. (2) The Downs. (3) Norman's Place/Regent Road junction.
Above L to R: (1) Unitarian Chapel, Dunham Road, opened in 1872 by William Gaskell, husband of the novelist Mrs Gaskell. (2) Altrincham General Hospital (1870). (3) The Bricklayer's Arms in George Street
Above L to R: (1) The Station Clock, Stamford New Road. (2) Plaque in High Street to the artist, Helen Allingham, who was the first woman member of the Royal Water-Colour Society. (3) Altrincham Market Hall (1879).
Above L to R: (1) The Old Market Tavern, former the Unicorn Hotel, in Old Market Place. Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops are alleged to have been billeted in this area. The far building with the tower is the former Town Hall. (2) The 18th-century Stamford Estates Office in High Street, formerly home to the Earl of Stamford's steward. Now the Offices of the National Trust.
Above L to R: (1) The former Board of Health Offices in High Street. (2) St Vincent's RC Church, Groby/Bentinck Road. (3) Stamford New Road, with Altrincham Interchange to the left.
Selective Bibliography
Bamford, Frank, Broadheath, 1885-1985: a century of industry. Altrincham:
Frank Bamford, 1995. 137p. (ISBN 0-9517225-2-2)
Bamford, Frank, The making of Altrincham, 1850-1991: from market to
megastore? Altrincham: Frank Bamford, 1991. 123p. (ISBN 0-9517225-1-4)
Bamford, Frank, Mansions and men of Dunham Massey: from errant earl to
Red Dean. Altrincham: Frank Bamford, 1991. 99p. (ISBN 0-9517225-0-6)
Bayliss, Don, Altrincham: a history.
Altrincham: Willow Publishing, 1992. 170p. (ISBN 0-946361-33-9)
An excellent, illustrated history of the town.
Bayliss, Hilda, Altrincham: a pictorial history. Chichester: Phillimore, 1996.
(ISBN 1-86077-036-7)
Bowdon History Society. Bowdon and Dunham Massey. (Images of England). Stroud: Tempus,
1999. 128p. (ISBN 0-7524-1528-X)
A photo-book of Bowdon and Dunham Massey.
Dixon, Frank, The Manchester, South Junction & Altrincham Railway. (Oakwood
Library of Railway History, 34) Second, enlarged edition. Headington,
Oxford: The Oakwood Press, 1994. 165p. (ISBN 0-85361-454-7)
Fitzpatrick Gillian, Altrincham past & present. Altrincham: Willow Publishing, 1990. 56pp.
Hudson, John, Altrincham. (Britain in Old Photographs). Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1995. 125p. (ISBN 0-7509-0640-5).
Ingham, Alfred A history of Altrincham and Bowdon, with an account of the barony and House of Dunham. Altrincham: Mackie, Brewtnall and Co, 1897. 195pp.
Knight, N.R., Altrincham to Manchester, before Metrolink. (Scenes from the Past
36, pt.1). Romiley, Stockport: Foxline Publishing, 1999. 96p. (ISBN 1-870119-60-6)
Littler, Joyce: The Protector of Dunham Massey: Dunham Massey Estate in the 18th century. A study of the management carried out by George Booth, 2nd. Earl of Warrington. Altrincham: Joyce Littler, 1993.
Morrison, Basil D., Looking back at Altrincham, including parts of Bowdon, Broadheath,
Hale & Timperley. Altrincham: Willow Publishing, 1980. 48p. (ISBN 0-9506043-5-6)
A book of photographs, with an informative accompanying text.
Nickson, C. Bygone Altrincham: traditions and
history. 1935. Also, Manchester: E.J.Morten, 1971 reprint of the 1935 edition. 328pp
Trafford Leisure Services. Altrincham town trail. Stretford: Trafford
Leisure Services, c.1980. 15p.
Selective Links
Accommodation
Accommodation list.
Cresta Court Hotel.
Churches
Altrincham Methodist Church.
Altrincham Unitarian Church.
St Vincent's RC Church.
Christ Church & Holy Cross, Timperley.
Leisure/Entertainment
Altrincham Library.
Altrincham Garrick Theatre.
Sport
Altrincham Athletics Club.
Altrincham Football Club Official Web Site.
Altrincham FC Fans' Forum.
Altrincham FC Photo Site.
Altrincham Ice Rink.
Altrincham Kersal rugby club.
General
An Altrincham portal.
Altrincham Town Centre Partnership.
Societies
Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society.
Copyright: ©
Compiled by John Laidlar
