Whalley Range

Whalley Range is an area of Manchester  and  a ward of the city council about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 15,430.

It was built by Manchester banker and businessman Samuel Brooks, who came from Whalley, as "a desirable estate for gentlemen and their families" in the 1830s.  It had to be drained, and it was crossed by a large number of streams, most of which are now covered. There was a railway station - Wilbraham Road railway station - which was made for the Alexandra Park Aerodrome, which is to the South.  It closed to passengers in 1958.  In 1964  Granada Television used the disused buildings as Chorltonville, a southern U.S.-style station, for a programme called Blues and Gospel Train with Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Rev. Gary Davis and Cousin Joe Pleasant.

The British Muslim Heritage Centre now has the building which was built as the Lancashire Independent College in the 1840s. It was later used as a  Trade Union college  by the GMB.  It is a Grade II* Listed Building.

References

Category:Districts of Manchester