Mottram in Longdendale
Mottram in Longdendale is a village in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2011 census, the population for the ward of Longdendale, which includes Mottram and the surrounding area, was 9,950. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies in the valley of Longdendale, on the border with Derbyshire and the Peak District near Broadbottom and Hattersley. Mottram in Longdendale Parish was one of the eight ancient parishes of the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire. The larger Mottram parish was incorporated into Longdendale in 1936, remaining part of Cheshire, then incorporated into Tameside by the Local Government Act 1972 in  1974. History. In 1795, Aikin in his book, "Forty Miles around Manchester", wrote In the 18th century the River Etherow was known as the Mersey. The River Tame has been a border from the earliest times between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia. The ancient parish was the most northerly in Cheshire. Mottram came to prominence as a transport hub. It lies on two pack horse routes used to carry salt from Cheshire to South Yorkshire over the Pennines and carry lime for soil improvement from Chapel-en-le-Frith. It was on the Manchester to Sheffield stage  coach route, and had a flyer service to Manchester. Before the Industrial Revolution Mottram and Ashton had been the most significant towns in the area, the manor and manorial court house were in Mottram, but other towns eclipsed Mottram in size and importance. Mottram was active in the early stages of industrialisation, and there were significant cotton spinning mills in Wedneshough Green and the Treacle Street areas of Mottram Moor, and printing and dyeing works on the Etherow at Broadbottom which until recently was part of the parish. The smaller early mills in Mottram became uneconomic and harder to run . Stalling industrialisation led to social conflict and hunger during 1812 Luddite riots that led to the smashing of labour-reducing machines. The Luddites secretly drilled on Wedneshough Green. In 1842 local Chartists met on the green, and planned the closure of Stalybridge factories in the Plug Riots. By 1860 the population had peaked. The 1844 railway passed through the valley with stops at Hattersley and Broadbottom in the parish but not at the Mottram township. A Polish pilot, Josef Gawkowski, was killed on 19 July 1942 when his aircraft crashed near Mottram on a training flight from RAF Newton in  Nottinghamshire. A memorial plaque commemorating him is in Mottram Cemetery. Geography. Mottram occupies an elevated site straddling the A57 trunk road from the end of the M67 to the junction with the A628 trunk road. It is east of Manchester, on land between 150m to 250m above mean sea level. The geology is mainly boulder clay above millstone grit, but there are small outcrops of coal at the edge of the Lancashire Coalfield. To the south and east of Mottram is the River Etherow and to the west is the Hurstclough Brook. Longdendale bypass proposal. The A628 trunk  road connects the M67 motorway from Manchester to the M1 motorway in South Yorkshire. The road is single-carriageway through Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle and through the Peak District National Park, it is used by large numbers of heavy goods vehicles. It is one of the most congested A-road routes in the country, with high volumes of traffic (including HGVs) using a road which is totally unsuitable for the volume and nature of traffic it carries The A628 through Mottram carries traffic from the A57 road linking Manchester through Glossop to Sheffield over the Snake Pass, another major Trans -Pennine route. Congestion at peak times backs up through Glossop and Hadfield rendering local journeys impossible. To solve these problems the Longdendale Bypass was approved in December 2014, but has not yet been started. There is considerable local feeling that there is no viable alternative to a bypass. Landmarks. St Michael and All Angels Church dates from the late 15th century. The church is a Grade II* Listed Building, built in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The interior of St. Michael's was remodelled in 1854 but the exterior remains intact from the 15th and 16th centuries. The church stands high  up on Warhill overlooking the village. In 2010, vandals destroyed the church's windows which led to cork boards being used as replacements. Mottram Old Hall is a country house in Old Hall Lane which dates to 1727 and was once occupied by the Hollingworth family. Sport. Mottram Cricket Club plays in the Greater Manchester Cricket League. The club was founded in 1860. Notable people. Famous former residents also include Kathy Staff (aka Nora Batty from the sitcom "Last of the Summer Wine") and Harold Shipman, the UK's most prolific serial killer.