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The Greater Manchester Portal

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. The county was created on 1 April 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and designated a functional city region on 1 April 2011. Greater Manchester is formed of parts of the historic counties of Cheshire, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Greater Manchester spans 493 square miles (1,277 km²), which roughly covers the territory of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, the second most populous urban area in the UK. Though geographically landlocked, it is connected to the sea by the Manchester Ship Canal which is still open to shipping in Salford and Trafford. Greater Manchester borders the ceremonial counties of Cheshire (to the south-west and south), Derbyshire (to the south-east), West Yorkshire (to the north-east), Lancashire (to the north) and Merseyside (to the west). There is a mix of high-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Greater Manchester, but land use is mostly urban—the product of concentric urbanisation and industrialisation which occurred mostly during the 19th century when the region flourished as the global centre of the cotton industry. It has a focused central business district, formed by Manchester city centre and the adjoining city of Salford and Borough of Trafford, but Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each district is concentrated around a large town or a city (Manchester and Salford being the only cities). These districts contain suburbs, towns and villages for each city and town.

Greater Manchester is governed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which consists of political leaders from each of the ten metropolitan borough councils, plus a directly elected mayor, with responsibility for economic development, regeneration and transport. Andy Burnham is the inaugural Mayor of Greater Manchester, elected in 2017. For the 12 years following 1974, the county had a two-tier system of local government; district councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) effectively became unitary authority areas. However, the metropolitan county continued to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county, with a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Several county-wide services were co-ordinated through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities between 1985 and 2011. (Full article...)

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Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, 5.3 miles (8.5 km) south-southeast of Rochdale, and 6.9 miles (11.1 km) northeast of the city of Manchester. Oldham is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, of which Oldham is the administrative centre.

Historically a part of Lancashire, and with little early history to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns, rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and textile industries in England". At its zenith, it was the most productive cotton spinning mill town in the world, spinning more cotton than France and Germany combined.

Today, Oldham is a predominantly residential town, although it is still distinguished architecturally by the surviving cotton mills and other buildings associated with its former industry. The town has a population of 103,544, and an area of around 26 square miles (67 km²). It is a centre for further education, and the performing arts.

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General images

The following are images from various Greater Manchester-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Bolton Wanderers F.C. are based at the University of Bolton Stadium, in Horwich (from Greater Manchester)
Image 2Manchester Town Hall (from History of Manchester)
Image 3The Greater Manchester Urban Area in 2001 (from Greater Manchester Built-up Area)
Image 4Common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), seen here at Light Hazzles Reservoir near Littleborough, was voted the county flower of Greater Manchester in 2002 (from Greater Manchester)
Image 5First Greater Manchester operate bus services in northern-Greater Manchester. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 6A Metrolink tram in Radcliffe, part of Greater Manchester's light rail network. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 7Looking west along Nico Ditch, near Levenshulme (from History of Manchester)
Image 8Skyline of Manchester. (from Greater Manchester Built-up Area)
Image 9GMC County Hall (now known as Westminster House) in Manchester housed the Greater Manchester County Council until its abolition in 1986. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 10The City of Manchester Stadium, the main venue of the 2002 Commonwealth Games and home to Manchester City F.C. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 11A reconstructed gateway of Mamucium fort (from History of Manchester)
Image 12Sale Town Hall (from Greater Manchester Built-up Area)
Image 13Map of the Salford Hundred, with Manchester in the south-east (from History of Manchester)
Image 14Population density map (from Greater Manchester)
Image 15The Greater Manchester Urban Area, as defined in 2001, highlighted in red against the boundaries of the Metropolitan County (from Greater Manchester)
Image 16The Lowry is a combined theatre and exhibition centre at Salford Quays, and is Greater Manchester's most visited tourist attraction. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 17A view over the borough of Tameside, towards Manchester city centre circa 2008. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 18Liverpool Road railway station the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (from History of Manchester)
Image 19Andy Burnham has served as the inaugural Mayor of Greater Manchester since May 2017. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 20Old Trafford, home to Manchester United F.C. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 21Cotton mills in Ancoats about 1820. (from History of Manchester)
Image 22The Trafford Centre in Trafford is one of the largest shopping centres in the United Kingdom. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 23Much of Greater Manchester's housing stock consists of terraced houses constructed as low-cost dwellings for the populations of local factory towns. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 24Old Wellington Inn Shambles Square was built in 1552. (from History of Manchester)
Image 25An aerial photograph of Greater Manchester, looking west (from Greater Manchester)
Image 26Royal Exchange, Cross Street (from History of Manchester)
Image 27Manchester's Exchange Square undergoing extensive regeneration. (from History of Manchester)
Image 28Greater Manchester lies at the conjunction of the ancient county boundaries of Cheshire, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 29Oldham, painted during the Industrial Revolution by J. H. Carse. Many towns in Greater Manchester were built around the mills. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 30The M60 motorway, seen here at Failsworth, is an orbital motorway in Greater Manchester. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 31The population of Greater Manchester increased from around 328 thousand in 1801, to 2.68M in 2011, peaking in 1971 at 2.7M. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 32Albert Square (from History of Manchester)
Image 33The Imperial War Museum North in Trafford Park was designed by Daniel Libeskind, and is one of the Imperial War Museum's five branches. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 34Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square (from History of Manchester)
Image 35A 19th-century slum dwelling. The overhang contained privies, whose waste fell straight into the River Medlock below. (from History of Manchester)
Image 36Bolton Town Hall (from Greater Manchester Built-up Area)
Image 37The Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre (better known as the G-Mex centre and now rebranded as Manchester Central) was the converted former Manchester Central railway station in Manchester city centre used for hosting the county's cultural events. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 38Manchester from Kersal Moor, by William Wyld in 1852. Manchester acquired the nickname Cottonopolis during the early 19th century owing to its many textile factories. (from History of Manchester)
Image 39The Peterloo Massacre was a major event in the history of the city (from History of Manchester)
Image 40Eccles cake is a small round flaky pastry cake filled with currants, sugar and spice. It is native to Eccles. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 41The arms of the Greater Manchester County Council, depicted here, became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (though similar arms are used by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service). (from Greater Manchester)
Image 42Map of the ancient parish of Manchester (from History of Manchester)
Image 43Beetham Tower, Manchester's second tallest building, was completed in 2006 (from History of Manchester)
Image 44The main entrance of Old Trafford Cricket Ground (from Greater Manchester)
Image 45Stockport Bus Station in 1988. Greater Manchester Transport (later GM Buses) operated bus services throughout the county, from 1974 to 1993. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 46Former weavers' cottages in Wardle. The development of Greater Manchester is attributed to a shared tradition of domestic cloth production, and textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 47Skyline of Salford. (from Greater Manchester Built-up Area)
Image 48A bus stop in Denton bearing the logo of Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). TfGM is a functional executive body of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and has responsibilities for public transport in Greater Manchester. (from Greater Manchester)
Image 49Runway 2 of Manchester Airport lies on top of Oversley Farm, a Neolithic farming community. (from History of Manchester)
Image 50Chetham's School of Music (from History of Manchester)
Image 51Map of Manchester from Roman Manchester (1900) (from History of Manchester)

Boroughs

Greater Manchester is split into 10 boroughs:

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David Beckham OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional footballer, who plays in midfield. He currently plays for and captains Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and is also a member of the England national team. He earned his 100th cap for England against France in March 2008.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons. While at Madrid, Beckham became the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. In his final season, Real clinched the 2006-07 La Liga championship title (Beckham's only major trophy with the club) in the final game of the season on 17 June. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

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Did you know?

...that the Albert Medal was one of the awards given to Mark Addy for rescuing more than 50 people from the highly polluted River Irwell, Manchester, in the 19th Century?
...that the Port of Runcorn in Cheshire, England, was an independent customs port for two separate periods before becoming part of the Port of Manchester in 1894?
...that a word square found in Mamucium (pictured), a Roman fort in Manchester, may be one of the earliest examples of Christianity in Britain?
...that the women's scratch race at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held in Manchester and was won by Ellen van Dijk?

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Greater Manchester

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v t e Ceremonial county of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester Portal
Statutory City Region	Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Statutory City Region Mayor of Greater Manchester
Metropolitan districts	City of Manchester City of Salford Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Metropolitan Borough of Bury Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Metropolitan Borough of Tameside Metropolitan Borough of Trafford Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
Major settlements	Altrincham Ashton-in-Makerfield Ashton-under-Lyne Astley Atherton Audenshaw Blackrod Bolton Bramhall Bredbury Bury Chadderton Cheadle Cheadle Hulme Chorlton-cum-Hardy Didsbury Denton Droylsden Dukinfield Eccles Failsworth Farnworth Golborne Hale Hazel Grove Heywood Hindley Horwich Hyde Ince-in-Makerfield Irlam Kearsley Leigh Littleborough Little Lever Manchester Marple Middleton Milnrow Mossley Oldham Orrell Partington Pendlebury Prestwich Radcliffe Ramsbottom Reddish Rochdale Romiley Royton Sale Salford Shaw Stalybridge Standish Stockport Stretford Swinton Tottington Tyldesley Urmston Walkden Westhoughton Whitefield Wigan Worsley Wythenshawe See also: List of civil parishes in Greater Manchester
Rivers	Beal Bollin Croal Douglas Etherow Goyt Irk Irwell Medlock Mersey Roch Spodden Tame Tib Tonge
Canals	Bridgewater Canal Fletcher's Canal Hulme Locks Branch Canal Islington Branch Canal Manchester and Salford Junction Canal Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Manchester Ship Canal Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Manchester and Salford Junction Canal Mersey and Irwell Navigation Peak Forest Canal Stockport Branch Canal
Topics	Parliamentary constituencies and Members of Parliament Crime Cycling Demography People Public art Schools Geography Greater Manchester County Council (1974-1986) Places Population of major settlements Castles Churches Flag Football clubs Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Mills Scheduled monuments SSSIs History Lord Lieutenant High Sheriff Museums Places of interest Transport Transport for Greater Manchester Manchester Airport Manchester Metrolink