Brooklands, Trafford

Coordinates: 53°24′40″N 2°18′49″W / 53.411089°N 2.3137°W / 53.411089; -2.3137

Brooklands is an area and electoral ward within Sale, in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is 5.7 miles (9.2 km) to the south-southwest of Manchester city centre and has a total resident population of 9,773.

Voters from this ward elect three councillors to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council. Currently all three councillors, Chris Boyes, Pamela Dixon and David Higgins are members of the Conservative Party.

The Manchester Metrolink tram network passes through the district; Brooklands Station lies on the route between Manchester city centre and Altrincham.

James Joule a notable English physicist, who lent his name to the standard unit of energy, is buried in Brooklands cemetery.

Richard Pankhurst, barrister, husband of Emmeline Pankhurst and father to Adela Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst and Sylvia Pankhurst is buried alongside his parents in Brooklands cemetery.

The area is named after Samuel Brooks, a Manchester banker and businessman who, in 1856, bought a parcel of land in this area from the Earl of Stamford; he also made further purchases later. The area was crossed by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, which opened in 1849. A road crossed this railway between Sale and Timperley stations, and in 1855, 45 residents petitioned for a station there. The company took no action but in 1859, Brooks negotiated terms for a station. He offered an acre of land for £200 with a guarantee of compensation if it did not pay. The unofficial name Brooks’s land soon became Brooklands, and the station so named opened there on 1 December 1859.

In 1862, Brooks built a private road running southeast from the station, with land for superior housing. This ran (and still runs) all the way to the A538 Altrincham–Wilmslow road at Hale, making use of the earlier Roaring Gate Lane for part of the journey.