Chorlton-cum-Hardy - Sport and Recreation

Sport and Recreation

Chorlton is included in Roger Oldham's A Manchester Alphabet (1906): "Chorlton's in the suburbs / The houses there have gates / And people come in winter time / If frosty with their skates."

In the early 19th century the sports of bull-baiting, badger-baiting and cock-fighting were popular in Chorlton. Sports of this kind were outlawed by an Act of Parliament of 1835 and the last bull-baiting in Chorlton is recorded the same year. Prize-fighting, horse and foot-racing, and wrestling usually occurred on the meadows and were liable to lead to disorder. If the forces of law and order appeared participants and spectators would usually escape across the Mersey into Cheshire and continue their sport. Horse races are also said to been held on land now part of Chorlton Park in the 16th century.

Association football

Chorltonville recreation area has become a private football ground, owned by West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C. Many other amateur football teams are active in Chorlton and both the local Premier League teams (Manchester City and Manchester United) are well-supported in the area. It was in Chorlton-cum-Hardy that George Best lodged when he first came to Manchester, on Sibson Road in the house next door but one to Doris Speed's house. Sir Matt Busby's funeral was held at St John's Church; former Manchester City footballer Nicky Reid was brought up locally. After the Second World War the Owners' Committee sold off the tennis courts and recreation area. The tennis courts were absorbed by gardens of adjoining Chorltonville houses, and the recreation area became a private football ground, owned by West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C.

Rugby Union

Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union. The club has had a number of different grounds in its time, mainly in the Salford/Prestwich area, but also in the south of Manchester. Since 2004 its present new facility is at Hough End in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Originally the club had only one senior side, but now fields four senior sides and supported by one Colts (U19), four youth (U13-U17) and four mini (U8-U12) teams; a total involvement of some 220 players each week. Broughton Park R.F.C. is the City of Manchester's highest placed representative in the Rugby Union Leagues.

Rugby League

A relative newcomer to the area, Mancunians RL are an amateur rugby league club which groundshares with Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C. at Hough End. The club was formed in 2009, and were crowned North West regional Champions in 2010. The club has recently announced that they are working closely with the Rugby Football League to become a semi-professional club and join the Co-operative Championships in 2015. Mancunians are very active in the local community and operate schools coaching programmes in partnership with The Manchester College and Greater Manchester Police.

Cricket and golf

South West Manchester Cricket Club is one of the oldest in the Manchester area and has four adult teams who all play in the Manchester and District Cricket Association: the ground is at Ellesmere Road North, the old clubhouse being what used to be Hobson's Hall Farm. Chorlton cum Hardy Cricket Club is based at Hardy Lane. Barlow Hall serves as the club house of the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Golf Club.

Parks and water parks

Stretford Stadium, within Longford Park, is the home of Trafford Athletic Club. Most of the area of the park is in Stretford but the eastern part is in Chorlton with an entrance on Ryebank Road. Also in the park are tennis courts and bowling greens. An area of Chorlton Park was used many centuries ago for horse racing. As a public park it dates from 1928: there are gardens, many trees, and recreational facilities. The Recreation Ground (Beech Park) was opened in 1896 having been donated to the community by Lord Egerton. Chorlton Water Park is on the north side of the Mersey: access from southern Chorlton is via Maitland Avenue. It may be reached from the southern banks of the River Mersey by a small footbridge. In nearby Chorlton Ees, a proposed development of football pitches and a clubhouse, while widely supported by people who work with local youth, are the subject of some local opposition. The plans were withdrawn while a committee of the City Council were considering them in January 2010. In May 2010 the issue reemerged with a modified proposal from the club which has aroused middle-class incomer opposition once more. Chorltonville recreation area has become a private football ground, currently owned by West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C.

Public houses

The oldest public house in Chorlton is reputedly the Bowling Green (1693 but moved to a new site in 1908); the Horse and Jockey, Chorlton Green, occupies a building reputedly of the 16th century though the half-timbered look is Victorian and the licence early 19th century. Near the new centre of Chorlton are the Royal Oak (built on the site of an earlier house,actually around the earlier building, an example follwed by a modern resident of Wilbraham Road].) and the Lloyd's Hotel, Wilbraham Road (ca. 1870). The Beech Inn occupies what was once the Methodist schoolroom. Bowls has been for many years a popular sport in the area: many of the greens which still exist are attached to public houses, e.g. the Lloyd's Hotel and the Bowling Green Hotel. The Bridge Inn on the south bank of the Mersey was once in Chorlton but is now in Sale and is now named "Jackson's Boat" (for the origin of the name see above, History).

Cinemas and dance halls

The earliest cinema was the Chorlton Pavilion in Wilbraham Road on the east side of the railway bridge at Buckingham Road which opened in the first decade of the 20th century. It was bought in 1909 by H. D. Moorhouse and became part of his HDM circuit. The Palais de Luxe Cinema opened in 1915 in Barlow Moor Road and closed ca. 1958; a little further south was the Rivoli Cinema, opened in 1937, which later became the Essoldo and later still the Classic and the Shalimar. At Manchester Road was a cinema originally named the Majestic but when opened was called the Savoy, afterwards the ABC and then the Gaumont. The Chorlton Palais de Danse in Barlow Moor Road was once very popular; after becoming a nightclub the site was redeveloped as a McDonald's fast food outlet.