Chorlton-cum-Hardy - Transport

Transport

In the 19th century, public transport was limited to the railway through the southern suburbs of Manchester and to horse buses from Chorlton Green towards Manchester city centre. In the early 20th century the electric tramway reached Chorlton and remained in service until January 1949. Motorbuses replaced horse buses and, from 1949 onwards, the trams. Passenger railway services ended at the beginning of 1967 with the closure of Chorlton-cum-Hardy station, which had provided a commuter service into Manchester Central.

Bus services have been expanded and reorganized many times since then. The majority of bus services are operated by Stagecoach Manchester most notably the high frequency services 85/86 which run into Manchester city centre.

In the 21st century, traffic has become a serious problem, not helped by delays in establishing a Metrolink (tram) link to the area. From 1992 the Metrolink ran through Stretford, and conversion of the former railway line through Chorlton to a Metrolink line was planned, but failed to secure the funding needed. Work on the conversion began in 2010, and it opened on 7 July 2011, providing residents with a rail journey into the city centre for the first time in 44 years. The Chorlton tram stop is on the site of the old railway station. Services terminate one stop further south at St Werburgh's Road, on the site of the old Chorlton Junction signal-box.

The Great South to North Procession of Motor Cars passed through Chorlton in 1900. The first petrol pump in south Manchester was at Charles Shaw's garage on Barlow Moor Road (between Malton Avenue and High Lane): the garage building still exists but has been converted to other uses. The Ashby was a two-seater light car produced in Chorlton-cum-Hardy by Victor Ashby and Son from 1922 to 1924.

Planned ring road

Mauldeth Road West was built as a dual-carriageway in anticipation of the expansion of motor traffic and had a central strip intended for use as a double track for electric trams. When numbering of roads was introduced in the 1930s, Wilbraham Road was named as a part of the southern intermediate ring-road, the A6010, along with less suitable roads such as High Lane and Platt Lane. Mauldeth Road West was numbered the A6144, and was meant to extend along Hardy Lane, hence the latter's unusual width. It was then to cross the Mersey near Jackson's Boat, and join the rest of the A6144 at Old Hall Road, Sale, on its journey to Partington and Lymm. Its purpose was to relieve central Chorlton of the heavy traffic to Trafford Park, and from the clay pits operational in the Mersey Valley. A-Z maps showed the legend "completion in 1974" through many editions.

Hough End

Alexandra Park aerodrome at Hough End, and its secondary landing site at Turn Moss, had a life-span, from 1917 until 1924; only the Air Training Corps centre remains. First Barton, then Ringway were chosen as the municipal aerodrome instead. Local residents benefited from Alexandra Park (later Wilbraham Road) railway station, and the cutting of a dual carriageway Mauldeth Road West. Most of Hough End, the site of the original manor house, was used for building the Old Moat council estate, and the dual carriageway Princess Road and its median tram-track in 1924–25, ensured Hough End was saved as green space. The Aerodrome company reverted its lease to Lord Egerton, who donated it as an open space in perpetuity to the City of Manchester. During the Second World War, anti-aircraft batteries were located there, and German prisoners, used as workers, lived in temporary housing beside Princess Road.