Wilmslow: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 20 - 45 The Handforth Lodge
 With free Wi-Fi and free parking, The Handforth Lodge offers friendly bed and breakfast accommodation. Handforth rail station is a 5-minute walk away.… MoreGBP 54 - 93 Wilmslow Lodge
 Enjoy fresh food, traditional ales, comfortable rooms and friendly service at this lodge/pub in the centre of Wilmslow, 10 minutes from Manchester Air… MoreGBP 68 - 125 Stanneylands Hotel
 In Cheshire’s countryside, the AA 4-star Stanneylands Hotel has a 2 AA Rosette-awarded restaurant, large gardens, free Wi-Fi and free parking. Wilms… MoreGBP 50 - 100 Rylands Farm Guest House
 Less than a mile (1.6 km) from Manchester Airport, in the charming surroundings of Wilmslow, this attractive guest house offers airport transfers by p… MoreGBP 39 - 111 Premier Inn Manchester Airport (Wilmslow)
 On the A538, just 2 miles (3.2 km) from Manchester Airport, the hotel offers great value, with free parking and spacious, comfortable and modern en su… MoreGBP 43 - 129 Holiday Inn Manchester Airport
 Holiday Inn Manchester Airport is located south of Manchester city centre, situated in a convenient location just minutes from Manchester Airport, Wil… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wilmslow: Guide
Wilmslow is a town in the Borough of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It lies to the south of the city of Manchester between Alderley Edge and Handforth. Most housing is large and expensive in nature.
Geography and administration
Wilmslow town centre is focussed upon Bank Square, Grove Street and Water Lane. Although Bank Square has traditionally provided the location for many of the town's banks, the name in fact originates from the bank, or slope, leading down to the Carrs recreational fields and up towards the train station. The National Trust site, as well as enjoyment for the local population.
Before the railway came, Wilmslow comprised only a few farms and a church.
For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, Wilmslow forms part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area.
History
Etymology
Its name came from Old English language|Anglo-Saxon Wīghelmes hlāw = "mound of a man called Wīghelm".
Events
Wilmslow was in the international media in March 1997, when an Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA bomb exploded at the train station. Nobody was hurt.
In the general election of the same year, the parliamentary constituency of Tatton, in which Wilmslow falls, made headlines as part of the "sleaze" accusations levelled against the then Conservative Government. Tatton MP, Neil Hamilton (politician)|Neil Hamilton, was accused of accepting cash for tabling Parliamentary questions, and subsequently defeated in the election by independent candidate Martin Bell.
Present day
Wilmslow is well known, like Alderley Edge, for having many famous residents, notably footballers, stars of Coronation Street and rich Manchester businessmen. It is an affluent area. The local Aston Martin dealer's sales account for more than one-fifth of the UK sales of £100,000-plus Astons. Wilmslow is a desirable area in which to live, and is part of the so-called Golden Triangle (Cheshire)|Golden Triangle in the north west together with Hale, Cheshire|Hale and Bowdon. It grew in popularity in the Victorian era as a most desirable area for wealthy Manchester businessmen to move out to once the railways arrived and connected the towns.
Transport
Wilmslow is a railway junction where the electrified line from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly bifurcates. One line continues to Manchester via Handforth and Stockport, the other continues via Styal and Heald Green. The latter route is commonly known as the Styal Line. There are frequent services to Manchester, Stockport and Crewe plus an hourly service to Shrewsbury and Cardiff. There are a few trains to London Euston . The A34 road|A34 Manchester to Newcastle-under-Lyme road bypasses the town centre to the east. Manchester Airport is a few miles to the northwest.
Industry and commerce
Wilmslow is home to the clothing giant Umbro who have their headquarters in the area, the food technologists of Sainsbury's, and also the centre of operations of the life insurance and pensions firm, Royal London Mutual Insurance. The Information Commissioner's Office, one of the government's executive agency|executive agencies is also based in Wilmslow.
Communal facilities
Wilmslow has a municipal leisure centre located near the train station. It offers a range of indoor facilities including courts, gym equipment and two indoor pools, one of which is a heated children's pool.
Wilmslow High School is the only secondary school in Wilmslow and is a large comprehensive school that also includes a 6th form for A-level studies. The town has many primary schools, both comprehensive and private (including single sex schools).
Wilmslow also contains a public library, fire station and police station.
Two, free, weekly local papers are distributed to the residents of Wilmslow, they are the Wilmslow Express and the Manchester Metro News.
Notable residents
Alan Turing, the driving force behind the Colossus machine for cracking the German Enigma cypher, is perhaps Wilmslow's most notable resident. Turing committed suicide in his Wilmslow home in June 1954 by eating a cyanide-laced apple.
Wilmslow has featured in the novels of the writer Alan Garner, with the Black Lake (Lindow) apparently housing a witch. Garner is perhaps best known for his books The Owl Service and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath which are set in nearby Alderley Edge.
The British indie rock band Doves met at Wilmslow High School in the 1980s. Their song 'Black and White Town' was inspired by Wilmslow and its contradicting 'rich-poor' divide
Simon Gregson, who plays taxi boss Steve McDonald in Coronation Street, lives on Gravel Lane.
William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, lives on Meadow Way.
Places of interest
George Bramwell Evens|Romany's vardo (located near the public library)
See also
Wilmslow Hockey Club
References
External links
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Wilmslow". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.