Portal:Greater Manchester

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Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.68 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972.

Greater Manchester spans 493 square miles (1,277 km²). It is landlocked and borders 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. It has a focused central business district, formed by Manchester city centre and the adjoining parts of Salford and Trafford, but Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has at least one major town centre and outlying suburbs. The Greater Manchester Urban Area is the third most populous conurbation in the UK, and spans across most of the county's territory.

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 has continued to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county, has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Several county-wide services were co-ordinated through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities up until April 2011, when the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was established as the strategic county-wide authority for Greater Manchester, taking on functions and responsibilities for economic development, regeneration and transport.

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The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road is 107 miles (172 km) long. The motorway, first proposed in the 1930s, was built between 1971 and 1976, with construction beginning at Pole Moor and finishing in Tarbock. The motorway also absorbed the northern end of the Stretford-Eccles bypass, which was built between 1957 and 1960. Adjusted for inflation to 2007, the motorway cost approximately £765 million to build.

Since the Stretford-Eccles bypass was opened, the motorway's history beyond construction has included a coach bombing and a rail crash. The motorway is additionally memorable for Stott Hall Farm, a farm in the Pennines situated between the carriageways which has become one of the most known sights in West Yorkshire.

The road passes the cities of Salford, Manchester, Bradford and Leeds. Between Liverpool and Manchester, the terrain of the road is relatively flat, while between Manchester and Leeds, the road crosses the hilly Pennines to its highest point on Windy Hill near Saddleworth Moor, which is also the highest point of any motorway in the United Kingdom, at 1,221 feet (372 m) above sea level.

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Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid 1950s, and one of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster.

Born in Dudley, Edwards signed for Manchester United as a teenager and went on to become the youngest player to play in the Football League First Division and the youngest England player since the Second World War. In a professional career of less than five years he helped United to win two Football League championships and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. Although he survived the crash of the team's aeroplane at Munich in February 1958, he died as a result of his injuries 15 days later.

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Ancoats, Manchester. McConnel & Company's mills, about 1820.

Painting credit: Unknown

Template:/box-header Greater Manchester is split into 10 boroughs:

1. City of Manchester
2. Stockport
3. Tameside
4. Oldham
5. Rochdale

6. Bury
7. Bolton
8. Wigan
9. City of Salford
10. Trafford

• August 6: Wayne Rooney likely to miss opening match of English Premier League
• July 10: UK mathematician Nick Higham wins Fröhlich Prize
• June 29: Bobby Charlton launches anti-landmine campaign

• ...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?

WikiProject Greater Manchester

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United Kingdom
Lancashire and Cumbria • Cheshire • Merseyside • Yorkshire Template:/box-footer

Featured articles: Altrincham • Bert Trautmann • Chat Moss • City of Manchester Stadium • Duncan Edwards • Emmeline Pankhurst • Greater Manchester • Joy Division • M62 motorway • Manchester • Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal • Manchester City F.C. • Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine • Peterloo Massacre • Oldham • Scout Moor Wind Farm • Shaw and Crompton • Stretford • Trafford

Featured lists: Castles in Greater Manchester • Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester • List of Manchester City F.C. managers • List of Manchester United F.C. managers • List of Manchester United F.C. records and statistics • List of Manchester United F.C. seasons • List of Manchester United F.C. players • List of Manchester United F.C. players (25–99 appearances) • List of Manchester United F.C. players (fewer than 25 appearances) • List of railway stations in Greater Manchester • List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater Manchester • List of tallest buildings and structures in Manchester • List of tallest buildings and structures in Salford • Manchester City F.C. seasons

Good articles: 1990 Strangeways Prison riot • Alan Turing • Ashton-under-Lyne • B of the Bang • Bank Street (stadium) • Bridgewater Canal • Buckton Castle • Castleshaw Roman fort • Chadderton • Cine City, Withington • City of Salford • Controversy over the usage of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man • David Beckham • Didsbury • Dunham Massey • Hale Barns • Henry Taylor (swimmer) • Hugh Mason • Hulme Arch Bridge • Hyde Road • Mamucium • Manchester and Bolton Railway • Manchester Liners • Manchester Mummy • Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine • Manchester United F.C. • Milnrow • Murrays' Mills • Nico Ditch • Noel Gallagher • North Road (stadium) • Ordsall Hall • Old Trafford • Oasis (band) • Radcliffe, Greater Manchester • River Irwell • Ronnie Wallwork • Royton • Sale, Greater Manchester • Tameside • Trafford Park • Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester • Urmston • Warburton, Greater Manchester Template:/box-footer

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Thanks, and don't forget that if you feel an article on Greater Manchester is missing, request it, or create it. Template:/box-footer

Cheshire	North West England	Cumbria	Peak District

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