Mossley

Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England.^[3] It is located in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Oldham and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) east of Manchester.

Mossley
View of Mossley
Mossley Location within Greater Manchester
Population	10,921 (2011 census)^[1]
OS grid reference	SD9702
Civil parish	Mossley^[2]
Metropolitan borough	Tameside
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE
Postcode district	OL5
Dialling code	01457
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Stalybridge and Hyde
Website	www.mossley-council.co.uk
List of places UK England Greater Manchester 53°30′53″N 2°02′19″W / 53.5147°N 2.0387°W / 53.5147; -2.0387

The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire meet in Mossley and local government wards and church parishes correspond to their boundaries. Mossley had a population of 10,921 at the 2011 Census.^[1] It is the only parished area of Tameside, having had a parish council since 1999.

History

Toponymy

Believed to originate in around 1319, the name Mossley means "a woodland clearing by a swamp or bog".^[4]

Events

Mossley—alongside neighbouring Stalybridge and Uppermill in Saddleworth—helped launch the annual Whit Friday Band Contest, an internationally known brass band event. This came about when the three towns held unconnected brass band events on 6 June 1884.^{[citation needed]}

Public venue

George Lawton, the son of magistrate and alderman John Lawton, inherited a family fortune and when he died in August 1949, he left the bulk of his wealth to the people of Mossley. Part of his £77,760 wealth (equivalent to £2,900,000 in 2021) was left to build a public meeting place, the George Lawton Hall.^{[citation needed]}

Governance

For the electoral ward of Tameside Council, see Mossley (ward).

Following the passing of the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1857, a Local Board of Health was established in Mossley in 1864.^[5] On 13 March 1885 Mossley was granted a Charter of Incorporation to become a municipal borough, replacing the local board.^[6][7] The whole borough was unified under the administrative county of Lancashire under the Local Government Act 1888.^[5] In 1974 the borough of Mossley was absorbed under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 into the new metropolitan borough of Tameside in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.^[5] It became an unparished area.

Under the provisions of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 local electors were given the right to request that a new parish and council be created in unparished areas. The people of Mossley exercised this right and a civil parish for Mossley was established in 1999. The civil parish council voted to adopt town status and Mossley now has a town mayor. The town has three parish wards based on the historic county borders, with four members representing the Cheshire part, three members the Lancashire part and two members the Yorkshire part. The town's unofficial coat of arms includes Cheshire's sheaf of corn, Lancashire's red rose and Yorkshire's white rose to signify the historic demarcation.

Parliament

From 1918 to 1950 the town gave its name to the Mossley constituency which returned a Member of Parliament; for most of the period, the MP was Austin Hopkinson, who was notable for being elected as an Independent candidate. The town is now represented by the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde.

Geography

 

View of Mossley from near Mossley railway station.

 

Mossley's proximity to the Saddleworth Moor and the Pennines makes it prone to precipitation.

Mossley lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, on the western edge of Saddleworth Moor.

Churches

The eccesiastical parishes correspond to the boundaries of the historic counties:

• St. Joseph's Church, in the centre of Mossley, is Roman Catholic
• All Saints' Church is in Micklehurst, aligned to Cheshire
• St John the Baptist Church is of Yorkshire
• St George's Church is of Lancashire

Education

Primary schools

• St. Joseph's R.C. Primary School
• Livingstone Primary School
• St. George's Primary School
• Milton St. John's Primary School
• All Saints Micklehurst

Secondary school

• Mossley Hollins High School

Transport

Mossley railway station is sited on the Huddersfield line. Services are operated by TransPennine Express to locations including Manchester Piccadilly, Stalybridge, Huddersfield, Leeds and Hull.^[8]

Several bus routes serve Mossley, including:^[9]

• 343: operated by Stotts, travelling between Hyde and Oldham; this is the only bus route to connect nearby Carrbrook with Mossley.
• 350: operated by First Greater Manchester and Stagecoach Manchester between Oldham and Ashton.
• 356: operated by Nexus Move, between Ashton-under-Lyne, Uppermill and Oldham.

A tram network operated by the SHMD Joint Board ran lines through Mossley from 1904 to 1945, until their replacement by buses.^[10] The second-generation tramway Manchester Metrolink currently terminates at nearby Ashton-under-Lyne for connections to the city centre.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter ^[11] and one of the two local relay transmitters (Saddleworth ^[12] and Brock Bottom ^[13]).

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Manchester, Capital Manchester and Lancashire, Heart North West, Smooth North West, XS Manchester, Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West, and Tameside Radio, a community based station. ^[14]

The local newspaper is the Tameside Reporter, published on Thursdays.^[15]

Twinning

Mossley's French twin town is Hem, situated near Lille, in the Nord département.^{[citation needed]}

Sport

Local sport teams include Mossley A.F.C., Mossley Mayhem Softball Club, Mossley Athletic JFC, Mossley Juniors F.C., Mossley AFC Running Club and Micklehurst Cricket Club.

Fairtrade

Mossley's Town Council passed a resolution in November 2009 to make Mossley a Fairtrade Town. A group of local campaigners and activist have started the Fairtrade Mossley group to make 2010 the year that Mossley becomes a Fairtrade Town.^[16]

Notable people

• Ernest Sykes, recipient of the Victoria Cross^{[citation needed]}
• Melanie Sykes, TV presenter and model^{[citation needed]}
• John Mayall, mill owner and owner of the largest cotton spinning company in the world (1803–1878)^[17]
• Jon Courtenay, Britain's Got Talent winner in 2020
• Lee Broadbent and Eoghan Clifford, members of the hard rock band Cabbage
• Ray Hill, anti-fascist
• Peter McGarr - British Award winning composer, lives in Mossley.
• Chris Cyprus - artist

See also

•  Greater Manchester portal

• Listed buildings in Mossley

References

1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Mossley Parish (1170210822)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
2. "Mossley Town Council : Homepage". Mossley-council.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
3. . Greater Manchester County Record Office. Places names - M to N. Archived from the original (http) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
4. Hanks, Patrick; Flavia Hodges; A.D. Mills; Adrian Room (2002). The Oxford Names Companion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860561-7.
5. Nevell, Michael (1993). "Chapter 2: An Industrial Society". Tameside 1700–1930. A History and Archaeology of Tameside. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. p. 17. ISBN 1-871324-08-4. OCLC 53181546.
6. Holt, Alfred (1974) [1926]. The Story of Mossley; Ancient and Modern. Mossley Civic Society. p. 9.
7. Nevell, Michael (1993). "Chapter 2: An Industrial Society". Tameside 1700–1930. A History and Archaeology of Tameside. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. p. 11. ISBN 1-871324-08-4. OCLC 53181546.
8. "Timetables". TransPennine Express. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
9. "Stops in Mossley". Bus Times. 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
10. "Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley & Dukinfield Joint Transport and Electricity Board 1903-1969". petergould.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
11. "Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
12. "Full Freeview on the Saddleworth (Oldham, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
13. "Freeview Light on the Brook Bottom (Tameside, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
14. "North West Radio Stations". Retrieved 30 November 2023.
15. "Tameside Reporter". British Papers. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
16. "Make Mossley Fairtrade; the Fair Trade Campaign for Mossley, Lancashire". JUrang.co.uk.
17. "Green Fingered George". Green Fingered George. Retrieved 28 January 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mossley.

• Mossleyweb, The Original Official Mossley AFC Website
• Mossley Council - Mossley Town Council's Web Site
• MossleyOnline, Mossley's Interactive Online Community
• - Mossley Coat of Arms
• Mossley Hollins High School
• - Supporting Mossley's Businesses