Longsight
Longsight Market
Longsight Location within Greater Manchester
Population	15,429 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ865965
Metropolitan borough	City of Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M12, M13
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Manchester Gorton
Councillors	Abid Chohan (Labour) Luthfur Rahman (Labour) Suzanne Richards (Labour)

Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the city centre, bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west. Historically in Lancashire, it had a population of 15,429 at the 2011 census.^[1]

History

An ethnically diverse area, for many years, Longsight has been plagued by gang related violence, similar to that of nearby Moss Side.^[2] Most of the violence came from tensions between two rival gangs which fought "turf wars" with each other since the 1990s, resulting in many shootings and several deaths. The Gooch Gang, from neighbouring Moss Side, were jailed in 2009,^[3] Consequently, gun crime in Greater Manchester as a whole has fallen dramatically, from a high of 120 gang-related shootings in 2006 to just 16 in 2011.^[4]

Governance

Longsight electoral ward within Manchester City Council.

Longsight has been in the parliamentary constituency of Manchester Gorton since boundary changes in 1983. The seat has been represented in Westminster by Afzal Khan since June 2017.^[5]

Councillors

The area is represented on Manchester City Council by three councillors, currently Abid Chohan,^[6] Luthfur Rahman^[7] and Suzanne Richards.^[8] Abid Chohan was initially a Lib Dem councillor but defected to Labour ahead of the local council elections in 2010.^[9]

  indicates seat up for re-election.   indicates councillor defected.

Geography

Much of the housing stock of Longsight consists of red-brick terraced houses

Previously known as Grindlow Marsh, it was incorporated into the City of Manchester in 1890. The district is bordered by Ardwick to the north, Rusholme to the west, Levenshulme to the south, and Gorton to the east, defined by Hyde Road, Grey Street, Stockport Road, Plymouth Grove, Daisy Bank Road, Pine Grove, Merwood Grove, Ash Grove, Longford Pl, Ayton Grove, Laindon Rd, Curzon Ave, Richmond Grove, Hathersage Road, Anson Road, Dickenson Road, Beresford Road, Old Hall Lane, Stockport Road, East Road, Pink Bank Lane, Nutsford Vale, Buckley Road and Mount Road. The old Roman road to Buxton (the A6, Stockport Road) bisects the area.

Demography

Longsight has a very ethnically diverse population.^[10] According to the 2011 UK census, 72.9% of the population is from non-white ethnic groups, a 20% increase over the 2001 figure of 52.7%.^[11][12] This includes 55.3% who describe themselves as South Asian or South Asian British (including 35.7% Pakistani, 11.4% Bangladeshi); and 9.7% Black or Black British.^[11] The largest religious group is Muslim with 53.8% of the population, compared with the 2001 figure of 34.7% Muslim and 38.6% Christian.^[13] 7.0% of the population declined to state a religion, with 12.7% stating no religion.^[13][14] The census tended to underestimate immigrant communities,^[15] and it is likely that these groups in Longsight were underestimated and are now proportionately larger.

There are a number of places of Worship in the area, including a large Pakistani community centre, a Jain temple, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Pokrov, Saint Agnes' Church, Bethshan International Church, and the British Conference of The Church of God (Seventh Day).

Economy

Longsight Market 2008

The main shopping centre is near the corner of Stockport Road and Dickenson Road, and contains a library and supermarkets as well as many smaller shops. Longsight Market, one of the busiest markets in the North West of England, is located on Dickenson Road. It can be easily spotted by its brightly coloured profiled roofs. The market hosts a general market every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and a second-hand market every Tuesday and Thursday. There are a large number of takeaway food shops and restaurants and a very wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables and other supplies to cater for the interests of the various immigrant communities in the area.

Architecture and housing

Former First Church of Christ, Scientist by Edgar Wood

Slade Hall

The area of Longsight contains many of the notable buildings of Victoria Park. Daisy Bank Road is a particularly good example, featuring Edgar Wood's Grade I listed First Church of Christ, Scientist and the Edwardian art nouveau Chadlington House, as well as the residences of Charles Hallé and Emmeline Pankhurst. Pankhurst's family house is also situated on the edge of Longsight at Plymouth Grove.

Larger Victorian period properties are predominantly clustered around the leafy western parts of Longsight, an area informally known as Westpoint.^[16] Many grand Victorian villas can also be found overlooking Crowcroft Park in the most southern part of Longsight.

Situated on Stockport Road near the main market of Longsight is Longsight Library. Run by Manchester City Council, it provides services such as borrowing books, adult education services and a child homework centre. Great measures have been taken to make the architectural view of new Longsight Library building aesthetically pleasing.

The Apollo Theatre, Longsight Market, Noman Newsagents, Crowcroft Park and new Longsight Library are the important places in the Longsight area.

Transport

Notable residents

• Charles Hallé lived at 3 Addison Terrace, on the north side of Daisy Bank Road in Victoria Park, in 1848; he was founder of the Hallé Orchestra.
• Artist Ford Madox Brown lived at the same address as Hallé from 1883 to 1887.^[17]
• Edwin Chadwick, social reformer and liberal politician, was born in Longsight. He was later partially responsible for the 1848 Public Health Act and then the succeeding 1875 Public Health Act. A Wetherspoons pub in the area was named the 'Sir Edwin Chadwick', but was closed within three years after custom failed to live up to expectations.^[18]
• Jason Garrity, speedway rider.
• John Thaw, the television, stage and cinema actor, was born in Longsight in 1942.
• Ethel 'Sunny' Lowry,^[19] the first British woman to swim the English Channel, was born in Longsight in 1911.^[20]
• Former Manchester United footballers Danny Welbeck^[21] and Wes Brown^[22] are both from the area.
• Harry Potter star Afshan Azad was born in Longsight.^[23]
• Keith Bennett, one of the Moors murders victims, was from Longsight. He was 12 years old when he disappeared on his way from his house to that of his grandmother on 16 June 1964. His disappearance was reported to police the following morning but, in spite of endless police searches, he was not found. 22 years later, in November 1986, Moors murderers Ian Brady (who had also lived in Longsight when he was younger) and Myra Hindley revealed that he was one of their victims, just as police had first suspected after arresting them for three other murders in October 1965. Despite numerous searches for his body on Saddleworth Moor, it has yet to be found. His mother Winnie Johnson continued to live locally until her death in August 2012; she made constant calls in the media for help to locate her son's body.^[24]
• Faisal Islam, of BBC News, grew up in Longsight and attended the local private school.
• Oasis members Liam and Noel Gallagher were born in Longsight, but later moved to Burnage.

Cultural references

Longsight was immortalised in song by local singer Ian Brown formerly of the Stone Roses on his album Solarized. The song was titled "Longsight M13" reflecting the postcode of the area, which begins with M13. Graffiti appeared locally saying 'Stone Roses RIP' when the band split up, and 'Free Ian Brown' when he was jailed.^[25] The song was written with Brown's former bandmate, guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who still lives in Longsight.^[26] Brown also mentions the area in the Stone Roses song "Daybreak" which contains the line "From Atlanta, Georgia, to Longsight, Manchester".

See also

• Listed buildings in Manchester-M13

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Longsight.

• Longsight Local Services Directory
• Longsight Memories Our Manchester