Manchester, Greater

views updated May 23 2018

Manchester, Greater. A term first used in 1914 to describe a commercial rather than municipal focus in north-west England, but now applied to the major conurbation which was created a metropolitan county after local government reform (1972). Although smaller than the ‘Selnec’ (SE Lancs./NE Ches.) area proposed by the Maud Commission (1969), it nevertheless had ten constituent districts and included the crescent of industrial towns to its north and dormitory areas in Cheshire. Of the six such counties created, it is the only one to be named after its central city, and had its own county council until 1986.

A. S. Hargreaves

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