The name of Didsbury is derived from the Saxon "Dyddi's burg", probably referring to a man known by the name Dyddi whose manor, stronghold or township it then was. Didsbury has a long unbroken history since those times, including the site of St James Church whose origin even predates Saxon times.
It was here in the 14th century that victims of the Black Death were buried. Several rebuilds and five centuries later and the church is still standing and in use today.
Lying as it does on a major route south out of Manchester (the A34 trunk Road to Oxford), it was inevitable that the road should be turnpiked as a toll road in the 18th century, and that over subsequent decades it should see various transformations. First, the horse-drawn tramcar, and then the electric tram and finally, in 1939, motor omnibuses. By the end of the 19th century the turnpike was terminated and Wilmslow Road became an open free highway - all this at the time that the Midland Railway line was built, connecting Didsbury directly with Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station.
Didsbury Station was closed in 1967, though the station at East Didsbury is still operational and busy.
Before Roman times, Didsbury was a pleasant wooded area close to the River Mersey on the south side of the present day City of Manchester.
Today, Didsbury is a pleasant, prosperous and desirable dormitory area of the City, and houses here are much sought after. It is also a popular area for local university students to seek out accommodation, with a good number of housing and apartment developments. The village itself has a wide range of quality shops and is thereby virtually self-sufficient, though there are recent developments at East Didsbury where major shopping, entertainment and leisure complexes have been constructed.
The Lapwing Lane and Burton Road area have also recently seen the establishment of a thriving caf� and restaurant culture offering cuisines of various ethnic types including Indian, Thai and Afro-Caribbean and a formerly quiet back road has now become the centre of a new and vigorous bustling nightlife. |
