Reddish is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England; it lies south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2021 census, the population was 22,203. Historically part of Lancashire, Reddish grew rapidly in the Industrial Revolution and still retains landmarks from that period, such as Houldsworth Mill, a former textile mill. Reddish Vale is a country park.
History
Toponymy Reddish is recorded as Redich (1205, 1212), Redych, Radich (1226), Radish, Rediche (1262), Redditch (1381), Redwyche, Radishe and Reddishe (16th century).Farrer and Brownbill, pp. 326–9.Booker, p. 197. The name either means "reedy ditch" (OE hrēod-dīc) or "red ditch" (OE rēad-dīc). Ekwall (1922) allows either form, stating "red" is less probable; Mills (1991) and Arrowsmith (1997) only give the "reed" option.Arrowsmith, p. 23. The ditch referred to is possibly the Nico Ditch, an earthwork of uncertain origin bordering Reddish, Manchester and Denton.Hartwell et al., p. 197. Folklore has it that the names Gorton and Reddish arose from a battle between Saxons and Danes. John Higson wrote in 1852
The neigh'ring trench is called the Nicker DitchFlowing with blood, it did the name conveyTo th' bordering hamlet, Red-Ditch. Near here, Wherethe last 'tween the foes was fought,Where victory was won, that memorableEminence proudly was distinguishedBy the name of Winning Hill. The streamletAforemention'd gains appellationOf Gore Brook, also the contiguousHappy hamlet through which it floweth stillBears, in glorious commemoration,And e'er shall, the honour'd name of Gore Town.
Farrer and Brownbill dismiss this interpretation as "popular fancy".Farrer and Brownbill, pp 275–279, footnote 1. "Out of Gore-ton and Red-ditch, with the help of the intervening Nico Ditch, popular fancy has made the story of a great battle in the neighbourhood; Harland and Wilkinson, Traditions. 26.
1066 to late 18th century
Reddish does not appear in the Domesday survey; this is in common with most of the then southeast Lancashire area.Hartwell et al., p. 18. A corn mill is known to have existed at the junction of Denton Brook and the River Tame from about 1400 onwards.Downham, p. 142. The two main mediaeval houses were Reddish Hall at (demolished 1780, but visible on maps dated 1840) and Hulme Hall at , later known as Broadstone, then Broadstone Hall (demolished 1945Cronin, p. 45.). The Reddish family were major landowners in the area from at least 1212 to 1613 when title passed by marriage to the Coke family. It passed down the family to Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, who sold his land in Reddish at the end of the 18th century, and in 1808 it was bought by Robert Hyde Greg and John Greg. There were Hulmes in Reddish in the 13th century, and the land passed through the family until about 1700 when it was given to a charitable trust.
Very few buildings in Reddish pre-date the 19th century. Canal Bridge Farm, close to Broadstone Mill, is dated to the mid to late 18th century (the name is later). Hartwell dates a small group of farm buildings and cottages at Shores Fold, near the junction of Nelstrop Road and Marbury Road, to the sixteenth and late seventeenth to early 18th century. These would have been on the traditional Reddish – Heaton Norris border, but are now firmly inside Heaton Chapel.Hartwell et al., p. 230.
Industrial Revolution The Stockport Branch Canal passed through Reddish and opened in 1797.Cited in many places, e.g. Downham p. 144. It seems to have had little effect by 1825, when Corry's description of Reddish, in full, was "The population of Reddish is but thin". Booker states that in 1857 Reddish was almost entirely agricultural, being made of meadow and pasture (); arable land (); wood and water (); and buildings and streets (). At that time, Reddish contained "neither post-office, schoolmaster, lawyer, doctor, nor pawnshop".Booker, p. 200, repeated verbatim by Farrer & Brownbill. The population increased over tenfold in the next fifty years with the Industrial Revolution.
The water-powered calico printworks in Reddish Vale on the River Tame is known to have been working before 1800. Industrial development followed the line of the canalDownham, p. 149. and was steam-powered throughout. A variety of manufacturers moved into Reddish during this period.
Robert Hyde Greg and John Greg, sons of Samuel Greg of Quarry Bank Mill, who owned about a third of Reddish by 1857,Booker, p. 201. opened Albert Mills for cotton spinning in 1845. Moor Mill, manufacturing knitting machines, was built around the same time. William Houldsworth's Reddish Mill for cotton spinning was opened in 1864. Hanover Mill was built in 1865 for cotton spinning, but in 1889 was converted to make silk, velvet, woven fur etc.
The Reddish Spinning Company, partly owned by Houldsworth, opened in 1870. Furnival & Co, making printing presses, opened in 1877.Furnival and Co Andrew's Gas Engine works opened in 1878.J. E. H. Andrew and Co The Manchester Guardian's printworks opened in 1899. Craven Brothers, a manufacturer of machine tools and cranes, opened the Vauxhall Works on Greg Street, in 1900.Craven Brothers Broadstone Spinning Company opened a large double mill in 1906/7. These major employers were accompanied by numerous smaller concerns, including dyeworks, bleachworks, wire ropeworks, brickworks, screw manufacturers, makers of surveying equipment and a tobacco factory.Downham.
A small number of closures of major industrial employers took place in the first half of the 20th century, due to the ebb and flow of trade. Andrew's Gas Engine Works was taken over in 1905 by Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham,Astle the business was transferred to Grantham and the Reddish works closed some time during the great depression following WWI. Cronin indicates that the works were still in operation in 1930.Cronin, p82. The Atlas wire rope works closed in 1927.Ashmore, pp 45, 86.
Reddish took its share of the decline in Lancashire cotton production and finishing. Broadstone Mills ceased production in 1959;Holden p168, Ashmore p84, Arrowsmith p258. Reddish Mills closed in 1958 with the loss of 350-400 jobs;Cronin p58 Spur Mill followed in 1972;Ashmore p85, Cronin p79. and the long-lived Reddish Vale printworks closed by 1975;Ashmore p85. Albert Mill continued to trade as R. Greg and co under new ownership, but finally closed in 1982. Ashmore wrote in 1975 that "Stockport has ceased to be a cotton town."Ashmore p27.
The decline of Broadstone Mills was accompanied by high farce. In November 1958 the company sold a number of spinning mules as scrap for just over £3,000. By agreement, the machines remained in the mill over the winter. A small number had been broken and removed by April 1959, when the government announced a compensation package for firms that agreed to scrap spinning capacity. As the title in the mules had passed to the scrapman, it was decided that the company was not entitled to compensation amounting to over £60,000, despite the fact that the machinery was still on its premises. Actions in the High Court and the Court of Appeal in 1965 were fruitless.
Some of the mills vacated by the spinners found other uses. The Reddish Spinning Company's mill was taken over by V. & E. Friedland who became the world's largest manufacture of doorbells; an extension to the mill won several architectural awards. The mill is now residential. Broadstone Mill was partly demolished, but now houses small commercial units. Regeneration efforts at Houldsworth Mill were instrumental in Stockport Council winning British Urban Regeneration Association's award for best practice in regeneration. £12 million has been spent to convert the mill into mixed use. The area around Houldsworth mill is now designated as a conservation area.
Brewing, pubs and clubs
Reddish has been home to at least three breweries. Richard Clarke & Co brewed in the area for over 100 years, before being taken over, and later closed, by Boddingtons in 1962. David Pollard's eponymous brewery opened in the former print works in Reddish Vale in 1975, moving out to Bredbury in 1978; the business went into liquidation in 1982. The small 3 Rivers Brewery started brewing in Reddish in 2003 but had ceased brewing when the company was wound up in 2009.
The pub stock is not well-regarded: "Never offering the best selection of pubs in the borough, it is now easily the worst area for real ale availability ..." is a typical description. It has been suggested that this may be a consequence of Robert Hyde Greg's disapproval of alcohol, (due to the alcoholism of an uncle of his father, see also Samuel Greg). The pubs are supplemented by several working men's and political clubs. The Houldsworth WMC was awarded a blue plaque by Stockport MBC in December 2006. Reddish WMC was founded by in 1845 by millowner Robert Hyde Greg as a Mechanics' Institute and Library. Its members claim it to be the oldest club registered with the CIU.In the early stages of the blue plaque campaign that saw the Houldsworth WMC honoured, the council's website mistakenly listed and described Reddish WMC. The web page was originally at www.stockport.gov.uk/content/councildemoc/council/campaigns/blueplaqueselection/reddishworkingmensclub, now removed, and stated "The club was founded by Robert Hyde Greg in 1845 as a Mechanics Institute and Library and located within the Albert Mills. It was acknowledged to be the oldest club on the Club and Institute Union Register. From 1878, it occupied part of the Albert British School until 1891, when a new building was erected on the present site."Sandfold brewing, which used to be called 3 rivers.
Governance The extents have been well-defined for at least several hundred years. Reddish was a township and chapelry in the ancient parish of Manchester, but lay outside the Manor of Manchester. This had the effect that boundaries of Reddish were described by the boundaries of the Manor of Manchester, with the exception of that with Cheshire, which was the River Tame. The manor boundaries were surveyed and recorded in 1322, and the relevant part was:
following the said water [Tame] to the mid [stream] between the county of Chester and Assheton unto the Mereclowe at Redyshe so following Mereclowe unto Saltergate, from thence following the ditch of Redyshe unto Mikeldiche, following that unto Peyfyngate, following that unto Le Turrepittes between Heton Norreyes and Redishe, from thence following Le Merebroke unto the confluence of the waters of Tame and Mersey
"Mere" means boundary in this context. The description was traced into early 20th century features by Crofton and can be cast as
following the middle of the Tame as far as Denton Brook at Reddish; and so following Denton Brook and a tributary as far as Thornley Lane South; and then following Thornley Lane as far as Nico Ditch; and following Nelstrop Road as far as the turf-pits between Heaton Norris and Reddish (these are lost); and from there following Black Brook as far as near the conjunction of the waters of the Tame and Goyt.
However, Black Brook cannot be le Merebroke as it does not flow to the Tame, but joins Cringle Brook, which flows into the Mersey several miles away via Chorlton Brook. With this exception, Crofton's interpretation of the 1322 boundaries matches those shown on Ordnance Survey maps of the 19th century.