Around the 13th century it was referred to in records as Dydesbyre, Dydesbiri and Dodesbury
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Didsbury started out as a small hamlet, mainly used for farming, and located within the sub-manor of Withington.
Around the 13th century it was referred to in records as Dydesbyre, Dydesbiri and Dodesbury.
It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, around 4.5 miles from Manchester City Centre.
By around the end of the 18th century, Didsbury was a collection of half-timbered, thatched cottages and weavers’ houses, with a church and two inns.
The church was known as St James from 1855, and there was a spring nearby, on Stenner Lane, providing water for the hamlet.
The nearby Ye Olde Cock Inn was so-called because cockfighting used to take place there.
Gradually larger houses were built in the area, including Broome House, Didsbury House and the Old Parsonage, all built around the end of the 18th century.
Cattle fairs were held in the area and the village’s rush-bearing festival was a major event in August.
Jewish immigrants began to arrive in Manchester from the late 18th century, and from the 1890s, many moved to the more affluent suburbs south of the city, such as Didsbury and Withington.
In the 19th century, many businessmen built villas and country houses among the trees in Didsbury, overlooking the River Mersey.
Today this area – the original village centre – is a conservation area, which also contains examples of more modest houses from the time, such as those in Kingston Road and the Grove.
Didsbury soon became a prosperous district, and some mansions from the 19th century still stand today, many converted into offices, flats or nursing homes.
The Midland Railway line was opened in 1880, and Didsbury’s population grew rapidly as a result.
Stations at Didsbury and Withington and West Didsbury offered easy rail connections to Manchester Central until the line closed in 1967.
Methodism also had an influence of Didsbury in the 19th century, as Didsbury House and its extensions – the northern branch of the Wesleyan Theological Society – and St Paul’s Methodist Church were opened.
In the 20th century, Didsbury succumbed to urban sprawl as railways grew, and it became part of the City of Manchester in 1904.
Parks and playing fields were laid out, and the Theological Institution – by then known as Didsbury College – was expanded from 1945 onwards.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was formed in Didsbury in 1889.
On April 28, 1910, Louis Paulhan, a French pilot, made the first flight from London to Manchester in under 24 hours, beating British Claude Grahame-White.
He landed in Barcicroft Fields at Pytha Fold Farm, on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at 5.30am, securing a £10,000 prize from the Daily Mail.
The original Didsbury village is now the conservation area of Didsbury St James.
There are still a host of independent retailers in the area, but recent years have also seen an influx of multi-national firms.
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden is a park in the south of the district, named after Alderman Fletcher Moss, who donated the park to the city of Manchester in 1919.
Didsbury Park is a community park in the current village centre, with a football pitch, bowls area and play area.