Will Didsbury lose its name?

There is a growing interest in renaming the old township of Didsbury.

Saxton's map of Lancashire, 1577

The smart money is on that older spelling of Diddesbury which appears on Saxton’s map of 1577.

This would be more accurate, and some have argued would lend greater gravitas to our suburb, be more in line with its historical origins and be a powerful marketing ploy to attract tourists from China, the Sub-Continent and the powerful economies of south east Asia.

The cost of changing to the new name would be outweighed by interest from Tourist Boards and travel companies looking for somewhere new to sell holidays to families who are tiring of places in the sun and overcrowded and expensive destinations.

But a small and vociferous group have gone further and would prefer to see the name eliminated from all maps, road signs and official documents in favour of Northenden and Barlow Moor.

Mr. Renfrew of the Ancient Association of Topographical and Projectionists said at their annual meeting, “Too long have we laboured under the name of Didsbury, and it is time to shake off the vestiges of the clinging past and be ‘bloody, bold and resolute’.  

To this end we want the rehabilitation of the names Barlow Moor and Northenden.  We support the division of Didsbury into two self-governing entities on the model of the old Scottish Burgh.  We would leave the actual division of Didsbury and the new boundaries between Barlow Moor and Northenden to a Convocation of the Good and Wise”

We shall see

Location; Barlow Moor and Northenden

Picture; extract from Saxton’s map of Lancashire, 1577, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/