| Macclesfield | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
  Macclesfield Location withinCheshire | |
| Population | 52,496 (Parish, 2021)[1] 54,345 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| OS grid reference | SJ9173 |
| • London | 148 mi (238 km)[3] SE |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MACCLESFIELD |
| Postcode district | SK10, SK11 |
| Dialling code | 01625 |
| Police | Cheshire |
| Fire | Cheshire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | macclesfield-tc |
| 53°15′N2°08′W / 53.25°N 2.13°W /53.25; -2.13 | |
Macclesfield (/ˈmækəlzfiəld/) is amarket town andcivil parish in the unitary authority ofCheshire East,Cheshire, England. It is sited on theRiver Bollin and the edge of theCheshire Plain, withMacclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies 16 miles (26 km) south ofManchester and 38 miles (61 km) east ofChester.
Before theNorman Conquest, Macclesfield was held byEdwin, Earl of Mercia and was assessed at £8. Themedieval town grew up on the hilltop around what is nowSt Michael's Church. It was granted amunicipal charter in 1261.Macclesfield Grammar School was founded in 1502. The town had asilk-button industry from at least the middle of the 17th century and became a majorsilk-manufacturing centre from the mid-18th century. TheMacclesfield Canal was constructed in 1826–31.
Hovis breadmakers were anotherVictorian employer; modern industries includepharmaceuticals, such asAstra Zeneca. Multiple mill buildings are still standing and several of thetown's museums explore the local silk industry. Other landmarks includeGeorgian buildings such as theTown Hall and formerSunday School;St Alban's Church, designed byAugustus Pugin; and theArighi Bianchi furniture shop.
At the2021 census the population of the parish was 52,496 and the population of the built up area was 54,345. A person from the town is referred to as aMaxonian.[4][a]
The town is recorded in theDomesday Book asMaclesfeld and in 1183 it was referred to asMakeslesfeld.[5] TheEnglish Place-Name Society gives its name as being derived from theOld English name,Maccel, andfield, yielding the meaning "Maccel's open country".[6]
Although "Silk Town" seems to be its preferred nickname, the traditional nickname of Macclesfield is "Treacle Town".This refers to an historical incident when a horse-drawn wagon overturned and spilt its load of treacle onto the street, after which the poor scooped the treacle off the road.[7]
Before theNorman Conquest, Macclesfield was held byEdwin, Earl of Mercia, who also held much of the east of the county.[8] Three crosses survive from this period, originally located inSutton and now inWest Park,[9] and J. D. Bu'Lock speculates that there might have been a Pre-Conquest church.[10] The area was devastated by the Normans in 1070, and had not recovered by 1086; theDomesday Book records the manor as having fallen in value from £8 to 20 shillings.[11]Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester held the manor himself after the Conquest; there was a mill, meadow for oxen, and woodland 6leagues by 4 leagues.[12] A Norman castle was built at Macclesfield.[13]
At the time of the Domesday Book, Macclesfield was in thehundred of Hamestan.[14] By the 13th century, theHundreds of Cheshire had been reorganised, and the town gave its name to theMacclesfield Hundred, which covered a similar area to the old Hamestan Hundred in the east of the county.[15]
Macclesfield was granted aborough charter in 1261 by Edward,Earl of Chester, eldest son ofHenry III; Edward later became king asEdward I. Although the 1261 charter purported to create the borough, there was reputedly an earlier charter, possibly granted byRanulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, in the early 13th century.[16] The 1261 charter gave the right to hold a market, fair and judicial courts.[17][18] The medieval town stood on the hilltop, centred on All Saints' Church (later renamedSt Michael's),[18] which was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.[19] In 1357, a hall was built in the town for the mayor's court and the borough court (portmote).[17] The town lacked industries at this date and was described as poor,[17] remaining a small market town until the end of the 15th century, with a population numbered in the hundreds.[20]
TheCheshire archers were a body of elite soldiers noted for their skills with the longbow that fought in many engagements in Britain and France in the Middle Ages. Battles at which there were sizeable numbers of Cheshire archers include Agincourt and Crecy. In 1277Edward I employed 100 of these archers from the Macclesfield area as his personal bodyguard, his successorRichard II also employed a bodyguard of these yeoman archers who came from the Macclesfield Hundred and the forest districts of Cheshire.
The borough had a weekly market and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair onSt Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast ofAll Souls (2 November).[21][22] In recent years the Barnaby fair has been reinvented as the Barnaby Festival, a cultural festival in mid-June. The weekly market no longer happens but on the last Sunday of each month the Treacle Market is held, a large market selling locally produced food and handmade items such as clothing, handmade goods and pottery.
Macclesfield was the administrative centre of theHundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire.[14][23] The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary extended toDisley. The manor house was on the edge of the deer park, on the west of the town.[citation needed] In the 14th century, it had a king's chamber and a queen's hall, as well as a large stable, and the manor served as astud farm forEdward the Black Prince.[24] The Earls of Chester established theForest of Macclesfield, which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer and pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the 13th century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were given to archerWilliam Jauderell to repair his home.
Macclesfield Castle was a fortified town house built by John de Macclesfield in the laterMiddle Ages. Construction began in 1398,[citation needed] and that year an application was made for alicence to crenellate, or fortify, the building.[18] Twochantries were founded in the town: one in 1422 by the Legh family, and one in 1504 byThomas Savage.[25] In 1502,Macclesfield Grammar School was founded by Sir John Percyvale.[20]
No proof exists that Macclesfield was ever a walled town. When the settlement was first established and for some centuries afterwards there would have certainly been some sort of ditch and palisade round the western side of the town which was not naturally defended. This was necessary in order to keep out undesirable people and stray animals. No physical trace of a ditch remains though measurements and the shape of certain streets suggest where such a ditch could have been and most of the medieval building were within this area. It is unlikely that the ditch and palisade were succeeded by a wall for no record has been found of a murage tax, which would certainly have been levied to keep the wall in repair.
The suffix "gate" in the names of several Macclesfield streets has been taken to indicate the former presence of a gate in the sense of a guarded opening in a wall; however, this is very unlikely as the term 'gate' is derived fromgata, Scandinavian for road, which became gate in Middle English.[26] Therefore, Chester Gate, the Jordan Gate and the Church Wall Gate (some sources give the name Well Gate for this gate), are simply referring to the road to/from Chester or the road leading from the church to the well. These names are preserved in the names of three streets in the town, Chestergate, Jordangate and Back Wallgate,[27] which have several older andlisted buildings.
A charter of 1595 established a town governing body consisting of the mayor, two aldermen and 24 "capital burgesses", and the powers of this body were increased by a charter of 1684.[28] By theTudor era, Macclesfield was prospering, with industries including the manufacture of harnesses, gloves and especially buttons, and later ribbons, tapes and fancy ware.[29][30]Coal was mined from the 16th century.[31] In 1664, the population was around 2,600, making Macclesfield the third-largest town in the county, afterChester andNantwich, although the town had expanded little from its medieval extent and had fewer large houses than Nantwich andStockport.[32] By around 1720, the number of households had increased to 925, and this rapid population growth continued throughout the 18th century, reaching 8,743 in 1801.[33]
In the 1580s, Macclesfield was one of the earliest towns in the county to havePuritan preaching "Exercises", and it was also an early centre for theQuakers. By 1718 an estimated 10% of the population wasNonconformist.[34] Towards the end of that century, the town had a largeMethodist congregation, andChrist Church was the only Anglican church in the county to inviteJohn Wesley to preach.[35]
During theCivil War, in 1642 the town was occupied for the King bySir Thomas Aston, a Royalist.[26] In theJacobite Rising of 1745,Charles Stuart and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The mayor was forced to welcome the prince, and the event is commemorated in one of the town's silk tapestries.[36] Cumberland House on Jordangate is so named after theDuke of Cumberland who stayed there in 1745 when pursuing the fleeing Prince.[37]
The population was 24,137 by 1841.[38]
Armoury Towers was completed in 1858[39] and theBridge Street drill hall was completed in 1871.[40]
Macclesfield was once the world's biggest producer offinished silk.[citation needed] A domestic button industry had been established in the town by the mid-16th century, although the first mention of silk buttons is not until 1649.[29][30] In the mid-18th century, when metal buttons became fashionable, the silk-button industry transitioned to silk manufacture in mills. Macclesfield's first silk mill was founded byCharles Roe in 1743 or 1744.[18][41] The mills were initially powered by water, and later by steam.[18] There were71 silk mills operating in 1832,[citation needed] employing 10,000 people, but a crash occurred in 1851 and many mill-workers emigrated to the American silk town ofPaterson, New Jersey.[18] The silk industry remained active in the town in the 1980s, but no longer dominated.[42] Paradise Mill reopened in 1984 as a working mill museum, demonstrating the art of silk throwing andJacquard weaving.[43][44] The fourMacclesfield Museums display a range of information and products from that period.
A short-livedcopper-smelting operation was established by Roe in 1750, processing ore from mines atAlderley Edge andEcton (Staffordshire), and later fromAnglesey. The business switched to copper processing and the manufacture ofbrass in 1767, before closing after Roe's death in 1781. The industry is reflected in some of the town's street names.[18][45]
Between 1826 and 1831 theMacclesfield Canal was constructed,[46] linking Macclesfield toMarple to the north andKidsgrove to the south. The canal was surveyed for its Act of Parliament by the canal and roads engineerThomas Telford, and built by William Crosley (junior),[46] the Macclesfield Canal Company's engineer. It was the last narrow canal to be completed and had only limited success because within ten years much of the coal and other potential cargo was increasingly being transported by rail.
Macclesfield is the original home ofHovis breadmakers, produced in Publicity Works Mill (commonly referred to as "the Hovis Mill") on the canal close to Buxton Road. It was founded by a Macclesfield businessman and a baker fromStoke-on-Trent.Hovis is said to derive from the Latin "homo-vitalis" (strength for man) as a way of providing a cheap and nutritious food for poor mill workers and was a very dry and dense wholemeal loaf completely different from the modern version.
Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard ofAlderley Edge.[47]Waters Green and an area oppositeArighi Bianchi, now hidden under the Silk Road, also held a sheep and cattle market until the 1980s.
Macclesfield is said to be the only mill town to have escaped bombing inWorld War II.[48] After the war, two pharmaceutical companies opened facilities in Macclesfield, Geigy (now part ofNovartis) and the pharmaceutical division ofICI (nowAstraZeneca).[49]
There are two tiers of local government covering Macclesfield, at civil parish (town) andunitary authority level:Macclesfield Town Council andCheshire East Council. The town council is based at theTown Hall on Market Place,[50] and Cheshire East Council also uses the building as an area office.[51]
For national elections, the town forms part of theMacclesfield constituency, which has been represented byTim Roca ofLabour since the2024 general election.[52]
Macclesfield was historically atownship in theancient parish ofPrestbury.[16][53][54] From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under thePoor Laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Prestbury, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Macclesfield became acivil parish.[55]
Macclesfield was also achapelry from at least the 13th century, when St Michael's Church (originally dedicated to All Saints) was built as achapel of ease toSt Peter's Church, Prestbury. St Michael's formally became a parish church in 1835, when Macclesfield was made a separateecclesiastical parish from Prestbury.[56][57]
The Macclesfield township was administered as aborough from at least the time of its 1261 charter. The borough was administered from aguildhall in the Market Place from at least the 13th century.Macclesfield Town Hall was completed in 1824 on the site of the guildhall.[58][59]
A Macclesfield constituency was created in 1832, covering the borough plus adjoining parts of the townships ofHurdsfield andSutton, where the urban area had grown beyond the borough boundaries.[16][60] The borough was reformed in 1836 to become amunicipal borough under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. As part of the 1836 reforms, the borough was enlarged to match the constituency.[61][62]
The result of the1880 general election for the Macclesfield constituency was declared void due to corruption, and no by-election was allowed to be held.[63] In 1885, the constituency was replaced by a much largercounty constituency, also called Macclesfield, which took in surrounding towns and villages as well as the borough of Macclesfield.
The municipal borough of Macclesfield was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. A much largernon-metropolitanborough of Macclesfield was created instead, which also covered an extensive surrounding area, including the towns ofBollington,Knutsford, andWilmslow.[64][65]
In 2009, Cheshire East Council was created, taking over the functions of the borough council andCheshire County Council, which were both abolished.[66] The area of the pre-1974 municipal borough of Macclesfield had beenunparished since the 1974 reforms; a new civil parish of Macclesfield was created covering the area in 2015, with its parish council adopting the name Macclesfield Town Council.[67][68]
Macclesfield is in the east of Cheshire and on theRiver Bollin, a tributary of theRiver Mersey. It is close to the county borders ofGreater Manchester to the north,Derbyshire to the east andStaffordshire to the south. It is near the towns ofStockport to the north,Buxton to the east andCongleton to the south. It is 38 miles (60 km) to the east ofChester, the county town of Cheshire.
To the west of the town lies theCheshire Plain;Macclesfield Forest is to the east, containing Ridgegate andTrentabank Reservoirs which supply the town's drinking water,[69] as well asTegg's Nose and thePeak District.
According to the2011 Census, the gender makeup of the population was 31,266 male and 32,688 female. The ethnic makeup of the whole urban area was under 96.2% white and 2.2% Asian; other ethnic minorities were 1.6%. The religious make up of the whole area includes: 66.3% Christian, 0.5% Muslim, 24.8% irreligious and 6.8% not stated.[70]
Neighbouring districts and places. | |
|---|---|
Like most of the United Kingdom, Macclesfield has atemperatemaritime climate (Köppen:Cfb). Records of the climate extend back to at least 1850. Between 1881 and 2005, the highest temperature has been 33.1 °C (91.6 °F) on 3 August 1990 and the lowest, from at least 1850–2005, −16.7 °C (1.9 °F) on 25 December 1860.[71][72]
The town is famous for its once thrivingsilk industry, commemorated in the Silk Museum.[74]
TheGeorgianTown Hall was designed byFrancis Goodwin in 1823.
Macclesfield is home to anAugustus Pugin church,St Alban's on Chester Road.
The formerCheshire County Asylum on Pavilion Way was designed by Robert Griffiths in Italianate style. It is now converted into apartments.
Macclesfield is the manufacturing home toAstraZeneca, one of the world's largestpharmaceutical companies. The furniture storeArighi Bianchi was founded in 1829. Other industries includetextiles, lightengineering,paper andplastics.[citation needed]
Macclesfield station is on theStafford to Manchester branch of theWest Coast Main Line. There are generally four trains per hour in each direction, served by threetrain operating companies:
A railway station was first opened at Beech Lane by theLondon and North Western Railway on 19 June 1849, which was replaced a month later byHibel Road station. The current station dates from the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line in the mid-1960s, when the old station buildings were replaced.[78]
Macclesfield has a bus station located within the town centre. The original building opened on Sunderland Street, just outside the railway station; it was replaced in 2004, when a new bus station opened on Queen Victoria Street.
The principal operators around Macclesfield are two subsidiaries ofCentrebus Group:D&G Bus andHigh Peak Buses. Fifteen bus routes run within the town and to other locations includingAltrincham,Buxton,Congleton,Crewe,Knutsford,Stockport,Wilmslow andWythenshawe.[79]
Macclesfield is served by good road links from the north, south and west, but has fewer roads going east due to the terrain of the Peak District. From the south, access fromCongleton andthe Potteries is from theA536, and via theA523 from Leek. From the north, the main access to the town is the A523 from Manchester,Hazel Grove andPoynton. The main west–east road is theA537Knutsford toBuxton road. At various points around the town centre, some of these roads combine, such as the A537 / A523 on the Silk Road section, giving rise to traffic congestion, especially at peak times. TheA538 provides access toPrestbury,Wilmslow andManchester Airport, with theB5470 being the only other eastbound route from the town, heading toWhaley Bridge andChapel-en-le-Frith.
Macclesfield has been accused of having few cultural amenities. In 2004, research was published inThe Times naming Macclesfield and its borough the most uncultured town in Britain, based on its lack of theatres, cinemas and other cultural facilities.[80]
TheNorthern Chamber Orchestra is the oldest professional chamber ensemble in the North West; its home is the Macclesfield Heritage Centre and presents a series of eight concerts a year, attracting international guest soloists.[81] The Silk Opera Company was created to perform 'The Monkey Run' at Barnaby.[82]
After recentrationalisation, the town now has one museum: the Silk Museum, on Park Lane, which includes paid access to Paradise Mill, a former silk mill.[83] The Silk Museum houses theAncient Egyptian artefacts brought back by Victorian antiquarianMarianne Brocklehurst and her partner Mary Booth: these were formerly held in West Park Museum, as well as a number of art galleries.
Macclesfield Chess Club is one of the oldest chess clubs in the country, having been founded in 1886.[84]
The 'Macclesfield Literary and Philosophical Society'[85] was formed in 2006, partly in response toThe Times' 2004 article.
Local newspapers include theMacclesfield Express[86] and theCommunity News.[87] Macclesfield residents have access to Macclesfield Forum, an onlineInternet forum, for informal discussion of local news and issues.[88] The town is also served by two locally based radio stations: Canalside Community Radio based at theClarence Mill inBollington,[89] just north of Macclesfield, andCheshire's Silk Radio, an independent commercial radio station with studios in the town.[90] Local information websites includeVisit Macclesfield[91] and the local what's on guide,Canalside's The Thread.[92]
The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema,[93] but attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005, a small-scale cinema, Cinemac, was set up in the Heritage Centre, which[94] has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the Silk Screen arts cinema,[95] which gives fortnightly screenings of art-house films.
Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town; the Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society has existed since 1947 and performs in its own theatre on Lord Street. The Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group[96] has been producing musicals since its inception in 1971, initially at the Majestic Theatre (hence the title), but latterly at various other locations after the theatre was converted into a public house by the new tenants. Most recently, shows have been produced at the Heritage Centre, the Evans Theatre inWilmslow and MADS Theatre on Lord Street. Several members of this society have progressed to the professional stage, most notablyMarshall Lancaster andJonathan Morris.
Gawsworth Old Hall hosts an annualShakespeare festival as well as many arts and music events throughout the year.
Macclesfield has appeared in film; it was used as the location forEdward Dmytryk' filmSo Well Remembered in 1947, starringJohn Mills.[citation needed] Some of the locations are still recognisable, such as Hibel Road. A fictionalised version of Macclesfield's railway station appeared in the 2005 football hooliganism filmGreen Street.[citation needed] It was also the location ofControl (2007), a film aboutIan Curtis, the lead vocalist of therock bandJoy Division.
TheBritish blues singerJohn Mayall was born in the town in 1933.[citation needed] Macclesfield was also the home town of Ian Curtis andStephen Morris of Joy Division, andGillian Gilbert who, along with Morris, was a member ofNew Order. A memorial to Curtis is located at Macclesfield Crematorium.[97] Other Macclesfield acts to have gained recognition include theMacc Lads andMarion.[citation needed]
Silk Brass Band, the Macclesfield-based brass band, won the National Championship of Great Britain Third Section Final in 2002. Having been promoted from the third section in 2002, they have since consistently competed in the Second, First and Championship sections of the UK's brass band grading system.[98] Local bandthe Virginmarys has achieved national and international success.[citation needed]
In literature, Macclesfield is the second principal location of thefantasy novelsThe Weirdstone of Brisingamen (1960) andThe Moon of Gomrath (1963) byAlan Garner.
In 2008, the borough was named as the fifth happiest of 273 districts in Britain by researchers from theuniversities of Sheffield andManchester, who used information on self-reported personal well-being from the British Household Panel Survey.[99][100]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Granada. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated south east of the town.[101]
The town is served by bothBBC Radio Manchester andBBC Radio Stoke. Other radio stations areHeart North West,Smooth North West,Capital Manchester and Lancashire andGreatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West.[citation needed] Community based stations that broadcast from the town areSilk Radio and Canalside Radio.[102]
Macclesfield Express is the town's local newspaper which publishes on Wednesdays.[103]
Macclesfield is served by four state-fundedacademies (previously state high schools);Tytherington School,The Macclesfield Academy,Fallibroome Academy andAll Hallows Catholic College.
There is also an independent school,Beech Hall School.
Macclesfield Academy is made up of pupils from the former schoolHenbury High School, and also took in the pupils left over when Ryles Park secondary school closed in 2004. Ryles Park had been in turn an amalgamation of Ryles Park girls school and the oldest state school in the town, Macclesfield Central boys school, which closed in 1975. It is on the site of Macclesfield College and Park Lane Special School as part of the Macclesfield 'Learning Zone', which was opened in 2007. Macclesfield High School was the name originally given to the girls grammar school on Fence Avenue which formed part of theKing's School.
The hilltop church ofSt Michael and All Angels has views of nearbyKerridge Hill.[b] The church is approached from Waters Green by a flight of 108 steps, which themselves are a local landmark.
Macclesfield Sunday School started in 1796 as a non-denominational Sunday School in Pickford Street, which catered for 40 children. It was founded by John Whitaker whose objective was "to lessen the sum of human wretchedness by diffusing religious knowledge and useful learning among the lower classes of society".[106] Though chapels set up their denominational schools, the Sunday School committee in 1812 elected to erect a purpose-built school on Roe Street. The Big Sunday School had 1,127 boys and 1,324 girls on its books when it opened.
St Alban's Church in Chester Road is an activeRoman Catholicparish church. The church is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II*listed building. It was designed byA. W. N. Pugin.[107]
Christ Church is a brick-builtredundantAnglican church, located on Great King Street. It is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II*listed building,[108] and is under the care of theChurches Conservation Trust. The church was in use until 1981. It remainsconsecrated and is used occasionally for services.[109]
An Ebenezer Chapel was established on Rainow Road in 1864. It is now a private residence.
There is aMormon church located on Victoria Road.[110]
Other churches of architectural merit include:
Macclesfield's professionalfootball club,Macclesfield Town, first gainedleague status in 1997 asFootball Conference Champions; they had won that title two years earlier but were denied promotion as theirMoss Rose stadium in the south of the town failed to meetFootball League stadium capacity requirements. At the end of the2019–20 season, the Silkmen were relegated fromEFL League Two. In September 2020, Macclesfield Town Football Club was wound up in the High Court over debts totalling more than £500,000.[111]
On 13 October 2020, theofficial receiver confirmed that the assets of Macclesfield Town had been sold to Macc Football Club Limited.[112] Local businessman Robert Smethurst had purchased the assets, and rebranded the club asMacclesfield F.C., they currently play in theNational League North. They are known for beatingPremier League side and Cup-holdersCrystal Palace in the 3rd round of the2025–26 FA Cup.[113]
Youth football teams include Macclesfield Juniors FC, Macclesfield Saints JFC,[114] Moss Rose Juniors FC andTytherington Juniors.
Macclesfield RUFC, the town'srugby union club, plays inNational League 1, following promotion fromNational League 2 North in the 2013–14 season.
Macclesfield Wheelers is a localcycling club for activities from pleasure riding to racing.[115] World-famous cyclistReg Harris produced his eponymous bikes in Macclesfield for three years during the 1960s. The local cycling campaign group is known as MaccBUG (Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group).[116] Formed in 1999, it campaigns for better cycling provision for leisure and utility cyclists.
Macclesfield Harriers & Athletic Club is an active club with over 500 members. The club caters for all abilities and ages. There are sections for road running, track & field, fell running and cross country.[117]
Macclesfield Hockey Club is a community club with 8 senior teams and a thriving junior section. They cater for players of all abilities from the age of 5 upwards. At the first team level, the ladies play in the Regional North Leagues and the men in the North West Hockey Premier League.[118]
In December 2006,Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Macclesfield were the third-most active in England in sports and other fitness activities; 29.3% of the population participate at least three times a week for 30 minutes.[119]
Macclesfieldparkrun, a free weekly timed 5k run, takes place in South Park every Saturday morning at 9.00 AM.[120]
.jpg)
_-_Peter_Crouch_(cropped).jpg)
Macclesfield has no twin towns. Until 2010, Macclesfield had an informal bond withEckernförde in Germany in the aftermath ofWorld War II when the townsfolk sent aid to Eckernförde.[175]
The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the Town of Macclesfield.
 |
William Ryle, son of William Ryle, was born in Macclesfield, England, March 8, 1834, and died in Paterson, New Jersey, November 5, 1881. He came to the United States at the age of eighteen, also with the purpose of embarking in the silk business, but, obtaining employment with a Wall street banking firm in New York City, he was for some time engaged in financial concerns.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
.jpg)
