Visit Chorlton-cum-Hardy – things to do & explore
When you visit Chorlton-cum-Hardy on a day-trip, weekend away or holiday, Walkfo is the digital tour guide to the hidden history & cultural facts that you can explore in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Millions of audio content spots are available when you travel by foot, bike, bus or car around Chorlton-cum-Hardy through your mobile phone connected to headphones.
Overview of Chorlton-cum-Hardy history & facts by Walkfo
Planning a visit to Chorlton-cum-Hardy?
Chorlton-cum-Hardy history
Toponymy
Chorlton probably means Ceolfrith’s farm or settlement from Old English personal name and tūn, an enclosure, farmstead or village . Hardy is derived from a personal name, Hearda, and ēg, Anglian for island or dry ground in a well-watered land . It has alternatively been suggested that Hardy may mean “by the woods”, in reference to the ancient forest of Arden Wood .
Early history
The district was part of the kingdom of Northumbria from the 7th century . Settlement in the Mersey valley may well have been later . Thomas L. Ellwood suggested 610 AD as the date of founding the settlement .
Suburban growth
Until the last quarter of the 19th century, Chorlton’s population had increased slowly . When the railway reached neighbouring Stretford in 1849, upmarket villas were built on a flood-free area in Edge Lane and High Lane . Wilbraham Road was built in 1869 to connect the Egerton holdings across Withington from Edge Lane to Fallowfield .
Chorlton-cum-Hardy culture
There are three amateur dramatic societies that rehearse and perform in Chorlton . A number of poets and minor publishers of poetry were active in the late 20th century .
Cinemas and dance halls
Chorlton Pavilion bought by H. D. Moorhouse in 1909 and Palais de Luxe in 1915 . Rivoli opened on Barlow Moor Road in 1936 and changed its name several times to the Essoldo, the Classic and the Shalimar . Majestic on Manchester Road had several names, the Savoy, the ABC and the Gaumont .
Creative and performing arts
Until October 2009 Chorlton was the location for Cosgrove Hall animation studios . The studios were used for children’s series such as The BFG and The Wind in the Willows . The area is used by film crews for TV locations such as White Van Man .
Chorlton-cum-Hardy landmarks
Manchester City Council designated Chorlton Green a conservation area in 1970 and Chorrtonville in 1991 . The area was designated as a conservation site by the council in 1991 and a conservation park in 1970 .
Chorlton Library
Chorlton Library was built in 1914 to a design by Manchester City Council architect Henry Price . It was funded by a £5000 donation from steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie . It is one of about 3000 Carnegie libraries around the world .
Southern Cemetery
Southern Cemetery originally occupied 40 acres of land that cost Manchester Corporation £38,340 in 1872 . The cemetery opened on 9 October 1879 and had mortuary chapels for Anglicans, Nonconformists, and Roman Catholics linked by an elliptical drive and a Jewish chapel at the west corner of the site .
Chorlton-cum-Hardy geography / climate
The ancient township of Chorlton cum Hardy covered 1,280 acres (520 ha) of low-lying, flat land on the north bank of the River Mersey . In medieval times the district formed part of the Manor of Withington, an area stretching from Longford Park to Debdale Park . The highest land is at the south-east end, where it reaches a little over 100 feet (30 m) OD .
You can visit Chorlton-cum-Hardy, COUNTY/BOROUGH & use Walkfo to discover the best walking places with our free digital tour guide app created especially for Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Walkfo Chorlton-cum-Hardy has 300 locations with history, culture & travel facts, that you can explore the same way you can a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Chorlton-cum-Hardy, being in the moment, without digital distraction and no limitations to a specific walking route – you choose where you want to go, when you want to go and Walkfo Chorlton-cum-Hardy will keep up.
When you visit Chorlton-cum-Hardy
When you visit Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Walkfo is your digital tour guide while exploring by foot, bike or bus. With numerous walks, hikes, tourist locations & travel destinations available in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, our travel AI guide helps you get the best from your visit to Chorlton-cum-Hardy & the surrounding areas. Our explore Chorlton-cum-Hardy app for iPhone & Android, allows you to experience the hidden history, culture and amazing facts throughout Chorlton-cum-Hardy whilst out walking. The digital tour guide creates interactive audio stories driven by where you walk, so you can exploration Chorlton-cum-Hardy’s National Heritage sites, tourist attractions, historic locations or city streets freely, without the restrictions of a predefined walk & walk map.
“The Walkfo AI has curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 0 audio facts in Chorlton-cum-Hardy alone that form an interactive Chorlton-cum-Hardy walking map for you to explore.”
Best Chorlton-cum-Hardy places to visit
Chorlton-cum-Hardy has hundreds of places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are five of Chorlton-cum-Hardy’s best destinations to visit when exploring the area. We have condensed the information with much more detail available within Walkfo when you visit the destinations.
bVisit Chorlton-cum-Hardy plaques
Chorlton-cum-Hardy has 0 plaques as part of nation or local tourist plaque schemes for you to explore when you visit. Plaque schemes such as National Heritage’s “Blue Plaques” provide a visual geo marker to highlight points of interest things, at the places where they happened. Walkfo has researched each plaque to provide additional content when you visit the Chorlton-cum-Hardy plaques whilst using the app. Experience the hidden history & stories behind each location as the Walkfo local tourist guide app uses GPS to trigger audio close to each Chorlton-cum-Hardy plaque. Walkfo also offers millions of additional ‘virtual geo plaques’ that are unique to Walkfo, created across the UK (and the world).
When using Walkfo to explore Chorlton-cum-Hardy, you will hear the full story of each of these plaques.
Experience Chorlton-cum-Hardy audio walks & tours
Walkfo is a free app that shows you things to do / visit in Chorlton-cum-Hardy on a map. You can explore the area as you wish, as you would do an art gallery or museum, and when you walk close to those locations, our digital tour guide will tell you history, culture & travel facts about the location in audio form. With headphone connected, you can explore Chorlton-cum-Hardy freely by foot, bike or bus – with your own personal tour guide in your pocket.
Visiting Chorlton-cum-Hardy with Walkfo’s things to do interactive map
The “Chorlton-cum-Hardy things to do map” below is a preview of the places you can visit in Chorlton-cum-Hardy and surrounding areas with our digital audio tour guide app. Each spot has content for a plaque, a building, a street or general area, providing history, culture or tourism information the you can explore.
| Interactive ‘Explore Chorlton-cum-Hardy Map’
This Chorlton-cum-Hardy tourism map shows points of interest within a 4km radius of Chorlton-cum-Hardy centre | Walkfo App
Walkfo   |
Walkfo is free to download & use (for a limited time period), so if you are looking to explore Chorlton-cum-Hardy, go to your App Store to search for “Walkfo” or follow a links below and install on your mobile phone. Walkfo is designed for use with headphones or AirPods, so you can walk & explore whilst learning about the things around you without digital distraction.
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Things to do & visit in Chorlton-cum-Hardy and surrounding areas
Getting to / around Chorlton-cum-Hardy – transport links, stations, streets & traffic map
Getting around in Chorlton-cum-Hardy using public transportation may include roads, streets, trains, undergrounds, buses or trams. Walkfo has the following important Chorlton-cum-Hardy public transport locations with historic / cultural / factual content when you visit:
| Chorlton-cum-Hardy Notable Public Transport Stations | Chorlton-cum-Hardy Notable Streets & Roads | |
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[transportsummary]
Attention local Chorlton-cum-Hardy historians, tour guides & Chorlton-cum-Hardy tourism agents
Looking for a way to get more visitors to Chorlton-cum-Hardy?
Whilst Walkfo has millions audio spots already available, Walkfo Creator allows tourist destinations, attractions & landmarks to create their own unique outdoor audio museums & walks using the simple & easy to use Walkfo Creator. Creating an audio walk for you destination is free* and can be created in under 15 minutes if you have content ready, with Walkfo Creator doing all the hard work generating audio files for geo spot you simply click on a map.
The 100 Amazing Chorlton-cum-Hardy Places outdoor museum was created using Walkfo Creator (pictured to the left) as a way for people to safely explore the area during Covid-19 times whilst improving the experience of visiting a city when tourism boards use Walkfo to market their destination.
Walkfo is currently looking to partner with websites who offer things-to-do / what’s on events listings to add to our content on our webpages (for example: www.visitChorlton-cum-Hardy.com). If you are interested in being a content provider, please contact us to discuss options.
* Walkfo Creator is free to use for a limited number of audio spots within a map with a license fee applicable when more than 20 audio spots within location walk are created.