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StretfordStretford is a mainly working working class town in Greater Manchester, UK. It is perhaps most famous in the wider world because of an association with Manchester United Football Club, which calls one end of its Old Trafford ground "Stretford End". Stretford was also the birth place of the pop singer Morrissey and Jay Kay. In terms of amenities, it features The Arndale Centre, a small and dreary (by UK standards) shopping precinct, as well as a preserved art deco bingo hall and, away from the town centre, a large sports centre. Towards Chorlton is Longford Park, once the home of John Rylands. Its hall was demolished in the 1990s after an unsuccessful attempt to save it from demolition. It's also home to a grammar school. However, much of its area is devoted to urban sprawl. Unlike most of its neighbours, Stretford is not blessed with its pubs. Most are large estate pubs like the Melville, Gorse Hill and Quadrant. At Great Stone Road, the B & Q store was once the Hardrock/village rock venue which during the seventies hosted most of the decade's major artists in their prime such as Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Elton John and Deep Purple. Politically Stretford is part of the Trafford Borough which stretches from Old Trafford in the North to Altrincham in the South. In 2004 the Conservative Party won back Trafford to a fanfare that they were making a comeback in the cities. It has to be noted that the Stretford/Old Trafford area, the only parts of Trafford within the M60 Manchester circular, remain Tory free zones. Stretford has a lack of noteworthy amenities despite being home to the Trafford Council Town Hall and the Greater Manchester Police Headquarters and has been denied much needed investment, suffering in comparison to its neighbours on all sides, except for Tory-controlled Urmston, which receives significantly less funding. Lazy and unimaginative planning continues to blight Stretford. Ambitions to transform the canalside area to develop pavement cafe ambience have so far just seen an orange and blue shelter cum bench overlooking the plumbing merchants. Stretford is home to the Greater Manchester Police "M Division" Headquarters, one of the force's largest administrative centres. It neighbours Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Urmston, Old Trafford and Sale.
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