Historically part of Cheshire, Sale dates back to at least the 12th century and possibly to pre-Norman times. Until the 18th century, the mainstays for the small community were farming and weaving. However, transportation improvements—notably the 1765 completion of the Sale section of the Bridgewater Canal and the 1849 opening of Sale's first railway station—transformed it into a commuter town for Manchester workers. It remains such for many Sale residents, who have seen the town economy shift to its current focus on retail, real estate and business services.
Two of the town's main attractions are the Sale Water Park and the Waterside Arts Centre. Although the community had a Premiership rugby union club (the Sale Sharks) and witnessed the founding of the Sale Harriers-Manchester Athletics Club, both have now relocated to other Greater Manchester areas. Prominent past and present residents include physicist James Joule, singer David Gray, and Sale Harriers athletes Darren Campbell and Diane Modahl.
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an Englishfootballer who currently plays for the English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He is seen as one of the most exciting prospects of the modern game, his transfer fee from Everton still stands as the highest ever paid for a teenager. He normally played as a second striker to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his club team before van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid, although during 2005-06, he showed his versatility as a player by shifting to the midfield and playing on both flanks. He wore the number 8 shirt for Manchester United from 2004 until June 2007, when his shirt number was changed to number 10. He wears the number 9 shirt for England. Rooney was brought up in Croxteth, Liverpool, where he attended the De Le Salle School from 1997 until 2002. He has two younger brothers who both later attended the school.
After excelling for Liverpool Schoolboys and The Dynamo Brownwings, Rooney was signed by Everton shortly before his 11th birthday. Rooney gained national prominence on 19 October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton (though this record has since been surpassed twice by James Milner and current record holder James Vaughan). His goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner and brought to an end the London side's 30-match unbeaten run.
At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year.
Image 4ITV Granada former studios in Castlefield, Manchester (from North West England)
Image 5A Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 (HS 801), built at Woodford (former Avro) and designed in Manchester in the mid-1960s, with XV148 (former Comet 4C) making its first flight on 23 May 1967, flying from Chester (Broughton, which had built many de Havilland fighter jet aircraft) to Woodford; 49 Nimrods were made for the RAF, entering service with 201 Sqn on 6 November 1970, serving until March 2010 with 38 Sqn (from North West England)
Image 10Old meets new at the Stockport Viaduct; designed by George W. Buck, it is the largest free-standing brick structure in the UK, built in 1840 when it was the largest viaduct in the world; it features in many L. S. Lowry paintings. (from North West England)
Image 17Former head office of the Girobank in Bootle; it closed in 2003; it was taken over by Alliance & Leicester in 1990; it was established in Bootle in the late 1960s with help from Hugh Baird; it was the first financial institution in Europe to be fully computerised from the start (from North West England)
Image 19Vauxhall's plant in Ellesmere Port exports 88% of its cars, although many of the components are imported, and has made over 5 million since 1962, also making the Vectra from 1995 to 2008; it makes 686 a day (two a minute, 100,000 a year) and the latest model was designed by Mark Adams and Malcolm Ward. Three million Astras have been sold in the UK since 1979, and featured on the Top Gear test track until 2015; the production is split with the Opel Manufacturing Poland site at Gliwice in southern Poland; the Corsa is made at Opel Zaragoza in north-east Spain, with 3-door versions at Opel Eisenach; the Insignia is made at Opel Rüsselsheim (from North West England)
Image 31Ineos ChlorVinyls at Runcorn in 2006; the UK chemicals industry is worth £57bn, with 180,000 people in around 3,000 companies (from North West England)
Image 49Kelloggs in Manchester, looking north along the A5181 next to GMFRS's Stretford Area Command HQ; the site is the largest producer of cereals in Europe (from North West England)
