Urmston, United Kingdom

Urmston occupies an area of 7.5 square miles (19.4 km2), at 53°26′55″N 2°22′29″W (53.4487, −2.3747); it is approximately 137 feet (42 m) above sea level at its highest point. The land is relatively flat, sloping gently from north to south. Urmston's climate is generally temperate, with few extremes of temperature or weather. The mean temperature is slightly above average for the United Kingdom. Annual rainfall and average amount of sunshine are both slightly below the average for the UK.

Urmston borders Davyhulme, Dumplington and Flixton, with the River Mersey forming the southern boundary. The most southerly part of Urmston lies within the flood plain of the River Mersey, an area known as Urmston Meadows, part of the Mersey Valley. Much work was carried out in the 1970s to canalise the Mersey, in an effort to speed up the flow of floodwater and thus reduce the risk of flooding. Upstream emergency floodbasins such as Sale Water Park, lying just to the east of Urmston, have also been constructed. The M60 Manchester orbital motorway passes through the northern half of Urmston, from southeast to northwest, and the M62 motorway lies just to the west. The Thirlmere Aqueduct also passes through the Urmston area.

The Trafford Centre, a large shopping and leisure complex, is at Dumplington. Some locals felt that it brought about the decline of Urmston Precinct, the town's central shopping area – dating back to the 1960s – where many units closed or became "pound shops". Beginning in 2007, Urmston Precinct was demolished and a £45 million redevelopment of the site got underway, to include 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of retail and leisure space and 144 apartments. This redevelopment project is now known as Eden Square, open between 2009 and 2012 and includes several chain stores long with independent retailers.

As of the 2001 UK census, Urmston had a possible workforce of approximately 32,996 people. The economic activity of residents in Urmston was 46.1% in full-time employment, 12.6% in part-time employment, 6.9% self-employed, 2.1% unemployed, 2.5% students with jobs, 3.0% students without jobs, 14.7% retired, 4.5% looking after home or family, 5.4% permanently sick or disabled and 2.2% economically inactive for other reasons. Urmston has a low rate of unemployment (2.1%) compared with Trafford (2.7%) and England (3.3%). The Office for National Statistics estimated that during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in Urmston was £504 (£26,209 per year).

Urmston Musical Theatre was formed as the Urmston and District Operatic Society in 1911. Its current president is actor Matthew Kelly, who was born in Urmston. It performs an adult main show in October with rehearsals running from June to October and a pantomime in January/February with rehearsals running from November to the date of the show. Both shows are performed at the Poolside Theatre within the Urmston Leisure Centre. Its youth section performs a show in May at St Antony's Catholic College in Urmston.

Canterbury Players is a local amateur dramatic society. Performances are given on stage at the Davyhulme (Wesley) Methodist Church located in Brook Road, Flixton.

In the mid-20th century there were 20 cinemas in Trafford, of which the only survivor is the New Curzon, in Princess Road. It opened in 1931 as the Curzon. It was converted to a twin cinema and bingo club in the 1970s, and re-opened under its present name of the New Curzon in 1980, after a £100,000 conversion. Since 2003, the building has been shared with Flixton Dance Studio. Recently, due to financial reasons, the New Curzon has been forced to close down.

Along with the rest of Trafford, Urmston maintains a selective education system assessed by the 11-plus examination.

There are four primary, infant or junior schools in Urmston, including Urmston Primary School, together with an independent prep school, Abbotsford Preparatory School, in addition to four secondary schools, Urmston Grammar School, St Antony's Roman Catholic School, Wellacre Academy and Flixton Girls' School.

Urmston Grammar School is a specialist science and language college; the school was assessed as "outstanding" in its February 2006 Ofsted report. St Antony's Catholic College is a specialist Business and Enterprise College. In its October 2005 Ofsted report the school was assessed as "a good and improving school with some outstanding features".