[12] A parsonage was built next to one of the two public houses that flanked the nearby village green, Ye Olde Cock Inn, so-called because of the cockfighting that used to take place there.
[14] Didsbury was one of the few places between Stretford and Stockport where the River Mersey could be forded, which made it significant for troop movements during the English Civil War, in which Manchester was on the Parliamentarian side.
Jewish immigrants started to arrive in Manchester from the late 18th century, initially settling mainly in the suburbs to the north of the city.
The house, named after Eltville in Germany, had a pair of gate lodges at its Wilmslow Road entrance and the Ball Brook ran through its large garden.
[17] Other members of the family, Charles (or Carl) and Adelaide (or Adelheid) Souchay, lived nearby at Withington House on Wilmslow Road (the present site of the telephone exchange at Old Broadway).
In the 1840s, Mendelssohn made several visits to Britain and stayed with the Souchays; he wrote a number of letter to friends with "Eltville House, Withington" as the return address.
Their only daughter, Marie Louise, married William Murray Caldwell Greaves Bagshawe of Ford Hall in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire.
The opening of the Manchester South District Line by the Midland Railway in 1880 contributed greatly to the rapid growth in the population of Didsbury.
[26] In 1910, A stone clock tower and water fountain was erected outside Didsbury Midland Railway station in memory of local doctor and campaigner for the poor, Dr John Milson Rhodes.
[27] On 28 April 1910, French pilot Louis Paulhan landed his Farman biplane in Barcicroft Fields, Pytha Fold Farm, on the borders of Withington, Burnage and Didsbury, at the end of the first flight from London to Manchester in under 24 hours, with one short overnight stop at Lichfield.
Two special trains were chartered to the newly built but unopened Burnage railway station to take spectators to the landing, many of whom had stood throughout the night.
Withington Urban District was a subdivision of the administrative county of Lancashire, created as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1894.
Didsbury is in the parliamentary constituency of Manchester Withington, and is represented by Jeff Smith MP, a member of the Labour Party.
To the north, Didsbury is bordered by Withington, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Burnage, to the west by Northenden, to the east and south-east by Heaton Mersey and Cheadle, and by Gatley to the south.
The Albert Park conservation area, covering much of West Didsbury, places planning restrictions on development, alterations to buildings, and pruning of trees.
In the 1970s extensive flood mitigation work carried out along the Mersey Valley through Manchester has helped to speed up the passage of floodwater.
Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden also acts as an emergency flood basin, storing floodwater until it can be safely released back into the river.
[52] In May 2021 a claim published by the Daily Mail that Didsbury was among a number of "no-go areas for white people" attracted media criticism.
In 2005, other tenants of the business park included Cisco, IWG, Logica, Trinity Integrated Systems and Thorn Lighting.
The traditional independent retailers are gradually being replaced by multi-national firms, raising fears that Didsbury may lose its individual identity and become a "clone town".
The owner, United Co-op, blamed changing demographics for the closure of the funeral parlour; with more and more homes being occupied by young professional people, the death rate was falling in the area.
[75] The park is used for dog walking, recreational play, picnics, and hosts events like the Didsbury Festival and Classic Car show.
[79] In the northern part of Didsbury lies Fog Lane Park, a large municipal green space which borders on Withington and Burnage.
[80] Between 1956 and 1969, the old Capitol Theatre at the junction of Parrs Wood Road and School Lane served as the northern studios of ITV station ABC Weekend Television.
[26] East Didsbury is served additionally by regional trains to destinations including Liverpool Lime Street, Crewe, Chester and Llandudno.
[87][88] The first phase of the Manchester Metrolink light rail/tram system opened in 1992 but, due to funding problems, the old trackbed through Didsbury remained derelict for over 20 years[89][90] until it was reopened in 2013.
Rather than reopening at the site of the old Midland Railway station on Wilmslow Road, it was decided instead to locate the new Didsbury Village tram stop further down the line at School Lane.
When the plague reached the village in 1352 the chapel yard was consecrated to provide a cemetery for the victims, it being "inconvenient to carry the dead all the way to Manchester".
[115] It is also home to Manchester Waconians Lacrosse Club and Didsbury Grey's Women's Hockey Team, which do not actually play at the site but at grounds in Belle Vue, that were designed for the XVII Commonwealth Games.
[117] The house was designed by Salford architect Thomas Worthington, for the editor and proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, John Edward Taylor.