Editing Stalybridge (section)

===20th century===
The character of Stalybridge altered over the 20th century. At the turn of the century, the cotton industry was still strong, and the population of the town reached its peak in 1901, at 27,623, but as trade dwindled the population began to decline, and despite the intensified employment of the war years, the main industry of Stalybridge continued to fail.
There were floods in Millbrook in May 1906.

[[File:The Ray Mill in 2016.jpg|thumb|Ray Mill 2016 – a fine redbrick building]]
[[File:Ray Mill 2018.jpg|thumb|Ray Mill 2018 – after a devastating fire. Building now demolished]]
Mrs [[Ada Summers]] was elected first woman mayor of Stalybridge in November 1919. At that time, mayors of boroughs were justices, as well as chairmen of borough benches, by right of office. However, it was not until the [[Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919]] came into force on 23 December 1919 that women could become magistrates. Sitting ex-officio Ada Summers became the first woman magistrate in the country and was sworn in on 31 December. Ada Summers was, probably, the first woman to officially adjudicate in court. Ada Summers photo appeared in the weekly journal ''Great Thoughts'', 5 June 1920, alongside an interview on "The First Woman JP" on her work. Ada Summers was the widow of a local ironmaster. She was an active [[suffragist]] and Liberal and used her wealth and position to support a number of schemes designed to improve conditions in the town. These included a maternity and child welfare clinic, clinics for the sick and poor and an unofficial employment centre. She later became an alderman and was appointed [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]]. On 31 May 1939 she was awarded the [[Freedom of the City|Honorary Freedom of the Borough]].

In 1929, with no room for expansion at Stalybridge, the Summers sheet rolling and galvanising plants were transferred to [[Shotton, Flintshire|Shotton]] in [[North Wales]], having devastating effects on local employment; the new plant later became a  component in the [[British Steel Corporation]].<ref name="Manchester 2002"/> By 1932, seven of the town's largest mills had closed and unemployment reached 7,000. In 1934, the borough council set up an Industrial Development Committee for the purpose of encouraging new industries to settle in the town. The committee purchased [[John Frederick Cheetham|Cheetham's Mill]] and rented it out to small firms engaged in a wide variety of enterprises. By 1939, unemployment in the town had almost disappeared.

====1939–2000====
Stalybridge experienced intensive black-out periods and frequent air-raid warning during the [[Second World War]]. Bombs dropped by enemy aircraft mainly landed in open country and there were no civilian casualties. On 19 July 1946, [[King George VI]] and [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth]] visited Stalybridge. The town's war memorial was extended after the war, to bear the names of an extra 124 men from the town; it was unveiled on 23 April 1950.

In the post-war period council housing was provided by the local authority as separate [[council estate]]s. The Buckton Vale estate was built between January 1950 and March 1953, and the Stamford Park estate between January 1953 and January 1955; the [[Copley, Greater Manchester|Copley]] estate commenced building in August 1954 and the Ridgehill estate in January 1956.

In 1955, after the adoption of the first post-war [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] plan, new housing estates were built to replace the slums and, gradually, redundant textile mills were occupied by firms in the various light industries. New applications of engineering principles, the manufacture of rubber goods, plastics, chemicals and packaging materials were all introduced, as well as the addition of synthetic fibres to the textile trade, reducing unemployment. The plastics industry origin and growth are described by Craig and Bowes  in "Cotton Mills to Chemical Plants" (2013).

The early 1970s saw the development of private semi-detached and detached housing estates, particularly in the Mottram Rise, Hough Hill, Hollins and Carrbrook areas; the redevelopment of Castle Hall was also completed. The construction of the Buckton Vale [[overspill estate]] also took place in the early 1970s.<ref name="NFTMO">{{cite web|url=http://www.nftmo.com/downloads_magazine/TMOMag_07.pdf|title=TMO Magazine|author=Anon|publisher=National Federation of Tenant Management Organisations|access-date=30 January 2008|date=1 June 2005|archive-date=27 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327161001/http://www.nftmo.com/downloads_magazine/TMOMag_07.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The early 1980s saw the closure of the public baths after the completion of Copley Recreation Centre. One of the symbols of the late-19th century civic improvement, the baths were subsequently demolished.

In 1991, for the first time since 1901, there was an increase in the population of Stalybridge to 22,295. The 1990s saw the proliferation of [[Mock Tudor]] style estates at Moorgate and along Huddersfield Road, close to Staley Hall; this continued into the 21st century with the completion of the Crowswood estate in Millbrook.