Alexandra Park is a 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) park in the Moss Side

Moss Side

Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...

/Whalley Range districts of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and opened in 1868. The lodge and gateways are the work of Alfred Darbyshire

Alfred Darbyshire

-Education and career:Alfred Darbyshire was born in Salford to William Darbyshire, the manager of a dyeworks, and his wife Mary née Bancroft. He was a nephew of George Bradshaw, the compiler of railway guides. He went to a succession of Quaker schools and was then articled to the architects'...

. The park was developed by the Manchester Corporation long before the area was incorporated into the city.

The park is a well known site of an annual Caribbean music festival and is located between Princess Road, Claremont Road, Demesne Road and Alexandra Road South, in the M16 postcode district. Part of Manchester's crosses the park.

British aircraft manufacturer Avro

Avro

Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, with numerous landmark designs such as the Avro 504 trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.-Early history:One of the world's...

 assembled aircraft at the Alexandra Park Aerodrome

Alexandra Park Aerodrome

Alexandra Park Aerodrome was the second purpose-built aerodrome in the Manchester area. The site was chosen by the War Department in 1917 because of its open agricultural nature, and lay between the neighbouring districts of Fallowfield, Chorlton, Withington and West Didsbury, at the junction of...

, south of Mauldeth Road West, from 1918, but left for Woodford Aerodrome on its closure in 1924.

Alexandra Park is also the name of a nearby council estate, developed in the 1960s

1960s

The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

, but it quickly became notorious as a crime hotbed. However, the estate has improved since the 1990s

1990s

File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

, when a regeneration project eliminated the maze of alleyways which had made it a haven for drug dealers, thieves, muggers and gangsters. Community facilities were also improved. Demand for properties is the area has also increased; just 20 years after being a "no go" area, the estate now has a waiting list for properties.http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/217451_news_special_moss_side_riots_25_years_on