At the end of the nineteenth century the little town of Urmston, on
the western fringes of Manchester, went through a period of rapid
expansion. The railways had arrived, the Manchester Ship Canal had
just opened and the huge industrial complex of Trafford Park was
being developed. Workers flooded into the town and the churches soon
followed. In 1894 a unitarian congregation began to meet in hired
premises. Soon it grew sufficiently large to justify building its own
church, a modest red-brick gothic chapel and schoolroom, close to
the centre of the town, which opened in January 1900 (centenary
celebrations coming up).
At Queens Road, you can't help noticing how
many children there are. They share our worship for the first quarter
of an hour before trooping off to the schoolroom for their own
special programme, which often involves a lot of cut and paste and paint.
Our Junior Church is run by a dedicated group which plans and supervises
their activities.
The children rapidly develop confidence and social skills through
their contact with each other and the adult members, and the older
children are noticeably helpful and kind-hearted with the infants.
They often take part in special services, and we always look forward
to the children's nativity play every December.
Queens Road Church is an active member of the MDA (Manchester District Association of Unitarian Churches), recently contributing two Presidents. It is also a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian Churches (GA), and sends delegates to its annual meetings, several of the GA committees and the GA Council.
The church building is regularly used by local people for ballet classes, line dancing and it is also Urmston's polling station.
Sunday Service 10am,
Weddings & Baptisms by arrangement
Minister: Rev. Celia Midgley
Chair: Derek Brown
Treasurer: Brian Harrison
Secretary: Phyl Rees
Webmaster: Frances Teagle (ft@nessie.mcc.ac.uk)