We are an isolated enclave of elderly rebels

LIFE IN THE CITY'S ONLY RURAL VILLAGE NEXT TO AIRPORT

- DAMON WILKINSON

THERE are no streetlights. Birds dart in and out of the hedgerow as a passing dog walker says hello.

A placard on the grass verge advertises fresh eggs for sale at the farm opposite. It's the archetypal picture of English rural life.

But a different sign attached to a fence in a muddy lay-by a little further down the lane offers a clue as to the village's unusual location. Think before you park, it reads. 'We ask all airport users not to park outside people's homes.

Welcome to Ringway, the only rural village in Manchester. The tiny ancient parish, home to the ruins of a medieval castle, is located on the southwestern edge of the city boundaries, on the border with Cheshire and Trafford.

In the 2011 census around 100 people called the village home and now it's thought that number may be even smaller. But Ringway has a very big neighbour.

A few hundred yards away, on the other side of a dual carriageway, lies Manchester Airport. When it first opened in 1938 the airport took its name from the village next door. At that time it was little more than a tin hut in a field. Now things are a bit different.

For 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, hundreds of flights and tens of thousands of passengers come and go at the third busiest airport in the UK.

"Don't get me started on the airport," says Jeremy Oddie, 65, who moved to Ringway nine years ago from Sale into the former home of Matt Busby's son Sandy on Sunbank Lane. "But it's a very pleasant place to live," said Mr Oddie. "We live fields apart from our neighbours but we all know each other."

Having an airport on their doorstep is just a fact of life for the people of Ringway. But that doesn't mean they're always happy about it.