Didsbury education in Didsbury: The Manchester College, (formerly City College Manchester) Fielden Campus, which was opened in 1972 by Margaret Thatcher, offers a variety of courses including communication and technology; and Manchester Metropolitan University's Didsbury Campus, the former Didsbury School of Education, is home to the faculties of health, social care, and education, along with the Broomhurst Hall of Residence. Parrs Wood, with about 2,000 pupils on its register, is much larger than the average, and is regularly over-subscribed in Year 7. In its 2007 inspection report by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) the school
Didsbury conservation area now known as Didsbury St James, about half a mile (1 km) to the south of what is today's village centre. The old village green is now the beer garden of The Didsbury public house. 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". However, independent traders continue to thrive, especially in West Didsbury, which celebrates its independent spirit each year with the two-day Westfest festival. The 200-year-old Peacock's Funeral Parlour, one of the few pre-Victorian buildings in the village and regarded