Didsbury Campus of South Manchester, though these never came to fruition. By 1970 student numbers had increased significantly, to 1,550. Didsbury became part of Manchester Polytechnic in 1977, renamed Didsbury School of Education. The merger was met with some opposition by students, who considered the polytechnic to be "quite different" to the college. The City of Manchester College of Higher Education merged with the polytechnic in 1983, and in 1992 it gained university status, becoming Manchester Metropolitan University. In the same year it merged with Crewe and Alsager College, which became the university's Cheshire campus. As part of a university, Didsbury was
New Moston Road and Nuthurst Park. The archaic district of Theale Moor, lying partly in Chadderton, was also in this area. During the Middle Ages Theale Moor was the location of a violent land dispute that was only resolved when boundary stakes were set up on the common moorland. The name 'New Moston' originated in 1850 when the name was chosen by a building society which formed, purchased and laid out 57 acres of land to create a residential hamlet. It initially occupied an area on the eastern border of the historic township of Moston, bordering the Whitegate area of Chadderton and