the eastern boundary of town, one mile east of the town centre, with direct services to Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Bolton, Wigan and Leeds. It opened in 1838 and closed in 1842, it was later re-opened in 1985 and remains in use. Middleton railway station, near the town centre, was the terminus of a short branch line, which closed to passengers in 1964. A car chase scene of the 2001 British-made Samuel L. Jackson film The 51st State was filmed on a stretch of the M60 motorway, which runs alongside Rhodes and through Alkrington, just outside the centre of the town. In May 2021 the Mayor of Greater Manchester asked that Transport for Greater Manchester bring forward a business case for extending the Metrolink tram system to Middleton, as part of a wider regeneration scheme. Education Almost every part of Middleton is served by a school of some kind, some with religious affiliations. According to the Office for Standards in Education, schools within the town perform at mixed levels. What is presently the Middleton Campus of Hopwood Hall (a college of further education), was, from 1946 to 1989, a De La Salle Catholic College of Higher Education affiliated to the Victoria University of Manchester. Founded as a teacher training college, the chapel, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, was the architectural prototype for the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The chapel still exists but its spire is no longer topped with a cross. Hopwood Hall College benefits from its extensive grounds and leisure facilities which were developed over many years by the De La Salle College. Notable people "Moonraker" is a nickname sometimes given to people from the town (and other places; see Moonrakers). Middleton has been the birthplace and home to notable people, of national and international acclaim. Amongst the most notable persons of historic significance from the town include Thomas Langley (born in Middleton in 1363) who served as Bishop of Durham, Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Lord Chancellor of England, and as England's first de facto Foreign Secretary. Samuel Bamford was a radical writer and politician. He led the Middleton contingent to the meeting at St Peter's Fields in August 1819, pressing for parliamentary reform, which ended in the Peterloo Massacre. Joel Halliwell (1881 – 1958) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross in World War I. Lee Rigby, British soldier and victim of the 2013 Woolwich attack, was from