parish. The growth of Hale resulted in the establishment of Hale Barns as a separate settlement to the east. Previously Hale Barns had merely been an isolated extension of the main settlement of Hale, but the first explicit reference to the village of Hale Barns is in documentation from 1616. The Cheshire Midland Railway (later the Cheshire Lines Committee) opened from Altrincham to Knutsford on 22 May 1862 with a station in Hale named Peel Causeway. It was the arrival of the railway in Hale in the mid-19th century that prompted the change from an agricultural village to a commuter area for middle class merchants working in the city. The station was renamed Hale in 1902. Governance Between 1900 and 1974, Hale lay within the Hale Urban District of the administrative county of Cheshire. As part of local government reforms, on 1 April 1974, Hale Urban District was abolished and its territory amalgamated into the new Metropolitan Borough of Trafford of Greater Manchester. Hale Central ward has three out of 63 seats on Trafford Borough Council, and as of the 2012 local election all three seats were held by the Conservative Party. The current councillors for Hale Central are Chris Candish, Alan Mitchell, and Patricia Young. Hale forms part of the Altrincham and Sale West Constituency and is represented in the House of Commons by the Conservative Member of Parliament; since the constituency was formed in 1997 it has been represented by Graham Brady. Geography Hale is southeast of Altrincham with the villages of Hale Barns and Bowdon to the east and west respectively. Hale is bounded by the River Bollin to the south and Altrincham Golf Course to the north. The local geology consists of sand and gravel deposited in the last ice age. In common with much of Cheshire, the bedrock of Hale is mainly sandstone. Sub-districts Hale Barns Demography According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Hale had a population of 15,315. The 2001 population density was 2,847 per km², with a 100 to 96.6 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 25.5% were single (never married) and 56.2% married. Hale's 6,198 households included 26.0% one-person, 45.8% married couples living together, 5.3% were co-habiting couples, and 5.6% single parents with their children. Of those aged 16–74, 13.7% had no academic qualifications, significantly lower than the averages of