Handforth is a village situated between Wilmslow, Heald Green, and Styal in Cheshire, England. Handforth is affectionately known as "the gateway to Cheshire" due to the fact that for those travelling South from Manchester, Handforth is the first settlement in Cheshire they pass through. According to the 2001 Census data, the Handforth Ward has an area 496 ha, population 8014 (48% male, 97% white, 79% Christian) living in 3692 households. There is a large Manchester overspill council estate in Handforth, Spath Lane, built in the early 1960s to house people from Victorian slums and areas of Hulme in Manchester. As of late, it has been acquired by Contour Housing Association and they have since tried to tidy up the estate.