ABC Wednesday: Low Cloud

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is L for "Low Cloud" and the photo shows low clouds obscuring the hills in Mossley.

Even though Mossley is only 4 miles north-east of Ashton, the geography is very different, with the town being enclosed by the steep-sided Tame Valley with the surrounding hills rising to over 1000 feet. Therefore, when you get low clouds, they tend to bump into the hills! On the ground this is experienced as fog or mist.

This photo shows one such low cloud making its may along the valley with the higher ground of Noonsun Hill and around Pots and Pans rising above.

See Google Street View of this location (without the low cloud).

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"Low Cloud" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "L" posts from around the world please follow this link.

A Cold Walk

Yesterday was such a lovely sunny day that I just couldn't sit at home. I felt the urge to take a walk along the hills between Ashton and Mossley.

What I hadn't realised was just how cold it would be up there on Brown Edge. A strong easterly wind was blowing up the steep hill to my left. It was so strong that I was having to lean into the wind! It had snowed the night before but, as you can see, only the very tops of the hills have any snow to show for it.

In spite of the bright sun during my walk yesterday, today was cloudy with heavy snow showers throughout the day, which is very unseasonal for mid March in this area.

Below the hill to the left you can see part of the town of Mossley. Ashton is out of shot off to the right. The block on the summit of the hill is an Ordnance Survey trig point, used in the making of maps before the arrival of satellite technology.

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"A Cold Walk" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Mossley Station

Mossley Station is just two stops up the line from Ashton, but the area surrounding it is very different. The railway runs along the side of the Tame Valley and Mossley os surrounded by the steep Pennine hills.

A damp December evening provides the atmospheric setting, as the lights reflect on the wet car park and platform, and the darkening outline of the hills forms the backdrop.

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"Mossley Station" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Roughtown

This week's Sky Watch shows you a view along the Tame Valley towards the part of Mossley called Roughtown.

The view is from Mossley Hall, formerly a mill owner's house then later the local town hall. St John's Church, Roughtown, dominates the skyline with it steeple. To the right of that is the hill Wharmton, with a television mast on its summit.

In the middle distance the Manchester to Huddersfield railway line and the A635 road curve around the side of the valley. On the left is the former gatehouse to Mossley Hall and, behind it, the tower on the former Wesleyan Sunday School. This dramatic view is only 4 miles from the centre of Ashton.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Looking down on Hartshead Pike

This week's Sky Watch shows you an unusual view of Hartshead Pike - looking down on it from higher ground!

This blog has shown many photographs of the iconic tower on top of the hill known as Hartshead Pike. Half a mile east of the pike is Brown Edge, overlooking Mossley. This is not as prominent as Hartshead Pike, but is higher. The summit is marked by an Ordnance Survey trig point, seen here a few weeks ago. Today's photo is the view looking from that trig point down towards Hartshead Pike, with Ashton down to the left of it and Audenshaw Reservoirs visible behind it. If you click the image to see the larger version, you may just be able to make out a small and indistinct shape which is Joddrell Bank radio telescope, on the horizon between the trig point and Hartshead Pike. On the extreme left of the photo you can just see Alderley Edge on the horizon.

The photo features two objects pointing skywards. If Father Ted was here, he might point out that this one is small and that one is far away...

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

High Point

This week's Sky Watch takes you to one of the high points around Ashton - the summit of Brown Edge, which overlooks Mossley.

This is the highest point on the ridge between Ashton and Mossley and the concrete object is a triangulation pillar, or "trig point" which was used in the making of maps until the recent arrival of satellite technology. It is a good spot to come to be closer to the sky!

The view is looking south-eastwards, right over Mossley to the Pennine outposts of Noonsun Hill, Alphin Pike and Buckton Moor. Out of sight to the right is a view past hartshead Pike over Ashton towards Manchester. Behind the photographer the view is towards Oldham.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Cross over Mossley

This week's Sky Watch features the big cross on the hill overlooking Mossley. It doesn't look very big in the picture, but it is when you get up close to it! Mossley is the town on the left, below the hill. Ashton is out of shot to the right, a little further away.

The cross was erected in 1994 by Mossley Churches Together, and it can be seen on the skyline from many parts of the town.

It is not to be confused with Mossley Cross, which is where the Turnpike road crossed the ancient hilltop highway, and is in the dip behind the white buildings, just to the right of the cross.

See the Ordnance Survey map of this location. (The cross is just above the "r" in "Brook Bottom".)

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!


Note: Sorry to anybody who tried to access this blog in the last few days and found that they were being re-directed to another site. This was not anything to do with me. One of the third-party widgets on the left had been hacked. It has now been removed.
If anyone else is having the same problem with their blog, it was the "Recent Comments" widget. You need to disable javascript before going to to your blog in order to remove the widget from your template. (Disabling javascript stops you being re-directed.) When you are on the template section you will need to enable javascript again in order to save your changes.

Whit Friday Band Contests

Last Friday was "Whit Friday" (the Friday that follows Whit Sunday), a day that people from elsewhere may not have heard of, but which is traditionally a local holiday in some northern towns. The traditions are still strong in Mossley and Saddleworth, with the traditional Whit Walks taking place in the morning and the brass band contests taking place in the late afternoon and evening.

The band contests are also held in Ashton (outside the Broadoak Hotel and at Ashton United football ground) as well as in nearby towns such as Dukinfield, Stalybridge and Droylsden. The contests are held in a number of the villages in the Saddleworth area, too, and brass bands from around the country, and even from overseas, tour round in coaches trying to play at as many contests as they can in the time.

This photo above shown a band that is close to home - Mossley Band playing at the Upper Mossley contest, with a backdrop of the Pennine hills. After playing as they marched along Market Street, the band played a test piece in the arena before jumping into their coach to play at other locations.

Each band might get around to 10 or 12 contests in the evening and each venue attracts something like 40 bands, with some of the more popular venues seeing considerably more. Towards the end of the evening the bands end up marching and playing in the dark, although the arena is lit up by floodlights.

The contest circuit is unique to this area and is a special event enjoyed by large numbers of local people as well as visitors from far and wide.

"Whit Friday Band Contests" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

In the Spotlight

This week's Sky Watch is an unusual look across the Tame Valley in Mossley.

Although the sky was thickly clouded and the evening was drawing in, somewhere out of sight over the hill behind me the sun must have been poking through a hole in the clouds. The result was an eerie-looking scene in which just the Micklehurst area of the town was in this spooky spotlight of strong sunshine.

There has been absolutely no touching-up of this photo. Apart from trimming the edges off a bit and re-sizing it, this was just as it came from the camera! Although the photo captues the moment partly, it can't covey the weirdness of seeing such an unusual lighting condition.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

ABC Wednesday: Queue

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is Q for "Queue". The photos are a couple of years old, but today's theme of "Q" seemed to be the right moment to dust them off and share them.

I was out for a walk early one afternoon when I was rather surprised to see a queue of buses and lorries on the main road between Ashton and Mossley, stationary and with their engines switched off.

It soon became apparent that something ahead was blocking the road. Most of the car and van drivers caught up had turned their vehicles around and found another route. However, the buses and lorries were too long to turn in the narrow road, so their drivers just had to sit it out. Most of the bus passengers had continued to Mossley on foot although a few were also staying put. A similar queue had built up on the other side with vehicles coming up the hill in the opposite direction.

The obstruction blocking the road turned out to be a lorry which had presumably been delivering sofas to a house in an outlying lane. Turning a very sharp left from the steep lane onto the main road, the back end of the lorry had grounded and the lorry was stuck fast, with the driver being unable to move forwards or backwards.



The problem was resolved when a local farmer came to the rescue by with his tractor. This was attached to the lorry and using a low gear was able to drag the lorry backwards so that its wheels could get a grip. The vehicles caught up in the queues were able to continue their journey, and the lorry continued on its way, this time turning right and avoiding a repetition of its earlier predicament!

See Google Street View seen from Under Lane.

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"Queue" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "Q" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Pylons

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is P for "Pylons". The hilly countryside to the east of Ashton can be very attractive, but is rather spoilt by having two lines of electricity pylons marching across it.

This picture shows two pylons is on the hillside above Under Lane, running from Mossley to Grotton. On the hilltop in the background is Lydgate Church. The bus is heading towards Mossley from Oldham.

The two pylons are one in front of the other, so that it looks like just one from this angle. The power lines change direction when they get to the second pylon, which is more substantial than most. While pylons can have a fascination and interest, it is my opinion that they seriously detract from a landscape such as this. Such a pity that it would cost so much to put power lines under the ground!

See Google Street View seen from Under Lane.

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"Pylons" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "P" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Unseasonal Weather

A week ago people were wandering around in shorts and tee shirts, splashing sun lotion over themselves. This week it's back on with the winter woollies as strong and cold winds bring snow back to the area - in April!

The photo shows the Market Place in Mossley which, being much higher up than Ashton, had a layer of wet snow on the ground this morning, although it had begun to melt by the time I took this photo. A friend told me that there was 5 inches of snow in the higher parts of Oldham this morning.

It seemed strange to see daffodils poking their heads out of the snow. This is certainly an unusual about-turn for the weather!

See Google Street View of this location.

Fixing The Road

Today's view shows the normally busy A670 road between Mossley and Ashton being administered a little not-so-tender loving care.

The daily pounding of cars and lorries between Ashton and Huddersfield, along with all the local traffic, has taken its toll on the road and it now needs a new surface. Before the new surface can be laid the road is attacked by a fearsome machine that chews up the existing tarmac and deposits it in little bits, by way of a conveyor, into waiting lorries.

The lorry in the photo has been filled and is about to move away. An empty lorry was waiting to take its place. Of course, the workers have to be careful not to damage manhole and drain covers. When the old surface has been removed a different set of vehicles will move in to lay the new surface.

Because of the narrowness of the road, it has had to be closed to traffic. The closure is between 9.30 am and 4.00 pm and could last up to two weeks. This means that traffic, including buses, has had to be diverted via Heyrod and Stalybridge. It was surprising how many drivers had either not seen or not believed the signs telling them that the road ahead was closed. This wasn't too bad for the drivers heading towards Ashton, as they could turn right at the fire station down Arundel Street and down to Bottom Mossley. However, drivers coming up from Ashton who had not taken notice of the signs were having to turn around and take a lengthy detour back down Mossley Road to Darnton Road, or take a trickier detour up Broadcarr Lane and along the narrow Thornley Lane to come into Mossley from Grotton. I saw a number of lorries heading up Broadcarr Lane so I don't know what they did. They probably ended up in Lees!

A shuttle bus was running between Top Mossley and Bottom Mossley, where passengers changed onto the buses running to Ashton that were being diverted through Heyrod. There didn't seem to be any provision at all for would-be bus passengers along Mossley Road between Mossley and Fountain Street in Ashton.

At 4.00 pm the traffic was allowed through again, onto the rough untarmacked surface. It will all start again tomorrow, and every week day until the job is complete. Fortunately the disruption has been reduced by carrying out the work during the school holidays!

See Google Street View of this location.

"Fixing The Road" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Roaches

This week's Sky Watch is a sunset view at Roaches in Mossley.

The view is looking across the Huddersfield Narrow Canal close to Roaches Lock. The steeple of St John's Church, in the Roughtown area of Mossley, can be seen on the hillside on the right. The photo was taken from a footpath that runs through the woods on the opposite side of the canal from the towpath, which gives some interesting views of the canal through the trees.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Colourful Cloudscape

This week's Sky Watch is looking across the Tame Valley in Mossley, just over the hill from Ashton.

I was fascinated by the colours that the clouds above the moors were taking on a few days ago, and was pleased to be able to capture something of it with my camera. This view is looking eastwards so the clouds are reflecting the glow from the sun setting in the west, out of sight because of the hill behind me.

See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Winter is coming!

If today's Sky Watch image doesn't make you feel chilly....

Yes, it's a reminder that Winter really is upon us. A small number of hardy leaves still cling forlornly to the trees as we look out across the damp and chilly landscape of the Tame Valley in Mossley. Although Mossley is only 4 miles from the centre of Ashton, it is surrounded by hills, with a thin coating of snow on the higher slopes.

Just add a thin, miserable sleet falling and a chill wind and the warm days of Summer are nothing but a distant memory!

It seems to be such a short time ago that this same view was so very different. Such is the turning of the seasons....

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See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Getting Dark

Today's Sky Watch image looks towards Mossley Library across the former Market Ground.

The gathering darkness of a late Autumn evening is highlighted by the lights shining from the windows of the library and from the three bus shelters.

To the right are the near-silhouettes of the towers of the fire station tower and of St George's Church.

One of the street bights has come on but the Christmas lights attached to the lamp posts have not yet sprung into action.

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See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Reach For The Sky

Today's Sky Watch image shows the view across Manchester Road in Mossley towards the steep slopes of Noonsun Hill.

Reaching for the sky in the foreground is a council workman who is taking a break from his normal job of replacing street light bulbs and is attaching Christmas lights to the lamp posts. They may only be humble Christmas lights in comparison with other towns but they add a touch of cheer and jollity.

If you click the image to see the larger version, you will just see on the far skyline, to the left of the lamp post, the tall shape of the Saddleworth war memorial at Pots and Pans Rocks.

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See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Golden Evening

Today's Sky Watch image shows the view along Argyle Street in Mossley on Thursday evening.

The golden sky was made more striking by the glowing clouds reflecting the sun, which had already set below the hill. The cupola and spire of St Joseph's Church add interest to the silhouette of the buildings.

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See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Rainbow

Today's Sky Watch image shows a rainbow over Mossley, about 4 miles from Ashton, earlier in the week.

Because Mossley is the steep-sided valley of the River Tame, you can see the hills and houses through the rainbow! Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, the sky appears darker than the hillside!

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Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!