Warrington Street

Another visit to Warrington Street, seen last week outside the old Post Office, further along. The last time this part of Warrington Street appeared here, five weeks ago, the weather was a complete contrast to the pleasant sunshine of today's photo.

Some of the shops that were familiar here years ago have gone to make way for newer businesses. It is a sign of the times that the 02 phone shop sits opposite the Vodafone shop! Out of shot to the right is Ashton's branch of McDonald's.

See Google Aerial View of this location.
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Alphabet Friday - X marks the spot

"X" is for... well not many things in Ashton actually start with an X but then I realised that this photo had a very large X shape in it! I wonder if you can spot it?

Of course you can, but I didn't when I took the photo - I was concentrating on the decorative ironwork!

The photo was taken inside the John Neild Conservatory in Stamford Park, between Ashton and Stalybridge. The conservatory, which is 101 years old, is in effect a hothouse or giant greenhouse in which exotic plants grow, including this cactus display.

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Circles

December's Theme Day is on the topic of Circles.

Ashton being a mill town, where better to look for circles than in the yard of one of the old cotton mills? The circles here form part of the decorative iron work at Oxford Mills in Ashton's West End. The brackets on the left appear to have once supported a canopy over the loading doors.

The first part of the mill complex was built in 1845 by Thomas Mason. The building on the left of the photo was added in 1851, with a bridge section linking the two.

Thomas retired in 1860 and the business was taken on by his youngest son, Hugh, who showed great benevolence to his workforce, keeping them employed throughout the "Cotton Famine" of the 1860s and building good houses and other facilities for his employees.

Most of the buildings are still standing and in use, but no longer spinning cotton.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in the December theme day

Alphabet Friday - Waterworks

"W" is for "Waterworks" and this building on Henrietta Street was once the offices of Ashton's water supply company. The stone on the roof parapet above the door bears the words: "Ashton under Lyne Waterworks AD 1838".

The Ordnance Survey map of 1848, just 10 years after this building was constructed, shows that there was a small circular storage reservoir just behind the building. This site was presumably chosen as it is on the top of the closest hill to the town. The storage reservoir was fed from Knott Hill Reservoir, which was built at Hazelhurst around this time. Ashton under Lyne Waterworks Company had been formed in 1825 and in 1856 was taken over by Ashton Corporation.

The 1848 map shows that Henrietta Street finished just a few yards to the left of this building, with the open land of Lees Fields beyond. The waterworks were literally on the very edge of the town at that time.

See Google Aerial View of this location.
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Alphabet Friday - Valley Aqueduct

"V" is for "Valley Aqueduct" and this attractive location is situated on the present northern boundary of Ashton, although at one time Ashton extended a lot further northwards.

The aqueduct carries the disused Fairbottom Branch of the Ashton Canal across Knott Lanes, which leads down from Bardsley. This section of canal was filled in after the aqueduct began to leak. It is hoped that the canal here can be restored, however.

The road is now a dead end for vehicles but it was the main carriage road north from Ashton to Oldham and Rochdale, before the 1765 turnpike road was built, which ran directly from Waterloo to Bardsley and has become the modern A627 Oldham Road. The original road ran along Downing Street to Taunton on its route into Ashton.

The area shown in the photo is now part of Daisy Nook Country Park and there are some pleasant woodland and canalside walks to be had around here.

See Google Aerial View of this location, although the road and canal are both hidden by trees!

Alphabet Friday - Ugly Faces

"U" is for "Ugly Faces" and these particular examples can be found around the outside of Ashton Parish Church.

A stone moulding known as a hoodmould runs around the top of each window and door around the outside of the church. At each end of the hoodmoulds are carved stone heads. These were added at the time of the 19th century re-building of the church exterior. Such carved heads are very common on churches.



The heads each side of the windows tend to have comic ugly faces. Back in May we saw the more elegant heads that are to be found on each side of a small doorway at the back of the church.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Tennis Courts

"T" is for "Tennis" and these two tennis courts at Rose Hill Tennis Club are hidden away at the top end of Gorsey Lane, not for from The Peaks pub in the Hazelhurst area.

There are not many tennis courts left in the area now. I think there are some at West End Park and Stamford Park.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Stockport Road

S is for Stockport Road, which is the main A6017 road from Ashton towards Guide Bridge, Denton and, of course, Stockport.

This photo is looking along Stockport Road towards the centre of Ashton from the bus stop in Trafalgar Square. The tower of St Peter's Church is seen in the centre of the photo. The Twelve Apostles terrace is out of shot to the right.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Rock

R is for "Rock" and this splendid example can be found in Stamford Park, on the border between Ashton and Stalybridge.

This lump of rock is an erratic boulder that was carried by a glacier and deposited in the locality when the the ice melted. It was moved to its present location after the park was opened. It was popularly supposed that this rock was a meteorite but that is not the case.

At first I was waiting for the young gentleman to get out of shot, as I thought his bright shirt would draw too much attention from the rock, but when he turned to look at it, there was suddenly a connection and I am rather pleased with the result!

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Quickwood

Q is for Quickwood and that is the name of this historic terrace of houses in Mossley, just over the hill from Ashton.

The three storey building was Quick Manor, sometimes called Mossley Manor. This was built in the 17th century as the manor house of Quickmere, one of the four divisions of Saddleworth. This part of Mossley was at that time in Yorkshire along with Saddleworth.

The adjoining two storey cottages were added in phases between around 1760 and 1820. At that time the whole area was very rural. The church of St John the Baptist was built on the hill a short distance behind Quickmere in 1878.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Park Gates (2)

"P" is for Park Gates and today's photo shows the gates of Stamford Park opposite the Sycamore pub at the junction of Mellor Road and Stamford Street, Cockbrook.

Inside the gates the main path divides and goes each side of the park keeper's house, with a smaller path going off to the left into The Dingle.

We saw a previous picture of Park Gates in February when the location was King George's Park.

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Old Tram Depot

"O" is for "Old Tram Depot" and that is what this building on Cowhill Lane used to be. It was used by the Manchester Carriage and Tramway Company between 1881 and 1901. When Ashton's tramway system was taken over by Ashton Corporation, a new, bigger depot was built on Mossley Road, which became the town's bus garage.

The depot in Cowhill Lane was used by horse-drawn trams. There was stabling for the horses on the upper level, accessed from the rear of the building. This building is adjacent to St James's Church.

I wouldn't like to imagine exactly what "Impregnation Services" has to offer.....

See Google Aerial View of this location.

Alphabet Friday - Old Town

O is for "Old Town" and this street sculpture represents Ashton's Old Town area of Stamford Street and Old Street. The metal grid in the centre of the sculpture is in the form of a map of the grid pattern of Ashton's streets. The surface is decorated with a variety of objects to represent the shops and industries of the area. Elsewhere are representations of people, buildings and events that have shaped Ashton. The sculpture was created in 2002 and is the work of artist Michael Johnson.

Alphabet Friday - Manchester Road

M is for Manchester Road, the main A635 from Manchester and the M60 into Ashton.

Anyone who has been away from Ashton for many years will remember Manchester Road as being completely flat and straight, yet this recent photo is looking down a definite hill and curve! The reason is that, when the M60 motorway was built, the alignment of the road was changed, with the road level west of Crowthorne Road being raised to get enough height to cross the motorway.

In the foreground you can see the lane marked "M60". On the left is Evans Halshaw, Ford dealers, which has replaced Quicks. Behind that, the nearest block of flats is Margaret House.

Right of centre is St Peter's Church, with the tower of the Old Swimming Baths behind. Beyond that, those with sharp eyes may make out the tower of Ashton Parish Church and the spire of Albion Church.

Alphabet Friday - Lees Road

L is for Lees Road and this is the southern end of Lees Road, looking south towards Hurst Cross. The Texaco garage is on the corner of Nook Lane. The terraced houses in the distance are on the corner of Kenworthy Avenue. The photo was taken close to the junction with Connery Crescent. Ashton United's football ground is behind the houses on the right.

Lees Road (sometimes incorrectly called Lees New Road) was built round about 1840 and went to Lees. The present B6194 road up through Abbey Hills to Oldham was only built later. Lees had historically been a part of the parish of Ashton but, before the construction of Lees Road, travel between Lees and Ashton would have been very difficult.

A Google aerial view of this location can be seen here.

Alphabet Friday - Kings Road

K is for Kings Road and today's photograph shows Kings Road between St John's Church and Hurst Cross.

On the left, the Church Inn was to let at the time the photo was taken. On the other side of Rowley Street is Higher Hurst Post Office, with the Co-op at the other end of the block.

Alphabet Friday - Jeremy's Cottage

J is for "Jeremy's Cottage", which was actually a 17th century farm house.

This Grade II listed building is on Lily Lanes and is part of the cluster of buildings that formed the hamlet of Hartshead, one of the more rural areas of Ashton. It is opposite the former St Augustine's Chapel and enjoys long range views across Manchester and Cheshire.

Alphabet Friday - IKEA

"I" is for "IKEA" and, unusually, Ashton's IKEA store is almost in the town centre. It stands at the junction of Oldham Road and Wellington Road on what was once a railway goods yard. In the distance can be seen the tower of the Hop Pole pub on Oldham Road. The green strip on the left will one day be the Metrolink tram's route into Ashton.

Alphabet Friday - Holy Trinity

"H" is for Holy Trinity Church, seen here from Bentinck Street. The church was built by mill-owner George Heginbottom and opened in 1878.

Alphabet Friday - Goslings

"G" is for "Goslings" and there were plenty of those at Chadwick Dams, behind Tameside Hospital, in June. No wonder they are pushing out ducks and white geese!