Christmas Lights

Christmas Eve's view of My World shows the Arcades shopping mall in Ashton with its festive lights helping to get shoppers into the Christmas spirit!

A  Merry   Christmas  to all followers of this blog! Thank you for visiting.
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"Christmas Lights" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Stamford Street

This week's glimpse of My World shows you a small block of shops on Stamford Street in the Old Town area of Ashton.

This is one of many splendid examples of Victorian architecture to be found in the town. These shops were built in 1892 by Joseph Fletcher, who also built many other shops in Ashton, including those in Market Avenue.

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See Google Street View of this location.

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

ABC Wednesday: Wellington

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is W for "Wellington". The photo shows the Wellington Inn on Oldham Road.

"Wait a minute!" I hear you cry. "You've put the wrong photograph in - that's not a pub!" Ah, but it used to be the Wellington Inn. However, when no-one could be found to continue to run it as a pub, it was sold to Tesco, who have converted it into one of their local "Tesco Express" shops.

A few months ago I reported on the opening of a Tesco Express on Mossley Road, Tesco's first shop in Ashton for many years.

The pub originally opened, in 1850, as the "Waterloo" but the name was changed a few years later, after the death of the Duke of Wellington. It was one of four pubs in Ashton to bear that name!

I am sure there are many who will mourn the passing of yet another pub, but I have to say that I am pleased with what Tesco have done to the building. It has been smartly refurbished with much of its character being retained. Even the signage has been toned down. I would much rather see this old building looked after and given a new lease of life than see a decaying, boarded-up empty pub.

See Google Street View of this location which, at the time this post is published, still shows what the building was like as a pub.

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

ABC Wednesday - Shop

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is S for "Shop". The photo shows a shop on Oldham Road in Ashton.

The shop was originally a Co-operative shop - one of many built in various parts of the town. Not only was the shop itself built by the Co-op, but so were the block of houses adjoining it.

One of the features that is noticeable on many of the former Co-op shops in the area was the decorative brickwork that the buildings often feature. In this case, the ornamentation is on the gable on the roof over the doorway, and on the chimney stack. The ornamentation is also seen on other buildings in the same row.

From having a grand empire of shops in every part of the town, the Co-op has now shrunk to having a food store on Kings Road, Hurst Cross, a pharmacy on Stockport Road, West End, a Funeral Care shop in Cockbrook and a Travel shop in the town centre.

View this location on Google Street View.

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

Bow Street

Today's view of the world of Ashton under Lyne shows Bow Street, alongside the Market Hall, seen from Market Street.

Bow Street is a fairly unremarkable street running alongside the Open Market and the Market Hall but it has seen some notable changes over the years.

Today it is a pedestrian zone, with access for traders' vehicles only at certain times, making a more relaxing experience for shoppers. It hasn't always been like that, of course, and I can remember when it was possible to park your car near that phone box and nip into the Market Hall for something. Earlier still the street was a busy bus route (and trolley bus and tram route before that) with several services calling or terminating at stops alongside the Open Market.

The row of buildings along the left hand side has undergone various changes as well. B&M Bargains was previously a Kwik Save supermarket and before that I think it was a Liptons' store. Maybe someone has a better memory than me? The New Market Hotel stood on that spot until around the 1960s.

The pharmacy hasn't always been Boots. I remember it being something else not too long ago. Was it Hibbert's? Pound Busters Superstore, the yellow building in the centre of the photo, hasn't always been a shop. For many years it was the Nag's Head pub and then more recently the Chute Bar. Perhaps someone reading this knows how long Holloway's Travel Goods has been there. I suspect it is rather longer than the others!

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

ABC Wednesday: Every Little Helps

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is E for Every Little Helps.

The photograph shows the new Tesco Express shop that will open tomorrow (Wednesday) on Mossley Road in Ashton.

Tesco Express shops are fairly small and are more or less local convenience stores unlike their larger supermarkets or even larger Tesco Extra stores.

What is interesting about this opening is that it is the first time in many years that Tesco has had a presence in the town. Back in the 1960s and 1970s Tesco has a smallish food supermarket in the town centre as well as a separate "Home and Wear" store in what is now "Iceland" on Bow Street. Tesco also had a distribution centre off Queens Road. These all closed as they became too small for Tesco's needs, so it is ironic that the company's return to Ashton is in an even smaller shop! Tesco Express shops are a mixture of new shops opened in town centres or convenient main road locations and existing convenience shops belonging to small chains that have been acquired.

There is quite a high footfall on this part of Mossley Road, being near Tameside Hospital, Ashton Sixth Form College and Tameside College. The site is next to the former Ashton Tram/Bus Depot and opposite the site of the old Heyes School.

I should point out to overseas readers that "Every Little Helps" is an advertising slogan used by Tesco!

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Every Little Helps" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "E" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

Roxy Shops

Today's view of the world of Ashton under Lyne shows you this row of shops on Queens Road at Hurst Cross.

They are known as the Roxy Shops because they stood opposite the Roxy Cinema. The cinema has long-since gone and a small Asda store now stands on the site. However, the name of the cinema lives on with Roxy Angling Supplies.

The shops were built with a surprisingly attractive frontage, featuring mock timbered gables. However, this is marred by the metal roller shutters that are probably a necessity for shops all over the country these days.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

A New Supermarket

Today's view of the world of Ashton under Lyne shows the newest supermarket to open in Ashton.

This is a mini-Asda store that has opened a week ago on Queens Road, Hurst Cross. The building was originally a Co-op supermarket and I showed this picture of it in 2008.

The Co-op kept it's "Late Shop" open round the corner on Kings Road, which may have reduced the profitability of the store on Queens Road. The store was bought by Netto just before Asda took over all of Netto's UK stores, which is why it has now become an Asda, even though Asda have a large superstore on Cavendish Street.

When I took this photo last week the car park was pretty full suggesting that the new store is attracting a lot of interest. I have a feeling the Co-op may regret having sold the shop, as the Late Shop seemed pretty quiet that day.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Pie Shop

Today's photo from the world of Ashton under Lyne shows the pie shop on Kings Road at Hurst Cross.

Right in the middle of this block of terraced houses in the Hurst Cross area of Ashton is Bradley's Bakery. Not only do Bradleys sell bread, cakes and the most delicious pies, but they also bake them on the premises. You can catch a glimpse of the wonders of the bakery through a doorway behind the shop counter.

This photo is unusual in that it shows some parking spaces available in front of the shop. There is usually a queue of customers inside the shop, several of them people who were passing by on their cars. At ;unchtime the queue can be out of the door. That has to say something about the products on sale!

The family business began in Oldham in 1960, moving to the present location in 1981. The delicious range of pies on offer include Pork, Beef, Steak & Cowheel, Cheese & Onion and Pork & Bury Black Pudding! If you want to see photos of these pies, they why not indulge in a little food porn by visiting the Bradley's Bakery web site?

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Pedestrian Zone

"Z" is for "Zone" or, in this case, "Pedestrian Zone" and today's photo shows the start of the the pedestrianised area in Fletcher Street in Ashton town centre.

Ashton has been a much more agreeable place for shoppers since traffic has been excluded from many of the shopping streets. It is hard to remember now that buses and cars used to go along Warrington Street, up the side of the Market Ground.

Market Street, running alongside the Market Hall in the photo, was once a busy two-way street. Fletcher Street, where this photo was taken, was always a side street but was still used by buses, some of which terminated here before the bus station was built.

A little square has been created at the bottom of Fletcher Street, with seating and planters arranged around a piece of sculpture entitled "The Family", making good use of the space created by removing traffic.

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See Birds Eye View of this location.

"Pedestrian Zone" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "Z" posts from around the world please follow this link.
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Kings Road

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"K" is for "Kings Road" and today's photo shows part of Kings Road in the Hurst Cross area of Ashton.

Kings Road was originally called Hurst Lane and was the route from Ashton to Hurst Cross and Higher Hurst. From Hurst Cross travellers could head eastwards towards Mossley and Yorkshire or northwards along a maze of lanes towards Park Bridge and Oldham.

On the right is the much re-branded Co-op "local" store, once the Co-op "Late Shop" but now "Co-operative Food".

On the left, behind the former Church Inn (now itself a shop) is the spire of St John's church.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

See Google Street View of this location.

"Kings Road" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "K" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Monochrome Moment: Clarence Arcade

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Clarence Arcade is a short covered Victorian shopping arcade of the sort that were the fore-runners of today's modern traffic-free shopping malls!

Clarence Arcade was built in 1894 and is Tameside's only covered Victorian shopping arcade. It ran parallel with Stamford Street, at that time the town's main shopping street, with a decorative entrance at each end.

For the first half of its existence it would have been a thriving honeypot for shoppers but, as Stamford Street's importance as a shopping venue waned, so did the fortunes of Clarence Arcade.

The Arcade has had a refurbishment in recent years and the former shop units are now mostly occupied by offices. While this means that this little corner of Victoriana has been saved, the Arcade which once echoed with the voices of crowds of shoppers is now eerily silent.

"Clarence Arcade" is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

Ladysmith Centre

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"L" is for "Ladysmith" and today's photo shows the Ladysmith Centre in Ashton.

The Ladysmith Centre started life in the 1960s as a grim concrete shopping area known as "The Precinct", but has undergone major refurbishment and some rebuilding. The centre now looks bright, modern and clean. Being a private site it is kept locked at night and litter is quickly removed. In the photo you can see a cleaning trolley behind the advertising board, indicating that the centre's cleaner was somewhere nearby.

The centre takes its name from the city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The first battalion of the Manchester Regiment, which was based at Ashton under Lyne Barracks, had been involved in the Battle of Ladysmith in the Boer War. They played a part in the relief of the city, which had been under seige for 118 days. Two privates from the battalion were later awarded the Victoria Cross for their amazing bravery. The barracks were later renamed Ladysmith Barracks.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

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

Stamford Street

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Stamford Street was once the heart of Ashton under Lyne's shopping centre. The street was lined with Victorian buildings housing quality traditional shops, with a handful of larger multiple stores, like Woolworths, in among them.

As in most towns, shopping fashions in Ashton have changed. Out-of-town superstores take many shoppers away from the town centre altogether and modern shopping centres have been built to the north of Stamford Street. Yet the street battles on and has made something of a comeback, with most shops in the central part of the street being in use, although some are now charity shops, pawnbrokers, fast food shops, etc. And there are still a number of more traditional shops surviving on their reputations.

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


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Door Shop

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This shop on Whiteacre Road sells doors. It probably sells other things as well, but I have only ever seen doors on display outside.

I seem to remember this shop having a display of doors outside for at least the last 30 to 35 years! It is looking a little sorry for itself these days, however and could do with the benefit of a little DIY itself.

Although I have known this shop for many years and have passed it thousands of times, I have never set foot inside, but then - I don't buy doors very often.

The building looks as if it might originally have been one of Ashton's many Co-op shops. Does anyone know whether this is the case?

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Escalator

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"E" is for "Escalator" and this photograph shows one of the very few escalators to be found in Ashton. The photo was taken last year when the Ladysmith Centre was undergoing further refurbishment. This has included building new small retail units between the columns along one side of the passageway.

Older readers who have been away from Ashton may remember the Ladysmith Centre as "The Precinct" when it was the height of modernity.

There is an escalator in the adjoining Marks and Spencer store and in the Arcades shopping mall. They are all "up" escalators so you aren't supposed to want to come down to earth again.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

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

St Michael's Square

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Here is a different view of St Michael's Square, with St Michael's Parish Church peeping up behind the buildings.

This splendid Victorian shop building now sells beds. When it was built in 1900 it occupied a very prominent position on the corner of Stamford Street and Scotland Street, then two of the main roads in the town centre. Stamford Street was the main shopping street and St Michael's Square was the terminus for buses to Stalybridge and Dukinfield so this spot would have been crowded with pedestrians.

Now the main traffic route has moved to the by=pass at the back of the church while the shopping area has migrated to Warrington Street and the Ladysmith and Arcades malls.

The building on the right, St Michael's House, was once the registry office but now houses the offices of a number of organisations.

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


See Birds Eye View of this location.

Warrington Street

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Looking northwards along Warrington Street towards Bow Street and the Open Market ground. Only a few decades ago this was a busy bus route and cars parked along the side of the market. There are usually far more pedestrians milling around here but the cold weather must be keeping some away.

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


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Stamford Street

While the weather can't make its mind up whether to snow again, I have more photos to share with you of the snow in Ashton before Christmas. Today's photo is looking along Stamford Street from Old Square.

It was a Sunday, so most of the shops have their shutters down, as the Sunday opening of shops in other parts of the town centre has not generally reached Stamford Street.

The towers of the Old Baths and St Peters Church can be seen in the distance.

A view looking in the same direction a bit further along Stamford Street was seen here almost two years ago.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Christmas in The Arcades

Today's photo shows the Christmas lighting in The Arcades, Ashton's indoor shopping mall.

The great Christmas Shopping Rush has only just finished and already the Great January Sales rush has started, even though it is not January yet!

If you compare with last year's photo, you will notice that the space previously occupied by Woolworths is now empty.

Last year The Arcades had a special Christmas display featuring a yeti and other creatures. Unfortunately they haven't bothered with anything like that this year.