Henrietta Street

This week's view of My World is looking up Henrietta Street, on the north side of Ashton.

The street links the town centre with the Smallshaw area of the town. The shop on the right was originally one of Ashton's many Co-op shops. Out of sight to the right is King George's Playing Field - the local park.

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See Google Street View of this location.

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

Lift Bridge

This week's Sky Watch shows the lift bridge at the new Frenches Marina in Greenfield, around 6 miles from Ashton.

The bridge, which carries the canal towpath, lifts up to allow boats to move between the marina and the Huddersfield Canal. The Structure of the bridge, along with the retro lamp post, make interesting shapes against the sky, set above the outline of Alphin Pike and Noon Sun Hill in the background.

Behind the marina are Greenfield's new Tesco store on the left and the Kingfisher pub on the right. This photo continues the canal theme from Monday!

See Aerial 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!

Cooling off on the Canal

This week's glimpse of My World shows you the Ashton Canal at Portland Basin in Ashton.

It was a hot weekend and there is something cooling about just being down by the water on a hot day. Even better than being by the water is being in the water and, amongst all the big steel narrowboats, this gentleman was enjoying a pootle about in a small boat. It looks fun but I did worry about how sunburnt he'd be by the end of the day!

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"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.

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.

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: Yellow and Blue

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is Y for "Yellow and Blue" and I wonder whether you can spot anything yellow and blue in the photo?

The picture shows the construction of the new Metrolink tram terminus alongside Wellington Road in Ashton, looking back towards Oldham Road.

When the tram is running, it is a good bet that visitors arriving on the tram will notice that they come into the town past a rather large yellow and blue building. This is, of course, IKEA. I expect there's one near where you live. This particular IKEA, the Manchester branch, is a bit controversial because, unlike most branches, it is situated close to the the town centre.

This is good for those people who don't have cars but some people feel the building dominates that side of the town too much. However, that doesn't stop people shopping there and it seems to be very popular with shoppers from Ashton and from all around Manchester.

Whenever I have been in, I become baffled by all the odd names things have. I'm sure there was a table called Nigel.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Yellow and Blue" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "Y" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: eXcitement!

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is X for "eXcitement!" Well, yes - I know that's sort of cheating, but there weren't many Xylophones to see in Ashton this week!

The eXcitement in question was from the large crowds that gathered in Ashton to see the Olympic Torch Relay pass through. In the centre of the photo you can see the young lady who was carrying the torch for this stage as she runs along Market Street. She then ran around the Market Hall to the point where she passed the flame on to the next bearer, in front of the Town Hall.

There was a better photo of the torch bearer in Monday's blog post, but this image gives a better impression of eXcitement of the crowd as they witnessed this spectacle.

After the torch passed through, many of the people lining the streets moved onto the Market Ground, where entertainment was being provided.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Moment To Shine!

Sunday was Ashton's "Moment To Shine" as it was the day when the Olympic Torch Relay passed through the town.

Huge crowds lined the streets to observe this spectacle and cheer the torch bearers on their way.

The photo shows the torch being carried down Penny Meadow into the town centre, where it went around the outside of the Market Hall before continuing towards Oldham.

The council laid on entertainment for the crowds on the Market Ground in front of the Town Hall.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Moment To Shine!" 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.

Re-surfacing

If anyone living in this area wondered why the road through Daisy Nook was closed last week, here's the reason why!

After months of work re-building the retaining walls alongside Stannybrook Road where it winds down the side of the valley, the road itself has been re-surfaced. The road is wide enough for little more than two cars and, as you can see, the tarmac laying machine takes up more than half of the road, so the road had to be closed while the work was being carried out.

This was the scene at the Failsworth end of Stannybrook Road, where it passes the Sul Lago restaurant (formerly the Crime View pub). The location can still boast a traditional K6 telephone box.

I came upon the work while I was enjoying a walk along the canal in Daisy Nook. If you click the StreetView link below and swivel to the right, you get a glimpse of Crime Lake through the trees.

The strip of fresh tarmac stretched right down the hill behind me toward the River Medlock. The machine still had to return and lay the tarmac on the other side of the road. I showed you a photo of road re-surfacing back in March but the road here is even narrower.

The drive down Stannybrook Road had become a bit rough so I am sure the finished road will be a great improvement!

See Google Street View of this location.

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