Sky Watch: Down the Line

Today's glorious evening sky view is looking along the railway line from Ashton eastwards towards Stalybridge.

It is looking from the bridge where Cowhill Lane crosses the railway. The next bridge carries Romney Street. To the right of the bridge you can just make out the former Albion Sunday School.

On the far right of the picture is the Markazi Jamia Mosque in Newton Street, situated in a building that was formerly the old St Mary's School. The mosque will soon be moving to a new site in Hillgate Street so that Ashton's northern by-pass road can bludgeon its way through.

Sky Watch is the regular Friday feature on this photo blog. It will link 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!

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Canalside Apartments

These attractive new apartments overlook the Ashton Canal close to Portland Basin in Ashton.

Forty years ago the canal here was an overgrown rubbish-filled eyesore and the idea of building homes looking over it would have been unthinkable! Fortunately our canal heritage is now appreciated far more and there are people passing by on boats they have hired for their holiday.

The neat homes in turn help to improve the appearance of the area which had previously had a run-down feel.

The apartments stand on the site of the old Junction Mill, but its unusual octagonal chimney has been retained for posterity.

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Up The Junction

Today's photo shows the Junction Inn on Mossley Road at Hazelhurst.

There have been three Junction Inns in Ashton - this one, the one on Turner Lane and one on Portland Street whose site is now part of the Ashton Bypass.

The Junction at Hazelhurst dates from 1835. In 1861 the landlord was charged with keeping a disorderly house after a visit by a plain-clothes policeman following complaints of after hours drinking on a Sunday!

The reason for the name of the pub is clear - it stands at the meeting of roads radiating in five directions! The modern A670 Mossley Road was the newer turnpike road, built around the 1830s, cutting across the older route (Old Road, Luzley Lane) at its junction with Gorsey Lane, as can be seen clearly on the Google aerial view.

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Mossley on Monday: Off Licence

There was still a hint of frost on the roof slates when this photograph was taken. It shows the Off Licence at the junction of Carrhill Road and Stockport Road in Top Mossley. For those viewing from overseas, I should explain that it is a sort of corner shop that is licensed to sell alcohol.

The shop and adjoining cottage are set in an area of other stone-built houses. They are older than some of the other buildings nearby, having stone mullioned windows. To the left, a gap in the buildings leads to a yard surrounded by cottages that is known as Wild's Square.

The photo is looking from the steep and cobbled lower section of Sandbed Lane.

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Sunday Stroll: Park Bridge

Even a dull day doesn't diminish the attractiveness of the Medlock Valley near Park Bridge.

Up until around fifty years ago this valley would have rung out with the sounds of the Lees family's iron works. The viaduct carrying the Ashton to Oldham railway would have been visible just down the valley. Even this gently rising riverside path was originally the track of a narrow-gauge railway that transported coal and iron down to the Hollinwood Canal at Fairbottom.

These days, however, the loudest sound you will hear at this spot is the rushing of the river beside you. A few of the iron work's buildings survive and are used for other purposes but large areas of the former works have now reverted to part of the landscape.

Behind the camera the path continues along the valley to the remains of the coal mine at Rocher Vale.

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Sky Watch: Council Offices

It is quite difficult (in my opinion) to argue that Tameside Council's offices on Wellington Road are situated in an attractive building. In fact, when it was first constructed it was widely referred to as "The Dustbin"!

So how do I take an attractive-looking photo of the building? My answer was to show it in silhouette against a colourful evening sky. It doesn't make the building look any prettier but it does distract the eye!

Sky Watch is the regular Friday feature on this photo blog. It will link 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!

See LiveSearch Birds Eye View of this location.

St Ann's Church

St Ann's Roman Catholic Church on Burlington Street was opened in 1859 replacing a temporary chapel opened in 1852.

Much of the money for the building of the church was raised by Father William Crombleholme but, as Ashton fell victim to the effects of the "Cotton Famine", he was left with huge debts. The "Murphy Riots" of 1868 had resulted in considerable damage being done to the building, adding to the financial disaster.

There was no way the impoverished parishioners could raise the money needed, so in 1873, Father Crombleholme was given permission by the bishop to go on a five-year missionary tour of America to raise funds. Sadly, he died during his second missionary trip in 1884.

It was intended that the church should have a tower and spire (on the right hand corner, as seen in the photo) but the lack of money meant that these were never built. In 2003 the parish was amalgamated with that of neighbouring St Mary's when that church was demolished.

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The Ladysmith Centre

The Ladysmith shopping centre has had another facelift. The new look is tied in with major work such as the refurbishment and re-opening of the multi-storey car park, and the building of small sales booths along the side of Marks and Spencer. I showed a photo of the new-look Warrington Street entrance last month.

Compare today's photo of the entrance from Old Street with last year's photo of the same location. Personally I prefer last year's appearance, which looked smart and modern. However, both are better than the faded sixties look the centre had back in the days when it was simply referred to as "The Precinct".

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Mossley on Monday: Lych Gate

This picture shows the Lych Gate at the entrance to St George's Church in Mossley. Behind it, across the road, is St George's Vicarage.

Compare this photo with the more urban setting of the Lych Gate at Christ Church in Ashton.

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Sunday Stroll: Woodland Wander

Last week's stroll took the footpath from Mossley Cross to Knott Hill Reservoir. We saw a photo of the stile from the golf course into an area of woodland called New Covert.

Today's photo takes you further along that path into the wood, looking back in the direction the stile, which can no longer be seen through the trees. On the left is the stream that flows into Knott Hill Reservoir and then Greenhurst Clough.

In future weeks we shall see photos of the path that runs around Knott Hill Reservoir.

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Saturday in Saddleworth - Dobcross Square

This is the centre of picturesque Dobcross village, part way up the side of the steep valley of the River Tame in Saddleworth.

The memorial which stands in the square has a lantern on its top. Double decker buses go up and down the narrow street behind it.

Dobcross Square was one of the main locations for the film "Yanks".

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Sky Watch: Bovine Sunset

Never mind telling me to get out of the way because you're trying to photograph a sunset - where's my other leg gone?

This photo was taken from Back Lane, near Hartshead Pike, with Winter Hill, more than 20 miles away, visible in the distance.

Sky Watch is the regular Friday feature on this photo blog. It will link 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!

See Google Aerial View of this location.
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Crowhill Shops

Today's photo shows the shops on Crowhill Road. It is looking from the junction with Ambleside Avenue towards Keswick Avenue.

Apart from Richmond Street and Crowhill Road itself, most roads on the Crowhill estate are named after places in the Lake District.

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The Albion

The Albion on Penny Meadow has been a fully licensed public house since 1837. It was used as a venue for Coroner's inquests and also for more pleasant functions such as workmen's dinners.

In 1858 Mary Hinds was given three months hard labour for stealing items from the landlord's wash room.

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Mossley on Monday: Old Pack Horse

The Old Pack Horse pub was at Mossley Cross, at the northern end of Luzley Road. It was sometimes claimed to have been the oldest pub in Mossley but, although the building dates from around 1750, it was not always a pub.

The first licence for a pub at Mossley Cross was for the Hope and Anchor in 1831, at which time there were already seven other pubs in Mossley. Then there was a gap of a few years during which there was no pub at Mossley Cross and then the Pack Horse was licensed in 1841. It is not known whether this was the same building as had been the Hope and Anchor. In 1864 the name was changed by the addition of the word "Old".

At the side of the Pack Horse was a barn which could offer stabling for three horses.

After a number of unfavourable reports by pub inspectors, including water running into the cellar, floorboards that were rotting and difficulty in supervising the rooms, the pub was closed in 1915. The stable at the side gradually became a ruin.

In the last year or so, the building has undergone substantial repairs and improvement. What appears to be a new extension on the right hand side is a careful re-building of what had been the stable, keeping to the original size and shape, and the same layout of doors and windows (except that the barn doors are now a picture window).

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Sunday Stroll: Over the Stile

When going for a walk in the country you should take care to keep to the public rights of way across private land, just as the landowner has a duty to keep the right of way open and walkable.

On this stroll I was following the footpath from Mossley Cross to Knott Hill Reservoir. Part of the route crosses a corner of Ashton golf club before going over this stile into woodland called New Covert. The path then continues through the woods to meet the path around the old reservoir.

It somehow feels naughty to be walking across the golf course without a set of clubs but, as long as you keep to the line of the path, you are okay. Of course, you have to keep an eye on what the golfers are doing as it would be unwise to walk across in front of someone about to take a shot!

The path into the woods looks very inviting and I will show you what lies ahead another week!
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Stalybridge Saturday: Town Hall

Today's photo is of Stalybridge Town Hall - or, at least, what's left of it!

The building, which dates from 1831, was demolished after it was found to require major repairs, but the portico surrounding the main entrance was left standing, looking like some sort of folly or monument.

There are two blue plaques on the structure. One commemorates the First General Strike or "Plug Riot" of 1842, which began in this area. The other remembers Joseph Rayner Stephens, a 19th Century philanthropist who lived in Stalybridge and campaigned against the Poor Law and for factory reforms.

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Sky Watch: Hartshead Pike

This week's Sky Watch sees a return to the magnetic location of Hartshead Pike. As the tower that stands on the summit of the pike points so dramatically skyward, it is inevitable that photographs taken here are going to feature plenty of sky!

There is something about this hilltop location that gives it qualities of light that don't seem to be present down in the town, as can be seen from several of the previous photos that have appeared here.

What would have been a dramatic evening sky is made even more striking by the addition in this photo of the stark silhouette of the tower.

Sky Watch is the new Friday feature on this photo blog. It will link 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!

See Google Aerial View of this location.
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Dead Ringer

This is the old Market Hall bell. It was housed in the tower of the Market Hall. When the building was destroyed by fire in 2004, the bell crashed down to the ground through the burning floors of the tower.

As you can see from the large crack across the side of the bell, it is no longer in a state to be rung. It has been replaced by an electronic bell which sounds fairly convincing except the tone stops more abruptly than a real bell would - the sound of a real bell continues for quite a few seconds, getting quieter and quieter.

The old bell has been cleaned up and put on display inside the re-opened Market Hall. A plaque on the wall behind announces that it was unveiled on 26th January 2009 by Councillor Alan Whitehead.

Miserable Morning

A dull morning in Warrington Street - today's photo looks from the corner of Bow Street towards Old Street. The buildings fade into the mist as they stretch on past Stamford Street in the distance.

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Mossley on Monday: Mind the Steps!

A few weeks ago we saw a photo of a building known as "The Old School House". It was called that because the Baguley School was once situated in part of the building. But when it was built in the 1780s, there were four dwellings on the two lower floors and a large weaving room occupying the entire top floor.

I mentioned that this weaving room was accessed by steps at the back of the building, and here are those steps! This is a rear view of that building. I don't know whether there was originally some sort of handrail. Other similar weavers' cottages in the Pennines don't have handrails, but the external steps usually run up alongside a wall rather than at right angles! They certainly didn't have the same hang-ups about Health and Safety in the eighteenth century!

This is a significant building in Mossley's heritage as it reflects the time when the production of woollen cloth was an important cottage industry in the area.

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Sunday Stroll: Mossley

You haven't got to go far from the built-up areas around here to find pleasant countryside and stunning views. This photo was taken on a public footpath that runs from Mossley Cross, at the northern end of Luzley Road, towards Bottom Mossley. The path is not more than half a mile long but has amazing views all the way along.

This spot is nearly at the bottom of the path, not far from where it opens onto Barngate Drive.

I was not pleased to find that the landowner has recently erected a barbed wire fence, forcing walkers along the very edge of the field. At one point the two fences are less than 3 feet apart and the sloping ground has a tendency to make you walk close to the new fence, with a risk of catching clothing on the barbs!

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Saturday in Saddleworth - Saddleworth Church

This is the first of a series of visits to nearby Saddleworth.

Saddleworth is an area that is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and now forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It is deep in the Pennine hills, around the headwaters of the River Tame, with stone being the main building material.

Although only around 4 to 8 miles from the centre of Ashton, parts of Saddleworth look as if they could be 50 miles away in the Yorkshire Dales!

The first photo shows Saddleworth parish church of St Chad's. The church dates from around 1200, although probably none of the building is original - the tower was rebuilt in 1746 and most of the rest in 1832! Although Saddleworth is made up of a number of villages, the church stands in near isolation high up on the hillside above Uppermill, although it does have the Church Inn to keep it company.

The church is the focus of the annual rush cart festival which takes place in August.

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If you were hoping to see a photo in the Stalybridge Saturday series, there will be one next week!

Sky Watch: Churchyard Tree

This tree stands in the grounds of St James' Church, Cowhill Lane. It is seen silhouetted against a wintry morning sky. The church is just visible on the left of the photo.

This tree also appeared in a previous Sky Watch photo, where the church itself was the main subject.

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Sky Watch is the regular Friday 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!

Market Street

With the Market Hall now re-opened, Market Street is getting back to normal. For over four years it was a building site, with site cabins situated there and metal fencing surrounding the whole construction site, leaving just a narrow pathway through to Fletcher Street and Penny Meadow.

In the distance, workers are putting the finishing touches to the new paving that has been laid to replace the paving damaged during the Market reconstruction work.

Bow Street runs off to the left of the Market Hall. Rising bollards prevent unauthorised vehicles from passing, keeping the area around the market for pedestrians only.

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