Sky Watch: Sunset over Oldham

Another sunset to add to the collection. Today's Sky Watch is a view from Hartshead Pike towards the sun setting over distant Winter Hill. The buildings appearing in silhouette are in the centre of Oldham, Ashton's hill-top neighbour to the north.

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!

Miners' Refuge

This photograph showing the boarded-up Miners' Refuge public house on Kings Road at Hurst Cross in Ashton, was taken in 2007. The pub was demolished a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure exactly when but just noticed one day that it wasn't there any more.

There were plenty of other pubs in the area competing for trade, including the Church Inn almost opposite and the Hare and Hounds a few yards further along Kings Road (seen in the photo).

Hurst Cross can also just be seen in the photo, along with the Co-op store on the left.

The Miners' Refuge was a plain-looking building that was opened as a beerhouse in 1860. It only became fully-licensed in 1961. It was originally a Shaw's pub and was later run by Rothwell's and eventually Marston's breweries.

The name refers to the nearby Broadoak Colliery which was in operation at the time the pub was built so, no doubt, many of its original customers were indeed miners.

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Rainy Days

Some followers of this blog have commented that the photos mostly seem to show Ashton in the sunshine. This is probably true as I do tend to go out taking photos when it is a nice day and don't usually think about taking photos on a wet, miserable day.

Today's photo is for those of you in hot faraway countries, especially ex-pat Ashtonians who miss the Lancashire rain! The scene is looking northwards along Warrington Street, from the junction with Old Street, towards the Market Ground.

The photo was taken this morning. Typically, the weather this afternoon returned to the normal glorious sunshine!

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Sky Watch: This Way to the Pike

Hartshead Pike is always a good subject for Sky Watch photos, as it necessitates pointing the camera skyward. Also, of course, the shape of the tower makes for an interesting interaction with the shapes of the clouds.

This view, from Broadcarr, includes the footpath sign that indicates one of the routes the walker can take to the tower on the summit of the pike.

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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!

Cash Converters

Back in March, I reported that the Hitchens shop on Stamford Street (formerly Ashton's branch of Littlewoods) had shut down.

Today, while walking down Stamford Street, I noticed that the building is back in use as a branch of Cash Converters, which is basically a pawnbroker's shop. I'm not sure how long Cash Converters have been in the store, but it is the first time I have noticed.

I seem to recall that they had previously occupied a shop higher up Stamford Street, once Ashton's original Woolworths and now the charity shop of the Wooden Canal Boat Society, as seen here.

It would seem to be a sign of the times that a catalogue surplus shop cannot survive in Ashton whereas a pawnbroker's shop can!

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Sky Watch - Evening on the Canal

Lock number 3w on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, just off Whitelands Road, Ashton, seen in the darkening evening sky. The clouds were making interesting wispy shapes, which looked harmless enough, but an hour later the rain was coming down hard!

A boat is coming up in the lock on its way to Stalybridge.

Wellington Mill is in the background and the new Stagecoach bus depot is behind the fence on the left.

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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!

The Final Curtain?

Slot World, on the corner of Old Street and Delamere Street, was until a few years ago the Metro Cinema. This was the last of the cinemas in Ashton's town centre.

It opened in 1920 as the Majestic Picture House, with more than 1200 seats. It was renamed the Gaumont in 1946 and the Odeon in 1962. It was bought in 1981 by an independent operator who also ran the Palace in Stalybridge and was renamed the Metro.

It closed as a cinema in 2003 and the large foyer area is now used as an amusement arcade. There are currently proposals to pull the building down and replace it with a small car park.

Cinema is still very much alive in Ashton, however, but in the form of the multi-screen CineWorld on Ashton Moss.

The Metro may have been the last single-screen cinema in Greater Manchester, unless you know differently!

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Mossley on Monday: The Train Now Arriving...

The train now arriving at Mossley Station is the 13.55 to Mancheshter Victoria, calling at Stalybridge and Ashton under Lyne.

Anyone waiting at Ashton will be lucky to get a seat, though, as these two-carriage trains are often full by the time they get there.

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Stalybridge Saturday: The Millpond

The Millpond is a pub that stands in Armentieres Square in the heart of Stalybridge, just two miles east of Ashton.

However, it is not a Millpond that the pub looks out over but the restored Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which has been made into a feature of the square.

Stalybridge has been twinned with the French town of Armentières since 1955.

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More Vintage Cars

Another look at some of the cars that took part in annual vintage and classic car rally at Ashton Market on 21st June.

To the right is a 1954 Austin A40 Somerset. To the left is its smaller brother, an Austin A35, from the late 1950s. The A35 is distinguished from the earlier A30 by its painted grill (rather than chrome) and by flashing indicator lights (rather than flip-up semaphore indicators) although these are hidden by the baby buggy and the gentleman admiring the Somerset!

To the left again is what appears to be an Austin A55 Cambridge Mark II from around 1960.

Sunday Stroll: Sylvan Steps

Today's photo was taken on a recent stroll around Daisy Nook Country Park, situated between Ashton and Failsworth.

For some reason I had never come across this particular path before, leading from Sammy's Basin down towards the River Medlock. I was enchanted by the quality of the light trickling through the trees in this sylvan setting.

As the steps wind downwards between the trees there seems to be a compulsion to follow then and see where they lead!

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Sky Watch: Morning Cloud

An early morning view of the Tame Valley looking from Mossley towards Saddleworth. The clouds are being lit by a sun that has not yet appeared above the hills. Most people were still in bed at that time, with no lights visble in any of the houses and no traffic moving on the main Manchester Road.

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!

Vintage Cars 2009

On 21st June the annual vintage and classic car rally took place in Ashton. Last year the cars were spread out around Bow Street and Warrington Street but, now that the Market Hall has re-opened, most of the cars were on display in front of the Market Hall, with a few on Bow Street.

On the left, with its bonnet open, is an MG convertible. On the right, the first car is a 1960s Rover 110 Saloon.