Blandford Street

Blandford Street is typical of many of the streets of terraced brick houses in Ashton. The houses in this area were built in the late 19th Century on streets which formed a grid pattern.

The photo looks eastwards towards the town centre from close to the junction with Richmond Street. Assheton House, a block of flats, is prominent in the distance.

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Photographing the Sunset

When I went up to Hartshead Pike a couple of weeks ago, I found that I wasn't the only one who had gone up there to photograph the sunset. In fact there were at least three others there with cameras pointing westwards!

The others had much fancier cameras than me, with filters and so on. I found that, although the sunset was colourful, the limited amount of cloud made it too dull as a subject by itself. So, being a bit devious, I decided to photograph the photographer (or one of them, at least). He is using the stone pillar, a few yards north of Hartshead Pike tower, to steady himself as he gets his shot of the sunset.

This was the same evening that I took last week's photo of the two figures silhouetted against the sky.

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!

Currier Lane

This is the view looking down the western end of Currier Lane towards Scotland Street, with the tower of Ashton's Parish Church in the background.

Now a quiet backwater, Currier Lane is an ancient highway and was the main route towards Stalybridge and Mottram before the present A635 Stamford Street East was built.

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Henrietta Street

Looking north up Henrietta Street at Lees Field, with Lord Street to the left and Canterbury Street a short way ahead on the right.

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Mossley on Monday: Toll House

Today's photo shows the former toll house on Manchester Road in Mossley.

Manchester Road was built in 1825 by a private turnpike trust who charged tolls for users of the road. A gate or bar blocked the road, which was opened on payment of the toll. The toll gate keeper lived in the cottage so that he was available throughout the day.

Before 1825 there was no road running along the valley bottom. The earlier turnpike roads, Stockport Road and Huddersfield Road had run high up along the valley sides.

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Sky Watch: Walking along the Skyline

While out for an evening stroll with my camera at Hartshead Pike last Saturday I noticed this gentleman and young girl walking along the top of the ridge. They made wonderful silhouettes against the dying sky so I started to take photos. The gentleman apologised for getting in my way!

I hope you spot this, sir, and thank you for being in the right place at the right time! Another image may well appear here in a few weeks.

The distant outline of Winter Hill can be seen in the background on the right.

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!

Stamford Street West

Stamford Street West looks very different today than it did when I first saw it nearly 40 years ago. At that time the main A635 road from Barnsley to Manchester ran down Stamford Street westwards, with eastbound traffic going up up Old Street. The building on the right was Ashton's swimming baths and the street was lined with shops that were still quite busy, although fading a little.

In today's view, looking eastwards from Henry Square, this section of the street is nearly deserted. The shops are gone and replaced by the area's health offices on one side and car parking on the other. The old swimming baths has stood empty for over 30 years. The area is still in the process of being regenerated and life brought back to it.

In the distance the tower of the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels can be seen, with the Pennine hills in the distance.


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Town Hall Steps

One of Ashton's landmarks is its Town Hall with its grand steps running down to the Market ground.

The original part of the building, seen here with its Corinthian columns, was opened in 1840. Inside the main entrance was the Mayor's Parlour to the left and the Committee Room to the right. Upstairs was the large hall for formal occasions such as banquets. There was originally a Police Station in the back of the building.

Parts of the building now accommodate the Museum of the Manchesters.

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Sunday Stroll: Woodland Waterway

A stroll along the canal towpath is a nice easy way of getting a bit of fresh air and there are plenty of places to walk by a canal within easy reach of Ashton.

Today's photo shows the wooded section of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal between Stalybridge and Mossley. Locks 9w and 10w are close together, so the short pound between sometimes gets a bit shallow.

There was at one time a lock keeper's cottage on the right next to this lock, but that has long since gone, along with lock keepers.

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Highland Laddie

The Highland Laddie pub on Old Street started life in 1813 and was the Spinners Arms until 1820.

It was re-built in 1900, along with the neighbouring properties, to form a terrace with the present rather grand frontage.

In recent years it has been known as the Camel Bar.

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Methodist New Connexion Chapel

On the corner of Stamford Street and Warrington Street is this building, one time the Methodist New Connexion Chapel.

The New Connexion, formed in 1797, was a breakaway movement from the main Methodist church and had a large number of followers in Lancashire. Many of Ashton's Methodists took part in the dissent movement, taking over Ashton's Methodist chapel that had been founded in 1794, leaving the 25 remaining loyal Weslyan followers with nowhere to worship until they built a new chapel in 1824.

The New Connexion movement was strong in Ashton and, in 1832 they opened this grand chapel to replace the earlier one.

Sadly, it has been empty in recent years, as can be seen from the photo. It is currently undergoing building work to convert it to another use. The New Connexion congregation now worships at nearby Hurst Methodist Church.

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Mossley on Monday: Courtyard

After my stroll over Brown Edge (seen here yesterday) I wandered down to the Co-op in Mossley. My attention was caught by this little courtyard behind houses on Waterton Lane and Earl Street. I thought it made an interesting photograph and wanted to share it with you!

At first I thought the wheelie bin spoilt the picture but I now think that it improves perspective and adds interest to the foreground.

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Sunday Stroll: Heather Hills

This is always a lovely time of the year for a walk in the hills near Ashton, with the heather in flower coating the hillsides with purple. This picture was taken on the slopes of Brown Edge, looking towards Mossley.

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Stalybridge Saturday: Canal Sculpture

In the heart of Stalybridge is Armentieres Square, named after the French town that is twinned with Stalybridge. In the centre of the square is the canal lock that was constructed as part of the restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

On the south side of the square is this sculpture, which is a representation of a pair of canal lock gates with their balance beams. It is actually a giant sundial! The shadow of the beam nearest the camera falls onto the stone blocks arranged in a curve to show the time.

It was created by artist Alan Dawes and erected in July 2008. A time capsule was buried close by. A video of the sculpture's opening can be seen here. A soundscape was developed to be performed at the opening. It can be heard here.

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Save the 343!

A Facebook Group has been launched to save the 343 bus service! Although it doesn't go to Ashton, it goes to lots of the neighbouring towns, going from Hyde to Oldham by way of Dukinfield, Stalybridge and Mossley.

The route has a long history, being formed out of two routes. The route from Oldham to Top Mossley was run jointly by Oldham Corporation as Route E and by SHMD as route 16. In 1969 this became SELNEC's route 416.

SHMD Route 4 was the only bus service to link all four towns that made up the SHMD operation - Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield. Some journeys later ran through Micklehurst estate as the 4A. These routes were later renumbered 344 and 343. Until the 1970s the half-hourly 343/4 service was the only route that linked Top and Bottom Mossley, although these days there are 11 buses an hour in each direction between these two points.

From 1980 the 343 was extended to Oldham to replace the 416. However, passenger numbers have fallen over the years and the service is now hourly throughout the route. In 2007, First Bus decided the 343 wasn't profitable and pulled out of the daytime operation, although they still run it at night and on Sundays, when it is subsidised.

Since then it has been run by Hyde-based Speedwellbus, but now they have also decided that it is unprofitable, and have announced their intention to withdraw the route in early October. These photographs, taken at lunchtime today, show the bus leaving Top Mossley for Hyde with just three passengers on board.

This is where the "Save the 343" campaign comes in. The aim is to persuade GMPTE that the service should be subsidised in the daytime as well, so that vital links will be maintained. It is the only route that links Oldham and Mossley (apart from going all round through Delph, Dobcross, Uppermill and Greenfield!). It is the only route along Oxford Street and Birch Lane in Dukinfield and along Bennett Street and Old Road in Hyde.

Anyone with an interest in helping to keep this bus route could join the Facebook group to find out more about what is happening with this service.

Also, if you are in the Mossley area and want to sign a petition, you can do so in Countrystyle Cafe, Manchester Road, Mossley, or at the Pennine Medical Centre, Mossley, but only until Friday 4th September.

I am indebted to David Beilby for refreshing my memory about the details of the history of the route, through his excellent web page. This includes a range of photos of buses on the route over the years, and which is sure to bring back a few memories.


Update:
From October 5th, Monday to Friday daytime journeys on service 343 are being run by First on a temporary basis until the route goes to tender properly. The Saturday service is still being run by JPT. First will continue to run the tendered evening and Sunday service.

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.

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Bow Street

Bow Streets runs alongside Ashton's Open Market from Warrington Street to Market Street. In the distance is the restored Market Hall. On the right is the Iceland store which at one time was a Tesco Home and Wear. Next to that is Oliver's Bar, at one time the Cavern.

At one time the trolleybuses from Manchester to Stalybridge stopped in Bow Street. Now it is part of Ashton's pedestrianised zone.

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