Monochrome Moment: Ryecroft Mill

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

The bulk of Ryecroft Mill dominates the view along Hamilton Street in Ashton's West End.

Ryecroft Mill was built in 1837 as a cotton spinning mill. It was the second of a complex of four mills built close together in the area. It now produces Weetabix and other foods.

The neat terraced houses are typical of many such rows built in Ashton to house the mill workers.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

This image is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

Sky Watch: St John's Church

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

St John's Church in Hurst is one of the churches within the boundaries of Ashton to have a steeple. Its position on the ridge that runs from Hurst Cross to Hurst Knoll means that the spire is clearly visible from miles away.

The church is set back from Kings Road in a grassy churchyard. The building to the right is the thriving parish centre.

See Birds Eye 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!

Brickwork

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

"B" is for "Brickwork" and there are plenty of examples of interesting brickwork around Ashton.

When these basic terraced houses were constructed on Kings Road, Hurst, a hundred years or so ago, the builder decided to distinguish them by including this banding of decorative brickwork. The photo below shows that the band runs around the tops of the doors and windows of all three houses in this terrace.



Rows of terraced houses were built in all parts of Ashton during the Victorian period to house workers for the cotton mills and other factories of the town.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

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

Warrington Street

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

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.


See Birds Eye View of this location.

Monochrome Moment: Dukinfield Town Hall

Only a mile away from the centre of Ashton is the Town Hall of Ashton's near neighbour Dukinfield.

Dukinfield, across the old county boundary in what was Cheshire, developed much later than Ashton. Its late Victorian Town Hall was opened in 1901. The tower has five bells from the famous bell-makers Taylors of Loughborough and the clock was made by Joyce of Whitchurch, the same manufacturer that made the clock at Stalybridge Station.

The Town Hall is built of Accrington Brick with stone banding, the colours of which can be seen in this photo which appeared earlier.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

This image is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

Sky Watch: Communications Centre

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

Look up towards the sky at Hurst Cross and you see the centre of communications here - this telephone pole! It has an array of cables radiating out to the houses on both sides of the road.

It is situated on Kings Road, close to the junction with Queens Road at Hurst Cross, in the north-eastern suburbs of Ashton.

The moody clouds somehow form a satisfying backdrop to the image.

See Birds Eye 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!

Ashton Moss

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here.)

"A" is for Ashton Moss. This was a large area of peat moss that extended almost to the centre of Ashton. Since Victorian times much of the Moss was used for market gardening, with many smallholdings.

In recent years the M60 motorway cut through the middle of the Moss and huge areas have been developed as retail, business and leisure areas. Yesterday's post shows the new hotel that has been built.

Today's photo was taken only a short distance from yesterday's, looking north across an area of derelict land and a few of the smallholdings that survive. Beyond the radio masts, a train can be seen heading from Ashton to Manchester.

On the extreme right of the photo you can see the signal box that appeared in this post. I wonder if that is the same train?

Ashton Moss was like a big sponge that would soak up water. Apparently, the residents of Littlemoss had a clear view of the buildings in Ashton across the Moss, except after heavy rain, when the saturated ground would rise and hide Ashton from view!

See Birds Eye View of this location.

"Ashton Moss" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "A" posts please follow this link.

Black Box

After all the whiteness of recent weeks, here, for a change, is something black. Or is it grey?

It's the new Village Hotel on Ashton Moss, just off Lord Sheldon Way and almost alongside the motorway.

I'm sure it is really nice inside but I can't help thinking it looks rather grim from the outside.

If anyone staying at the hotel gets bored in the evening, it is only a few yards walk to Cine World, Hollywood Bowl and assorted eateries. Or they could always go and look at the statues that line Lord Sheldon Way!

In the background, to the left of the hotel, you can see the tower of St Peter's Church in the West End of Ashton.

See Birds Eye View of this location. It doesn't look quite as black from the air.

Market at Twilight

(Click photo for larger version.)

Now that the Big Thaw has taken place it's a good time to be reminded what Ashton looks like without a covering of snow!

In the depths of Winter, darkness falls before the shops and market close so, towards the end of the day, you find scenes like that in today's photo, in which shoppers are finishing off their tour of the shops and market before making their way back to the bus or car.

As you can see from the sky, it is not quite dark yet but dark enough for aall the lights to make this image quite dramatic.

The photo shows Ashton's open market, with the Market Hall in the background.

"Market at Twiglight" 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.

Monochrome Moment: Market Street

The Great Thaw is definitely under way and most of our recent snow is now disappearing. However, as a further reminder of the magic that snow lends to a scene, here is a photo of Market Street and the Market Hall in Ashton from a couple of weeks ago.

The fresh snow coats the evergreen bushes, the head and shoulders of The Pieman statue, the ledges of the Market Hall's walls and the branches of the trees. The scene looks striking as a black and white image. A case of less is more?

See Birds Eye View of this location.

This image is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

Photo of the year 2009

(Click photo for larger version. Press Back button to return here)

Thank you to all who sent in suggestions for their favourite photo on this blog during 2009. The most popular turned out to be the picture of St James Church, Cowhill Lane, in the snow just before Christmas.

Regular readers will have already seen the original photo so, rather than simply repeat it, I give you a modified version, cropped to focus more on the church and with the telephone wires airbrushed out. I hope that doesn't spoil your enjoyment!

See Birds Eye View of this location.

You must love photos of the snow because the Photo of the Year for 2008 was also a snow scene!

Thank you for your support during 2009 - I hope you will keep coming back and perhaps let me know your favourite photo of 2010 in twelve months time!

Photo of the Year 2009 is a Theme Day for daily blogs all over the world. Please visit some of the others. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Locked-in Snow

Some of you may be getting fed up with snow pictures, but there is not much else to see at the moment. Most street scenes at the moment look a mess with slushy partly-thawed snow that has turned brown with all the grit that some people were claiming wasn't being spread.

But perhaps a lot of you are just getting fed up with having to go out and travel in the snow but are quite happy to sit in the warm and look at pictures of it!

This is another photo from last week, when the snow was fresh and deep. It shows Micklehurst Lock on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in Mossley. (Sorry, Ashton, but the snow was better in Mossley, even though it's only 4 miles from Ashton!)

I'm not quite sure whether to describe it as "locked-in snow" or "snowed-in lock" but, with the ice beyond the lock so thick that there were footsteps in the snow that covered the surface, there isn't going to be anyone trying to get a boat through here for a while!

On the hill in the background you can just make out the spire of St John's Church, Roughtown.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Monochrome Moment: Huddersfield Canal

As a bit of variety in the long sequence of snow photographs, I thought I would take advantage of the lack of colour to share a black and white image.

This photo shows the Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Micklehurst, with Wharf Cottages on the left and the canal lock behind the bridge.

According to the weather forecast, you'll be seeing snow photographs of the area around Ashton for a little while longer...

See Birds Eye View of this location.

This image is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

Staley Road, Mossley

Another photo of Mossley from earlier in the week. This view is looking up Staley Road from its junction with Egmont Street, Micklehurst. Not many people had ventured that way in cars that day.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Sky Watch: Winter's Evening

A return to Broadcarr today for a view of Hartshead Pike in the snow, featuring the lovely colours of the recently set sun reflected on the clouds.

The photo was taken a few days ago. The snow will be much deeper now, after this wek's snow, but I have not been able to get up there to photograph it.

Compare today's snow image with this photo from the same spot that appeared three weeks ago.

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!

Station Road, Mossley

No buses were running yesterday in Mossley, and it's not hard to see why, as Station Road, Micklehurst, is one of the main bus routes through the town. The only public transport operating in Mossley was the train service and even that stopped for a while.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Alexandra Road

Alexandra Road, leading out of Ashton from the railway station towards Henrietta Street and Smallshaw.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Canterbury Street

Canterbury Street in Ashton is one of the routes to Hurst Cross. Driving along here has been more difficult than normal recently as Ashton has found itself under a blanket of snow. More snow is forecast overnight!

The building on the right is the Canterbury Arms public house, which opened as a beer house in 1894.

(Click photo for larger version.)

"Canterbury Street" is my snowy contribution to this week's "My World" feature, as my world is still rather white! Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.


See Birds Eye View of this location.

Cricket's Lane

Looking down Cricket's Lane in the snow. In the distance are St Michael's Square and Ashton Parish Church.

See Birds Eye View of this location.

Penny Meadow

Snow returned to Ashton on New Year's Day and even more so today, with snow falling for much of the day so far.