ABC Wednesday: Guidebridge Mill

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is G for Guidebridge Mill.

This building, on South Street in Guide Bridge, is Guidebridge (or Guide Bridge) Mill Number 2. It was built by the Guide Bridge Spinning Company in 1884, alongside Mill No 1. It was the largest mill in Ashton, although boundary changes mean that it is now in Audenshaw. Mill Number 1 was built in 1876 but was demolished around 1938. Mill Number 2 is no longer used for cotton manufacturing.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Guidebridge Mill" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "G" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

Wet Day

It may come as a surprise to some of the regular visitors to this blog, but it does sometimes rain in Ashton.

Of course, I am more likely to go out to photograph something on a dry or even sunny day and I don't like to get my camera wet, so you do not often get to see photos here taken on wet days!

This particular rainy day image shows a corner of Ashton Market where some of the fruit and veg stalls are, with the Market Hall on the left and Market Avenue disappearing into the distance.

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"Wet Day" 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: Fraser Street

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is F for Fraser Street.
Today's photo shows the smart terraced houses of Fraser Street, overlooking the Memorial Gardens near the centre of Ashton.

Fraser Street is one of several streets in the area whose names have Scottish connections. The stone plaque between the upstairs windows shows that the houses in this block were known as Derby Place, possibly a reference to the Earl of Derby.

The photo was taken towards the end of last year just as the leaves were starting to fall.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Fraser Street" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "F" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

Hartshead Pike

This week's Sky Watch features another visit to Hartshead Pike, the hilltop location just within Ashton's eastern boundary.

As the sun set over a hazy horizon, the massive outline of the tower contrasts with the darkening wintry sky behind.

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Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

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!

ABC Wednesday: Every Little Helps

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is E for Every Little Helps.

The photograph shows the new Tesco Express shop that will open tomorrow (Wednesday) on Mossley Road in Ashton.

Tesco Express shops are fairly small and are more or less local convenience stores unlike their larger supermarkets or even larger Tesco Extra stores.

What is interesting about this opening is that it is the first time in many years that Tesco has had a presence in the town. Back in the 1960s and 1970s Tesco has a smallish food supermarket in the town centre as well as a separate "Home and Wear" store in what is now "Iceland" on Bow Street. Tesco also had a distribution centre off Queens Road. These all closed as they became too small for Tesco's needs, so it is ironic that the company's return to Ashton is in an even smaller shop! Tesco Express shops are a mixture of new shops opened in town centres or convenient main road locations and existing convenience shops belonging to small chains that have been acquired.

There is quite a high footfall on this part of Mossley Road, being near Tameside Hospital, Ashton Sixth Form College and Tameside College. The site is next to the former Ashton Tram/Bus Depot and opposite the site of the old Heyes School.

I should point out to overseas readers that "Every Little Helps" is an advertising slogan used by Tesco!

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Every Little Helps" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "E" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

Half Term Fair

Today's view of the world of Ashton under Lyne shows some of the fairground rides that have set up outside the Market Hall in Market Street during the school half term holiday week.

A damp and cold morning wasn't the most promising start to the day for the showmen, but there were still a number of youngsters who had splashed through the puddles to enjoy the thrills of the fair, ranging from small children to teenagers. The fairground attractions include a "Showtime" crazy house, a "Sizzler" rib-busting ride and a more gentle cup and saucer ride. No doubt the teenagers will turn out in greater numbers in the evening.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Half Term Fair" 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: Dukinfield

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is D for Dukinfield.

Dukinfield is Ashton's nearest neighbour, standing on the hill just across the River Tame. This photo is looking down towards Ashton from the top of Crescent Road and Chapel Street. IKEA is clearly seen on the other side of Ashton town centre. The snow-covered hills visible in the distance are 14 miles away, to the north of Rochdale.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

Fairfield

A rural village? A small country town? No - this is Fairfield Moravian Settlement, in Droylsden, just 3 miles west of Ashton.

This delightful corner of My World could be in a time warp if it wasn't for the cars parked in the street.

The settlement was built in 1785, at a time when all around was fields. It had its own church, schools and inn. In 1796 the Ashton Canal was built, skirting the northern boundary of the settlement. Cotton mills, factories and rows of houses sprung up all around and yet Fairfield remained a haven of tranquillity.

One of the schools remains open as Fairfield Girls' School, a popular high school that occupies a combination of historic and modern buildings. The settlement is sometimes used as a location for television programmes.

For more information about Fairfield Moravian Settlement see this web page. For information about opening times for the Museum in Fairfield Moravian Settlement see this web page.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Big Skies Over Water

The Ashton Canal is always an interesting subject, with moods changing to match the changing weather. Today's photo shows the big and bright skies of a cold January afternoon over the urban waterscape of Portland Basin in Ashton.

Had I braved the cold weather and gone out today to photograph this scene, the water would have been iced over! As it is, a slight wind is ruffling the reflections of the sky and the buildings on the water.

For more reflections from around the world, visit Weekend Reflections.

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Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!

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!

ABC Wednesday: Clock

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is C for Clock.

This is the free-standing clock that stands in Market Street in Ashton, between the Market Hall and Penny Meadow.

The Market Hall can be seen on the left of the photo. To the right of the clock can be seen the old Fire Station, now a pub, estate agents and offices, and next to that is The Ash Tree, Ashton's Wetherspoons pub. The taxi rank can just be seen behind the flower bed.

The Market Hall has a clock tower itself, but this is on the other side of the building, overlooking the Market Place, and is not visible from this side. So this elegant clock was constructed to help people using this busy corner of the town centre.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Please leave a comment below and please rate this photo using the 5 star system below. The highest-ranking photos will be considered for the Photo of the Year at the end of 2012!