ABC Wednesday: eXcitement!

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is X for "eXcitement!" Well, yes - I know that's sort of cheating, but there weren't many Xylophones to see in Ashton this week!

The eXcitement in question was from the large crowds that gathered in Ashton to see the Olympic Torch Relay pass through. In the centre of the photo you can see the young lady who was carrying the torch for this stage as she runs along Market Street. She then ran around the Market Hall to the point where she passed the flame on to the next bearer, in front of the Town Hall.

There was a better photo of the torch bearer in Monday's blog post, but this image gives a better impression of eXcitement of the crowd as they witnessed this spectacle.

After the torch passed through, many of the people lining the streets moved onto the Market Ground, where entertainment was being provided.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Moment To Shine!

Sunday was Ashton's "Moment To Shine" as it was the day when the Olympic Torch Relay passed through the town.

Huge crowds lined the streets to observe this spectacle and cheer the torch bearers on their way.

The photo shows the torch being carried down Penny Meadow into the town centre, where it went around the outside of the Market Hall before continuing towards Oldham.

The council laid on entertainment for the crowds on the Market Ground in front of the Town Hall.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Moment To Shine!" 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: Wellington

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is W for "Wellington". The photo shows the Wellington Inn on Oldham Road.

"Wait a minute!" I hear you cry. "You've put the wrong photograph in - that's not a pub!" Ah, but it used to be the Wellington Inn. However, when no-one could be found to continue to run it as a pub, it was sold to Tesco, who have converted it into one of their local "Tesco Express" shops.

A few months ago I reported on the opening of a Tesco Express on Mossley Road, Tesco's first shop in Ashton for many years.

The pub originally opened, in 1850, as the "Waterloo" but the name was changed a few years later, after the death of the Duke of Wellington. It was one of four pubs in Ashton to bear that name!

I am sure there are many who will mourn the passing of yet another pub, but I have to say that I am pleased with what Tesco have done to the building. It has been smartly refurbished with much of its character being retained. Even the signage has been toned down. I would much rather see this old building looked after and given a new lease of life than see a decaying, boarded-up empty pub.

See Google Street View of this location which, at the time this post is published, still shows what the building was like as a pub.

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

Re-surfacing

If anyone living in this area wondered why the road through Daisy Nook was closed last week, here's the reason why!

After months of work re-building the retaining walls alongside Stannybrook Road where it winds down the side of the valley, the road itself has been re-surfaced. The road is wide enough for little more than two cars and, as you can see, the tarmac laying machine takes up more than half of the road, so the road had to be closed while the work was being carried out.

This was the scene at the Failsworth end of Stannybrook Road, where it passes the Sul Lago restaurant (formerly the Crime View pub). The location can still boast a traditional K6 telephone box.

I came upon the work while I was enjoying a walk along the canal in Daisy Nook. If you click the StreetView link below and swivel to the right, you get a glimpse of Crime Lake through the trees.

The strip of fresh tarmac stretched right down the hill behind me toward the River Medlock. The machine still had to return and lay the tarmac on the other side of the road. I showed you a photo of road re-surfacing back in March but the road here is even narrower.

The drive down Stannybrook Road had become a bit rough so I am sure the finished road will be a great improvement!

See Google Street View of this location.

"Re-surfacing" 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: VR

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is V for "V R". These letters can be seen on this old post box outside the Old Ball Inn in Ashton.

The letters V R, each side of a crown, stand for "Victoria Regina" and indicate that this post box was placed here during the reign of Queen Victoria, one of just two such boxes that survive in Ashton.

The photo below shows the Old Ball in, at the junction of Broadoak Road, Smallshaw Lane and Henrietta Street, with the post box on the wall.



I should just point out, for the benefit of overseas visitors, that this is not the kind of mailbox where mail addressed to the inn is left, but a public posting box, where people post their letters and someone in a Royal Mail van comes along each day and collects the mail, to be taken to the sorting office for onward delivery.

The white plate on the box shows that the last collection from the box is 5.00 pm on Monday to Friday and 11.00 am on Saturday.

The Old Ball Inn was opened in 1835, two years before Victoria became queen, so the post box was clearly a later addition. The system of a universal flat-rate postage price for delivery anywhere within the UK was introduced in 1840, so it is possible that the post box was installed at about that time.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

ABC Wednesday: Unveiling

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is U for "Unveiling". The occasion was the unveiling of a 'Blue Plaque' last Saturday. The plaque commemorates George Formby Senior, who was born a few yards from this spot, on Hodgson Street, in 1875.

Although his son George Formby Junior became very famous for his ukulele-accompanied songs, such as "When I'm Cleaning Windows", and his records and films, George Senior was a well-known music-hall entertainer in his own right.

He was born as James Booth and lived in Ashton until moving to Wigan at the age of 15. The plaque is on the site of the Music Hall Inn, one of the first places where the young Jimmy Booth performed. he adopted the stage name of George Formby and became known nationally for his music hall act. He suffered from ill health and was known for his catchphrases "Coughing well tonight!" and "It isn't the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in!"

The plaque was unveiled by Geraldine Smith, grand-daughter of George Formby Senior (and niece of George Formby Junior).


This photo shows the small crowd that had assembled for the unveiling.


George Formby Senior's grand-daughter, Geraldine Smith, poses with the plaque's promoters, historian Trevor Rowley and local authors David and Philip Williams.

Members of the George Formby Society brought their ukuleles along and entertained the crowd with several of George Formby Junior's well-known songs. By clicking the following links, you can see and hear their rendering of "Leaning on a Lamp Post" and "My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock".

The plaque was paid for by public subscription and the writing says: "George Formby Snr 1875 - 1921 Music Hall's legendary comic genius and father of George Formby Jnr was born James Booth at 26 Hodgson Street, Ashton under Lyne. Remembered by the people of Ashton under Lyne and the George Formby Society."

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Whit Friday Band Contests

Last Friday was "Whit Friday" (the Friday that follows Whit Sunday), a day that people from elsewhere may not have heard of, but which is traditionally a local holiday in some northern towns. The traditions are still strong in Mossley and Saddleworth, with the traditional Whit Walks taking place in the morning and the brass band contests taking place in the late afternoon and evening.

The band contests are also held in Ashton (outside the Broadoak Hotel and at Ashton United football ground) as well as in nearby towns such as Dukinfield, Stalybridge and Droylsden. The contests are held in a number of the villages in the Saddleworth area, too, and brass bands from around the country, and even from overseas, tour round in coaches trying to play at as many contests as they can in the time.

This photo above shown a band that is close to home - Mossley Band playing at the Upper Mossley contest, with a backdrop of the Pennine hills. After playing as they marched along Market Street, the band played a test piece in the arena before jumping into their coach to play at other locations.

Each band might get around to 10 or 12 contests in the evening and each venue attracts something like 40 bands, with some of the more popular venues seeing considerably more. Towards the end of the evening the bands end up marching and playing in the dark, although the arena is lit up by floodlights.

The contest circuit is unique to this area and is a special event enjoyed by large numbers of local people as well as visitors from far and wide.

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