The Trams Are Coming!

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The end of August saw trams once again on the Streets on Ashton. After several years of line construction the system is ready for operations to start. After a period of testing the track in the small hours of the morning, daytime testing has started.

Update: The trams will begin passenger service from Ashton on 9th October 2013.


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Walk Mill Bridge

Today's photo shows Walk Mill Bridge across the Ashton Canal.

This bridge looks very modern - in fact it was completed only a few weeks ago, replacing an older bridge that has been there for more than 200 years. When the original bridge was built its purpose was to carry horses and carts across the canal. It was unable to cope with the modern articulated lorries that need access to the factories between the canal and the river.

This is bridge number 28 on the Ashton Canal, and is at the the bottom end of Margaret Street, close to Portland Basin.

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

Victoria Street

Today's photo shows the view looking down Victoria Street, from its junction with William Street, in Ashton's West End.

Victoria Street was built, unsurprisingly, in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, around 170 years ago. It was a straight and broad street lined mostly with small terraced houses. Those houses were demolished during a slum clearance programme and have since been replaced by modern houses with gardens. The road has been made narrower to create more areas of greenery. The only building in this part of Victoria Street that dates back to Victorian times is the Trafalgar Inn on the right of the photo.

In the far distance you can see the steeple of St Stephen's Church at Guide Bridge.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Unicorns

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is U for "Unicorns", so just where in Ashton might a couple of these mythical creatures be seen?

The answer is on this colourful coat of arms below the clock tower of Ashton's Market Hall.

I'm afraid I could not find out what this particular coat of arms is and what it is doing there. Nor could I find out why unicorns are featured. If anyone knows, please let me know through the comments.

It was not the coat of arms for Ashton - that was different and the shield from Ashton's coat of arms is carved in stone at the bottom of the photo.

Sorry that this post is not terribly informative but perhaps you will enjoy the mystery!

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

Old Street

Today's photo shows part of Old Street in the heart of Ashton. This was one of the oldest parts of Ashton, being the junction of the old roads from Manchester, Oldham and Stalybridge. The junction was originally called Newton Nook but this name has long disappeared.

The cream-coloured building on the left was the Pitt and Nelson public house. This dates back to 1685 and was originally called the Smithies. Later it was the Grapes, then the White Hart. It became the Pitt and Nelson in 1807, after the deaths of William Pitt and Lord Nelson.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Trains

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is T for "Trains" and the photo shows Ashton's Charlestown Station with a train at each platform.

On the right hand side, the train from Manchester heading for Stalybridge is waiting. On the left hand side, a train from Stalybridge is just arriving on its way to Manchester.

The brown building on the left houses the offices of Tameside Council. The blue buildings in the background are Assheton House and IKEA, which were seen in last week's photo of the new tram terminus.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Old Square

Today's photo shows the location in Ashton's town centre known as Old Square. Like Chester Square and other squares in Ashton, it is not really a square. It's original name of The Circus was probably more appropriate, although the buildings form something of an octagon, rather than a circle or a square.

It was re-named King's Square and then again to Old Square some time around the 1780s, when New Square was created at the other end of Stamford Street. New Square, however, was renamed Henry Square in 1800, while Old Square has remained Old Square until this day.

Only a few of the original three story buildings remain, with the others having been rebuilt at various times.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Old Square" 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: Statue

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is S for "Statue" and the photo shows the statue of Hugh Mason which stands in Trafalgar Square in Ashton's West End.

Hugh Mason was a local mill-owner and social reformer. He owned the massive Oxford Mills complex, built by his father, not far from where his statue now stands. He built houses for his workforce, along with community facilities, and was the first local mill owner to give his workers Saturday afternoons off! He kept his employees in work during the "Cotton Famine" when some of his competitors were laying off their workers.

He became a Liberal councillor, mayor and eventually Member of Parliament for the town. When his wife Sarah died after only six years of marriage, he married her sister, Betsy. As this was illegal in Britain at the time, he obtained a special licence from the King of Denmark and was married in that country. He had one child with Sarah and four with Betsy before she died after just seven years.

The statue was originally at Chester Square but was moved after that square became a glorified traffic junction, as you saw in this recent post.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

Tram Terminus

Following on from last week's photo of the new tram lines running across Oldham Road, today's photo shows the new tram terminus in Ashton.

In the centre of the picture is the ramp leading up to the platform, with tram tracks on either side. Everything is in place and ready to roll - even the electronic matrix signs that will give the time of the next tram are switched on. A small amount of paving and landscaping work is being finished off.

Trams have been here during the night testing the track but services won't be starting just yet as they are waiting for more trams to be delivered. The next phase of the Metrolink tram system will open on Thursday, with an extension of the St Werbergs Road line to East Didsbury. The extension from Droylsden to Ashton will be next.

Immediately behind the camera is Ashton Bus Station, making interchange easy. The entrance to the Arcades shopping mall is 150 metres to the left. The photo is flanked by Ashton's two bluest buildings - Assheton House and IKEA!

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Tram Terminus" 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: On the Rails

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is R for "On the Rails" and the photo shows the rails of the almost-completed tramway7 from Manchester to Ashton.

The picture is looking westwards across Oldham Road. One set of rails is coming straight towards the camera while the other set can be seen a little to the left. The Ashton tram terminus is behind me. The trams already run as far as Droylsden and the rest of the line to Ashton will open later in the year.

The track is complete and workmen are finishing off paving and landscaping. Trams have already been to this location on test in the small hours of the night. Metrolink are being a little vague about when the line will be open for service and I suspect that they will need to wait until enough new trams have been delivered.

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

Approach to Ashton

This is the view that many people see as they arrive in Ashton. It is the view across Chester Square from Manchester Road and is the way that most people approach the town from Manchester and from the M60 Motorway.

Chester Square has never really been a square. It originally had buildings on two sides of a wide area that formed the junction of Manchester Road and Stockport Road. The buildings on the south side have gone to make way for road widening and the square is now a huge traffic-signal-controlled junction, overlooked by the two buildings that stand on the north side.

The building to the left of centre is the old swimming baths and to the right of that can be seen Cavendish Mill with its chimney.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Approach to Ashton" 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: "Big O"!

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is O for "Big O!" and the photo shows the enormous round shape of the old waterwheel at Portland Basin in Ashton.

The waterwheel dates from 1839 and was used for powering the hoists inside the canal warehouse.

For connoisseurs of water wheels this particular one is the high breast-shot suspension type. It is made of wrought iron and has a diameter of 24 feet. There are 416 teeth around the rim which connect by gears with the hoists which lifted goods between floors in the warehouse.

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

ABC Wednesday: New Bridge

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is N for "New Bridge" and the photo shows the new bridge that is being constructed over the Ashton Canal at Margaret Street, near Portland Basin.

The bridge replaces an older bridge that was too narrow for larger trucks to cross to gain access to industrial premises on the south side. Unfortunately this bridge was 115 years old, making it one of the oldest structures in Ashton. The brick-arched bridge was constructed to give access to fields and a handful of cottages, which were all that there was between the canal and the river at that time. But, hey - what is the value of history when it stands in the way of progress?

See Google Street View of this location.

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"New Bridge" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "N" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Market

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is M for "Market" and the photo shows Ashton's open market with the Market Hall in the background.

The almost clear blue sky makes it look as if this is a warm and pleasant day, but a glance at the warm clothing that the people in the picture are wearing shows you that winter is clinging on for as long as it can, with icy winds.

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

ABC Wednesday: Low Cloud

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is L for "Low Cloud" and the photo shows low clouds obscuring the hills in Mossley.

Even though Mossley is only 4 miles north-east of Ashton, the geography is very different, with the town being enclosed by the steep-sided Tame Valley with the surrounding hills rising to over 1000 feet. Therefore, when you get low clouds, they tend to bump into the hills! On the ground this is experienced as fog or mist.

This photo shows one such low cloud making its may along the valley with the higher ground of Noonsun Hill and around Pots and Pans rising above.

See Google Street View of this location (without the low cloud).

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"Low Cloud" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "L" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Kings Road

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is K for "Kings Road" and the photo shows a section of this thoroughfare just east of the junction with Queens Road at Hurst Cross.

Many years ago, before the area became built-up, this was known as Cross Acre Lane. When these houses were built it became Upper King Street. Then Upper and Lower King Street became Kings Road.

The terrace of houses has architectural interest, with six of the houses in the whole of the terrace having a roof gable facing the road (three of these being visible in this photo). The windows all have arched lintels. The semi-circular fanlight windows above the doors show that these houses have hallways (the fanlights left the daylight in to these hallways) unlike the less-posh terrace houses where the front doors opened straight into the parlour.

In the distance, beyond the traffic signals, is the spire of St John's Church.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Kings Road" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "K" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Jutting Out

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is J for "Jutting Out" and shows Newmarket Road in Ashton, where one of the old cottages juts out into the road. This may come as a surprise for drivers unfamiliar with the road when coming around the nearby bend!

The cottages are part of the the ancient hamlet of Taunton and were built at a time of horse-drawn traffic along the old road out of Ashton. The road split just ahead, with the road to Oldham going to the right and the road to Woodhouses to the left. The road has been widened to cope with lorries and buses but there is only just enough room for a modern road to squeeze through here between the cottages and the Woodcock Inn. Luckily the traffic to Oldham now follows the straight turpike road and misses this location altogether.

The photo shows the road at a quiet moment. During the day time there is usually a flow of traffic in both directions.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Jutting Out" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "J" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: I Spy... IKEA?

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is I for "I Spy... IKEA?"

I Spy with My Little Eye, Something Beginning with "I". Hmmm. Whatever can that be? IKEA? Surely not. IKEA stores blend in so smoothly with their surroundings, don't they?

Well maybe, if you look carefully, you might just spot Ashton's IKEA store somewhere in this photo.

The picture shows the view looking from the tower of Ashton's Parish Church towards the Market Place with its brightly-coloured stalls. On the right is the Market Hall with part of the Town Hall just behind. Further back is part of the council office block, with the brick tower of the former Hop Pole pub to the left. Just to the left of the Market Place is the modern Arcades shopping mall and behind that... Oh, I think I may have spotted IKEA!

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"I Spy... IKEA?" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "I" posts from around the world please follow this link.

A Cold Walk

Yesterday was such a lovely sunny day that I just couldn't sit at home. I felt the urge to take a walk along the hills between Ashton and Mossley.

What I hadn't realised was just how cold it would be up there on Brown Edge. A strong easterly wind was blowing up the steep hill to my left. It was so strong that I was having to lean into the wind! It had snowed the night before but, as you can see, only the very tops of the hills have any snow to show for it.

In spite of the bright sun during my walk yesterday, today was cloudy with heavy snow showers throughout the day, which is very unseasonal for mid March in this area.

Below the hill to the left you can see part of the town of Mossley. Ashton is out of shot off to the right. The block on the summit of the hill is an Ordnance Survey trig point, used in the making of maps before the arrival of satellite technology.

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"A Cold Walk" 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 - Houses

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is H for "Houses" and shows houses on Bentinck Street.
These are some of the newest houses in Ashton. They are three storeys high, with half of the top storey being a rooftop patio.

Behind them is Bentinck House, one of a number of tower blocks built in the area in the 1960s.

In the distance, further along Bentinck Street, is the Guzzlin Goose pub seen here last week.

See Google Street View of this location, currently showing the site before the houses were built.

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

Stamford Street West

Today's photo shows Stamford Street West, looking eastwards from Henry Square towards the town centre. Twenty years ago this part of Stamford Street was lined with run-down Victorian shops, many of which had closed. Apart from a few noteworthy buildings the whole of this area of Ashton is in the process of being re-developed. The new buildings here house health service offices.

On the left of the photo the former Friendship Inn, featured on this blog two weeks ago, can be seen. Old Street, to the left, is now pedestrianised. Stamford Street West, to the right, has not one car using it. Yet, before the building of Ashton's by-pass, these two streets formed a busy one-way system carrying the A635 Manchester to Doncaster trunk road through the town.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Stamford Street West" 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: Guzzlin Goose

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is G for "Guzzlin Goose" and shows the pub of that name on Bentinck Street.

The Guzzlin Goose pub is not, in my opinion, one of Ashton's better-looking buildings, although it looks very smart after its recent re-paint, which has emphasised its simple design typical of a lot of 1960s architecture.

The pub was previously called the Happy Shepherd and was originally opened in 1861. It was re-built on the same site in the 1960s when the area between Katherine Street and Brook Street was being re-developed. For most of its life it had been a beerhouse (licensed to sell beers but not wines and spirits) and only received a full licence in 1966.

See Google Street View of this location.

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

St Michael's House

Today's photo shows St Michael's House, which fronts onto a cobbled courtyard next to the Parish Church of St Michael, close to the original centre of the town of Ashton.

St Michael's House is a magnificent Victorian building, constructed in 1869. It was the town's registry office but now houses the offices of a number of organisations.

This Grade II Listed building is constructed of brick with bands of stone and with arched windows. There are contrasting patterns picked out in blue brick on the top storey.

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"St Michael's House" 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: The Friendship

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is F for "The Friendship" and shows the building that was many years was a pub of that name.

The Friendship was at the western end of Old Street, on the corner of Henry Square. It was opened in 1827 and expanded into the building at the back, which became the original Schofield's Brewery. The brewery later moved to a larger site on Bentinck Street and was eventually incorporated into Robinson's Brewery.

The building has been empty for several years but it occupies a prime location in the St Petersfield re-development and will shortly be converted into offices. It is a pity that it could not be sustained as a pub, but at least the splendid building will be retained.

See Google Street View of this location.

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