ABC Wednesday: Cold Legs

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is C for "Cold Legs" and shows the surprising sight of the postman arriving in the snow, on a very cold morning, wearing shorts!

Sometimes you see strange things and wish that you had your camera with you. Luckily I had mine in my pocket and was able to capture this chilling moment!

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

Ashton in Winter

Today's post shows another wintry scene from last week. Ashton had gone that far through winter without any snow, and the snow last week was far less than some other parts of the UK had been enduring.

However, it was enough snow to look pretty and the scene looking down Crickets Lane towards Ashton Parish Church does not disappoint. The snow-laden trees that line the left hand side of the road stand in the Memorial Gardens. Normally the road is much busier than this and it would not be wise to stand in the roadway taking a photo!

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Ashton in Winter" 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: Bridge, Birds and Boats

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is B for "Bridge, Birds and Boats" and shows Portland Basin in Ashton in the snow.

The canal is the Ashton Canal which connects Ashton with Manchester. The bridge crosses the entrance to the Peak Forest Canal which runs to Hyde, Marple and Derbyshire.

The wind has kept this stretch of canal from freezing but the canal to the left and the canal around the corner straight ahead have both frozen over.

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"Bridge, Birds and Boats" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "B" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Frozen Canal

Today's post shows you that my world has been overtaken by winter. Much of Britain has had heavy snowfalls over the last few days, while Ashton had escaped with no more than a few snow flurries. This morning was different, however, and the town woke to a layer of snow. It was not very much snow, but it was the most that the town has had so far this winter.

The photo shows the frozen surface of the Peak Forest Canal in Dukinfield, a few yards from Portland Basin and the Ashton boundary. Not many narrowboats are on the move at this time of year but there will be none at all today! This is a problem for anyone wanting to take their boat to Portland Basin Marina to pump out the toilet tank, top up with diesel or use the dry dock for maintenance. It also means that a group who were going to hire a boat for the day will have to make other plans.

The weather is expected to stay very cold for the rest of the week, but with no more snow expected over that period.

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

Not the Church Inn

This is not the Church Inn at Hurst Cross. It used to be, but no longer. Like several other former pubs in Ashton, it has been converted into a convenience store.

The building originally opened as a pub around 1850 and it is not difficult to see why it was named the Church Inn. It stood just a few yards from St John's Church on Kings Road, or Lower King Street, as it was called at that time.

At least the building survives and has been put to new use, unlike the Miners' Refuge pub almost opposite, which was simply demolished a few years ago.

See Google Street View of this location which at the time of posting, still shows the Church Inn as a pub..

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"Not the Church Inn" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.

Prince of Orange

The Prince of Orange pub is a prominent landmark in the centre of Ashton, standing on Wellington Road almost opposite the railway station and near the bus station and council offices.

The pub dates from around 1817 although it was completely re-built in 1926 after it was taken over by Robinsons brewery. Its Tudor-style timbered gables were a popular feature on pubs built between the wars (such as the Broadoak Hotel).

The Prince of Orange pub could well have been named after William, Prince of Orange, who would have been well known in Britain, leading a Dutch government in exile, and who died a few years before the pub was built.

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See Google Street View of this location.

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