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 Those houses were demolished during a slum clearance programme and have since been replaced by modern houses with gardens.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.