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I know that all the snow has now melted, but here is a reminder of how Ashton Market looked about a week ago when the snow was falling. The stalls were still selling Christmassy things.
In the background is Ashton Town Hall.
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"Christmas Market" is my contribution to this week's "My World" feature. Please check out the other blogs participating in this week's My World.
See Birds Eye View of this location.
Today's photo shows the Christmas lighting in The Arcades, Ashton's indoor shopping mall.
The great Christmas Shopping Rush has only just finished and already the Great January Sales rush has started, even though it is not January yet!
If you compare with last year's photo, you will notice that the space previously occupied by Woolworths is now empty.
Last year The Arcades had a special Christmas display featuring a yeti and other creatures. Unfortunately they haven't bothered with anything like that this year.
Here is a photograph of the Christmas Tree next to the Town Hall steps, facing the open market.
In case you are wondering where all the snow has gone, I should point out that this photo was taken before the arrival of the snow. There were several Christmassy photos that I intended to show you last week, but were postponed so that I could share the snow pics with you.
A few late shoppers hurry home past the steps of Ashton's Town Hall just before Christmas.
I have shown you a few photos of the Christmas lights around Ashton but I have saved the Town Hall for today.
A Merry Christmas to all followers of this blog! Thank you for visiting.
As we have a last-minute dash around the shops of Ashton searching for that elusive present, let us pause to look from another angle at the superb decorations in The Arcades shopping mall.
From this angle we can see the white Christmas tree on the landing of the steps.
On a sadder note it is time to say goodbye to Woolworths, which will be closing down for good on 27th December. Please spare a thought for all the hard-working staff whose Christmas will not be so happy this year. Let's hope that the store space will soon be taken on by another retailer and that some of the staff might find new jobs there.
These are the shortest days of the year, so it seems appropriate to include plenty of night-time scenes here. The photos have the added colour of the humble Christmas lights that have been put up.
Today's photo shows Ashton Open Market with the re-opened Market Hall floodlit in the background. The Town Hall is just visible on the left.
The Christmas lights on the streets of Ashton might be a bit understated, but at least The Arcades has pushed the boat out a bit with some rather impressive decorations. Some of these were seen here last week, along with the festive yeti outside WH Smith. It all helps to give a nice seasonal feel to the shopping mall.
A little bit of festive cheer is brought to you from Tameside Council with the addition of Christmas lights around Ashton's Market Ground. But it is just a little bit!
I suppose the council has to keep an eye on its purse strings these days but it would have been a bit jollier to see more of an effort with the lights! However, this is still much better that the lights in Mossley!
Today's photo shows the current Christmassy look in the Ladysmith Centre, Ashton.
The Ladysmith Centre, between Old Street and Katherine Street, was originally known locally as "The Precinct" but in recent years has been brought up to date with a modern look and feel.
See Google Aerial View of this location.
See LiveSearch Birds Eye View of this location.
In contrast to yesterday's photo of the Market Hall from the Town Hall steps, today's photo, from nearly the same position, was taken as darkness falls over the remaining shoppers hurrying towards their buses and cars.
Floodlights illuminate the Market Hall's facade and the globe on top of the finger post is lit up.
I had hoped to take this photo from the exact same spot as yesterday's but a floodlight next to the canon that was lighting up the Town Hall was shining straight into the camera!
A view of Ashton Market Hall from the Town Hall steps. Christmas decorations attempt to cheer up this chilly winter's day.
The space in front of the Market Hall, until recently a builders' site has been cleaned up and new paving laid. The new roof of the Market Hall, which some people have criticised as looking too modern, can be seen.
The decorative canon is aiming at the nearest doorway!
"Y" is for "Yeti" - sometimes known as The Abominable Snowman! It is not often that one discovers a yeti in Ashton, so it was a happy coincidence that, just before "Y" came along on the Alphabet Friday slot that I spotted this one in The Arcades shopping mall in Ashton.
Yesterday's photo gave a flavour of the Christmassy feel of the place at the moment and the focal spot under the dome, once the home of the brown Black Knight statue, is occupied by this non-traditional Christmas tableau. The yeti, the baby seals and some sort of giant snowball all move around to the sound of seasonal music.
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