Sky Watch: Canal Reflections

This week's "Sky Watch" image shows the wintry sunset reflected in the canal in Mossley, four miles from Ashton.

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is mostly frozen over but there is a slight flow of water around the lock (behind the camera) ensuring that the water in the foreground remains liquid! This makes it possible to enjoy the sunset being reflected on the ripples that move out from the water outlet.

The photo was taken during the recent snowy spell while I was enjoying a bracing wintry walk!

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See Bird's Eye View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Ye Olde Vaults

"Y" is for "Ye Olde Vaults" and today's photo shows a pub in Ashton town centre that once bore that name. It is situated on Old Street which was the original road from Manchester running through the town.

The first written records of a pub on this site are from 1808 when it was known as Heap's Vaults and Robert Heap was granted a full licence for the premises. However, it is thought to have existed, perhaps as a beer house, from around 1791. The pub seems to have been rebuilt or substantially altered in 1860, as shown by the date stone above the ground floor windows. The Heap family ran the pub for 109 years until 1900, when Walter Newton took over and changed the name to Ye Olde Vaults. (Some sources say "Ye Old Vaults" but in old photographs the sign shows the word "Olde".)

In recent years the pub has been re-named again to "Chambers" and the board outside advertised "Good cheap beer all year. Thursdays all drinks £2, Doubles add £1, 7pm - close." However, when this photo was taken, the pub was "between landlords".

Just below the roof, flaking black paint reveals that the brewery Tetley Walker were at one time the owners.

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See Birds Eye View of this location. See Google Street View of this location before the replica was sited here.

"Ye Olde Vaults" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "Y" posts from around the world please follow this link.
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Photo of the Year 2010

So, as 2010 blurs into 2011, it's time to declare the Photo of the Year for 2010 for this blog.

As you can see from the photo above, the winner was "Wintry Sun" which appeared here a few weeks ago.
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In second place, only 3 points behind was "Mossley Hall" which also appeared in December. The short list was determined from the clicks on the 5-star rating system at the bottom of each post, so it wasn't a matter of people having short memories!

It does seem, however, a lot of you like photographs that include snow, as both the previous Photos of the Year, for 2008 and 2009, have been snow scenes!

Thanks to all of you who voted. Not many voted through the Comments here but, luckily, plenty of people voted through the Discussion Board.

If you see a photo that you like during 2011, please remember to click on the 5-star voting application at the end of the post, to help that photo towards being shortlisted for the next Photo of the Year!

Photo of the Year for 2009

Photo of the Year for 2008

 

View the Photos of the Year on other photo blogs by visiting City Daily Photos.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

A  Happy New Year  to you all!

Sky Watch: Take the High Road

Although the snow has now thawed, there are plenty of snow images to share, and today's "Sky Watch" image shows a road that is almost in the sky itself!

This is Quickedge Road, an ancient highway that crosses Quick Edge and drops down into the town of Mossley. Although fairly isolated, this sscene is just 4 miles from the centre of Ashton.

Quickedge Road is not used as a through route so the snow ploughs didn't bother clearing the three foot drifts that filled the road between the two stone walls. The many footsteps in the snow show that this did not stop people from exploring this snowy location.

The sky looks harmless enough in this scene and it is hard to imagine that not long before the clouds had jettisoned large amounts of snow onto the landscape!

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See Google Street View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!


P.S. Please vote for my Photo of the Year 2010! Votes can be accepted up to 18.00 GMT on 31st December.

eXtraordinary Snow Shapes

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"X" is for "eXtraordinary Snow Shapes" - well, sort of! It's the best idea for an "X" post that I could come up with for now!

As the snow that has blanketed the area for the last ten days suddenly thaws, I bring you a photograph showing eXtraordinary shapes created by the snow and wind.

This is the footpath that runs from Broadcarr up to the summit of Hartshead Pike and the photo was taken from almost the same spot as a previous photo, "Wintry Sun".

The footpath runs between two dry-stone walls and the wind has whipped the snow not only into drifts but into peaks rather like whipped cream! These peaks projected sideways from the wall. You can see where people have walked by close to the other wall. Surprisingly, no-one had been tempted to break these snowy peaks.

"eXtraordinary Snow Shapes" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "X" posts from around the world please follow this link.
Please leave a comment below.

Vote for Photo of the Year 2010!

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As the end of another year fast approaches - the third year that this blog has been running - it is time once again to choose the Photo of the Year!

This year, in a change from previous years, I am offering you a short-list of 8 photos to choose from. These are the photos that have been shown to be the most popular with readers according to the 5-star system at the end of each post.

The eight short-listed photos are shown in the montage above. Click the image for a larger view (clicking Back button to return here) or click on the following links to see the original posts.

A - "Heather on the Hill"
B - "Wintry Sun"
C - "Stalybridge Wharf"
D - "Rainbow"
E - "Sky Watch: Hartshead Pike"
F - "Time for Winter Woollies"
G - "Bowling Green"
H - "Mossley Hall"

Please let me know which of those photos are your favourites by Thursday 30th December. The winner will be announced on January 1st as part of the City Daily Photo Photo of the Year theme day.

You can vote for up to three photos, placing them 1st, 2nd and 3rd. (1st choices will receive 3 points, 2nd choices 2 points and 3rd choices 1 point.)

You can make your votes known by one of these methods:
1. reply to this post by clicking the "Comments" link below (the easiest way).
2. email me via the Ashton-under-Lyne.com website
3. reply to the Photo of the Year thread on the Discussion Board (you will need to be registered to post a reply there).

The use of the 5-star feedback system to produce a short-list is a change from previous years where I have invited readers to vote for any photo from the year. That method resulted in a long list of photos, with only a few receiving more than one or two votes. I thought it was a good idea to make use of the feedback readers had already given which had indicated that the eight photos above were well-received.

It is a much easier task to choose one photo from eight than from hundreds!

Monochrome Moment: Town Hall

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Our Monochrome Moment for Christmas shows Ashton under Lyne's Town Hall, with snow covering the market ground in front of it.

The town hall is decorated for Christmas and a Christmas tree stands near the foot of the steps. Last Christmas I showed you a night-time image of the Town Hall complete with the Christmas lights.

"Town Hall" is a contribution to Monochrome Weekend. Please follow the link to visit other sites taking part.

A  Merry   Christmas  to all followers of this blog! Thank you for visiting.

Sky Watch: Misty Mossley

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Today's "Sky Watch" image shows the view over Mossley under a blanket of snow. The mist in the valley makes it difficult to tell where the snow-covered hills end and where the sky begins!

Mossley is just over the hill from Ashton, but very different in character. The photo was taken from the drive of Mossley Hall, only a few steps away from where this night-time photo was taken.

See Bird's Eye View of this location.

Sky Watch is a regular weekly feature on this photo blog. It links with websites all over the world with the general theme each week of looking upwards. Please take the opportunity to visit some of these other sites. I hope some new visitors have found their way here today, watching the skies!

Waiting at the Gate

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"W" is for "Waiting at the Gate" and today's photo shows a horse doing just that. There isn't much grass to nibble at when snow is covering much of it, so there is no harm in hoping that someone will come along with something else to eat!

The horse is in a field at Broadcarr, on the slopes of Hartshead Pike. We saw the horse's companion in this field in an earlier photo.

"Waiting at the Gate" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "W" posts from around the world please follow this link.
Please leave a comment below.

Fraser Street

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Today's My World photo shows a further photo of snowy Ashton under Lyne. Today's photo shows Fraser Street, which runs along the eastern side of the Memorial Gardens, seen in earlier photos here.

Several of the streets in this area have Scottish connections. Nearby Athol and Gower Streets bear the names of a historic Pictish province in Scotland. There were a number of prominent members of the Fraser clan who were Lords of Lovat.

I don't know whether this Fraser Street was named after one of them, but you may be interested in hearing about Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat. In 1697, he kidnapped and forcibly married his father's widow, Lady Amelia Murray, daughter of John Murray, the 1st Marquess of Athol. For this he was sentenced to death. However, he supported the Government against the Jacobean uprising and was given a pardon. Later on though, he took part in the 1745 Jacobean uprising and his sentence was re-imposed. In 1745, at the age of 80, he was the last man in Britain to be beheaded on Tower Hill in London.

See Google Street View of this location. See Birds Eye View of this location.

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