Baby Clothes

Another wander around Ashton Market today, with the splash of pastel colours on the baby clothes stall. In the background is the re-vamped entrance to the Ladysmith Centre, seen here a couple of weeks ago.

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Mossley on Monday: The George Hotel

Today's photo shows the former George Hotel in Top Mossley. But just where was the George Hotel?

The first George Hotel in Mossley wasn't here at all, but at Seel Fold at the top of Old Brow. This was later re-named The Highlander and The Highland Laddie and was re-build as the present Highland Laddie around 1903.

The George Hotel here on Stamford Street was opened in 1826 on the site of the café and former shop in the centre of the picture. The street up the side is called George Street, after the pub.

That original pub stood further forward than the present buildings and was pulled down to widen the road in 1866, when the grander building to the left was constructed. The George's size and central location made it Mossley's main hotel and it became a meeting place for various groups, such as Oddfellows lodges, the Order of Shepherds and the Druids Brass Band.

The building has been empty for several years but has recently been completely re-built inside to incorporate modern apartments. The ground floor is to re-open shortly as a new family venue with the name Giorgio's (clearly based on the building's original name). This is being promoted as having a Bistro, a Children's area, wifi/internet, a high-tech atmosphere and a meeting room. This new café bar opens on Thursday 16th April.

Incidentally, the triangular wedge of land between the pavement of George Street and the side wall of the café was for many years the location of a small lean-to hut that accommodated a butcher's shop!

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Those with an interest in local transport history may like to note that this Bird's Eye View (at least, in March 2009) shows a Mayne's bus waiting at the traffic lights, which means the image is over a year old at this time.

Sunday Stroll: Daisy Nook Horse Ride

This is a view of Daisy Nook Country Park not seen by many walkers as I had to step a couple of metres off the normal footpath to take this photo!

A horse ride or bridle path runs right through the Country Park and is well used by customers of the several stables and riding schools in the area. These rides are mostly separated from the footpaths to avoid conflict of interests. However, while enjoying my stroll, I looked through a gap in the hedge alongside the towpath of the Fairbottom Branch Canal and saw this delightful scene.

Who would have thought that this rural setting is less than two miles from the busy town centre of Ashton and less than three miles from Oldham?

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Stalybridge Saturday: Green House Effect

Another photo from Waterloo Road in central Stalybridge.

Rather unusual to find in the centre of a town is this pair of brick cottages, one of which is totally clad with ivy!

The cottages are directly opposite the bus station and are next to the Old Fire Station, seen here two weeks ago.

A date stone on the left hand cottage reads AS 1920.

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Sky Watch: Millstones

The site of the original tower on top of the hill called Hartshead Pike is now marked by these millstones placed on top of each other. They make a mysterious outline against the evening sky.

The sun glints on Audenshaw Reservoirs in the distance, with the shapes of buildings in Ashton visible a little nearer. Further to the right, at the foot of the hill, it is just possible to make out St Damian's Catholic high school.

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Sky Watch is the regular Friday 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!

Red Phone Box

Although most of Ashton's traditional red telephone boxes have been replaced with more modern versions, there are still a few examples left. At least some of these are now "listed buildings"!

This particular red phone box stands in St Michael's Square at the eastern end of Old Street, and only a few yards from the site of Ashton's Old Cross - the original centre of the town.

In the background can be seen the Angel public house, featured here over a year ago.

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Stamford Arcade

Stamford Arcade is a passageway running between Old Street and Stamford Street. It has recently been enhanced by attractive gates at each end. I presume these can be closed on a Friday and Saturday night to keep out revellers spilling out of nearby pubs and clubs!

The church tower that you can see framed in the gate design is not an artistic representation - it's the real tower of Ashton Parish Church!

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Mossley on Monday: The Shears

Last week we saw a photo of a building on Carrhill Road known as the Old School House, which had an interesting history.

Today's photo is of the building next door, which also has an interesting past. This house is known as "The Shears".

It was built in 1794 as a pub - named the Shears Inn, in reference to sheep shearing, to reflect the importance of the woollen industry in Mossley at that time. It was the first pub to be built in the Roughtown area of Mossley. The bar rooms were on the first floor level, entered by the side door at the top of a flight of steps.

In 1856 a meeting was held in The Shears to discuss the setting up of a Co-operative Union for Mossley. Regular vegetable shows and September Fairs were also held there. The pub had its own brewhouse and stabling.

In 1913 inspectors tried to close the pub on account of the ceilings being too low, the approach being too steep and police supervision too difficult! The brewery lowered the floor by 16 inches and created a less steep flight of steps to replace the steep slope and the pub survived until 1970. It has now been converted into a pair of houses.

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Sunday Stroll: Hobson Moor

Today's photo was taken on the same walk as the photo that appeared here two weeks ago. The tree in the centre of the photo is near the stile that features in that previous photo.

This is looking back a little further up the hill in an area known as Hobson Moor. The extra height gives a wider view across the Longdendale Valley. Behind the tree is Arnfield Reservoir and behind that, strung out along the A628 Woodhead Road is the village of Tintwistle.

Beyond Tintwistle is Bottoms Reservoir and to the right of that is the small town of Hadfield. The backdrop is formed by the mass of Bleaklow, part of the Pennine chain.

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Stalybridge Saturday: Melbourne Court

For a small town centre, Stalybridge has quite a lot of interesting old buildings. Opposite the Post Office on Trinity Street is this building, now part of Melbourne Court. It stands beside the River Tame next to Victoria Bridge.

The building was originally Stalybridge Congregational Church Hall. The church was situated next door but was demolished after being destroyed by fire. A modern replacement church was built just off Acres Lane. A sheltered housing complex was built on the site of the church and the former church hall was incorporated into this. On the left of the photo you can see that there are enclosed links between the old and new buildings.

The old church opened in 1861 and the hall a little later. A photo of the church and hall before the fire can be seen on this web page.

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