ABC Wednesday: "Big O"!

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is O for "Big O!" and the photo shows the enormous round shape of the old waterwheel at Portland Basin in Ashton.

The waterwheel dates from 1839 and was used for powering the hoists inside the canal warehouse.

For connoisseurs of water wheels this particular one is the high breast-shot suspension type. It is made of wrought iron and has a diameter of 24 feet. There are 416 teeth around the rim which connect by gears with the hoists which lifted goods between floors in the warehouse.

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"Big O" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "O" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: New Bridge

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is N for "New Bridge" and the photo shows the new bridge that is being constructed over the Ashton Canal at Margaret Street, near Portland Basin.

The bridge replaces an older bridge that was too narrow for larger trucks to cross to gain access to industrial premises on the south side. Unfortunately this bridge was 115 years old, making it one of the oldest structures in Ashton. The brick-arched bridge was constructed to give access to fields and a handful of cottages, which were all that there was between the canal and the river at that time. But, hey - what is the value of history when it stands in the way of progress?

See Google Street View of this location.

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"New Bridge" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "N" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Market

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is M for "Market" and the photo shows Ashton's open market with the Market Hall in the background.

The almost clear blue sky makes it look as if this is a warm and pleasant day, but a glance at the warm clothing that the people in the picture are wearing shows you that winter is clinging on for as long as it can, with icy winds.

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"Market" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "M" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Low Cloud

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is L for "Low Cloud" and the photo shows low clouds obscuring the hills in Mossley.

Even though Mossley is only 4 miles north-east of Ashton, the geography is very different, with the town being enclosed by the steep-sided Tame Valley with the surrounding hills rising to over 1000 feet. Therefore, when you get low clouds, they tend to bump into the hills! On the ground this is experienced as fog or mist.

This photo shows one such low cloud making its may along the valley with the higher ground of Noonsun Hill and around Pots and Pans rising above.

See Google Street View of this location (without the low cloud).

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"Low Cloud" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "L" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Kings Road

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is K for "Kings Road" and the photo shows a section of this thoroughfare just east of the junction with Queens Road at Hurst Cross.

Many years ago, before the area became built-up, this was known as Cross Acre Lane. When these houses were built it became Upper King Street. Then Upper and Lower King Street became Kings Road.

The terrace of houses has architectural interest, with six of the houses in the whole of the terrace having a roof gable facing the road (three of these being visible in this photo). The windows all have arched lintels. The semi-circular fanlight windows above the doors show that these houses have hallways (the fanlights left the daylight in to these hallways) unlike the less-posh terrace houses where the front doors opened straight into the parlour.

In the distance, beyond the traffic signals, is the spire of St John's Church.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Kings Road" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "K" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: Jutting Out

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is J for "Jutting Out" and shows Newmarket Road in Ashton, where one of the old cottages juts out into the road. This may come as a surprise for drivers unfamiliar with the road when coming around the nearby bend!

The cottages are part of the the ancient hamlet of Taunton and were built at a time of horse-drawn traffic along the old road out of Ashton. The road split just ahead, with the road to Oldham going to the right and the road to Woodhouses to the left. The road has been widened to cope with lorries and buses but there is only just enough room for a modern road to squeeze through here between the cottages and the Woodcock Inn. Luckily the traffic to Oldham now follows the straight turpike road and misses this location altogether.

The photo shows the road at a quiet moment. During the day time there is usually a flow of traffic in both directions.

See Google Street View of this location.

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"Jutting Out" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "J" posts from around the world please follow this link.

ABC Wednesday: I Spy... IKEA?

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is I for "I Spy... IKEA?"

I Spy with My Little Eye, Something Beginning with "I". Hmmm. Whatever can that be? IKEA? Surely not. IKEA stores blend in so smoothly with their surroundings, don't they?

Well maybe, if you look carefully, you might just spot Ashton's IKEA store somewhere in this photo.

The picture shows the view looking from the tower of Ashton's Parish Church towards the Market Place with its brightly-coloured stalls. On the right is the Market Hall with part of the Town Hall just behind. Further back is part of the council office block, with the brick tower of the former Hop Pole pub to the left. Just to the left of the Market Place is the modern Arcades shopping mall and behind that... Oh, I think I may have spotted IKEA!

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"I Spy... IKEA?" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "I" posts from around the world please follow this link.

A Cold Walk

Yesterday was such a lovely sunny day that I just couldn't sit at home. I felt the urge to take a walk along the hills between Ashton and Mossley.

What I hadn't realised was just how cold it would be up there on Brown Edge. A strong easterly wind was blowing up the steep hill to my left. It was so strong that I was having to lean into the wind! It had snowed the night before but, as you can see, only the very tops of the hills have any snow to show for it.

In spite of the bright sun during my walk yesterday, today was cloudy with heavy snow showers throughout the day, which is very unseasonal for mid March in this area.

Below the hill to the left you can see part of the town of Mossley. Ashton is out of shot off to the right. The block on the summit of the hill is an Ordnance Survey trig point, used in the making of maps before the arrival of satellite technology.

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"A Cold Walk" 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 - Houses

Today's post for ABC Wednesday is H for "Houses" and shows houses on Bentinck Street.
These are some of the newest houses in Ashton. They are three storeys high, with half of the top storey being a rooftop patio.

Behind them is Bentinck House, one of a number of tower blocks built in the area in the 1960s.

In the distance, further along Bentinck Street, is the Guzzlin Goose pub seen here last week.

See Google Street View of this location, currently showing the site before the houses were built.

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"Houses" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "H" posts from around the world please follow this link.

Stamford Street West

Today's photo shows Stamford Street West, looking eastwards from Henry Square towards the town centre. Twenty years ago this part of Stamford Street was lined with run-down Victorian shops, many of which had closed. Apart from a few noteworthy buildings the whole of this area of Ashton is in the process of being re-developed. The new buildings here house health service offices.

On the left of the photo the former Friendship Inn, featured on this blog two weeks ago, can be seen. Old Street, to the left, is now pedestrianised. Stamford Street West, to the right, has not one car using it. Yet, before the building of Ashton's by-pass, these two streets formed a busy one-way system carrying the A635 Manchester to Doncaster trunk road through the town.

See Google Street View of this location.

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