Blue Austin Seven

This blue Austin Seven RL Box Saloon was one of the classic cars seen on Hyde Civic Square for the 2013 Heritage Open Day.

It was first registered in Manchester in 1930. It has a 747cc four cylinder side valve engine 12 bhp and a maximum speed of around 45 mph. It was designed to fit the same storage area as a motorbike and sidecar. For "historic" cars made pre 1973, tax is free and since November 2012 cars made before 1960 do not require an MOT.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

Ford Anglia shadow

This 1964 Ford Anglia was one of the classic cars seen on Hyde Civic Square for the 2013 Heritage Open Day.

My very first car was a Ford Anglia. I bought it the day after I failed my second driving test. I went on to pass my test in it but it didn't last very long - read about it here.

On this one the wheels seem to be wider than the originals and there are extended wheel arches to cover them. It looks like it's got a modern plastic bumper that extends up around the radiator grille and lower part of the headlights. Most Ford Anglias rotted away - the normal places being around the headlights and at the rear of the front wings just in front of the doors. There was no rust-proofing on them, so all the water and salt got thrown up inside the wings. Another problem was the sealed-beam headlight units, they would blow very readily because water got thrown up onto the hot casings.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Honda reflections

This 1969 Honda S800 coupe was one of the classic cars seen on Hyde Civic Square for the 2013 Heritage Open Day.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

Mowing the grass at St George's

At one point in its history many of the gravestones in St George's churchyard were laid flat and the area nearest the church grassed over.

The grave to the right of the tree on the left (midway between the one in the foreground and the groundsman's machine) is the neglected grave of John Chritchley Prince - see my post of 18th September.

The sides of the church currently fenced off with steel while the roof is refurbished.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday and Friday Fences.

Sign at junction of Travis Street and Nelson Street

I posted a photograph of the junction of Travis Street and Nelson back in January 2011.

Recently a new sign has appeared at the end of Travis Street. I assume this a new "residents parking scheme" to discourage outsiders from parking in the area which is in easy walking distance of the town centre. I couldn't find any reference to it on the council website.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday: K is for Kingston Football Ground

Kingston Football Ground is an isolated football pitch on land between the Peak Forest Canal and the River Tame. It has no public vehicular access these days.

A contribution to Outdoor Wednesday and ABC Wednesday.

New Houses by Wilson Brook

These new houses are on the site of the former Automasters Engineering Works on the other side of Wilson Brook to the majority of the new houses on this site.

See how they looked when just newly built in February 2012.

Behind the camera is the Peak Forest Canal - see how it looked in 2008 before the engineering works were cleared on Hyde Daily Photo Vol. 1.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Lady Chapel

This is the Lady Chapel inside the church of St Thomas the Apostle on Lumn Road. Information about the church and its history can be found on the church website.

A contribution to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

Classic cars on Hyde Civic Square

As part of the 2013 Heritage Open Day a small number of classic cars gathered on Hyde Civic Square. I'll show you details of a few of them at a later date.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Arthur Wilde RIP

Arthur Wilde was the projectionist at the Theatre Royal in Hyde for over 35 years and when the cinema closed down Arthur became the caretaker of the building until ill health two years ago forced him to give up the theatre all together. Arthur had worked at a lot of the cinemas in the Hyde, Denton and Ashton areas. He knew a lot about the Theatre Royal Hyde and his knowledge of local cinemas was vast.

I took this photo of him in 2007 at the Heritage Open Day - see more photos of the theatre at http://www.geraldengland.co.uk/gx/royal.htm.

There are some photos on Arthur on the Hyde, Cheshire blog and another of him outside the theatre in 2010 on Hyde DP Xtra.

I wish I could tell you more about him but I can't.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Puddled Zebra.

On Tuesday I showed you a photograph of the heavy rain in town.

After it eased off I made my way down to the bus station where the zebra crossing was half-filled with a big puddle which I had to struggle around the side of.

See the view of it from the other side on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Friday Fences.

Rebuilt 1909

The sign "Rebuilt 1909" refers to when St George's church was expanded. These upright stones were the pins for iron railings that stretched down Church Street. See my post from Saturday 14th September.

The railings were removed during WWII to "aid the war effort" and have never been replaced.

You can see part of the churchyard on the left. You can look over the right hand side of the wall in my post of Friday the 13th.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday: J is for John Critchley Prince

The grave of John Critchley Prince is in St George's churchyard. The now barely visible inscription reads:

ERECTED
BY A FEW ADMIRERS
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN CRITCHLEY PRINCE
AUTHOR OF
HOURS WITH THE MUSES
BORN 21ST JUNE 1808
DIED 5TH MAY 1866.

Thomas Middleton in the Annals of Hyde described him as

the Bard of Hyde, one of a band of gifted singers and prominent literary men — self taught be it said — whose names are household words in the great industrial hive about Cottonopolis. In his day Prince was a great force in the active life of the manufacturing north, and probably no writer ever exercised a greater power over the people, or pleaded more eloquently for the emancipation of the sons of toil.

Critchley Prince was born on June 21st, 1808, at Wigan, in Lancashire. He was brought up amid the greatest poverty, and was never sent to school. His education was obtained solely from his mother and from the teachers of a Baptist Sunday School. At nine years old he started work with his father who was a "reed-maker". A reed was a tool used by hand-loom weavers to separate the threads. His father was a drunkard and a bully and often beat his son if he caught him reading. At eighteen, he married Ann Orme, a resident of Hyde. Once he married Ann, a family followed and by 1830 they had a son and two daughters. Employment was bleak, Prince sought work in France, but it didn’t work out. After suffering much hardship on his return journey he arrived home to find his family in the poorhouse at Wigan. In later years he moved between Blackburn, Ashton and Hyde, searching for casual work. He supplemented his income by contributing poems to local papers and begging and borrowing off friends and acquaintances. Effort were made by friends and well-wishers to help lift him from poverty. Several cash grants from the Royal Bounty Fund were given, but each failed because of his addiction to alcohol, which he tried to kick many times but couldn't. His wife Ann died in 1858, and four years later he married Ann Taylor. His final years were marred by declining health and hardship from the near collapse of the cotton industry during the American Civil War. He died in a house in Brook Street, Hyde in 1866, he was by then almost blind and partially paralysed by a stroke suffered shortly after he remarried. He was buried in St George's churchyard and his funeral was attended by, among others, Edwin Waugh, Benjamin Brierley, Samuel Laycock and Elijah Ridings.

Information on John Critchley Prince and reproductions of his work can be found on Ian Petticrew's website http://gerald-massey.org.uk/prince/index.htm which is devoted to rediscovering the work of Gerald Massey and other contemporary poets mostly connected with the Chartist movement.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Rain rain go away come again another day

I think this must be that other day.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Blackberries and a spider's web

Yesterday I showed you the footpath over Knott Fold bridge and promised to show you a closer view of the blackberries.

I didn't spot the spider's web until I downloaded the photograph.

More blackberries can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Macro Monday.

Footpath over Knott Fold Bridge

I showed you the footpath under Knott Fold Bridge on 18th August.

The footpath over the bridge is very overgrown by nettles, wild blackberries and other weeds.

I'll show you some close-ups of the blackberries tomorrow.

Update: see
Blackberries and a spider's web.
and Blackberries at Knott Fold

A contribution to Série du pont de dimanche (Sunday Bridges).

The Weekend in Black & White: Church Street

In my post yesterday I was looking over the wall into St George's churchyard.

Today we are looking down Church Street past the Church of England primary school.

Do you notice the two holes in the side of the upright stones? These were originally the ends of iron railings that stretched between the several uprights along the wall. The railings were removed during WWII to "aid the war effort" and have never been replaced.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Fences around St George's

There are fences around St George's church at present whilst work is being carried out on the roof.

Get a clearer view on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Friday Fences.

Crossing the red line out of Asda

At the exits to the Asda supermarket are these signs saying "Trolleys will automatically stop if taken if taken beyond the red line".

I've always wondered what the mechanism was that prevented the trolleys from crossing the line, but I've never had the temerity to try and find out.

Most other supermarkets have their trolleys in chains and they can only be separated by the insertion of a returnable pound coin which encourages people not to go off with them, but Asda don't operate that system and you can pick one up without fumbling for change.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday: I is for IslamicResource Centre

Onward Chambers on Onward Street (as opposed to Onward Chambers on Market Street) is home to the Hyde Islamic Resource Centre, "Masjid at Tawheed".

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Winifred Street

Winifred Street is a short spur off Stockport Road, Gee Cross. At one time it would have had houses each side but now it is mainly used just for access to the rear of the houses on the main road.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Look but do not touch

Look but do not touch.

Stinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of the nettle genus Urtica. They have many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on the leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals.

The tiny flowers are arranged on delicate threads that hang down from each node of the stem from early summer.

See the whole clump of tall growing stinging nettles by the Trans Pennine Trail on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Macro Monday.

Broomstair Bridge from under the M67

Yesterday I showed you the boundary signs on the parapet of Broomstair Bridge.

Today's view is of the bridge from underneath the M67 motorway bridge.

See the view in the opposite direction on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Scenic Weekends and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Broomstair Bridge Boundary Signs

The river Tame forms the boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire and the division is clearly carved on the parapet stones of Broomstair Bridge.

The word "Township" is clearly made out but the names of the townships of Hyde and Denton are hardly discernible. Whether simply worn down or filled in I wouldn't know.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Weekend Reflections: Wharfinger's House

A reflection of the listed warehouse in the Peak Forest Canal.

For a fuller view see my post from 24th August 2013.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.

Free fish spa

The hair salon on Dowson Road was offering a free fish spa with all hair services recently.

Garra rufa fish exfoliation was all the rage a few years ago but I suspect its popularity must have waned a bit.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday: H is for Hydroponics on Hamnett Street

At the turn of the century, 3 Hamnett Street (which seems to have acquired an extra terminal "t" over the years) was Fowden's Undertakers.

Although still listed as such in many online directories, it hasn't been an undertakers for some years and is now the home of a hydroponics business. The adjoining premises at #5 are Janet Dale's Beauty Salon and has been for around 20 years.

The premises on the left hand side may originally have been also part of the funeral business - see Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Car Park to Go

The multi-storey car park is over fifty years old and due to be demolished soon. Its demise had been rumoured when I posted a photograph from the other side in March 2013.

For many years car parking in the upper levels had been free - see my post on Hyde DP Xtra in April 2011.

Unsurprisingly by December 2011 hardly anyone was using the upper levels.

A new branch of KFC is expected to take its place!

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Busker outside Lloyds TSB

Lloyds TSB has had a makeover recently and the wall now just has a couple of posters on it. On Saturday a busker playing the flute was outside as people hurried into Clarendon Mall.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

Pink flowers for sale on Hyde Market

These pink flowers which were on sale last week are Achillea millefolium, and are apparently attractive to butterflies.

A contribution to the Pink theme at City Daily Photo