Two for Joy

According to the old counting magpies nursery rhyme it is one for sorrow, two for joy ...

We've just had our first significant snowfall of the year and I caught this pair of magpies perching on the snowladen branches of the nearby trees.

A contribution to
The Weekend in Black and White;
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters.

Town Hall with scaffolding

The Market Street/Greenfield Street corner was covered in scaffolding whilst some remedial works were being carried out.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Signs in Clarendon Mall

A collection of shop signs in Clarendon Square Shopping Centre. The one at the front is for Lloyds Bank.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday:C is for the Charred remains of former Care home Charlotte House

Charlotte House, the former care home on Albert Road caught fire in the early hours of the 16th December 2010. The home was in the process of being closed down and only a few residents were still living there. They all escaped safely. The building has now been put up for sale by auction and is due to go under the hammer next week. See how it looked four years ago in our post from May 2011.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Good Fences.

Barclays Bank for sale

Barclays Bank is apparently for sale. Actually it is just the building. It isn't that the bank is moving out - they lease the building and pay a yearly rent which presumably the new owners would collect. Details of the sale are on the Prideview Property website

The building was built for Martins Bank in 1965. Martins merged with Barclays in 1969. See how it used to look on Old Hyde.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

Shadows at Swains Valley

As the bright sun throws tree shadows across the grass, at the junction of the footpaths from Haughton Street and Garside Street, a man is leading two dogs down towards the Trans Pennine Trail.

A contribution to
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters;
Shadow Shot Sunday.

Freezing Fog

After a heavy overnight frost on a dusting of snow, a bright sun arose but as it gently melted the frost it created a thick mist.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Before the snow arrived

This was taken last Saturday morning by the New Beech Street exit on to Clark Way. The M67 is hidden behind the fencing. It was very cold and the clouds were coming in over the Pennine Hills. A few hours later the snow arrived and covered them white.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Greenalls Est. 1762

As a follow-up to the earlier post featuring the Shepherds Call, here is a close-up of the brewery sign on the front of the pub.

A contribution to signs, signs.

ABC Wednesday: B is for Busker

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday.

Shepherds Call

A Greenall's pub on the corner of Market Street and Tower Street. There are just over 30 public houses in the Hyde area (including Gee Cross, Newton &c) which is about a fifth of the number there were around a century ago.

There was a rumour recently that the Sheps was going to close, but landlord Eddie Collier was quick to squash the rumour on Facebook.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Traffic Warden on duty

Traffic warden doing her job outside the Jolly Carter.

As I've remarked before too many people park and block the dropped crossing - not quite the case here - but she's keeping her eye out for transgressors.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows.

The top of St Paul's

The top of St Paul's Roman Catholic Church viewed with a bit of zoom from near the bottom of Hamnett Street.

St Paul's Roman Catholic Church was founded on Hamnett Street in 1848, meeting in rooms above a factory. In 1852, Mr Ashton, owner of the Newton Banks Print Works, gave a plot of land off Newton St in Newton Moor, to build a Catholic church. The foundation stone was laid on Friday, 20th May 1853 and the church opened for worship on 21st June 1854.

This information is from a 120pp book by Bernard Marshall written in 1998 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the parish. It is downloadable as a pdf file and contains a wealth of information.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Through trees the glimpse of a clock

Locals might wish to hazard a guess which clock this is. Only clue I'll give is that it is in the SK14 postcode area.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Skywatch Friday: Newton Library err sorry Pharmacy

Today's photograph was taken less than a minute after the one I posted last week: Contrails over Talbot Road.

This is the view in the opposite direction over what used to be Newton Library but is now Newton Pharmacy.

If you look closely at last week's photo you'll see an aeroplane coming in on the left en route for Manchester Airport. Here it can be seen in the centre of the sky heading on its way with a couple of birds flying off on the left.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday: A is for Albion

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday.

Harry Rutherford's Festival of Britain Mural

This photo is © Dave Williams and shows the mural painted by local artist Harry Rutherford for the Festival of Britain 1951.

It is to be found inside Hyde Town Hall on the wall above the entrance.

A good biography of Harry Rutherford (1903-1985) can be found on the Clark-Art website. They have some of his work for sale at prices from around £1-4000.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Saying hello to Bella

A couple of weeks back I showed you the cat we saw on Christmas Day.

A little further on on our walk we met this dog named Bella.

In the background is the Sustrans' milepost on the Trans Pennine Trail.

A contribution to
Scenic Weekends;
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters.

Contrails over Talbot Road, Newton

On a bright sunny winter morning there appears to be more traffic in the sky than on the road.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Zig-zagging around the Indoor Market

Hyde Indoor Market is accessed from the Clarendon Square Shopping Centre. Opposite the tripe stall "Let's Talk Tripe" one ramp zigs up to the first floor where various stalls including Wilde's greengrocery can be found. Another ramp zags down to the basement where more stalls can be found.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

From books to pills and potions

This building used to be Newton Library - it closed in October 2012 - see Hyde DP Xtra for a pre-closure view.

Now it has been converted into a pharmacy so at least it is still providing some kind of local service.

See our post of 18th December 2014 for the latest on the state of the main library in Hyde.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

A Yellow New Year

It was raining in the afternoon on New Year's Day. Across Dowson Road at the Shell filling station, petrol and diesel were 3 pence per litre cheaper than a week ago on Christmas Day.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows.

Hyde Chapel Spire Base

One of the first photos I took using the 60x zoom on my new camera was of Hyde Chapel's spire.

It is difficult to get a perfectly clear shot at that length but with a bit of post-processing I finally came up with this image.

You can view the whole spire in this post from June 2013 and the whole chapel in this post from April 2009.

The history of Hyde Chapel goes back to before 1708, when the congregation built the first Christian place of worship in Hyde. A new church replaced the former building in 1846. This second chapel is still in use today, its high steeple, a noted landmark, is also a Grade II, listed building. More information on the church website.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White and Inspired Sundays.

Another reflection in a puddle on the Trans Pennine Trail

There is nearly always a large puddle by the Dowson Road bridge on the former Godley Junction to Apethorn railway line now used by the Trans Pennine Trail and National Cycle Network Route #62.

It isn't the first time I've photographed it but usually I do so from the opposite direction. This was taken a couple of weeks ago from just under the bridge looking towards Swains Valley.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections and Scenic Weekends.

Xmas Eve Sundown

As the sun was going down on Christmas Eve afternoon it was still bright enough to line the clouds with silver.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Best of Hyde Daily Photo 2014 Winner: Autumn Shadows at Pole Bank

Autumn Shadows at Pole Bank was voted the clear winner of Best of Hyde Daily Photo 2014.

See all the twelve contenders and follow links to the previous years contests at Best of Hyde Daily 2014.

The runner-up and details of the voting can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra

To see what other City Daily Photobloggers chose for their Photo of the Year see JANUARY 2015 GALLERY - PHOTO OF THE YEAR.