St George's at sunset

In the foreground is part of St George's C of E Primary School.

Prior to 1831, the Church of England had no place of worship in the township, and for ecclesiastical purposes Hyde was connected with the Parish Church of Stockport, which place many of the inhabitants attended. Others worshipped at Mottram, or at Denton Old Church.

The construction of the church began in 1831 and it was consecrated the following year. St. George's was first formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1843.

Details of the early history of St George's can be found on Old Hyde.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Church Brow Gardens

When I posted a photograph of this valley through which flows the Gower Hey Brook in January 2014 the bottom was flooded to quite a height.

When I walked by a couple of weeks ago the brook was barely a trickle.

Many years ago the bank below St George's Church was lined with allotments and gardens. Now only one allotment remains. Due to a combination of storms, vandalism and some neglect everything is gradually slipping down the valley side.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday and Rubbish Tuesday.

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.

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.

V is for voting

It is that time of the year again.

Hyde Daily Photo is one of more than 400 websites worldwide that post a daily picture of their home town or city. On 1st January 2015 members of the City Daily Photobloggers community will be revealing their Photo of the Year.

I have selected twelve contenders for Best of Hyde 2014 and am asking readers to vote for their favourites.

These thumbnails are only a taster. To vote for your three favourites please visit Best of Hyde Daily 2014 and use the form on the page.

Deadline for voting is 12 noon GMT on Monday 29th December 2014.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Tower from Tower Street

The tower of St George's church from Tower Steet.

It gets dark early these days.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday and Inspired Sundays.

L is for ladder

A fortnight ago I showed you a view of the roofspace of St George's looking through the walls of the tower from the ringing room. The ringing room is where bell-ringers pull the ropes which hang down from the belfry through the clock room into the ringing room.

A ladder on the wall of the ringing room leads up into the clock room. Getting up there was a movement too far for me I'm afraid.

For a full history of St George's bells, see Old Hyde.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and the Movement theme at City Daily Photo.

Inside St George's Church

Compare this with the view shown in the Annals of Hyde.

The gallery has been removed and the whole nave remodelled. All of the stained glass in the church was lost when a bomb exploded in Church Street in 1940.

Four of the windows on the south side of the church, celebrating apostles, have since been restored. Matthew and Mark were re-instated in 2003 and Luke and John in 2009.

It is hoped to install a restored east window in 2014/15.

Tablets in memory of some church worthies and others, including the Rev Alexander Read, Richard Gilbody, George Middleton, Joseph Artingstoll and John Critchley Prince used to adorn the walls but have not survived.

You can see John Critchley Prince's grave and read about him in our post from 18th September 2013.

A portrait of and copy of the memorial to Joseph Artingstoll can be found on Old Hyde.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays and Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

Signs from WWI

Posters from WWI on display in St George's Church for the Heritage Open Day.

A contribution to signs, signs.

The former St Andrew's Mission

Earlier this week I showed you the northern remnant of John Street.

This view is looking across Clark Way from the exit from the M67 to the former St Andrews's Mission.

Now offices for C&L Systems, only the windows at the top betray its former use. St. Andrew’s Mission Church was built on John Street in 1875 as an offshoot from St Thomas the Apostle. It closed in the 1960s.

In the 1970s much of this area was demolished for the construction of the M67 and only a small remnant of John Street was left on the north side.

A little more information about St Andrew's can be found on Old Hyde

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Flowers of Remembrance

These bright flowers were on the remembrance table at St George's Church for the Heritage Open Day last weekend.

On the left is a WWII memorial which reads:IN MEMORY OF

FELIX N ALEXANDER
ALFRED J AXON
THOMAS N BERRY
ARTHUR BOOTH
W LEONARD BOWDEN
HAROLD BUNTING
HAROLD R CULLEN

GEORGE IBBOTSON
JOSEPH LAWTON
HAROLD MONKS
RONALD H NASH
FRED PLANT
JOHN ROWBOTHAM
HARRY H WARBURTON

KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE 2nd WORLD WAR 1939 - 1945
"FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH"
On the right is another memorial which reads:IN MEMORY OF
F STANLEY SHARPE
JOHN J SUDLOW
MARGARET A SUDLOW
ERNEST WADDINGTON

KILLED BY ENEMY ACTION
LEAVING DIVINE SERVICE
22nd DECEMBER 1940
"IN GOD'S KEEPING".
This refers to a bomb which fell on a house in Church Street. The bomb shattered all the windows in the church and many in surrounding houses. These people were killed on their way home from the evening service.

The WWI memorial which is on the wall above these can be viewed on Old Hyde.

A contribution to Floral Fridays.

St George's Roofspace

12 months ago St George's Church was having a new roof fitted - see a photo of the work on Hyde DP Xtra.

For a photograph of the new roof from the outside see our post from November 2013.

Yesterday was a Heritage Open Day and I managed to climb up the steep stone steps into the "ringing room". Access to the roof space is normally covered up but I was kindly allowed to take a look through and this is how it looks.

Other photographs of the ringing room and some of the church memorials and displays will have to wait for another day.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Shadows across Woodend Lane

The end of Woodend Lane from the top of Church Brow looking towards St George's Church.

There is just a feint glimpse of the church tower behind the foliage above the top of the houses on the right. The lych gate can be seen between the cars at the top of the photograph.

A contribution to Scenic Weekends and Shadow Shot Sunday.

God's Garden

The Methodists' theme for the 2014 Gee Cross Well Dressing is based on a verse from Dorothy Frances Gurney's poem "God's Garden".

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's Heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on Earth."

Dorothy Frances Gurney "God's Garden" lines 13-16
(London, Country Life, 1913)

This card was part of the display. See the full display on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to signs, signs and Floral Fridays.

ABC Wednesday: Z is for Zion Church

The original church on Peel Street was opened in 1899 - see Old Hyde.

This new church was opened in 2000.

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
Inspired Sundays.

Inside Gee Cross Methodists

Gee Cross Methodists Church stands on land which was once part of Ralph Fold. Originally, Stockport Road Wesleyan Methodist Church and founded in 1882, when the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Joel Lane closed in 1969 the two congregations merged as Gee Cross Methodists Church.

The memorial tablets in the right hand corner came from the Joel Lane chapel which was demolished in the 1970s.

These and other memorials in the church can be seen in detail on Old Hyde.

The organ on the left was originally built by Wadsworth & Co in 1910. A video of Christopher Lawton playing on the organ in 2011 can be viewed on YouTube.

Photographs of the outside of the church can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

ABC Wednesday: U is for the United Church on Union Street

A Congregational church was established on Union Street in 1824 and rebuilt in 1843. Since then it has amalgamated with Chapel Street Baptist church and become "The United Church".

During the week it lets out its carpark to commuters.

Compare with the view in September 2009

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Inspired Sundays.

Hyde Central Station

Looking along the line towards Manchester.

The tower of Flowery Field church is visible in the middle background.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday: J is for J F C Sports Ltd

From the end of Meadow Street the tower of St George's Church appears above the premises of J F C Sports Ltd who according to their website are one of the UKs leading suppliers of high quality sports equipment, sports accessories and football kits, and supply their wide range of sports equipment and sports accessories to a wide variety of sports teams, football teams & schools up and down the country.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Looking down Green Street

When these red-brick terraced houses were built their residents would have mostly worked within walking distance. Nowadays almost all of these homeowners will also own a car leading to vehicles parked on both sides.

The tower of St George's church rises in the background.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.