Sky over the Bear Pit

The Bear Pit is currently closed for Deck Fill Reduction.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

T is for Terence Paul

The Terence-Paul Hair Academy at the end of Prince's Street offers training and apprenticeships in hair dressing.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Deck Fill Reduction at the Bear Pit

On Saturday I showed you the bottom of a pillar by the Bear Pit.

A council notice strapped to the pillar reads:

DECK FILL REDUCTION

"This project involves the reduction of the overburden load on the deck of the Mersey Bridge structure.

Recent assessments have identified that the bridge is overloaded in the North West corner due to the existing build-up of materials forming the steps. This load is being removed and the fill material is being replaced by polystyrene lightweight fill material. This will reduce the loading on the deck of the bridge by over 600t.

Access into the Bear Pit will not be possible during the works. We apologise for any inconvenience."

A contribution to Our World Tuesday and Good Fences.

A bus in Mersey Square

A few days ago I showed you the blue sky over Mersey Square.

Here is another photograph from the same day featuring a blue-faced bus in Mersey Square, the 317 service from Ashton under Lyne via Denton, Dane Bank and Reddish.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

Shadows and a pigeon in Merseyway

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday and Camera Critters.

A column by the Bear Pit

The bottom of a column near the Bear Pit. In the background is a wheelbarrow. It has all got something to do with "deck fill reduction".

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Sky over Mersey Square

Blue skies and white clouds over Debenhams on the warmest day so far this year.

A day later and it is back to heavy thunderstorms.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Sign of the Full Shilling

Last month I brought you the rear of the Full Shilling and the front of the Full Shilling.

Here now is the sign for the Full Shilling.

For those who don't know, it features not an English shilling but an Irish shilling.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Reddish Old Police Station

Built of red brick, the old Police Station on Gorton Road, Reddish has been converted into apartments.

Above the doorway, between the words POLICE and STATION, is a coat of arms relating to the Lancashire Constabulary.

The building presumably pre-dates 1901 when Reddish transferred from Lancashire to Cheshire.

Above the coat of arms is a hole which would originally have held the traditional police blue lamp.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

R is for Reddish

Reddish was originally a rural settlement in Lancashire but expanded to become a mixed industrial and residential area during the 19th century and it developed rapidly during the Industrial Revolution.

Reddish became an urban district in 1894 but it merged with Stockport in 1901 and the boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire was moved to place it in Cheshire. In 1974 Stockport became a metropolitan borough in the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester.

These signs are on Broadstone Road approaching Holdsworth Square.

See Wikipedia for a more detailed history of Reddish.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Bridge Street

Bridge Street leads up to the Market Place and was once part of the main north-south route through the town. Traffic from the north would have descended from Dodge Hill/Lancashire Hill down Tiviot Dale to Lancashire Bridge.

Lancashire bridge over the river Mersey is now underneath the foreground paving stones and has been so since the 1930s when the river was culverted beneath the Merseyway roadway and later by the Merseyway Shopping Centre which lies to the right.

The Laura Ashley shop on the corner of Warren Street is built on the site of the former Warren Bulkeley Arms.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

The New Empire and Bonny Bouncer

On Stockport Road West at Bredbury are a group of shops that include a Cantonese takeaway and a children's clothes shop.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows and Blue Monday.

Stockport Dungeon

1a Mealhouse Brow consists of a single-storey range towards the Market Place and the adjacent basement and lower basement of No. 8 Market Place.

The upper rooms of this part were used for meetings of the town's manorial court leet, and incorporates two small chambers used as lock-ups.

The lower basement incorporates two separate chambers used for confinement until 1790 when a new prison was built.

The dungeon is occasionally open for visits courtesy of the Stockport Heritage Trust.

A fuller streetscape view can be seen on Geograph.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Q is for Quantock Close

In the Love Lane area of Heaton Norris.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

39 Great Underbank

This redbrick building on Great Underbank used to be a branch of the Britannia Building Society.

The Britannia was taken over by the Co-op Bank last year - a move that some blame in part as the main reason for the bank's current lack of fortune.

Consequently this building is now for sale.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Heavy rain at Bredbury

A heavy burst of rain at Morrisons in Bredbury. The raindrops are bouncing several inches as they hit the pavement.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

London Square

London Square was originally the site of the Stockport Sunday School - see our post of 13th April for more information.

On one side now are modern flats and a children's adventure play area. On the other side (out of sight on the right) is a car park.

The square manhole cover in the middle of the road is a ductile Stanton PLC Chieftain 600 grade A.

A contribution to the City Daily Photo theme Squares.