Inside St Thomas's Parish Church

Following on from last week's post showing the outside of St Thomas's here are views of the inside of the church.

Above the High Altar is a painting of the "Transfiguration of Our Lord", a copy of part of a painting by Raphael which hangs in the Vatican. The East wall is decorated with acanthus leaf, a popular classical Greek design.

The three-manual organ was made in 1834 by Samuel Renn. Its choir division was added in 1890 by Alex Young, and the organ was cleaned and overhauled in 1961 by Jardine. More details can be found on the The National Pipe Organ Register.

The pews in the gallery are the original Georgian ones whilst the others are Victorian replacements.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

Next week I'll show you some of the stained glass windows.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Hazardous Headstones

This is a close-up of the sign you may have noticed seeing in my recently posted photo of the east entrance to St Thomas's Church.

Health and safety rules these days in graveyards.

A contribution to signs, signs.

G is for Gate posts

Gate posts at the entrance from New Bridge Lane to Vernon Park.

The lions on the top of the gateposts were donated by Douglas Firken-Flood of Bredbury Hall Hotel in 2001.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Outside St Thomas's, Hillgate

This view of the church is from the West.

St Thomas' Parish Church was opened in 1825 having been built as one of a hundred churches funded by grants from the government and regarded as a thanksgiving for victory over Napoleon, hence the name "Waterloo" Churches. St. Thomas was built in the classical style and is now recognised as a building of National importance being Grade 1 Listed.

It was built to front onto Hillgate which was then the main route from London to Manchester and Carlisle, hence the grand portico at the East end, before Wellington Road (A6) was opened soon after.

This view of the church is from the East.

It is in the process of restoration and over the last few years the dedicated congregation have raised funds to renew the roof, restore the tower and cupola and clock faces and include more facilities inside the church, including toilets and a kitchen, to enable it to be used as a venue for concerts and recitals.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

When I visited the church recently I took several photographs inside the church some of which I will post at a later date.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

F is for Fred Perry

The Fred Perry Way is a 14 mile walking route starting here at North Reddish Park.

  © Copyright Keith Williamson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Its southern end is here at Woodford.

The route which was officially opened in 2002 combines rural footpaths, quiet lanes and river valleys with urban landscapes and parklands as here in Vernon Park.

Fred Perry was born at this house in Portwood in 1909.

He won the men's singles in 1934, 1935 and 1936 and was the last English men's tennis player to win Wimbledon. He was also a member of Britain's winning Davis Cup team from 1933 to 1936. and was made a freeman of Stockport in 1934.

More information can be found on the Stockport MBC website.

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday
ABC Wednesday;
signs, signs.
Good Fences.

E is for an Exercise Enabling new Enterprises to Expand

In conjunction with Virgin Trains small businesses were allowed to open stalls or pop-up shops at Stockport Station for three days recently as an exercise in enabling new enterprises to expand their customer base and meet the public.

Taking advantage of space in the foyer of the station entrance were:

Bluefingers, a company producing "wearable technology".

Tilly Chic who sell gifts and household accesories through house parties and their Facebook page.

Giraffe Event Solutions, a newly established company which consists of 3 partners that share over 30 years of experience in the hospitality, advertising & marketing and the events industry.

Other businesses were represented elsewhere on the station.

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday;
ABC Wednesday.

Leaving for Buxton

A Northern Rail service from Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton leaving Stockport Station.

A contribution to
Monday Mellow Yellows;
Blue Monday.

Shadows on the rear of Rock Row

Last week I showed you shadows in St Peter's Square.

Walk on a few feet and look left. The shadows are now falling on the rear of properties in Rock Row.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

D is for Digging up Lancashire Bridge

I posted a photograph of Bridge Street on May 13th but look at it now.

This was once part of the main north-south route through the town. Traffic from the north would have come down Dodge Hill/Lancashire Hill through Tiviot Dale to Lancashire Bridge over the river Mersey then up Bridge Street to the Underbanks and Hillgate.

Lancashire Bridge was constructed in 1877 with a reinforced concrete widening structure added in 1937. The bridge is a square single span arch structure which comprises three arch sections with a skewed reinforced concrete portal frame on the east side of the arch. Recent inspection and assessment of the reinforced concrete portal bridge has established that the concrete has endemic chloride problems, poor cover and active corrosion and needs to be replaced.

This is the view from the bottom of Bridge Street as workmen dig up the roadway. Pedestrian access is being maintained whilst the work is carried out but buses and other traffic have had to be diverted.

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
Good Fences;
Orange You Glad It's Friday.

Shadows in St Peter's Square

St Peter's Church was built as a chapel at ease, at the behest of William Wright, in red brick with slate roof and round-headed windows to the nave. The west tower rises to an octagonal belfry with clock face. The chancel was added in 1888.

William Wright was Lord of the Manor of Offerton and Mottram St Andrew. His town house in Stockport was the Mansion House on High Street and St Petersgate was constructed by him as a convenient route between his house and his church.

It was consecrated on 31st May 1768 by Bishop Edmund Keene. In 1861 St Peter's became an "Ecclesiastical District", only becoming a fully fledged Parish in 1968. In 1985 the Parish became a United Benefice with St Thomas.

In recent years the space to the south and west of the church has been landscaped and now the trees cast shadows across the path to the church.

A contribution to
Shadow Shot Sunday;
Inspired Sundays.

Angel Reflections

Reflected in the glass of the Market Hall is the façade of the former Angel Inn which featured in our post of 22nd March 2014.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

Takeaways on Mersey Square

Fancy a quick bite to eat?

"Sandwich Pound" is next to "bap" is next to "Greggs" is next to "Gabbots Farm".

Take it away or sit by the tables and chairs or on one of the benches in Mersey Square.

Visit other contributions to the Takeaway theme at City Daily Photo.