Thursday 25 September 2014

Works on Merseyway


I posted about the repair work to Lancashire Bridge on 6th August 2014.

The work has now spread into Merseyway itself and this a peek I took behind the fences yesterday.

Beneath all this flows the culverted river Mersey. Meanwhile despite the clutter the roads and pathways around the works are being kept open.

A contribution to
Good Fences and Skywatch Friday

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Sunday 21 September 2014

War Memorial tablet in St Thomas's, Hillgate


Previous posts have shown
The outside of St Thomas's;
The inside of St Thomas's;
The stained glass at St Thomas's.

On one wall of the church is a memorial reading:

"This tablet is erected in grateful and loving memory of the above named
men of St Thomas's church and parish who laid down their lives in the Great War 1914-1919"

Beneath it is a Votive Candle stand where those who wish to may light a candle for someone who is ill or in need, or to mark an anniversary.

The nearby Memorial Book contains names of former parishioners and worshippers who are remembered in the prayers on their anniversary, every year.

The names listed in the four panels of the war memorial are:

Charles Adams
Fred Adams
Walter Barnet
Walter Birchenough
Stephen Blackshaw
William D Blackshaw
Frederick Brady
James Briggs
James Broadhurst
John T Brocklehurst
Henry Brown
Harry C Buckland
Edward Burgess
Ernest Clarke
Frank Corlett
James Cumston
Joseph Davenport
John Davies
William Donbavand
John Edward Dudley
Henry Edge
Vincent Fletcher
Joseph Barlow

***

Joseph Fox
Harold Garner
William Garner
Ernest Gibson
Frank Gorst
Edwin Gray
William Greenhalgh
George Kinsey Gresty
William Thomas Hague
Herbert Hamer
John Harrison
William Hayes
John Hester
John Holmes
Herbert Hooley
Sidney Hulme
Charles Jackson
Joshua Jackson
William Jackson
Arthur Jordan
Alfred Kaye

***

George Kinder
Edward Kirkpatrick
Samuel Knowles
Francis Knight
Neville Lewis
Joseph Littlewood
John Taylor Lomax
George Ludlow
Henry Marsden
George Mather
Joseph Mather
Thomas Blackshaw Mather
Alfred Moore
Henry Moore
John William Mott
George Mottram
Frederick Oldham
William Oldham
John Pearson
Davenport Pennington
George Potts
Percy Pratt
William McCarthy

***

Frederick Pyott
Henry Salt
John Joshua Savage
William Edward Shepherdson
Gerald Slack
Ernest Smith
Isaac Smith
George Southam
Frederick Swain
Alfred Thorley
John Thorley
Mark Thorley
Walter Thorley
Harold G Townley
Robert Travis
Robert Arthur Walley
Edmund Ward
Richard Waterfield
Frank Watts
Charles Wilkinson
Charles Williamson
George Wilson

Visit the Church website for more information on St Thomas's.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Thursday 18 September 2014

Da Vinci's Coffee House and Eatery


The sign for Da Vinci's Coffee House and Eatery.


It stands on the corner of St Petersgate and Tatton Street.


In 2009 it was the Stockport Arms. Tatton Street leads to St Joseph's RC Church.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Wednesday 17 September 2014

J is for Just Eat


This Cafe on the corner of Hillgate and Mowbray Street is open weekdays from breakfast to after lunch - I haven't been in it but it looks like just the place for decent cup of tea, a bacon sarnie or a reasonably priced hot lunch.

Next door is a chinese chippie that probably opens around tea-time until late evening.

There is a sign between the two advertising a website called "Just Eat" where apparently you can order a meal online and have it delivered. Reports I've heard suggest that the quality of the service is questionable and often the meals are not cooked in the establishment from which you thought you had ordered. If I wanted my food delivered I think I'd phone the takeaway directly rather than going through a third party.

In any case you can just eat without going online.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Friday 12 September 2014

Power lines towards Brinnington


The land in the immediate foreground at Lower Bredbury is used for grazing.

In the middle distance are allotments.

Shielded from view by the trees is the M60 motorway.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

I is for Images of Stockport



This piece of artwork recently appeared in St Peter's Churchyard. I couldn't see an artist's signature on it. It features St Mary's church, the Market Hall, a sign to the Underbanks and some more esoteric images like a balloon, a chicken laying eggs and a pair of headphones, the relevance of which I don't fully understand. I have been unable to find out any information about who may have painted this nor why it has been placed here. People I spoke to in the church didn't seem to know.


In the background over the railings is the roof of the former Co-op (now Primark) on Chestergate/Merseyway.

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
Outdoor Wednesday;
signs, signs.




Tuesday 9 September 2014

Postboxes on St Peter's Square


This double-fronted postbox is located outside the former Prudential building in St Peter's Square. The postboxes are labelled SK1 386 (left) and SK1 385 (right). On the right is a postbox for "franked mail" only.


This view is from the other side looking past the statue of Richard Cobden towards St Peter's Church. For more information about St Peter's Church see our post dated 16th June 2013. For more information and a better view of the statue see my photograph on Geograph.


The distinctive business postbox for franked mail was introduced in the mid-1990s. Before the advent of such boxes, franked mail could not be posted in a letter box and thus had to be handed in at a post or sorting office unless the business had a visit from the postman. (The reason for this is that ordinary stamped mail would be sent to the sorting office and postmarked, whereas franked mail is already dated by the sender's franking machine.)

Because it is designed for business mail, it is found usually in business parks and industrial estates or in areas of town which are heavily occupied by businesses – and has relatively late final collection times.

It is opened by pulling down the black handle on the sliding opening, and when the final collection of the day is made it will be locked shut and reopened the next weekday morning (including Saturday if the box has a Saturday collection). This is because, as franked mail is dated by the customer rather than at the sorting office, it must be posted on the same day as the date indicated on the franked impression. By accepting later items which would not be collected till the following day, it would give the false impression that Royal Mail had taken a day longer to deliver the item. Information courtesy of Chris Downer.

More information about "franking" can be found on the Royal Mail website.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Stained glass at St Thomas's


A fortnight ago I showed you the outside of St Thomas's and then last week the inside of St Thomas's.


This week I am showing some of the stained glass windows.


One of the four windows on the south wall no longer exists.


There are at least two more stained glass windows in the church but their placements make them very difficult to photograph.


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.


A contribution to
Inspired Sundays;
Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors;
Monday Murals.

Friday 5 September 2014

Stockport College: Phase 1 building


Designed by architects Austin-Smith:Lord and completed in 2010, this new building on Wellington Road South is part of the Phase 1 development of the college.

"Phase 1 provides Stockport College with new, state of the art workshop accommodation as part of a multi-phase redevelopment strategy that encompassed the entire city centre campus. To maximise built accommodation on this relatively small site the buildings front the edges of the site around a central service yard, incorporating plant space, classroom accommodation, specialist workshops, cafeteria and changing facilities.

Bold cantilevered forms are used to maximise the floor space above ground floor and allow access into the adjacent street whilst opening up routes through the campus. The blocks are clad in a limited palette of robust materials to reflect their workshop use and create a commanding presence along a major route in to the centre of Stockport. Anthra zinc and precast concrete provide solidity, whilst long elevations of glass channels provide abundant, glare free natural light."

See the architect's website for more photographs.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.



Wednesday 3 September 2014

H is for Hillgate Pharmacy, Holt Street


Hillgate Pharmacy is located at 50 Higher Hillgate on the corner of Holt Street. It has the look of an old Co-op building but in fact the Co-op pharmacy is two doors away at #54 with a sandwich shop between them.


According to the date plaque the building was erected in 1869.

The arms supporting the lamp beneath have horseshoes attached. Does a pharmacy need luck?

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Monday 1 September 2014

The end of Heaven & Hell


The Heaven & Hell nightclub in the Grand Central complex was closed in 2006 but not demolished until 2012.


The site is now a car park.

A contribution to
the Rust and Ruin theme at City Daily Bloggers;
Blue Monday;
Rubbish Tuesday.