Bredbury Curve

In 2015 plans for the Bredbury Curve Development were recommend for acceptance by the council.

The plans were rejected in 2016 - see details.

The proposal involved the filling in of the existing railway cutting with inert materials and the construction of 60 dwellings with associated new highways, a junction with Stockport Road East, landscaping, parking and amenities.

The site was previously a railway cutting that accommodated a rail line which linked the Glazebrook to Godley Line to the Ashbury Junction to New Mills Junction line. The scheme was designed in such a way that a corridor would be retained along the northern corner of the site in order to enable a future tram/train line to be constructed between the Ashbury Junction to New Mills Junction line and Whitefield Road and then onwards towards Stockport Town Centre.

Peter Whatley's photograph published on Geograph and taken from the crossover bridge at Bredbury Station shows how it looked in 1989.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

St Mark's in the rain

I last featured the church of St Mark's, Bredbury and Woodley in June 2014. This time it was raining heavily and I got raindrops on the lens as I photographed the lych gate.

I used the shelter of the lych gate to photograph the church. St Mark's is a Grade II listed building which was built 1847-8 by Shellard for the Church Commissioners with dressed stone, ashlar and slate roofs.

Visit the Church website for details of its current activities.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays and Blue Monday.

Sorry some trees have gone

Sorry some trees have gone
But we'll be back to plant more.

So says the poster on the side of the United Utilities construction site at Bredbury.

United Utilities are building an underground storage tank at Bredbury which will be used during periods of heavy rainfall to hold storm water which can be pumped back into the sewer network when the storm subsides. A construction site and compound has been set up within the grounds of Morrisons supermarket car park and adjacent private land. The tank will be connected to the sewer pipes on Stockport West. The car parking spaces will be put back once the work is completed.

A contribution to signs, signs.

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.

St Mark's Church, Bredbury and Woodley

The lych gate of St Mark's church. On the left is Redhouse Lane. On the right is the A560, Stockport Road East. The church lies between the two roads and serves the joint parish of Bredbury and Woodley. At this time of year a view of the church itself is blocked by the trees.

St Mark's is a Grade II listed building which was built 1847-8 by Shellard for the Church Commissioners with dressed stone, ashlar and slate roofs. It has a 3-sided gallery plan with a small chancel and a west tower flanked by entrance bays. There is a 5-bay nave and aisles without clerestory, projecting stone plinth, sill band, eaves band, coped parapet and coped gables with octagonal corner pinnacles. Each bay has paired lancets with colonnettes and a weathered gableted buttress (angled at corners).

The 5-stage tower has set-back buttresses which are transformed at the fifth stage in octagonal corner columns to rise as ornate pinnacles. There is a clock in the third stage and 2-light belfry openings with clock and parapet above.

I showed you a close-up of the clockface in last Wednesday's post.

The flag of St George is flying on top of the tower. Next to it is what I think is a CCTV camera.

Visit the Church website for details of its current activities.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

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.

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.

B is for Building in Bredbury

I first noticed this large house on Stockport Road West, Bredbury in November 2009. It was empty and boarded-up.

It was that way until April 2011 when I noticed that the old house was being demolished.

The site was empty until September 2013 when work began on building a new house at the site.

Here is how it looked in January 2014.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Yellow trolleys

A chain of trolleys at Morrisons in Bredbury.

To use a trolley for shopping you have to put a pound coin in a slot to unlock one from the chain. Having done your shopping you return it and retrieve your pound.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows.

Pollarded Trees at Bredbury

Two pollarded trees off Stockport Road West, Bredbury, point at the winter sky and long for spring.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

R is for Rat Pit

A plaque on the wall of the Rat Pit, unveiled in 2007, commemorates William Watson who was born in a house that previously stood on the site. He was a stoker on the ill-fated Titanic and was buried at sea on the 24th April 1912, aged 27 years.

More of his story can be seen on the Bents Lane Social Club website.

Bents Lane Social Club was named after the former wooden building built on stilts, which it replaced. It had been known locally as "The Rat Pit", and now boasts that name on its frontage.

The building is the local polling station for elections. Can the locals be the only ones in the United Kingdom to vote at an officially designated rat pit?

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and A contribution to signs, signs.

Fire behind McDonald's

On 20th August 2013 a large fire broke out at a waste recycling plant on Bredbury Industrial Estate. The fire could be seen from miles around and thick acrid smoke spread as far as Leeds. There were, however, no reports of any casualties.

This was the scene four days later; the fire is contained but still burning. The roads are all now open and there is access to all the businesses in the area which are mostly carrying on as normal.

This photograph was taken by the entrance to McDonald's on Whitefield Road.

For a news report see BBC News.

For a real inside view see the Manchester Evening News.

Readers should note that this place is NOT the Bredbury Park Household Recycling Centre although it isn't far away from there.

A contribution to signs, signs.

George VI Postbox in Lower Bredbury

A few weeks ago I showed you a Victorian post box on Little Undercliff. That one was a "wall box".

Last week I showed you an Elizabethan post box at Carlton Crescent. That one was a small "lamp post box".

This one in Lower Bredbury is more common "cylinder pillar box" and carries the cypher of George VI. The design has been around since 1879 so examples can be found with the cyphers all the monarchs from Victoria to Elizabeth II. The small lamp boxes have been around since 1897.

In recent times (post 1980) the words POST OFFICE on boxes has been replaced by ROYAL MAIL. An interesting web site for more information about British post boxes is Paul's Unofficial Letterbox Pages.

For Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Signs for the Travellers' Call

This is the inn sign for the Travellers' Call at Bredbury.

The J W Lees house stands on what used to be the main road out of Stockport to Yorkshire.

Above the main door, the name is spelt out in a mosaic, complete with an apostrophe in its proper position. This is a fairly recent replacement for the rather well-worn garish signage present in 2009.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Bredbury Park Household Recycling Centre

Fencing alongside the Bredbury Park Household Recycling Centre which opened in 2011.

A contribution to Friday Fences.

R is for Rat Pit

Bents Lane Social Club at Bredbury was named after a former wooden building built on stilts, which it replaced. It had been known locally as "The Rat Pit", and it now boasts that name on its frontage.

A plaque on the wall commemorates William Watson who was born in a house that previously stood on the site. He was a stoker on the Titanic and the only person from Stockport to perish on the ship. It was unveiled in 2007 by Stockport Heritage Trust.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Skywatch Friday: Bredbury Morrisons

View from the café at Morrisons in Bredbury.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.