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.

Digging up Bridgefield Street

As part of a development known as Redrock a section of Bridgefield Street has been dug up. The workmen were taking a break for tea when I took this photograph.

There was some access on to the site which allowed me take a view of the excavations. The digging up of the car park has revealed the old cobbled streets and the foundations of houses that once stood here,

This view is from the opposite direction. There is still access via a ramp to the car park on the top of Debenhams.

A contribution to Good Fences.

Works on Bridgefield Street

Various works seem to be going on in and around Bridgefield Street with parts of the car park being closed. There are cones and fences on the pavement. On the right is the ramp from the car park leading to the rooftop car park above Debenhams.

At the other end of the street the bus shelter has disappeared and everyone waiting for a bus is having to stand.

Across the road they are erecting a "Cycle Hub".

A contribution to Good Fences.

Work on Warren Street

Lancashire Bridge crosses the river Mersey around the junction of Warren Street and Bridge Street. It was constructed in 1877 and widened in 1891. A reinforced concrete widening structure was 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. The bridge and the river was covered over in the late 1930s and a road built over the top. In 1965 the road was replaced by the Merseyway Shopping Centre.

An inspection and assessment of the reinforced concrete portal bridge established that the concrete had endemic chloride problems, poor cover and active corrosion and needed to be replaced. Pedestrian access has been maintained whilst the work is carried out but buses and other traffic have had to be diverted. On completion of the remedial works the stone arched section will have a new stone parapet installed to a design similar to that historically located at the bridge. Elsewhere, ornate metal railings will be installed around the opening.

The work started a year ago and was due to be completed in March but there seems a way to go yet.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows.

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.

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

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.

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.

Working in the Bear Pit

Apologies for lack of posting recently but I was away and then I just got busy.

At the end of May I showed you the beginning of the Deck Fill Reduction at the Bear Pit which involves the reduction of the overburden load on the deck of the Mersey Bridge structure.

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.

The photograph above was taken at the end of June when the polystyrene blocks were being delivered.

This now is how it looks at the end of July.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

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 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.

Something is happening in Lord Street

I posted views of the pedstrianised portion of Lord Street in November 2013.

I'm not sure what is happening there now but this is how it looked last Wednesday.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows.

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.

St Petersgate Bridge Repairs Almost Finished

A month ago I posted photographs of the men repairing St Petersgate Bridge from the Market Place end.

I was back there recently and as I walked from the Market Place past the fence between the pathway and the roadway a workman was painting the parapet on the other side. By the time I'd reached the other end and poked my camera lens through a hole in the fence he'd gone.

I imagine the roadworks will have all been cleared away by now.

For a wider, coloured view see Geograph.

A contribution to Friday Fences, The Weekend in Black and White and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Repairing St Petersgate Bridge

The roadway over the top of St Petersgate Bridge is being replaced and the road is closed although there is still pedestrian access around one side.

Behind the fence is a mobile canteen and toilets for the workmen.

A contribution to Friday Fences and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Fences around Hopes Carr

When I posted recently about the Air Disaster Memorials at Hopes Carr I wrote

The area has remained virtually untouched since the disaster but an area regeneration plan conceived in 2008 planned the creation of 350 apartments and 5000 sqm of commercial space with the memorials being moved to a "peace garden" overlooking the Hempshaw Valley. So far only 46 new homes have been built in the area and the memorials remain where they are.

Things have moved on since then and fences have been erected around the site and access to the site for anyone apart from contractors and their employees is blocked off.

This is the view from the opposite side of the site from Orchard Street off Lavanders Brow. The first factory built here in 1759 was a silk mill powered by watermill on Hempshaw Brook. It was bought by Charles Davies in 1781 who added new buildings and moved production over to cotton spinning. By the 1790s it was owned by Thomas Hope who gave his name to the area and built additional mills, a tannery, hat works and workers' houses. Higher Carr Mill was demolished by 1907 but Lower Carr Mill continued to be used for cotton spinning until the 1930s.

A contribution to Friday Fences.