Running Man Mural: Panels 5-8

A follow-up to my post from 29th June 2015 featuring Panals 1 -4 of the Running Man Mural. The 16 panel mural was the work of the group Friends of Heaton Chapel Station and produced with support from the local community. The artwork was designed by local artist Karen Allerton with photographs and historic information supplied by Phil Rowbotham ©.

Panel 5 was sponsored by Stella Maris School and informs us:

Heaton Mersey
The word Heaton is made up of two words of Anglo Saxon origin. "Hea" means high ground, which in this case is a shoulder of the Mersey Valley above the flood plain. The suffix "ton" means a defended settlement or farm.

The name Mersey originates from an Old English word Maere which means boundary. The river was the boundary of the ancient Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria.

Hence the name Heaton Mersey can be literally translated as the high farmstead beside the River Mersey.

Panel 6 was designed with pupils at Norris Bank Primary School.

Panel 7 was sponsored by Town Cafe Bar and informs us:

Heaton Moor is predominantly flat with no rivers or streams. The soil is black and fertile as expected from land that was previously peat moor. Before the opening of the railway, Heaton Moor was the main agricultural land in Heaton Norris, supporting pigs, cattle and cereal.

The opening of Heaton Chapel station in 1851 marked a turning point in the development of the area as people wanted to live close to the railway line between Stockport and Manchester.

Heaton Moor is characterised by the Victorian housing most of which was built between 1852 and 1892 and features tree lined roads which follow the former field patterns when the area was used for agriculture.

Heaton Moor is a thriving residential and commercial suburb of Stockport and contains its own busy and vibrant district centre which focuses on Heaton Moor Road.

Panel 8 was sponsored by Agito Transport Planning Consultancy and designed with pupils at Broadstone Hall Primary School - Heaton Chapel. It features Cecil Kimber.

Former resident of Shaw Road, Cecil Kimber was the man behind the iconic MG Sports Car. He was born in 1888 in south London during a time when the world had just discovered the combustion engine and people were realising its possibilities. His main interest was motor bicycles and he bought his first in 1906 aged 18 but he switched to cars and four wheels after a bad accident.

In 1914 following a family dispute, Cecil left the family printing business in Manchester and pursued a career in motor engineering.

In 1919 he met Frank Woollard who later helped Cecil establish the MG car. Two years after joining Morris Garages as sales manager in 1922, he launched the first four-door saloon, built on the chassis of the Morris Oxford.

Tragically Cecil died in a train crash in 1945, but the MG sports car flourished with a number of pure racing models winning countless successes on race circuits.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Q is for Quantock Close

In the Love Lane area of Heaton Norris.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

A closer look at St Mary's Catholic Church, Heaton Norris

I've featured this church before on 28th May 2013 viewed then from across the M60 motorway which now isolates it from the town.

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church on Roman Road, Dodge Hill was designed by Pugin & Pugin,1897 and is a prominent local landmark. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and window tracery and a slate roof.

The west front has a tall gabled bellcote on a stepped base beneath which is a statue of the Virgin and Child. Stepped buttresses framing a large rose window are flanked by traceried windows with paired lights.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

East of Hatton Street

The view from Hatton Street footbridge. The gantry signs partly obscure Lancashire Hill bridge. Above on the left is St Mary's Catholic church on Dodge Hill under which the former Cheshire Lines Committee railway through Tiviotdale ran in a tunnel.

The coloured version can be viewed on Geograph.

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

Heaton Norris Park

The land for Heaton Norris park was acquired by public subscription and as a gift from Lord Egerton. Work on laying out the site as a public park began in May 1873, and it was formally opened on June 5th 1875. The total area of the park at the time was 16 acres, 2 rods & 38 poles. During the Munich crisis of 1938 large trenches were dug in the park in preparation for possible air raids. More recently the park has become the venue for the annual Stockport Civic Bonfire.

Behind the fence is a multi-use games area and beyond are bowling greens.

A contribution to Friday Fences.

The Magnet

Built in 1840 as a coaching inn, due to its close proximity to the Heaton Norris Station, The Magnet has retained its original name for over 170 years.

It has been extensively refurbished since 2009 and has won a number of awards including CAMRA Pub Of The Year (SSM) 2011. There is a barrel vaulted cellar destined be a micro-brewery where they are hoping to brew their own innovative, unique "Cellar Rat" branded beers. See The Magnet website for more details.

In an earlier post on July 11th I featured the signs on the corner for Mount Crescent and Duke Street which I'd photographed in 2010. The street names no longer exist and the signs have been painted over and don't stand out as much they did.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Four Views from the corner of Heaton Norris Park

East towards Heaton Towers and Norris Towers at the top of Dodge Hill.

North towards Love Lane, Quantock Close and the bowling greens.

West along Church Road.

South over the football pitches with Stockport Plaza and the Town Hall visible through the trees.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday and to Outdoor Wednesday.

A View from Heaton Norris Park

A view across Stockport from Heaton Norris Park.

On the left, half-hidden behind the clock overlooking Chestergate and Merseyway is the tower of St Peter's Church.

On the right is Stockport Town Hall .

Left of the Town Hall are the Millbrook towerblocks.

A contribution to the Heights theme at City Daily Photo.

The Salvation Army, Heaton Norris Community Church

Heaton Norris Community Church is on Short Street. According to the church website

We are a Christian Church whose Mission is to demonstrate Christian principles through practical support, offering unconditional friendship, and very practical help to people of all ages, backgrounds and needs. Our Church, referred to in the Salvation Army as a Corps, was opened on the 5th November 1887. We continue to strive to make known the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve our local community.

They seem to have a lot of different activities going on.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

George V postbox on Wellington Road North

In June I showed you a wall postbox from the reign of Victoria. In July I showed you a lamp postbox from the reign of Elizabeth II. In August I showed you a cylinder pillar box from the reign of George VI.

This month I'm showing you another pillar box from the reign of George V. It is on Wellington Road North and is inscribed at the base with the name of the manufacturers:

CARRON COMPANY
STIRLINGSHIRE

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

View from Heaton Norris Park

Looking across the town from Heaton Norris Park.

The land for this park was acquired by public subscription and as a gift from Lord Egerton. Work on laying out the site as a public park began in May 1873, and it was formally opened on June 5th 1875. The total area of the park at the time was 16 acres, 2 rods & 38 poles. During the Munich crisis of 1938 large trenches were dug in the park in preparation for possible air raids. Construction of the motorway in the 1970s took several acres away from the park. More recently the park has become the venue for the annual Stockport Civic Bonfire. Information from Stockport MBC.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Wycliffe Congregational Church

Built in 1849 to a Gothic design, by Manchester architect Edward Walters, the Grade II listed Wycliffe Congregational Church is on the English Heritage list of buildings at risk.

More information can be seen on Stockport's Heritage.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

St Martin's, Norris Bank

St Martin's, Norris Bank was founded in 1901 and is now under the care of the Heaton Team Ministry which serves five churches in the area.

Inset is a close-up of the top of the spire.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

The Beauty of Decay

Christ Church. Heaton Norris, was built by Manchester architect William Hayley in 1846 and consisted of a nave, aisles, transepts, chancel and west tower and spire, constructed in coursed sandstone in a developed Early English style.

By the early 1970s the church was in a very poor condition with rampant dry rot and a decaying roof. Efforts to convert all or part of the church for community and cultural use were unsuccessful and, following its gutting by fire in 1977, it was demolished except for the tower and spire – notable as a local landmark – and a short length of the north and south nave walls. The plan of the rest of the church has been preserved by the retention of the lowest courses of masonry.

All the fittings, glass, furnishings etc appear to have been stolen or perished in the fire. The five clock bells by Warner (1896) were stolen in 1977. The tower itself is of four stages and is surmounted by a tall, slender spire. The best views of it are probably to be had from Stockport Station.

It was vested in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust in May 1979.

A contribution to the CDPB theme day The beauty of decay.

The Trans Pennine Trail between fences at Heaton Norris

The Trans Pennine Trail is a multi-user route across the North of England from Southport to Hornsea. It is also part of the E8 European Long Distance Walking Route from Kerry (Repulic of Ireland) to the Polish/Ukraine border.

This is part of the section through Heaton Norris. Over the fence on the right is the busy M60 motorway; left is Craig Road Playing Fields and the Brighton Road Industrial Estate.

A contribution to Friday Fences.