Richard Street, Portwood

In the background is the M60 motorway and beyond that are the tower blocks on Lancashire Hill.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

Reddish Old Police Station

Built of red brick, the old Police Station on Gorton Road, Reddish has been converted into apartments.

Above the doorway, between the words POLICE and STATION, is a coat of arms relating to the Lancashire Constabulary.

The building presumably pre-dates 1901 when Reddish transferred from Lancashire to Cheshire.

Above the coat of arms is a hole which would originally have held the traditional police blue lamp.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Q is for Quantock Close

In the Love Lane area of Heaton Norris.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

London Square

London Square was originally the site of the Stockport Sunday School - see our post of 13th April for more information.

On one side now are modern flats and a children's adventure play area. On the other side (out of sight on the right) is a car park.

The square manhole cover in the middle of the road is a ductile Stanton PLC Chieftain 600 grade A.

A contribution to the City Daily Photo theme Squares.

High rise living on Lancashire Hill

These high-rise apartments are on the side of Lancashire Hill. On the left is Stonemill Terrace. On the right is The Bentleys. The tower block in the middle is Pendlebury House. Behind it but blocked from view is another tower-block Hanover House.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Half a Ghost

Wandering down Shaw Heath recently I came across this ghost sign on the gable end of a house.

The house is called Studley Villa and a name stone is embedded in the front wall.

According to a reference on rootsweb Robert Howell Jones died sometime after 1943, and at his death he was living at Studley Villa, 124 Shaw Heath, Stockport. He was a painter and decorator by trade.

This is the only information I could find about the house and the sign must date back to at least the 1940s.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Steps to Stonemill Terrace

From Penny Lane Fields.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

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.

From Orphanage to Care Home

From the end of Penny Lane, looking across Lancashire Hill at what was originally Pendlebury Hall, an orphanage designed by architect J.W. Beaumont and erected 1881-2. It was founded through the bequest of Ralph Pendlebury who left £100,000 for the purpose. Pendlebury started his working life as apprentice to a handloom weaver, but later built and owned mills in Stockport.

This is the entrance from Dodge Hill. Previously known as Grosvenor Hall but now called Hilltop Hall Care Home, it has been fully refurbished to create a special environment where modern facilities blend in with the character and elegance of the grade II listed building. Wood panelling, stain glass windows, chandeliers and a bell tower are some of the features of the home, along with landscaped gardens in a quiet and elevated location. It is managed by Harbour Healthcare.

A contribution to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

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.

M is for Mottram Towers

One of a group of tower blocks in the Millbrook area of Stockport. In the foreground is a decorated open space with benches.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Hanover and Pendlebury Towers

High-rise living on Lancashire Hill.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Crowther Street

An old cobbled street in Hillgate.

Imagine it in colour.

Imagine it full of people.

Imagine it in 1930.

Imagine it with the eyes of L S Lowry.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White and Scenic Weekends.

Woodley Station

This is a black and white view of Woodley Station in 2013. It was opened on 5 August 1862 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and later became a junction when a line from Stockport Tiviot Dale opened in 1865. The station subsequently became jointly owned and operated by the MS&L, Great Northern Railway and Midland Railway as part of the Cheshire Lines Committee system. The Stockport route closed to passengers in January 1967, although a short section at the eastern end remains in use for goods traffic (serving a Tarmac stone terminal and the waste recycling plant at Bredbury - the one that caught fire ten days ago! - see Fire behind McDonald's).

It was once a busy line that ran to Macclesfield and beyond but now there is just an half-hourly service from Manchester Piccadilly to Rosehill (Marple).

Compare it with scene below taken in 1989.

The old station buildings have been sold off and are private houses. Note how the windows on the station side have been blocked off. The train running today, a two coach diesel unit, is much the same as the one in 1989.

  © Copyright Peter Whatley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White and Scenic Weekends.

Edgeley Cottage

The house was constructed c.1889. It is built of red brick with applied timber-framing to the first floor. The gabled roof is tiled, with tall diagonally-set brick stacks. The 2-storey front elevation have 3 and 4-light timber casements with leaded glass, and coloured glass in the top-lights, the central projecting bay on Edgeley Road is gabled with barge boards. The Dale Street elevation has a C20 door in a lean-to open timber porch to the left, and a relief plaster panel with the name EDGELEY COTTAGE and the date 1889.

Front boundary walls are coursed stone.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Elizabethan postbox on Carlton Crescent

Three weeks ago I showed you a Victorian Postbox on Little Underbank.

By way of contrast, this is an Elizabethan postbox on the corner of Carlton Crescent and Newbridge Lane.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Royal Oak Yard

Named after a pub here called the Royal Oak in 1680. Caves cut into the red sandstone cliffs on the right were once used by tinsmiths. Access to High Street via steps has now been closed.

Today the yard is home to offices and some housing. The Tin Brook flows underneath.

Access is via a cobbled lane under St Petersgate Bridge from Little Underbank.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Y is for Yew Tree Avenue

A modern suburban street off Buxton Road, Hazel Grove.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.