Ephemera: Changes on Prince's Street

In recent year Prince's Street has been split into five sections with two sections made into pedestrianised areas with little trees, benches, litter bins and lighting outside the rear of M&S on the left - see the post of 15th March 2015 which shows what used to be there.

Now that has all gone and the area has been tarmacced over. The street extension to the Swan With Two Necks is still there for now - see it from the other side in the post of 20th November 2013.

The barriers won't be staying for too long. Prince's Street will be returning to a through route running one way with the parallel Bridgefield Street running in the opposite direction.

Today's post is a contribution to the Ephemeral theme at the City Daily Photo Community.

A is for Ashlea

The Ashlea is a Chef and Brewer pub on Manchester Road, Cheadle.

I don't know anything about its history and I suspect the coat of arms featured on the pub sign is a modern made-up image and not some proper family crest.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

The George & Dragon at Cheadle

The George and Dragon Hotel is a Grade II listed public house and former coaching inn dating from 1753. According to the Cheadle Civic Society it started life as a cottage cum alehouse by the name of "Gibbon's cottage". In 1778, it was bought by an inn owner, together with the newly built house next door. By the 1790s the property was known as the "George Inn" and was kept by a Mr and Mrs Royle, who also ran a profitable sideline in stay making. As coach traffic became increasingly busy, the inn was steadily altered to accommodate a growing influx of travellers. A carriage entry was made through one side of the property, and the cottage on the other side was raised to the full height of the main building.

Towards the end of the 19th century a bay window was added, while the arched, canopied entrance was an early 20th century addition. The "George" became the "George and Dragon" (probably when the king appeared to be losing his mind), and the erstwhile sign of a bunch of grapes was eventually replaced by a colourful representation of St. George and his adversary. In 2012 it was boarded up and for sale but now it is back in business.

A contribution to signs, signs and Skywatch Friday.

W is for Wilf Wood

A plaque on the wall of the foyer at Stockport station reads:PRIVATE WILF WOOD V.C.

Remembering the life of railwayman Wilf Wood who was awarded the
Victoria Cross for an act of most conspicuous bravery and initiative
on 28 October 1918 near Casa Van in Italy.

A unit on the right flank having been held up by hostile machine gunners
and snipers, Private Wood worked forward with his Lewis gun, enfiladed
the enemy machine gun nest and caused 140 enemy to surrender. The advance
continued until a hidden machine gun opened fire at point blank range.
Without a moment's hesitation, Private Wood charged, firing his Lewis gun
from the hip, and enfiladed a ditch from which a further
160 men and 3 officers duly surrendered.

A cleaner at Stockport locomotive depot, Wilf survived the Great War
and spent his entire working life on the railways. He had the honour
of a steam locomotive being named after him and enjoyed a long
retirement before his death in January 1982 at the age of 84.

He is remembered in Hazel Grove by Wetherspoon's who named their Freehouse after the local hero. A plaque on the wall reads:THE
WILFRED
WOOD

These licensed premises stand on the site
of a Primitive Methodist Chapel (erected in 1897
and demolished in the 1960s) and are named after
Private Wilfred Wood V.C, who was awarded the Victoria
Cross "for conspicuous gallantry" in the First World
War. On his return home to Hazel Grove, Wood
was given a civic reception at the Mechanics
Institute, now the Civic Hall, next
door to this building.

These premises were refurbished
by J.D.Wetherspoon
in September 2010.

He is depicted on the inn sign.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Architectural style in Stockport

The Three Shires on Great Underbank was built around 1580 as a half-timbered town house for the Leghs of Adlington Hall. A shopfront was inserted in 1824.

At various times it has housed a confectioners, bakehouse, surgery, solicitors, restaurant and wine bar. Since 2011 it has been Huffy's Cafe Bar & Restaurant.

The modern building on the left houses Prickett's solicitors.

Visit other contributions to the Style theme at City Daily Photo.

Chapel House Hotel

Last week I showed you views of St Thomas, Heaton Chapel.

In 1822 a pub was built across the road and was called The Chapel House.

The original pub was rebuilt in 1889 and named Chapel House Hotel.

This was purchased by Bass of Burton in 1921.

It was later known as Tut n Shive, and then Conors until the police closed it down around 2009.

Subsequently the building became a Tesco Extra supermarket before being closed again in 2015.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

C is for the Crown

The Crown Inn on Didsbury Road, Heaton Mersey, is a Grade II listed building. Originally a row of cottages dating from 1737, the buildings were turned into a pub by Robinsons in 1929. It was refurbished in 2011.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

The Queens on Great Portwood Street

Since I last showed you The Queens in May 2013, the Robinsons pub on Great Portwood Street has lost its satellite TV dish and gained new signage, window boxes and hanging baskets of flowers.

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
signs, signs;
Floral Fridays.

Sign of the Full Shilling

Last month I brought you the rear of the Full Shilling and the front of the Full Shilling.

Here now is the sign for the Full Shilling.

For those who don't know, it features not an English shilling but an Irish shilling.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

The old Astor Steps

A rear view of the Egerton Arms on High Street. Next to the public house was a theatre which was pulled down in 1904 and replaced a year later by the Empire.

In 1915 it was renamed the Hippodrome which was converted into a cinema in 1951 named the Astor.

In 1965 it burnt down and its last advertised film "A Bucket of Blood" was never shown.

The red-brick wall here contains the remains of some of the steps from the old Astor.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

The Top of the White Lion

I showed you a photograph of the White Lion in December 2013.

It has been empty for some years but currently it is surrounded by scaffolding so maybe it is being refurbished ready for opening again, although it may be just essential remedial work to the fabric that is being carried out.

Rather than show all the scaffolding I thought I'd zoom in on the dome at the top.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

O is for Offerton

Offerton is a suburb of Stockport lying alongside Marple Road. Here by the Golden Hind at the junction with Lisburne Lane are some welcome signs.

As far as I can gather these signs, like others to be seen on roads across Greater Manchester, were erected to celebrate the Millennium.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Two pubs on Tiviot Dale

On Thursday I brought you the rear of the Full Shilling and on Saturday the front of the Full Shilling.

This is the side view looking down Tiviot Dale. On the left is the former Robinson brewery's house The Tiviot.

Here is how it looked in 2008 when the pub on the right was The King's Head and The Tiviot was flourishing.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

The Front of the Full Shilling

On Thursday I posted a photograph of the rear of the Full Shilling.

This is the frontage on Tiviot Dale.

It opened as a freehouse in 2009 after the previous pub on the site, The King's Head, closed in 2008.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

At the rear of the Full Shilling

The gate at the rear of the Full Shilling bears the sign for Guinness and the address St James' Gate Brewery, Dublin.

The pub on Tivot Dale used to be called the Kings Head but that closed in 2008 and in 2009 it re-opened as the Full Shilling.

It is classed as a "Freehouse" which in the UK means - not tied to a particular brewery and therefore free to purchase its ale from anywhere.

Searching for information about pubs on the internet is difficult as there are so many sites that merely list everything in the "yellow pages phone book" and have no real information of any use whatsoever and they clutter up the first dozen pages of any internet search. The pub review pages don't seem to rate it very well but they aren't necessarily reliable and as a teetotaller myself I wouldn't know.

I have some more photos of the pub which I'll be showing at a later date.

A contribution to signs, signs and Good Fences.

See also The front of the Full Shilling.

Entry to Stockport Parish Church

Entry to the Parish Church of "St Mary's in the Market Place" is through the Great West Doors which stand underneath the tower. The main body of the church dates from 1817, although parts date back to the 14th century. Through the left hand side of the modern glass door can be seen the East window.

The Packhorse Inn can be seen reflected in the right hand side.

This photograph was taken on Christmas Eve 2011.

Since then the Packhorse Inn has changed to become the Cocked Hat and on January 4th I posted a photo of one the church windows reflected in the pub window.

A contribution to the Entry theme at City Daily Photo and to Weekend Reflections and also to Inspired Sundays. Also a contribution to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

A is for Armoury

The Stockport Volunteer Armoury (the one on the left) is Grade II listed. It was built in 1860 and consists mainly of an octagonal tower in red brick with pointed copper cap. Raised by public subscription for the 4th Cheshire Battalion Rifle Volunteers in defence against Napoleon III. It was opened in 1862 and has been occupied by Volunteer Regiments, principally the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment.

It is now in use by the Territorial Army. The building has been altered with loss of the original gateway and Sergeant Major’s quarters. An extension to the front in the angle between the tower and the mess/office range was probably made in the late 19th century and is shown in early 20th century photographs. A variety of other extensions and additions, mainly to the north side, were made in the mid and later 20th century.

The other "Armoury" across Greek Street on the corner of Shaw Heath is a Robinson's pub noted for its Darts Super Leauge Team.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Mural at the Houldsworth Arms

This mural is on the side of a building in the rear yard of the Houldsworth Arms, Reddish.

The snowmen on the right are the same ones as are in the photograph I posted of the pub on 2nd January.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Window in a window

A stained-glass window in the tower of St Mary's in the Marketplace is reflected in the windows of The Cocked Hat (formerly the Packhorse Inn) across the road.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

Houldsworth Arms, Reddish Green

This is the sign for the Houldsworth Arms, Reddish Green.

The arms are those of Sir William Henry Houldsworth, 1st Baronet (born Ardwick, Manchester 20 August 1834, died Kilmarnock 18 April 1917) who was a mill-owner in Reddish. He was Conservative MP for Manchester North West from 1883 to 1906, and sometime chairman of the Fine Cotton Spinners' Association. He was made a baronet in 1887. Houldsworth bought farmland by the Stockport Branch Canal in Reddish in the 1860s and built Reddish Mill, then the largest cotton-spinning mill in the world. The City of Manchester made him a freeman in 1905, and the Victoria University of Manchester awarded him an honorary LLD. In later life, Houldsworth moved away and concentrated on his estate at Kilmarnock, Scotland.

This view is of the rear of the pub. I didn't notice the two snowmen nor the seagull until I downloaded the photograph.

A contribution to signs, signs.