My Stockport Photo of the Year 2015: The River Mersey

The theme for City Daily Photos is Photo of the Year.

My choice for Photo of the Year 2015 is from the 25th April of the river Mersey emerging from under the Bear Pit and an arch of the Wellington Road viaduct into sunshine and flowing towards the railway viaduct.

The Mersey emerges

Having been culverted under the Merseyway Shopping Centre for most of its first mile of life the river Mersey emerges from under the Bear Pit and an arch of the Wellington Road viaduct into sunshine and heads towards the railway viaduct.

For another view and one taken in the opposite direction see the post from 26th May 2013.

A contribution to
Weekend Reflections;
Scenic Weekends;
Shadow Shot Sunday;
Water World Wednesday.

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

K is for Kings Reach

The river Mersey downstream from Kings Reach. Note the flood level gauge on the left.

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday;
Outdoor Wednesday;
Water World Wednesday;
ABC Wednesday;
Weekend Reflections.

River Goyt at Howard Street Bridge

The last bridge over the river Goyt is Howard Street bridge. A small island has built up between the flow through the two arches. A man can be seen on the island but how he managed to gain access I couldn't say.

Someone had tweeted earlier that day, "Why is the Goyt orange this morning?" A few hours later I took several photos of the river here. I posted three of them yesterday. The river as can be seen from this closer crop is indeed coloured orange. It is probably due a seepage or iron ore but where from I don't know and I've not seen news reports about it.

I do not know how this man, with an e-cigarette in his mouth, got onto the island nor what he is collecting in the plastic bag.

A contribution to Scenic Weekends and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

The Orange Goyt

On Tuesday morning someone tweeted "Why is the Goyt orange this morning?"

A few hours later I took this photo of the river looking upstream from Howard Street bridge. I haven't discovered the reason for the colouration, but it looks like a seepage of iron-ore into the river.

Downstream of the bridge the Goyt flows over a weir and the river Tame joins it from underneath the M60 motorway to form the river Mersey. Note the darker colour of the emerging, converging Tame.

This is a closer view of the water flower over the weir from the other direction. I'll post some more photographs from this point tomorrow.

A contribution to Orange You Glad It's Friday and Weekend Reflections.

Cheadle Bridge

Cheadle Bridge was built in 1861 across the river Mersey connecting Cheadle in Cheshire with Didsbury in Lancashire.


Nowadays both sides are in the modern county of Greater Manchester and the boundary is between the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and the City of Manchester.



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

King Street West Bridge

A sideways look at King Street West Bridge over the river Mersey with the railway viaduct in the background.

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

The end of the river Tame

This is the view downstream from the last footbridge over the river Tame. It is crossed by a pipework bridge and then flows under the M60 motorway to join the river Goyt and form the river Mersey.

This is the view looking back from under the motorway. The footpath alongside is part of the Trans Pennine Trail.

Before the motorway was built the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) railway line through Stockport (Tiviot Dale) crossed the river Tame between these two crossing points. Now only the buttresses remain. It has been reported that these precarious perches have been used as sleeping quarters by homeless people.

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

The Last Bridge Over The Goyt

Howard Street bridge is the last bridge to cross the river Goyt before it flows over a weir, meets the river Tame and forms the river Mersey.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Reflections in the River Goyt

This section of the river is about half way between St Mary's Way Bridge and Park Bridge.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

River Goyt under St Mary's Way Bridge

As the river Goyt passes under St Mary's Way bridge it divides around a grassy island.

This is the view looking downstream from the bridge.

And another from a slightly different angle.

And here's one I took earlier - in March 2009.

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

River Goyt from Park Bridge

The River Goyt as viewed from Park Bridge on Great Portwood Street.

The Goyt rises on the moors of Axe Edge, near the Cat and Fiddle Inn. It runs from the Errwood and Fernilee reservoirs, north of Buxton to Stockport where just around the next bend it joins the River Tame to form the Mersey.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections and Scenic Weekends.

Weekend reflections in the infant river Mersey

Shortly after its birth from the conjunction of the rivers Goyt and Tame, the river Mersey passes under Knightsbridge (from which this photograph was taken).

Below the weir it used to pass under Lancashire Bridge but in the 1960s the Merseyway Shopping Centre was built over the river. It emerges from the culvert at the Bear Pit.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections and Scenic Weekends.

The River Mersey between the Bear Pit and the Bus Station

The river Mersey spends the first mile of its life culverted under the Merseyway Shopping Centre. It emerges here at the Bear Pit. The shadow of Wellington Road Viaduct falls upon the reflections of trees. Behind the fence (top right) is Stockport bus station. Between the fence and the bridge are steps leading up to Wellington Road South.

To take this second photo I had to poke my camera over that fence and shoot blindy back towards where I took the first photograph. Here we see the river emerging from its murky culvert with the balustrade at the Bear Pit above it. Over it all is an arch of the viaduct that carries Wellington Road over the valley. The viewpoint can be seen on the left hand side of the photograph From Viaduct to Viaduct which I posted last week.

Both photographs were taken Saturday 25th May 2013.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Reflections in the Mill Race

At Etherow Country Park, Compstall.

For The Weekend in Black and White
Weekend Reflections and
Scenic Weekends.

Water is Life

Ironwork, part of a larger work erected in 1994, overlooking the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame to form the river Mersey above Howard Street bridge.

Photograph taken Wednesday, 24 June, 2009.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.