X is for Xmas in Merseyway, Stockport

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday.

The fountain outside St Mary's

Some weeks ago I posted a view of the Gateway to St Mary's.

The ashlar wall to Millgate incorporates a drinking fountain in granite dated 1858, with 2 moulded stone steps below.

It is Grade II* listed.

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

A working dog

The City Daily Photo theme for 1st December is workers.

It says on this dog's yellow harness "Please do not distract me I am a working guide dog".

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

A contribution also to
Camera Critters;
Monday Mellow Yellows;
Blue Monday.

Swaine Street

Between the viaduct and the bus station.

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

Post Boxes on Exchange Street

Exchange Street leads from Wellington Road South into the Bus Station past the sorting office. Across the road by the side of a disabled parking bay is a pair of postboxes (SK1 999) one for stamped mail and one for franked mail only. In the background is the Hat Museum, its chimney flanked by adverts for office space.

A contribution to
Ruby Tuesday;
Our World Tuesday;
signs, signs.

The Hatters

Artwork on the wall next to the western entrance to Stockport Station.

"The Hatters, Stockport County Football Club, started in 1883 as the Heaton Norris Rangers at the Wycliffe Congressional Church, they became Stockport County in 1890 and moved to Edgeley Park in 1902. Their grounds are close to the former site of Sykes Bleaching Company, located on the edges of Alexandra Park, whose reservoirs were formed to service the mill. The Sykes family originally owned most of the land in Edgeley, and employed many people. Much of their wealth was invested back into the local community."

"The Hatters" is one of a number of Town Centre Artworks produced as part of an initiative by the Stockport Youth Offending Service

The others are:
Glass Umbrella;
And The River Runs Through;
Having Your Cake;
11 Million Bricks - this one was apparently stolen before I could take a photograph of it.

A contribution to
Blue Monday;
Monday Murals.

Thursday Challenge: Architecture - former Don Cinema

The Don Cinema on Bramhall Lane was opened on 25th September 1913. It had seating in stalls and balcony levels, and had a 30 feet wide proscenium. Independently operated, or occasionally operated by small independent chains, the Don Cinema was closed on 29th June 1957 with Norman Wisdom in "Up in the World". It was never equipped to screen CinemaScope wide screen films. It was sold to John Blundell Ltd. for use as a furniture store and has since become a Majestic Wine Warehouse store.

A contribution to Thursday Challenge: Architecture.

S is for School Crossing Patrol

This school crossing patrol is on Bramhall Lane at Heaviley near St George's Church of England Primary School.

The patrol man, commonly known as a "lollipop man" stops the traffic to allow people (especially the children) to cross safely in the morning on their way to school and in the afternoon on their way home.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Having Your Cake

I've shown you the Glass Umbrella and And The River Runs Through", two of the artworks around the town created by a group of young people, working with the Youth Offending Service.

"Have your Cake" focuses on the architectural design of Stockport Town Hall and celebrates some of Stockport's sporting successes. The Town Hall, nicknamed the wedding cake, was designed by architect Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas,1908. Stockport is the birthplace of tennis player, Fred Perry winner of the Men's Singles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open 1936. Stockport Metro has enjoyed a long history of podium success and is one of the most successful swimming clubs in British history.

You'll find it on the wall of Life Leisure Grand Central Pools which provides fitness and swimming facilities. The gym has the latest fitness equipment and a dedicated performance zone and aerobics studio with weekly programmes of classes. Grand Central is also home to Stockport's only 50m swimming pool and is home to Stockport Metro, the UK's most successful swimming club and learn to swim programme. For details see their website

A contribution to
Blue Monday;
Monday Murals;
Ruby Tuesday;
Our World Tuesday.

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.

And The River Runs Through

Back in September I posted a photograph of an artwork that had appeared in the garden of St Peter's Church which I later discovered was called The Glass Umbrella, one of five artworks around the town created by a group of young people, working with the Youth Offending Service.

And the River Runs Through, highlights the importance of the local rivers to Stockport's Industrial Heritage. The Rivers Tame and Goyt converge in Stockport, to form the River Mersey, that runs beneath Merseyway shopping centre. The artwork uses repeat patterns created from photographs gathered around Stockport Town Centre to indicate the complex nature of the local industry, especially hatting, textiles and engineering.

This one is on Chestergate and it took me two walks down the street before I actually found it somewhat tucked away behind a litter bin near the taxi rank.

I'll show you two of the other artworks at a later date. I never found the fifth and after some inquiries discovered that was because it had been stolen. I have been informed that work on a replacement is in progress.

A contribution to
Blue Monday;
Monday Murals;
Our World Tuesday;
ABC Wednesday.

The top of the "Wedding Cake"

Stockport Town Hall is often colloquially known as the "Wedding Cake".

A contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

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.

Stockport No.1 Signal Box.

The 96 lever signal box (type LNW4) on the south side of the station was built in 1884. Along with four other boxes in the area it was due to be closed in the 2000s when a new signalling system was being installed as part of an upgrade to the West Coast Main Line.

However, the Italian system would not work on the complex Stockport line and was shelved, although it has since been used successfully at Cheadle Hulme.

Instead, Network Rail decided to improve the existing line, along with five Victorian signalboxes at Stockport, Edgeley and Heaton Norris - renewing the points on the tracks and the mechanical lever operation.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Stockport's landmark railway viaduct

Stockport railway viaduct is a landmark structure. This first view is from the M60 motorway Eastbound looking South towards the viaduct; the motorway itself is elevated so it is nearly level with the roofs of buildings that nestle under the viaduct's archways.

The viaduct was built in 1839/40 by the engineer George Watson Buck under the architect John Lowe.

This view is taken from outside the bus station. The motorway is somewhere near the farthest arch to be seen in this photograph. Note how it towers over the double-decker buses in the garage.


This view is from the other side above Daw Bank near to where it reaches Stockport Station.

In 1887-89 it was widened to four tracks, 27 arches, 111 feet high and 1786 feet long, comprising 11 million bricks.



This is the view across the bus station from Wellington Road viaduct.

A contribution to the Landmark theme at City Daily Photoblogs.

Fresh Chicken Legs

Saw this sign recently on Bridge Street.

A contribution to signs, signs.

P is for Platform 2

Yesterday I showed you the western entrance to Stockport Station.

Today I bring you Platform 2.

East to west the platforms are numbered 0, 1/2, 3/3a, 4 the middle ones being island platforms linked by stairs and lifts to the subway below the station.

The train waiting to pull out is on its way from Manchester Piccadilly to Bristol Temple Meads.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Stockport Station Entrance (West)

The first post on this blog in April 2013 featured the sign at the eastern entrance to Stockport station.

This is the western entrance which leads into a subway that passes under the station. Steps and lifts connect the subway to the platforms.

The station was opened on 15 February 1843, by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, following completion of the railway viaduct to the north. After operation by the London and North Western Railway, it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway, in 1923. The station was known as Stockport Edgeley to differentiate it from Stockport Tiviot Dale, which closed in 1967.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Flowerbeds in Merseyway

Merseyway Shopping Centre has a number of large flowerbeds with benches round the sides.

A contribution to Floral Fridays and Blue Monday.

In and out of St Mary's in the Marketplace

Stockport Parish Church is known as St Mary's in the Marketplace. It is a Grade I listed building.

Inside it has stained glass by several different makers, including the East window by O'Connor, 1849.

Outside it has a gateway built of ashlar stone by Lewis Wyatt in the shape of an elaborate Gothic screen forming three pointed archways with crocketed finials above the centre arch. The gateway is Grade II* listed.

The exit from the church leads directly into the Market Hall.

A contribution to
Inspired Sundays;
Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.

Plaza Reflection

The Plaza reflected in a pool of water on the flat roof of the shops by the entrance to the bus station viewed from Wellington Road viaduct.

For information about the Plaza see our post from 30th October 2013 and for a close-up of the sign see the post for 31st October 2013.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

Flowers for sale on Stockport Market

One of the street stalls in the Market Place outside the Market Hall.

A contribution to Floral Fridays.

N is for NatWest Bank and National Cycle Network

This is Great Underbank. In the background is Underbank Hall, now the NatWest bank. In the foreground are two benches either side of a lamppost and a litter bin. Behind them in front of a wall and next to two Sheffield stands is a National Cycle Network Milepost.

Underbank Hall was the Elizabethan town house of the Arderne family of Bredbury. The original house must have been larger as an inventory of 1619 lists more rooms than survive today. The hall was sold for 3,000 guineas in September 1823 to the banking firm of Christy Lloyd & Co which became the Stockport and East Cheshire Bank in the following year. In 1829, the Stockport and Cheshire Bank became part of the Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company. By 1880 this bank had 54 branches, in Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. The bank changed its name to the District Bank in 1924 and in 1962 was acquired by the National Provincial Bank. Then in 1970 this bank merged with the Westminster Bank to form the National Westminster Bank, which is now known simply as NatWest.

1000 Millennium cast iron mileposts were funded by the Royal Bank of Scotland to mark the creation of the National Cycle Network, and are found along the cycles routes through the UK.

This recently erected milepost is on the National Cycleway Network Route #62 and Trans Pennine Trail, 20 miles from Lymm and 10 from Broadbottom. This one is of the Cockerel design and apart from having a red top is so far unpainted.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Merseyway from Level 3

From the level 3 car park on Mersey Way looking down into the shopping complex.

Merseyway Shopping Centre opened in 1965 . It consists mainly of a large pedestrianised street, where at one point there are two levels of walkways for shoppers, and there is access to both the first and ground floor of many shops. It was extensively refurbished in 1995 with the provision of level 3 parking and an area of covered mall at the western edge of the centre.

It is built on giant stilts above the River Mersey and the river runs for the entire length of the centre. The river had been first covered over in the late 1930s when a road was built over the top.

In the background is the town's iconic railway viaduct and visible under the second arch from the left is the town's modern icon the Stockport Pyramid.

A contribution to Blue Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Marketplace on a lampost

This artwork can be found on a lampost on Castle Street in Edgeley. The text reads:

"On Saturday nights my dad used to take us Stockport Market in those days it stayed open till 9pm.

It was a great event everyone from round here would go. And we'd always go to Woolworths on the way home to buy sweets."

As part of the Stockport Arts Trail, an independent group of young people, working towards an Arts Award Qualification at Stockport Central Library, created the images for one face of the artworks, located on lampposts in and around Edgeley.

Historic photographs from the libraries archives are on the other face, giving people an idea of how the area looked in times gone by.

There are eleven lampposts in total along the trail. More information is at Healthy Stockport.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Double postbox on Castle Street, Edgeley

Castle Street used to be the main thoroughfare through Edgeley before it was bypassed by Mercian Way and sections of it pedestrianised.

It is still a busy street with many shops, pubs, cafés and much else.

A closer view of the double postbox SK3 24.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

The Cheadle End Stand at Stockport County

This stand was opened at the beginning of the 1995-96 season, is two tiered, covered and all seated. It is generally reserved for home fans who enter via turnstiles 17-19 on Hardcastle Road.

Stockport County moved to Edgeley Park, then home of Stockport Rugby League Club, in 1902, having previously played at Green Lane in Heaton Norris. The team currently play in the Conference North League - for details see the club website.

A contribution to Blue Monday.

Sykes Reservoir, Edgeley

Syke's #2 Reservoir is the middle of three reservoirs originally providing water for the Sykes Bleaching Works. It is now part of Alexandra Park, Edgeley and used for fishing.

I posted a 2009 view of it in September 2013.

A contribution to
Good Fences;
Weekend Reflections;
Scenic Weekends.

L is for Lift

The former Stockport Magistrates Court was converted into a 5-storey shopping and leisure complex in 2003/4.

An outside lift was installed which provides for the movement of shoppers from Warren Street and via the upper level store into Castle Yard and the Market Place. TK-Maxx occupied the top storeys until they moved into the former Comet store in the Peel Centre. Their space was taken over by Sports Direct.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and the Movement theme at City Daily Photo.

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.

War Memorial tablet in St Thomas's, Hillgate

Previous posts have shown
The outside of St Thomas's;
The inside of St Thomas's;
The stained glass at St Thomas's.

On one wall of the church is a memorial reading:
"This tablet is erected in grateful and loving memory of the above named
men of St Thomas's church and parish who laid down their lives in the Great War 1914-1919"
Beneath it is a Votive Candle stand where those who wish to may light a candle for someone who is ill or in need, or to mark an anniversary.

The nearby Memorial Book contains names of former parishioners and worshippers who are remembered in the prayers on their anniversary, every year.

The names listed in the four panels of the war memorial are:
Charles Adams
Fred Adams
Walter Barnet
Walter Birchenough
Stephen Blackshaw
William D Blackshaw
Frederick Brady
James Briggs
James Broadhurst
John T Brocklehurst
Henry Brown
Harry C Buckland
Edward Burgess
Ernest Clarke
Frank Corlett
James Cumston
Joseph Davenport
John Davies
William Donbavand
John Edward Dudley
Henry Edge
Vincent Fletcher
Joseph Barlow

***

Joseph Fox
Harold Garner
William Garner
Ernest Gibson
Frank Gorst
Edwin Gray
William Greenhalgh
George Kinsey Gresty
William Thomas Hague
Herbert Hamer
John Harrison
William Hayes
John Hester
John Holmes
Herbert Hooley
Sidney Hulme
Charles Jackson
Joshua Jackson
William Jackson
Arthur Jordan
Alfred Kaye

***

George Kinder
Edward Kirkpatrick
Samuel Knowles
Francis Knight
Neville Lewis
Joseph Littlewood
John Taylor Lomax
George Ludlow
Henry Marsden
George Mather
Joseph Mather
Thomas Blackshaw Mather
Alfred Moore
Henry Moore
John William Mott
George Mottram
Frederick Oldham
William Oldham
John Pearson
Davenport Pennington
George Potts
Percy Pratt
William McCarthy

***

Frederick Pyott
Henry Salt
John Joshua Savage
William Edward Shepherdson
Gerald Slack
Ernest Smith
Isaac Smith
George Southam
Frederick Swain
Alfred Thorley
John Thorley
Mark Thorley
Walter Thorley
Harold G Townley
Robert Travis
Robert Arthur Walley
Edmund Ward
Richard Waterfield
Frank Watts
Charles Wilkinson
Charles Williamson
George Wilson
Visit the Church website for more information on St Thomas's.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Da Vinci's Coffee House and Eatery

The sign for Da Vinci's Coffee House and Eatery.

It stands on the corner of St Petersgate and Tatton Street.

In 2009 it was the Stockport Arms. Tatton Street leads to St Joseph's RC Church.

A contribution to signs, signs.

J is for Just Eat

This Cafe on the corner of Hillgate and Mowbray Street is open weekdays from breakfast to after lunch - I haven't been in it but it looks like just the place for decent cup of tea, a bacon sarnie or a reasonably priced hot lunch.

Next door is a chinese chippie that probably opens around tea-time until late evening.

There is a sign between the two advertising a website called "Just Eat" where apparently you can order a meal online and have it delivered. Reports I've heard suggest that the quality of the service is questionable and often the meals are not cooked in the establishment from which you thought you had ordered. If I wanted my food delivered I think I'd phone the takeaway directly rather than going through a third party.

In any case you can just eat without going online.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.