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.

Robinsons Dray in Reddish

Yesterday I spotted the Robinsons Brewery dray wagon being pulled through Reddish by one of their two shire horses.

I'm not sure which horse this is but they have their own Facebook page if you want see more of them.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Agony in the Garden

As a follow-up to last week's post Inside St Peter's, here is a close-up of the reredos.

The focal point of the church is the High Altar, with the reredos painting of the Agony in the Garden and was given in memory of John Mottershead. It was commissioned to replace the original Victorian picture of the same subject by J. H. E. Partington which had been overpainted. It portrays our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal.

"And He knelt down and prayed saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done. And there appeared an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed the more earnestly." Luke 22 vv41-44.

The artist, J. Martin Pitts, describes the scene as

one in which Heaven and Earth overlap. Contained within the ordinary is the extra-ordinary. Awareness and knowledge of this are the essence of religious experience, and we believe we are never closer to this than when we share together in the Holy Communion.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Reflections in Heaton Mersey

The windows of the former travel agents on Didsbury Road, Heaton Mersey reflect the Go East restaurant across the road.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

B is for Bridge Street

Bridge Street leads down from the Market Place and was once part of the main north-south route through the town. Traffic from the north would have descended from Dodge Hill/Lancashire Hill down Tiviot Dale to Lancashire Bridge over the river Mersey at the bottom of Bridge Street.

Lancashire Bridge is currently undergoing repair work as shown in this earlier post.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Inside St Peter's Church

I posted previously about St Peter's in June 2013. I recently paid another visit and took several photographs inside the church.

The focal point of the church is the High Altar, with the reredos painting of the Agony in the Garden which was given in memory of John Mottershead. The east wall has five Belgian stained glass windows by Carponnier placed here to the glory of God and as an affectionate memorial of the Revd Henry Wright and Mary Catherine his wife by their daughter Julia Catherine Wright 1889.

The gallery displays the Blessed Sacrament banner, and those of the Communicants Guilds: St Peter (men) Our Lady (women) St Stephen (boys) and St Agnes (girls), together with the MU banner.

I'll post close-ups of the reredos and the stained glass at a later date.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

High Bank Side Path

The footpath leading from Chestergate under the High Bankside retaining wall towards St Petersgate and St Mary's church.

View the original photograph from which this was created on Geograph.

A contribution to Good Fences and The Weekend in Black and White.

Not a toilet

A chalked notice on a wall off Diamond Street reads "This passage is not for use as dogs toilet".

A contribution to signs, signs.

A is for Aquinas College

Aquinas College on Nangreave Road is a Roman Catholic sixth form college. It was established in 1980 on the site of St Michael's Secondary School, and is owned by the Diocese of Shrewsbury.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday and ABC Wednesday.

Zebra to Zero

This zebra crossing on Station road leads to the upper entrance into Stockport station and platform Zero.

Platform Zero was added in 2003 although not used until 2008. It is the only platform that is accessible from street level.

Only three other stations in the UK have a platform zero, Edinburgh Haymarket, London King's Cross and Cardiff Central.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday and ABC Wednesday.

Photo of the Year: Rostron Brow

Rostron Brow leads from Lower Hillgate up to St Mary's Parish Church.

I have chosen this as my Photo of the Year 2014 - see what other City Daily Photobloggers chose for their Photo of the Year by visiting JANUARY 2015 GALLERY - PHOTO OF THE YEAR.