Running Man Mural: Panels 1-4

In September 2013 I posted a view of the The Running Man at Heaton Chapel. The 16 panel mural was the work of the group Friends of Heaton Chapel Station and produced with support from the local community. It was unveiled in May 2012 and won 1st place in a competition for Community Art Schemes sponsored by ScotsRail.

I recently revisited the station and photographed the individual panels.

Panel 1 was sponsored by Easy Access Self Storage and informs us:

The designation Norrey or Norres came from the family name of the le Norreys in 1364. Heaton Norris was part of the Manchester barony of the Grelley family, but between 1162 and 1180 It belonged to William le Norreys. In the early 13th century Heaton Norris was a sub manor Manchester, encompassing what we know now as the Four Heatons. The area reverted back to the manor of Manchester around 1280.

The township stretched from Cringle Brook in the north to the river Mersey in the south which is a distance of approximately two miles. The south east part has long been a part of Stockport since 1832 when it was included in the Parliamentary borough and in the municipal borough in 1835 when a district ward was formed.

Panel 2 was sponsored by Sustainable Living In The Heatons.

Panel 3 was sponsored by SAS Daniels LLP (formerly TWP Solicitors) and informs us:

For several centuries Heaton Chapel was part of the Heaton Norris township. In 1758 the first Chapel in the Heatons, St Thomas' Church was built on the principal Manchester to Stockport road on a field known as Yarn Croft, through money raised by public subscription. The place name then became Heaton Chapel in its own right.

Almost a century later The London and North Western Railway company completed the Crewe to Manchester line and Rev. Jackson used personal influence, to have a station built in 1851, close to the rectory in Heaton Moor Road with the new station being named Heaton Chapel

Panel 4 was sponsored by Heaton Moor Evangelical Church and designed with pupils at St Thomas' CE Primary School. It features Sir John Alcock.

Sir John William Alcock, who grew up in Heaton Moor and attended St Thomas' Primary School, took up the challenge of attempting to be the first to fly directly across the Atlantic and successfully piloted the first transatlantic flight between Newfoundland and Ireland in June 1919.

The epic flight which John Alcock made with Arthur Brown covered 1,980 miles over mainly water, and took 16 hours and 12 minutes. The flight had been much affected by bad weather, making accurate navigation difficult and the intrepid duo also had to cope with turbulence, instrument failure and ice on the wings.

The flight was made in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber, and secured a £10,000. prize offered by London's Daily Mail newspaper for the first transatlantic flight.

A few days after the flight, King George V knighted Alcock and Brown and invested them with their insignia as Knight Commanders of the Order of the British Empire for their remarkable act of courage and bravery as pioneering aviators.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

I'll bring you more next week.

Shadows at Heaton Chapel Station

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

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.