Sweeping up outside Bhs

British Home Stores was founded in London in 1928. In 2009 when it became part of Green's Arcadia Group there were 193 stores employing over 17,000 people. By 2015 there were only 171 stores employing 11,000 staff. BHS was sold to the consortium Retail Acquisitions Ltd for the nominal value of £1. On 2nd June 2016 it was announced that the company would be wound down following failed attempts to find a buyer.



A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Bibbity Bobbity Bootique

It looks as if I'm bit too late to catch the closing down sale at the Bibbity Bobbity Bootique on Little Underbank.

A contribution to signs, signs.

X is for Xmas

The Xmas Tree on Prince's Street.

On the left is an "Adult Gaming Centre".

On the right is a shop for the charity Shelter who help to support homeless people.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Eat Me Sweets

This is the Eat Me Sweet Shop on the corner of Great Underbank and Bridge Street. It used to be called Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe - see the wider view in our post of 15th June 2013. Until the 1970s it had been a branch of Boots the Chemist.

A contribution to Shop Window theme on City Daily Photos and Our World Tuesday.

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.

B is for Bank

The Bank on Bridge Street viewed from Great Underbank.

The Grade II listed building was built in 1900.

According to the Barclays' Archive:

The Union Bank was established in 1836 with a capital of £6 million divided into 24,000 shares of £25 each. Although the original intention of the Union Bank was to confine itself to Manchester, after twenty years this policy was changed, and its first branch opened at Knutsford in 1856. The bank flourished with the growth of industry and acquired several smaller banks in Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire. It became an affiliated bank within the Barclays Group in 1919, when 99% of its capital was acquired under an arrangement whereby Union Bank shareholders were given shares in Barclays to replace their Union Bank shares. This was Barclays' last major acquisition before the Treasury put a block on major banking mergers in 1920. The Union Bank continued to be managed and marketed separately until 1940 when it was fully absorbed into Barclays.

In recent years the building has been home to the appropriately named Bank Fashion Store.

Bank Fashion which had previously been owned by JD Sports was put into administration in January 2015. It had 84 stores of which 20 have been closed. According to a sign on the window the next nearest still trading store is in Denton.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

M&S shadows

Shadows in Princes Street outside the entrance to M&S.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

E is for an Exercise Enabling new Enterprises to Expand

In conjunction with Virgin Trains small businesses were allowed to open stalls or pop-up shops at Stockport Station for three days recently as an exercise in enabling new enterprises to expand their customer base and meet the public.

Taking advantage of space in the foyer of the station entrance were:

Bluefingers, a company producing "wearable technology".

Tilly Chic who sell gifts and household accesories through house parties and their Facebook page.

Giraffe Event Solutions, a newly established company which consists of 3 partners that share over 30 years of experience in the hospitality, advertising & marketing and the events industry.

Other businesses were represented elsewhere on the station.

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday;
ABC Wednesday.

Have you had your five a day?

A contribution to signs, signs.

Sky over Mersey Square

Blue skies and white clouds over Debenhams on the warmest day so far this year.

A day later and it is back to heavy thunderstorms.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Bridge Street

Bridge Street leads up to 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.

Lancashire bridge over the river Mersey is now underneath the foreground paving stones and has been so since the 1930s when the river was culverted beneath the Merseyway roadway and later by the Merseyway Shopping Centre which lies to the right.

The Laura Ashley shop on the corner of Warren Street is built on the site of the former Warren Bulkeley Arms.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

The New Empire and Bonny Bouncer

On Stockport Road West at Bredbury are a group of shops that include a Cantonese takeaway and a children's clothes shop.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows and Blue Monday.

P is for Pound Bakery in Pedestrianised Prince's Street

Two doors up from the Cancer Research UK charity shop featured here on 28th April is the Pound Bakery.

With numerous outlets throughout the North West they are the place to go for a quick cheap snack that won't break the budget.

Between the two new shops is family butcher's "Tittertons" who have been established since 1875. If your palate is bit more discerning you can't go far wrong there. See their website for details of their offerings.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Cancer Research UK

The Cancer Research UK charity shop in Stockport is located in Prince's Street.

It is one of 550 such stores - find out more on their website.

A contribution to Blue Monday.