Inside St Thomas's Parish Church

Following on from last week's post showing the outside of St Thomas's here are views of the inside of the church.

Above the High Altar is a painting of the "Transfiguration of Our Lord", a copy of part of a painting by Raphael which hangs in the Vatican. The East wall is decorated with acanthus leaf, a popular classical Greek design.

The three-manual organ was made in 1834 by Samuel Renn. Its choir division was added in 1890 by Alex Young, and the organ was cleaned and overhauled in 1961 by Jardine. More details can be found on the The National Pipe Organ Register.

The pews in the gallery are the original Georgian ones whilst the others are Victorian replacements.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

Next week I'll show you some of the stained glass windows.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Hazardous Headstones

This is a close-up of the sign you may have noticed seeing in my recently posted photo of the east entrance to St Thomas's Church.

Health and safety rules these days in graveyards.

A contribution to signs, signs.

G is for Gate posts

Gate posts at the entrance from New Bridge Lane to Vernon Park.

The lions on the top of the gateposts were donated by Douglas Firken-Flood of Bredbury Hall Hotel in 2001.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Outside St Thomas's, Hillgate

This view of the church is from the West.

St Thomas' Parish Church was opened in 1825 having been built as one of a hundred churches funded by grants from the government and regarded as a thanksgiving for victory over Napoleon, hence the name "Waterloo" Churches. St. Thomas was built in the classical style and is now recognised as a building of National importance being Grade 1 Listed.

It was built to front onto Hillgate which was then the main route from London to Manchester and Carlisle, hence the grand portico at the East end, before Wellington Road (A6) was opened soon after.

This view of the church is from the East.

It is in the process of restoration and over the last few years the dedicated congregation have raised funds to renew the roof, restore the tower and cupola and clock faces and include more facilities inside the church, including toilets and a kitchen, to enable it to be used as a venue for concerts and recitals.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

When I visited the church recently I took several photographs inside the church some of which I will post at a later date.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

F is for Fred Perry

The Fred Perry Way is a 14 mile walking route starting here at North Reddish Park.

  © Copyright Keith Williamson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Its southern end is here at Woodford.

The route which was officially opened in 2002 combines rural footpaths, quiet lanes and river valleys with urban landscapes and parklands as here in Vernon Park.

Fred Perry was born at this house in Portwood in 1909.

He won the men's singles in 1934, 1935 and 1936 and was the last English men's tennis player to win Wimbledon. He was also a member of Britain's winning Davis Cup team from 1933 to 1936. and was made a freeman of Stockport in 1934.

More information can be found on the Stockport MBC website.

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday
ABC Wednesday;
signs, signs.
Good Fences.

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.

Leaving for Buxton

A Northern Rail service from Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton leaving Stockport Station.

A contribution to
Monday Mellow Yellows;
Blue Monday.