ABC Wednesday: K is for Kings Road, Audenshaw

Kings Road was constructed as an access during the building of the Audenshaw reservoirs in the 1880s. Kings Farm lay to the East (left) of Kings Road under the shadow of the #3 reservoir. When the M60 motorway was built, the #3 reservoir was reduced to allow the motorway to come through. The motorway embankment seen here is where the reservoir embankment used to be. When this photograph was taken in May 2009 the land on the right was "earmarked for development".


By the time I revisited in May 2010 construction of an estate of new houses had already begun. The rest of the photographs in the post are from a walk taken a few days ago starting in the opposite direction along Kings Road.


Another 12 months on and the new houses can be seen from near Fairfield Golf Course.


This shot shows the strip of land between Kings Road and the M60. Some 22 acres of land, originally reservoir embankment were used for grazing cattle.


On the West side of Kings Road lies Fairfield Golf Club and Gorton Upper Reservoir. on the other side of the reservoir lies the Wright Robinson Sport College. The school which preceded the college was built in 1961 on land previously part of the golf club. In compensation Manchester Corporation Water Works took 50 acres of land from Kings Road Farm and allocated it the golf club.


Cornhill Lane leads off Kings Road by the side of an electricity substation. To the North of the lane is the Eastern section of Fairfield golf course. Most of the land South of Cornhill Lane is occupied by Denton golf course.


Kings Road ends when it meets Debdale Lane where it crosses the South-eastern corner of Gorton Upper Reservoir.

I wrote about Gorton Lower Reservoir in February 2009 and again in October 2009. There is more I've learnt recently about these reservoirs but it will have to wait for another day.

More information about Kings Road Farm can be found on the Audenshaw Local History website.

You can view the 26 photographs that make up my walk last Monday (with a map and slideshow available) on the Geo-trip website.

More K posts can be found at ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday: J is for the January 2011 Partial Solar Eclipse

The story is told on the Cosmopoetry website by SARM's Astropoetry Master Club and Friends.

On January 4, 2011 the old continent and large zones of Asia and Africa were spoiled by such an eclipse. although the sky did not break anywhere the winter clouds, an entire world vibrated for this phenomenon.


Moon and Venus over Targoviste © Valentin Grigore

*****

A Jubilee For The Foucault Pendulum
by Dimitrie Olenici

I made a jubilee experiment with the Foucault Pendulum at Iasi University, 50 years after a similar one made by Ghe. Jeverdan, Ghe. Rusu and V. Antonescu to the solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 when they discovered that the oscillation period of a pendulum changes during an eclipse. My experiment, made by a pendulum of 17.78 meters installed in an inferior room, confirmed their results one more time. A high moment, although I observed this eclipse at the subsoil.

*****

The Partial Solar Eclipse In Europe
by David Asher (Northern Ireland, UK, astronomer at Armagh Observatory, famous meteor shower predictor, discoverer of asteroids, co-star in Hollywood movie Armageddon)

At dawn on the New Year's fourth day
The sun was part eaten away.
The eclipse was quite deep,
But I was asleep -
What will other astronomers say?

*****

Tanka
by Gerald England (UK, Editor of New Hope International, honorary member of the International Writers and Artists Association, laureate of the Ted Slade Award)

an eclipse tonight
posted a friend on Facebook
but by then too late
out of my window blackness
others' visions seen online

*****

Pse 2011 In Magurele (Romania)
photograph © Andreea Fazacas

*****

Brief Escape From A Hysterical Town: Bucharest, January 4, 2011
haiku by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Over a park
the eclipse like a
bird of fire.

*****

Hanne’S Object
or
A Parallel Thought During A Partial Solar Eclipse When The Sky Is Cloudy
by Steve Sneyd (UK, director of Hilltop Press and editor of Data Dump, laureate of the Peterson Trophy)

You praise blue gas ball
galaxy - big 10° K hot
yet no stars in it to
heat this mystery you smile
"as puzzling as me to you"

*****

Vampires And Eclipses
by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Dracula is a vampire,
said someone,
falsifying the historical truth.

In this Romanian brave ruler's Capital,
Targoviste,
no observer of the 2011 partial solar eclipse
saw Vlad Tepes Draculea
(his real name)
eating our star.
Only the Moon's "body check"
to the Sun.

*****


Eclipse Among Snowflakes In Targoviste
photo © Cristian Daniel Grigore (age17);
haiku by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

among smowflakes
which are never twins
another unique eclipse

*****

So many potential observers were frustrated by the weather conditions but they manage to contribute some superb photographs nonetheless. The above are just a small sample. See them all at European Winter Astro-Story Of The Partial Solar Eclipse 2011.

For more J posts visit ABC Wednesday.

For more views of the heavens visit Skywatch Friday.

ABC WednesdayI is for the Irishman in Stavanger

They get everywhere don't they?

This one is in Stavanger, Norway and I discovered it during our 2005 Cruise.

The pub was opened in 1991 and is home to the Harbour Folk Band.

Stavanger has two daily photo blogs, one by Tanty and another by Gunn.

Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day so we are having a bit of party; we've ordered 30 portions of Irish Stew from the Hot Crumpet. We are having apple pie afterwards which we believe is a traditional Irish dessert, but ours will be curtesy of Mr. Kipling!

For more I posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC WednesdayH is for Hartshead Church

HARTSHEAD CHURCH

Stone walls, four-square,
steep-sloping roof,
a bell that marks
the passing days,
that draws us from
our separate ways
and tolls the times
for praise and prayer.

Here Anglian slabe
and Norman lord
forgot their enmity
and fear,
in common faith
fashioning here
arch and altar,
chancel, nave;

and where they trod
the hallowed way
and kept the camdles
burning bright,
through that same arch,
by that same light
we, too re-search
the runes of God.

© Mabel Ferrett (7. 6. 1993)

It is believed that the original Hartshead Church was built sometime before 1120 AD. There was a major repair of the church around 1662 when the marvellous Norman pillars were taken down and lighter, wooden pillars erected in their place. One portion though was hollowed out and used as a font and the date 1662 inscribed thereon. That building lasted over 200 years. Sir Stephen Glynne in 1859 wrote

A small church, much modernised... It has a nave, chancel, west tower and south porch. The original arcades that divided the aisles have been replaced by modern wooden columns and almost all the windows have been mutilated and open with sashes.

In 1880 the church was reduced almost to its foundations. The gallery and low, flagged ceiling was pulled out to reveal the beauty of the Norman chancel and tower arch. The wooden pillars were replaced with stone. The "cottage windows" were replaced with suitable designed windows. Some of the window glass incorporated is believed to have come from Cologne Cathedral.


More recent renovations have seen a new organ installed in 1899, the church clock in 1912, electric light in 1927 and in 1966 the gravestones to the left of the path leading to the south door of the church were removed and a pleasant green lawn laid in their place.


Inside the churchyard to the right of the main gate is where mortally wounded Luddites are believed to have been buried, secretly, at night, following their fatal encounter at Rawfolds Mill, Liversedge, on April 11th 1812.

The above information is extracted from Mabel Ferrett's booklet "A Short History of Hartshead Church"

Mabel herself was buried at Hartshead Church on Monday 7th February 2011.

Read my account of her life on Ackworth born, gone West and an obituary by Pauline Kirk in The Guardian.

Other obits can be found in The Huddersfield Examiner and The Yorkshire Post. She is mentioned also in the Brontë blog.

For more H posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC WednesdayG is for Gatley Green

Gatley Green is a conservation area in Gatley Village, Cheshire.

These photographs were taken last July.


For more G posts visit ABC Wednesday.