Waterloo Sunset

Taken September 2013 near Waterloo Road, Blackpool.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday: O is forOldham Old Drill Hall

The Old Drill Hall on Rifle Street, St Mary's, Oldham with its distinctive castellated Gothic frontage, was the home of the local volunteer forces since 1897 and was used by the Territorial Army until 1998 and closed in 2002.

A sign on the former Oldham TA Centre exhorts:
DON'T WASTE YOUR SPARE TIME
JOIN
THE REME OR RAOC (TAVR)
JOIN HERE - JOIN NOW
INTERESTING WORK CAMPS OVERSEAS GOOD PAY

The red-brick castellated front block with tower at each end and central gatehouse with a hall reputed to hold 1000 men was built for the 6th Volunteer Battalion Manchester Regiment (following the 1881 Cardwell reforms previously Lancashire Rifle Volunteers). The battalion became the 10th Manchesters following the Haldane reforms in 1908.

In 2007 Oldham council failed in a bid to list the building because of its architectural or historic interest. Later that year a developer was given the green light to demolish the hall and build 30 homes, but that permission expired.

The Oldham Detachment of the Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force who meet in a building adjacent to the old hall had wanted the hall to be used as multifunctional venue.

The Old Barracks building was engulfed in flames on 31st March 2011. The 48,000 square metre hall was being used at the time to store vast amounts of upholstery foam. Read the Manchester Evening News report.

For now its only use is as an anchor for mobile phone masts.

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

The Fishing Community Memorial, Fleetwood

The Fishing Community Memorial featuring parts of a trawler was created in 1987 and revamped in 2004.

The first of three inscriptions reads:

"Past this place, the fishermen of Fleetwood have sailed for generations while their families have watched from the shore. Their courage and comradeship under hardship is a living legend. This memorial depicting equipment from a trawler, was placed here in recognition of the great contribution which the men and women of the fishing community have made to the life of Fleetwood"

The second reads:This memorial was devised by
DAVID PEARCE
and designed by
RICHARD GILLINGHAM
with research by
COUNCILLOR BEN JACKSON.
It was donated by
ROBERTSONS of FLEETWOOD
and the site was prepared by
WYRE COMMUNITY SERVICES
with the assistance of
WYRE BOROUGH COUNCIL.
Unveiled by
COUNCILLOR ANTOON VINK MAYOR of WYRE
Decmber 1987
The third reads:
THE REAL PRICE OF FISH IS THE LIVES OF MEN

The Fleetwood based trawlers listed here came to grief on fishing operations at the cost of life. Many other Fleetwood fishermen have been killed or injured in ships great or small in peace and war from Morecambe Bay to beyond the Arctic Circle

BELOVAR 4/12/13, All Hands (10), N. of Barra Head
DORIS 21/1/14, All Hands (10), Isle of Coll
CLARA BELLA Feb 1914, All Hands (13), Iceland
FANNY Feb 1917, All Hands (10), Hebrides
SWAN 7/3/21, 6 Lost, Off Lands End
ANGLE 8/1/24, All Hands (13), Isle of Man
ANIDA 18/10/24, 9 lost, Isle of Islay
CORMORAN 12/1/26, 7 lost, Islay
SALMONBY 23/3/26, 11 lost, North Sea
GAUL 3/4/26, 7 lost, Tiree
CARTEGENA, Jan '28, All hands(12), Irish Sea
BRIARLYN, 13/2/28 8 lost, St Kilda
MALAGA, 18/10/35, All Hands(12) Irish Sea
WINOOKA, 15/3/36 3 lost, St Kilda
KODAMA, 4/12/36, All Hands (12), West Scotland
SAN SEBASTION, 10/1/37, 4 lost, Islay Sound
BOSTONIAN, Jan '38, All Hands(12) S of Barra Head
EXMOUTH, 9/3/38, 3 lost, Islay
ALCAZAR 12/8/38, 7 lost, Irish Sea
WELLVALE, September '39, All Hands(12), Hebrides(U-Boat)
CRESWELL,November '39, 6 lost, Hebrides (U-Boat)
SULBY, November '39, 5 lost, Hebrides (U-Boat)
WILLIAM HUMPHREYS, Nov '39 All hands (13, Hebrides (U-Boat)
BARBARA ROBERTSON, December '39, One lost, NW Scotland (U-Boat)
MERISIA, 26/1/40, All Hands (12) Isle of Man
LOWDOCK, March '40, 11 lost, Humber Estury
OONA HALL, 28/5/40, 8 lost, Irish Sea
THOMAS DEAS 6/2/41, All Hands (12), Humber Estuary
KINCORTH 12/6/4, 3 lost, Anglesey
LADY LOVE, 30/8/41, All Hands, Iceland (U-Boat)
KING ERIK 8/9/41, All Hands, (U-Boat)
NORDALE, 15/1/42, 5 lost, Mull of Galloway
GALLINULE, 14/3/42, 3 lost, Skerryvore
HONDO, 29/11/42, All Hands, Off Barra Head
LOIS, 5/1/47, 1 lost, Iceland
BENGHAZI 24/4/47, 2 lost, Firth of Lorne
DHOON, 12/12/47, 3 lost, Iceland
GOTH, 16/12/48, All Hands(21), Iceland
MICHAEL GRIFFITHS, 31/1/53, All Hands(13), Off Barra Head
HILDINA, 1/12/53, 6 Lost, Muckle Fugga
EVELYN ROSE 31/12/54, 12 lost, Sound of Mull
RED FALCON, 14/12/59, All Hands (19) Skerryvore
A contribution to Blue Monday.

32 Laystall Street, Manchester

A former garment warehouse, dated 1888. It was built with red brick in Flemish bond with dressings of moulded buff and white terracotta in an eclectic style with Romanesque elements. It has a three storey five-window façade, symmetrical, with the centre bay breaking forwards. Flanking the centre are round-headed doorways at ground floor and at 1st floor, with square-headed windows at 2nd floor, and beyond these coupled windows on all floors, set in large round-headed blank arches with Tudor-flower sill-bands to these; all these windows with much moulded terracotta enrichment, including twisted shafts with foliated caps. It has an unusual degree of High Victorian decoration on a relatively small building.

The Grade II listed building is near Great Ancoats Street.

A contribution to
Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors;
Rubbish Tuesday;
Ruby Tuesday;
Our World Tuesday.

St Swithins from Waterside

Photograph © Gerald England.
Looking through some old photographs I recently re-discovered this one taken in September 2003.

It shows the spire of St Swithins church, Lincon taken from Waterside.

As can be seen there is a derelict plot of land behind the fencing and a modern building now completely blocks this view.

© Dave Hitchborne and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Dave Hitchborne's photo is from 2004 and he writes

St Swithin, near Sheep market, was nearly destroyed by fire in 1644. It was rebuilt in stone in 1801. It saw a period of neglect and it was taken down in 1884. The replacement was built on the Sheep square and the foundation stone for the present church was laid on Easter Day 1869 by Bishop Wordsworth. It was designed by James Fowler the Louth Architect and financed by Alfred Shuttleworth the Lincoln Industrialist and was finished in 1887. This building seats about 1,000 and the register, due to the fire, only dates back to 1685. An item of particular interest is a pagan Roman altar which was discovered during excavations for the tower, and this is kept on display.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

ABC Wednesday: L is for Library Walk (again)

Library Walk is a curved walkway connecting St Peter's Square to Mount Street between Manchester Central Library and the Town Hall Extension, which I previously featured on April 2nd 2014.

This is how it looked when I passed by last week. It is still closed. Some men were working on part of the Town Hall Extension.

The new, glass bubble-like enclosure, which features a reflective metal roof, designed by Manchester architect Ian Simpson, has now been installed.

The council say they have safety concerns about keeping the paved corridor open to the public at night and have applied for an order to remove the public right of way from the walkway and halt public access with the stretch partly gated off between the hours of 10pm and 6am. A Public Inquiry is being held on 21st and 22nd October at Manchester Town Hall.

Campaign group Friends of Library Walk. who describe the walkway as a space of "significant architectural merit" and want it to remain the ginnel that roared, are opposed to the proposal.

Find more information on the Friends of Library Walk website or you can follow them on twitter @savelibrarywalk

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and Good Fences.