Ceramic Murals at Dinting Station

One of five murals created in 2014 by Glossop ceramicist Adrian Holt and members of Project Earth at High Peak Community Arts and displayed at Dinting Station.

Dinting Station opened on 24th December 1842. It was originally called Glossop station and was the terminus of the line from Manchester until the line through Hadfield and the Woodhead tunnel to Sheffield was completed.

The branch line to Glossop itself (the East curve from Hadfield) opened on 9th June 1845 and the station was renamed Dinting. The West curve linking the Manchester line to Glossop opened in 1884.

The Woodhead line was closed in 1981 and only Hadfield station survived. Although in Derbyshire it is part of the Transport for Greater Manchester rail network.

Trains from Manchester generally stop at Dinting en route for Glossop. On arrival at Glossop the trains then travel to Hadfield and back to Glossop before returning via Dinting to Manchester.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Manchester Piccadilly Platform One

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday;
Wordless Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday: G is forGlossop Station Garden

Glossop station in Derbyshire is the terminus of a line from Manchester Piccadilly. The garden on the banking was created in 2011 by members of Friends of Glossop Station.

This view is from a train awaiting departure.

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

Captured colours at Gorton Station

I was on a train from Manchester Piccadilly which stopped briefly at Gorton Station.

I couldn't help capturing this scene with my phone-camera.

The blue benches and the yellow gritbox lie by the side of the turning point for the access ramp which leads to street level high above.

A contribution to
Good Fences and
Skywatch Friday as well as
Shadow Shot Sunday,
Monday Mellow Yellows and
Blue Monday.

ABC Wednesday: D is forDeansgate Station

The train standing on platform 2 is from Buxton via Davenport (see the train arriving there on Stockport Daily Photo) and Piccadilly to Preston via Bolton and Chorley.

The station was opened as Knott Mill and Deansgate on 20 July 1849 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway. It used wooden buildings near the site of the annual Knott Mill Fair, a decades old event, which hosted acts such as Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal and George Wombwell's Menagerie.

In 1884 Manchester Corporation approached the MSJAR about the station as it was an "eyesore and nuisance." Improvement plans were drawn up but it was not until 1891 that an Act was obtained to reconstruct the station and acquire the necessary land. The rebuilding was completed in 1896. The station became Knott Mill and Deansgate around 1900 and Deansgate on 3 May 1971.

Free Metro-shuttle buses can be caught outside on Whitworth Street West - see yesterday's post.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

The Rochdale Canal at Castlefields

In the Castlefields area of Manchester, an arch of the Castlefield Viaduct crosses the Rochdale Canal.

Reflected in the canal is part of Manchester's highest building, the Beetham Tower.

The canalside is home to Canada Geese. A ramped walkway leads down to the towpath.

Looking back from the towpath under the viaduct which carries the mainline railway through Deansgate. On the right is a former railway line now converted to carry the Metrolink Tramway.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections and Scenic Weekends as well as Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Trains on Southport Pier

I took this photo of a train on Southport Pier in 2005.

A monochrome version has just appeared in a new book by Peter Kealey "The Charmer Ron Muddle". The biography tells how during WWII Ron Muddle worked for the Air Ministry and designed the fuel tank for the Spitfire. After the war he set up a coachbuilding firm in Dover and won the contract to supply railway coaches for the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. He was then contracted to supply the train and coaches for the railway on Southport Pier. He spent three months in Southport as project manager and whilst there toured the local golf courses. His major sporting interest however was horse-racing and he went on to become the owner of Lingfield and Wolverhampton racecourses.

More information about Peter Kealey's book can be found on Amazon.co.uk.

Between 2005 and 2008 the old trains on Southport pier were replaced by these modern all-weather sleek beasts.

A contribution to Monday Mellow Yellows and Blue Monday.

Over the River Irk

These photos were taken in July from a stationary Metrolink tram on the Rochdale line waiting to join the line coming in from Bury.

This view is of the river Irk as it passes under Smedley Road and over a weir.

A closer view shows that there were roadworks on the bridge at the time.

This is the view in the opposite direction and you may be able to see where the viaduct the tram is travelling on crosses the river. As the Irk reaches Manchester Victoria it is culverted under the station and joins the Irwell close to where last week I showed you some bridges and reflections in the Irwell.

A contribution to Friday Fences and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Monday Murals: Map of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

A tiled mural map of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway at Victoria Station, Manchester probably dating from 1904. Below it is a bronze war memorial which was unveiled in 1922.

(Click on image for a closer view)

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Sunday Bridges: Norbury Viaduct, Hazel Grove

(Click on image to view full-size version)
This bridge over Macclesfield Road leads on to the Norbury viaduct. Just beyond the bridge on the left is the terminus of the 192 bus service to Manchester. It carries over nine million passengers each year, and is considered by many to be the busiest bus route in the country - see Wikipedia.

(Click on image to view full-size version)
Established under the arches of the viaduct since 1982 is the used-car salerooms of the Midland Garage.

(Click on image to view full-size version)
The viaduct was built by the Midland Railway as part of the New Mills to Heaton Mersey line, which formed part of its main line between Manchester Central and London St Pancras.

(Click on image to view full-size version)
At the end of the viaduct is the bridge over the A6, Buxton Road.

(Click on image to view full-size version)
Like all railway bridges in the UK it carries a notice detailing who to contact in the event of any damage caused to the bridge by striking vehicles.

(Click on image to view full-size version)
A final look back at Buxton Road bridge from the other side.

An old view of the viaduct can be found on the Stockport Image Archive.

For more bridges, visit Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Monday Murals/Doorways: The Thirsty Scholar

The Thirsty Scholar is a bar and night club situated under one of the railway arches by Oxford Road station. The area around New Wakefield Street has a lot of graffiti/street art. The council are threatening to remove it, hence the "Save our Street Art" posters.

Chrissy Brand featured one of the New Wakefield Street murals last Monday on Mancunian Wave.

This is one of a series of photographs I took on a walk last Monday around the route of the viaduct linking Piccadilly to Oxford Road making some interesting discoveries along the way. An illustrated account of that walk can be found on the Geograph blog.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Weekend in Black & White: Arch #42

(click on image for a larger view)
A look alongside the viaduct that carries the railway line from Oxford Road to Piccadilly in Manchester.

Arch 42 near Princess Street is roughly halfway between the two stations.

This is one of a series of photographs I took on a walk around the route of the viaduct making some interesting discoveries along the way. An illustrated account of that walk can be found on the Geograph blog.

This is a contribution to The Weekend in Black and White and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Trans Pennine Trail: Green Pastures to East Didsbury

This is part of the Trans Pennine Trail leading out of Green Pastures, Heaton Mersey towards a tunnel under Parrs Wood Lane. The route is along a former railway line running from New Mills through Heaton Mersey and Chorlton-cum-Hardy to Manchester.

This is looking back under the tunnel. It looks better in monochrome.

  © Copyright Chris Wimbush and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Chris Wimbush's photograph taken in January 2011 shows where the footpath used to continue along the line of the dismantled railway towards the bridge carrying Kingsway. The route has been diverted as the East Didsbury tram station at the end of the South Manchester Line is being built on the site.

Here is how it looks now with construction work ongoing. The station is due to open in Summer 2013 and according to the trammstop plan the line of the trail will be re-instated.

Plans were originally drawn up for a Metrolink tramway via East Didsbury to Stockport but the extended route was withdrawn in 2004 due to lack of funding. If they are ever revived then the path under the tunnel is unlikely to look anything like it does now.

A contribution to Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

ABC Wednesday: Z is forplatform Zero at Stockport Station

The Easternmost platform at Stockport is number Zero.

It was added in 2003 but not used until 2008.

Only three other stations in the UK have a platform zero, Edinburgh Haymarket, London King's Cross and Cardiff Central.

For more Z posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday: V is for Victoria Station

Platforms 1 & 2 at Victoria station, Manchester as seen from the end of the platform for the Metrolink tram to Bury.

See the coloured version on Geograph.


Looking in the opposite direction going out of the station we see the Peninsula building, an office block in what has become known as the "Northern Quarter".

For more V posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday:Q is for Queensferry

The railway bridge over the River Forth taken from the foreshore at South Queensferry in 1966.

After publishing a version of this photograph under the title Forth Railway Bridge. A correspondent wrote

having worked in South Queensferry for over thirty years, I would be lynched if I had referred to the bridge as anything other than the Forth Bridge. According to locals, there is the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. Even "South Queensferry" is a bit of a misnomer as there isn't a town by that name, only "Queensferry" but ask anyone from "the village" where they live and it's always, "South Queensferry"!

I would have thought that would be for fear of being thought of as coming from North Queensferry, but as we say down here

there's nowt so queer as folk.

For more "Q" posts visit ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday R is for Reddish South Station

Originally Reddish South station consisted of two island platforms with four tracks. One of these track beds has been sold off, while another has been filled in. The second island is now inaccessible as there are no longer steps down to it. According to the 2007/8 National rail figures, Reddish South had only 47 entries and exits in a 12 month period, making it the UK's least used railway station.


Reddish South together with Denton railway station on the Stockport to Stalybridge line are famous for having one train a week (the "Denton flyer") in one direction only. This means they are technically still open.

Most maps of the Greater Manchester Rail Network do not include Reddish South and Denton.


The "Denton flyer" is what is known as a "Parliamentary ghost", a train that operates a Parliamentary service - that is to say a token service to a given station, thus maintaining a legal fiction that either the station in question is in fact open, whereas in reality the train operating company in question has almost completely abandoned the station. These services run at all only because rail transport is heavily regulated in the United Kingdom and it is therefore considerably cheaper for a train operating company to run a parliamentary service than it is to go through the full legal process of applying for a station or line to be permanently closed.


Network Rail, in their Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the North West, were proposing closure of Reddish South and Denton stations and withdrawal of the remaining passenger service. The line itself would remain open for freight and diverted passenger workings. However, a new open-access operator called Grand Union had proposed using the line for services between London and Bradford via the West Coast Main Line, using Guide Bridge station as a stop. This proposal has since been dropped.

Friends of Reddish South Station have been running a campaign to bring more passenger trains onto this line since 2008. The object of the campaign is to secure a frequent service running between Stockport and Manchester Victoria.

For more R posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Flanders & Swann: The Slow Train

Shadow Shot Sunday:The Railway at Romiley

Strong shadows on "The Railway" public house which stands next to Romiley Station near Stockport on the line from Sheffield to Manchester.

I like how the furled England flag casts a bird-like shadow. This was taken a few weeks ago before we were dumped out of the World Cup.

For more shadows shots this Sunday visit Hey Harriet.

ABC Wednesday:W is for Winterbutlee

This is the railway line from Littleborough to Todmorden viewed from Skew Bridge. Ahead is a tunnel known as the Winterbutlee Tunnel and just visible through the end is Walsden Station.


If we cross the road and look at the railway line heading South, we get a glimpse of a canal lock.


A footpath on the North side of Skew Bridge leads us down to Winterbutlee Lock which is #30 on the Rochdale Canal.


It is quite a way from here to Lock #84 which I showed you in October 2009.

For more W posts visit ABC Wednesday