Hail on Hyde Road

The A57 at Crown Point, Denton. On the right is the entrance to Morrison's supermarket. The fence separating the pavement from the busy road is reflected in the window of the Quicksilver fireworks shop. A shower of hail is just falling but failing to stick.

A contribution to
Good Fences;
Skywatch Friday;
Weekend Reflections;
Scenic Weekends

Window shopping in St Annes

© Gerald England
A man with two dogs outside a charity shop on Wood Street, St Anne's on the Sea.

A notice warns about wheel-clamping operations.

A contribution to
Saturday Critters;
Weekend Reflections;
Camera Critters;
Shadow Shot Sunday.

The historic Manchester Woolworth's site.

photograph © 2015, Gerald England.
The former Woolworths Manchester store on the corner of Piccadilly and Oldham Street was for a long time Noble's Amusements but is now a Travelodge with a Morrisons Local store, Nando's and Zizzi also occupying the ground floor. Buses for Ashton under Lyne leave from outside.

  © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The Woolworth's department store at the corner of Oldham Street and Piccadilly in Manchester, photographed a few days after the disastrous fire of 8th May 1979 which killed 10 people and left a further 47 needing hospital treatment.

The store comprised six floors along with two basement levels and at the time was said to be the largest Woolworth store in Europe. Crucially, the store had no sprinkler system fitted. It is believed that the fire was started by a damaged electrical cable that had furniture stacked in front of it.

The disaster led to a major shake-up in UK fire laws after it was revealed that polyurethane foam fillings in furniture at the store made the situation much worse. The foam would burn rapidly, producing large amounts of thick dense smoke which would have soon obscured the exit signs. This would have led to confusion and, together with the irritants in the smoke affecting people’s vision and causing breathing difficulties, would have hindered any escape. The changes in legislation are believed to have saved thousands of lives since.

At the time, on 8 May 1979, the Woolworth store blaze was the city's worst fire disaster since World War II.

Read the Fire Service report on the fire and the BBC News report.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Cat in a basket

I'd been getting my groceries at Morrisons in Denton last week and had just put my trolley back when I noticed this cat grooming itself on one of the baskets that parents use to strap their babies into when shopping.

I had my camera to hand so took a quick picture.

A contribution to
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters;
Monday Mellow Yellows;
Blue Monday.

Edwards of Conwy

This is part of the façade of Edwards of Conwy, a traditional Welsh, British and European award winning Master Butcher and Sausage and Pie maker located on High Street, Conwy.

For a fuller view of the front of the shop see my photograph on Geograph.

The frontage has had a makeover since Jo Turner photographed the shop in 2011.

The bike shows up in Jo's photograph but wasn't there when Richard Hoare photographed the former bank building in 2009.

And, for the record, I went in and bought a quiche to have later for supper and it was delicious.

I thought it was a mural but have bee informed by marketing manager Laura Baker "The bike is in fact a genuine butchers bike that belongs to Mr Edwards himself. The bike is attached to the wall rather than a mural and has appeared/disappeared as it is sometimes taken down to be re painted."

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Bridge across Corporation Street, Manchester

Corporation Street, October 2013 showing the bridge connecting the Arndale Centre with Marks & Spencers.

The original bridge was destroyed in the IRA bombing of Manchester in June 1996. The story is told in this BBC News item now archived.

I last posted about the bridge over Corporation Street in August 2008



This view shows construction work still taking place in July 1998.



This shows the new walkway bridge as it looked in 1999.

The new bridge is cylindrical, instead of oblong, but otherwise fits exactly as the original had. The walkway is neither level (sloping downwards from the Arndale Centre into Marks & Spencer) nor straight, as it was discovered that the original walkway entrances in the two buildings were not directly opposite one another, but slightly askew.

This is the view inside going from the Arndale into M&S.

Here is the view going the other way.

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

Weekend Reflections:Waiting in St Helier

Another photograph from our recent visit to Jersey.

Here reflected in the windows of Top Shop are the buses from Maison des Landes waiting to return us to the hotel after some afternoon shopping in St Helier.

For more weekend reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

Weekend Reflections: Southport Primark

I went on a day trip to Southport yesterday. It rained all the way there but as we arrived the sun came out and stayed out.

I noticed how the roofs of the buildings on Chapel Street were reflected in the first storey window of Primark and couldn't resist focussing in on it.

For more weekend reflections visit Newton Area Photos.

ABC WednesdayZ is for Zuri Designs

Zuri Designs are one of the first retail units to have opened in the premises of the former Pitt & Nelson public house in Ashton-under-Lyne.

The Pitt and Nelson pub on the corner of Market Street and Old Street was one of the oldest pubs in Ashton, dating from 1685, when this corner was the junction of the roads from Manchester and Oldham. Originally it was The Smithies Arms then The Grapes and The White Hart. It became the Pitt and Nelson in 1807, shortly after the deaths of Admiral Lord Nelson and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. It closed sometime after 1989 and was later re-born as The Bedroom night club. After various troubles its license was revoked and the building remained boarded up for about two years.

I don't know anything about Zuri Designs as I'm not into fashion.

For more Z posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Weekend Reflections:St Anne's on the Sea

So many reflections in the window of the YMCA Charity Shop at St Anne's on the Sea.

Check out more weekend reflections at Newtown Area Photos.

ABC Wednesday - X is for Xmas Tree in Stockport

Behind the Xmas Tree in Merseyway Shopping Centre in Stockport, Cheshire is the still empty ex Woolworths store. Twelve months ago it would have been busy with its final sale as the company went into receivership before closing down after Xmas.

Also behind the Xmas tree this year was a children's carousel whose reflection I caught in the old store's window.

For more X posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday - W is for White Winter Weather

Yesterday I had to go to Tameside General Hospital for a routine clinic appointment. All was well until I came out of the clinic where it was snowing heavily. The clinic I was visiting was at the back of the hospital and it was a ten minute walk from there to the hospital bus-stop.


It is normally an eight minute journey into Ashton under Lyne but it took 35 minutes in barely moving traffic. I got off by the inside market. This is the view from the Market Hall entrance looking over Bow Street towards the Parish Church.


I did my shopping, had a bite of lunch and exited to the market ground which was full of slush and compacted snow.


Even though it was only noon, many of the market traders were already beginning to pack up for the day.


This is the pedestrianised section of Warrington Street which leads from the market ground towards the bus station.


The bus station was almost deserted of buses though not of passengers. I joined the queue for the 330 which goes via Hyde to Stockport, normally at ten minute intervals. After we had been waiting for an hour, another bus was diverted from its own route to provide a service but only to Hyde. It was packed to the gills and the normally twenty minute journey took seventy.

On arrival at Hyde bus station it terminated. There were no taxis available and I had a thirty minute trudge through the slush to get home. I didn't stop to take any photographs on this last part of my journey.

For more W posts visit ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday - A is for Ashton Market Hall

In May 2004 the famous market hall in Ashton under Lyne burnt down.

These photographs were taken a few days after it re-opened in November 2008 following extensive refurbishment.

The first one is from the Bow Street entrance and the second from the Market Ground.


For more information on Ashton Market see Ashton-under-Lyne.com

For more A posts visit ABC Wednesday

Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas Eve morning
do I really need any
last minute shopping?

gerald england

This was the sky outside my back yard on Wednesday morning. It was so lovely that I did in fact go out for a short walk, two short bus journeys, a train ride to Glossop and the long bus home. I bought nothing and was home by lunchtime.

Christmas morning was foggy and then we had a spell of bright sunshine but before long it became gray again.

The haiga was first published on Winter Haiku 2008/2009 and is reposted here as this week's contribution to Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday - L is for Lord Street, Southport

Enter Southport on the A570 and at the end of the road is Lord Street. Facing you is the Scarisbrick Hotel.


Further along are three banks. The Old Bank looks very imposing. I don't know which bank once traded here, but it is now empty and available for lease. A rather non-descript modern building houses Barclays, followed by the elegant structure which is home to the Royal Bank of Scotland. Originally this would have been a branch of Williams & Glynns.


Lord Street is known for its shopping with designer clothes stores like Jaeger's.


Of course, it is also a place for people-watching,


animal watching,


or simply window-gazing.


Special events sometimes take place on Lord Street. This smooth operator was part of a European Food Festival.

A bonus photograph and links to some other Southport posts can be found at my entry on ABC Wednesday.

More L posts can be seen on the ABC Wednesday Anthology blog.

Others can be found via the ABC Wednesday with Mister Linky which carries a registry of participants.

ABC Wednesday - L is for Lowry Centre

The Lowry Centre is situated in Salford Quays. It houses two theatres as well as various gallery spaces that display contemporary work as well as works by L.S. Lowry from the collection originally housed at Salford Art Gallery. In addition there are other studio spaces, a refreshment area, gift shop and information centre. It opened in April 2000.


Across the concourse is the Lowry Outlet Mill for those who love shopping.

A footbridge spans the Manchester Ship Canal and leads towards the Quay West Building and the Imperial War Museum North.

My other L posts this week are Long Meadow Passage at Hyde Daily Photo ~~ Lovers Alley at Old Hyde ~~ Lights along the pier at Sithenah

To visit other ABC L posts go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Something that Annoys

The Daily Photo theme for February 1st is Something that Annoys.

Since Hyde DP is posting its 300th post today, and I wanted that to have a more positive feel about it, I'm running the theme here instead this month.

One of the annoying things about Hyde is the seemingly haphazard way in which the roads and pavements are changed, repaired or improved. I had intended showing one of a number of roads that fail to have dropped kerbs to allow wheelchair users to progress smoothly across. What especially annoys is when new access roads, for example to the school that replaced the one originally on Greenfield Street, don't have them built in. At older junctions it is understandable but with new building there is no excuse.

Our latest annoyance however is with what is happening here. This busy little junction outside the entrance to Clarendon Square Shopping Centre is being made narrower! This is where the Ring and Ride service set down and pick up. It gets quite congested sometimes with cars parking, people often thinking they can nip quickly in and out of the shopping centre or use the hole in the wall (ATM) at Lloyds Bank. The pavement is already wide enough so what on earth are they doing extending it? Three [albeit illegal] parking spaces will be lost but I can't see how that will improve traffic flow or discourage folk from parking on the crossing opposite the Jolly Carter.

So what annoys people around the world?

The links below point to the other DP sites participating in today's theme.

1. Porto (Portugal) ~~ 2. Stayton, OR (USA) ~~ 3. Albuquerque, NM (USA) ~~ 4. Tenerife (Spain) ~~ 5. Greenville, SC (USA) ~~ 6. Dubai (UAE) ~~ 7. Evry (France) ~~ 8. Jakarta (Indonesia) ~~ 9. London (UK) ~~ 10. Sequim, WA (USA) ~~ 11. Buenos Aires, (Argentina) ~~ 12. Seattle, WA (USA) ~~ 13. Minneapolis, MN (USA) ~~ 14. Stavanger (Norway) ~~ 15. Joplin, MO (USA) ~~ 16. Nelson (New Zealand) ~~ 17. Milano (Italy) ~~ 18. Singapore by KeropokMan ~~ 19. La Antigua (Guatemala) ~~ 20. Nottingham (UK) ~~ 21. Singapore by Zannnie ~~ 22. Budapest (Hungary) ~~ 23. Not Strictly Seattle, WA (USA) ~~ 24. Bandung (Indonesia) ~~ 25. Vantaa (Finland) ~~ 26. Hyde (UK) ~~ 27. Madrid by Dsole (Spain) ~~ 28. Oulu (Finland) ~~ 29. Saarbrücken (Germany) ~~ 30. St. Paul, MN by Carol (USA) ~~ 31. Sydney by Sally (Australia) ~~ 32. Tokyo (Japan) ~~ 33. Kyoto (Japan) ~~ 34. Trujillo (Peru) ~~ 35. Shanghai (China) ~~ 36. Rotterdam (Netherlands) ~~ 37. Chicago, IL (USA) ~~ 38. Nice (France) ~~ 39. Naples, FL (USA) ~~ 40. Hong Kong ~~ 41. Santa Clara, CA (USA) ~~ 42. Quito (Ecuador) ~~ 43. Cottage Grove, MN (USA) ~~ 44. Paris (France) ~~ 45. Lubbock, TX (USA) ~~ 46. Brussels (Belgium) ~~ 47. Auckland (New Zealand) ~~ 48. Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) ~~ 49. Sydney by Nathalie (Australia) ~~ 50. Houston, TX (USA) ~~ 51. Mumbai (India) ~~ 52. New York, NY (USA) ~~ 53. Anderson, SC (USA) ~~ 54. Cherbourg-Octeville (France) ~~ 55. Cheltenham (UK) ~~ 56. Constanta (Romania) ~~ 57. Nantes (France) ~~ 58. Adelaide (Australia) ~~ 59. Tucson, AZ (USA) ~~ 60. Maple Ridge (Canada)

Four Hours in the Life of a Sausage

We went on a trip yesterday to Oswaldtwistle Mills, a Lancashire shopping complex.

About 3pm we went into Ye Olde Sausage Shop where the display included some described as Cumberland style. They couldn't call them true Cumberland sausages as they weren't actually being manufactured in Cumberland.

"But", we said, "They are in links. We want them in the round like proper Cumberlands."

"You want them round? I'll make you some then!" replied David the butcher. And so he did.



We got home about three hours later and unwrapped our purchase.



Just over half an hour later:



And before 7 o' clock struck all that was left was:



I should add that we don't eat sausages very often these days, as they don't fit into a general low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt healthy diet. But good quality sausages once in a while are fine for a treat. These were every bit as good as the ones we used to buy regularly from Jack Curvis.