Weekend Reflections: Travis Street

Travis Street runs between Nelson Street and Union Street and then across Union Street to Iceland.

You can view the fuller picture on Geograph.

For more weekend reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

Waiting at Newton Station

I took this a few weeks OK when it was fine weather.

A Manchester bound train is pulling into Newton (for Hyde) station.

The one waiting passenger seems engrossed in her book as it approaches, but the train did stop and she did get on.

Broadbottom Scarecrows 2010

These scarecrows were to be seen recently in the stable block at the Etherow Centre.

The scarecrow competition is now an annual event organised by the Broadbottom Community Association. You can see all of the 2010 entries on the Broadbottom Village website.

ABC WednesdayBus Station, Hyde 2010

Bus Station, Hyde 2010. In the background is the now closed Astoria Bingo Hall.

Hyde got a new bus station in 2005. The buses circulate around the outside while passengers wait within an all-weather designed area.

In the previous bus station, passengers waited on the outside under draughty "shelters" with inadequate seating.

An even earlier bus station can be seen on Old Hyde.

For more B posts visit ABC Wednesday

The Beautiful Game Brings The World Together

Well Dressing is not confined to Derbyshire but takes place in a few surrounding counties too.

It was Gee Cross Well Dressing ceremony a few weeks ago. I've already shown you Booth's Well.

A walk is taken to six sites around the village and the wells are blessed. After Booth's Well the parade goes to two wells up Joel Lane. I didn't get up there this year. The fourth and fifth stops I'll show you at a later date.

The final blessing takes place outside Hyde Chapel where the display this year was The Beautiful Game Brings The World Together produced by year 7 students from Alder Community High School.

Their theme for 2010 was the World Cup. The display, made out of recycled materials, tries to show that saving the world's resources is everyone's responsibility and that the World Cup is a way of bringing people together to celebrate all the different nations of the world.

Kingston Recreation Ground (site of Hyde Hall)

Kingston Recreation Ground lies off Mill Lane above the River Tame. The area was originally the site of Hyde Hall the family estate of Hyde John Clarke.

The original Hyde Hall, dating from the seventeenth century, was considerably altered in the mid eighteenth century creating a Georgian country house. The hall was demolished in 1857, although a farm building survived into the twentieth century. The site of the Hall was purchased by Hyde Corporation in 1924.

Another photograph of Kingston Recreation Ground can be found on Hyde DP Xtra.

A view of Hyde Hall in 1794 and more details about its history can be found on Old Hyde.

Etherow Riding Arena

The riding arena at the Etherow Centre in Broadbottom.

The Etherow Centre is a charitable trust that looks after a converted railway warehouse.

The property and surrounding land were purchased from British Rail Property Board in 1985. Renovation work began in 1986 and the initial phase was the restoration and adaptation of the lower floor to create an indoor riding centre.

The second phase of the renovation work in 1987 involved the adaptation and restoration of the upper floor to create a permanent indoor gymnastics facility.

In 1989 funding from Children In Need, small charitable trusts and individual donations enabled the building of this outdoor riding area for the Kingfisher Riding for the Disabled Group.

In 1997 a stable block was added.

In 2009 the Tameside School of Gymnastics moved to Pinfold in Hattersley and the upper floor of the centre was modified to provide a home for indoor bowling and other community activities. The Etherow Bowling and Activity Centre, run by Tameside Sports Trust features an indoor bowling green built to national league standard.

See Hyde DP Xtra for a view of the centre from Broadbottom station car park and The Etherow Centre's website for more about their work.