This is
Hyde Daily Photo Volume 1 (2006-2011) which is now in archive mode. For recent photographs please visit
Hyde Daily Photo Volume 2. Additional material and links to blogger friends can be found at
Hyde DP Xtra.

The Jolly Carter is a busy town centre pub opposite the entrance to the Clarendon Shopping Centre.
It doesn't look quite so busy before opening time on a wet Wednesday morning.
Note the dropped kerb outside. This is where we cross the road on Saturdays when using the
Ring 'n' Ride service.

When last week I showed you the shops
under the gable end, the Nature's Way Health Shop was actually shuttered up.
So here now is a view of the shop front.

Yesterday a number of Daily Photo sites posted no photos out of respect for those caught up in the tragic events in Indonesia.
My photograph today is dedicated to Santy of the
Jakarta DP as we all think about her and her countrymen.
This little peace garden is part of the Werneth Low Country Park next to the carpark at the Visitor Centre and just before the climb up the hill to the War Memorial.

Lots of the Stagecoach buses have adverts on them for a low-cost airline.
This one offers flights to
Edinburgh for £19.99 single. And the price does include airport-taxes. So that is £39.98 return compared to £60.80, the cheapest option I could find with BA. The train would cost anything from £35 return if you searched around and found journeys where
Apex fares applied; otherwise it would be £70.
Meanwhile a
National Express coach would charge £28.50 or less if you qualified for discounts. Mind you, a taxi to Manchester Airport could set you back around £30 as opposed to £15 [much less for a bus or train] to Piccadilly Station or Chorlton Street Coach Station.
Other buses advertise flights to different destinations.

This unpretentious little bit of road is the sliproad to the westbound M67.
The westbound exit from the motorway is at the other end of town.
The lane between the two chicanes is a buslane leading into the Bus Station.

This monument to the Chartist Movement stands outside the Town Hall.
Yesterday's picture was taken from the other side and shows a detail of the boy's hand.
The Chartists fought for workers rights in the 19th century. You can read an account of how Hyde Chartists were involved in the
1848 uprising that led to the death of a policeman in Ashton.

This picture is a bit of a puzzle.
The lamp-post with its twin lights is typical of all the ones around the centre of town.
What is that hand stretching in from the left?
That I'll reveal for you tomorrow.
What does puzzle me is the attachment about a foot from the top of the post. I can't make up my mind whether it is a security camera, or possibly just a reflector used to floodlight the Town Hall.

This
slow down sign lights up when traffic approaches. It was added to the drainpipe shortly after they had finished installing the
James North Clock on the mini-roundabout.
Before then you could actually still read the full name
Meadow Street.

Remember that
gable end I showed you last Tuesday?
Well here is what lies beneath it — a health food shop that sells New Age music and similar sundries. It lies on the corner of Market Street and Manchester Road, opposite the entrance to the Bus Station.
The adjacent property was recently a charity shop for
Age Concern. What will open there next we shall have to wait to find out.
Next door the other side, on Manchester Road, is a glass engravers and trophy shop.

Inspired by Chris Harrison's picture of a
Tattoo Studio door on his
Newcastle photoblog, I took this shot of Mick's Tattoo Studio in Hyde.

I must have stepped over this many times. This plaque is set into the ground near the middle of the Market Ground. I only noticed it recently, possibly because it was raining and there were fewer folk milling around obscuring the view.
It marks the opening of the market after refurbishment in 1991. I suppose it comes under the heading of
Civic Street Art but probably means little except to the councillor and MP named thereon!

Maybe I'm not Gene Kelly but what the 'eck; rain happens; we just carry on with our shopping.

Perhaps my
summery picture of a couple of days ago was a bit premature, but that's the British weather for you. A few days of nice sunshine and then down comes the rain.
Yesterday I showed the old
Post Office House. The building on the left, hidden by the tree, is the new Post Office.

This imposing building, adjoining
Hyde Festival Theatre, hasn't been the post office for many years.
Currently it is being used by
Sure Start, a government programme aimed at helping families with children up to 4 years old to improve their health and well-being.
Tomorrow I'll show you where the new Post Office is located.

Summer is a comin' in and its time for the ice-cream van to park itself by the market!

This gable end can be seen at the bottom of Market Street, but you have to look up to see it. Watch out if you do as the traffic is heavy here.
Next Tuesday I'll show you what lies underneath.

Tucked down in the far corner of the basement of the indoor market within Clarendon Shopping Centre is Berry's.
They stock all the traditonal sweets like Uncle Joe's Mintballs, Pontefract Cakes, Humbugs and hundreds more dispensed from their own jars. OK so they sell you 100gm these days rather than a quarter-pound, but they taste just as delicious.

This shop has been in the Clarendon Shopping Centre for about a year now. Previously the unit had housed an optician's.
As well as dispensing herbs they also offer acupunture and other alternative treatments.

This view of the M67 is from a footbridge leading from the Bus Station.

This tub of flowers is outside the Town Hall. Similar tubs can be found at various points within the town centre.

This chapel lies within the grounds of Hyde Cemetery.
Despite its grim associations with
Shipman four exhumations were made within the cemetery, the first of which was the first inclination the public had of what he'd been up to the cemetery is a quiet and contemplative place with views over the countryside to the North.

Richmond Hill is a steep footpath which I use regularly.
Behind the thick holly bushes lies Hyde Cemetery. The path runs alongside the cemetery. It then crosses Back Bower Lane and Werneth Avenue before emerging onto Mottram Old Road. From there you can continue climbing to Werneth Low Country Park.
I'll show you more of Werneth Low at a later date.

Remember those
attic windows I showed you last Tuesday?
Well here are the businesses housed in the premises.
One is
Ladbrokes a national chain of turf accountants or
"bookies" as they are known colloquially.
The other is the Hyde office of a local Estate Agent. This stretch of Market Street has at least half a dozen different estate agencies trading. Some are firms with lots of branches nationally, others with a presence mainly in the North-West and few smaller firms specialising more locally.

HECS on this building stands for
Hyde Equitable Co-operative Society.
The co-operative movement started in nearby Rochdale and spread rapidly especially across the North of England. Each town had their own society and their retail might was as strong as that of the major supermarkets today.
This building stands on Market Street opposite the start of Dowson Road. The upper floor houses the offices of a Chartered Accountant whilst the bottom is a carpet saleroom.

I was just sitting on a bench outside the Town Hall and opposite the Market, when this sports car stopped for the traffic lights.

It is a bit difficult to get a clear photo of
Hyde Festival Theatre without the recyclying bins in Asda's carpark getting in the way.
Originally the
Alexander Cinema and Billiard Hall it became a theatre in 1953. Currently it is home to several amateur societies and stages around twelve different productions a year.
Whilst it thrives, the
Theatre Royal next door is in much disrepair. An Edwardian theatre it was more recently a cinema. A trust set up in 2000 is attempting to preserve and restore the listed building.

The
San Antonio DP and the
Dallas DP both recently showed pictures of their
freeways, so here is a British motorway junction.
The A57 is the old turnpiked road from Lincoln to Liverpool by way of Worksop, Sheffield, the Snake Pass, Glossop, Hyde, Manchester and Warrington.
When a motorway was built, bypassing Hyde and Denton, because of the peculiarities of the UK road numbering system, it wasn't designated as M57 but M67. The Denton end of the M67 now links to the M60 which encircles Manchester. The Eastern end at Mottram Moor is a constant traffic jam. Plans to bypass Hollingworth and Tintwistle have been hotly debated for years.
See this
Campaign website for more details.

This inn-sign for the
Shepherds Call has obviously seen better days.
In better shape is the old stone street name sign. Very few of these are left. Most have been replaced by more modern metal ones.
Across the main road a similar sign for
Nelson Street survives.
An aside: In the early hours of this morning the time was
01:02:03 04/05/06though I guess for Americans this magic moment won't occur till next month!

Do you see those two owls on the roof of the
White Lion?
Well they're not real.
See all the pigeons?
They
are real.
Now what do you think is the purpose of the owls on the roof?

These attic windows project on to Market Street.
They probably stem from the time when owners of what these days we call
retail establishments, lived
above the shop. Now the businesses have changed and these bedrooms are probably just used for storage.
What businesses now operate beneath these two?
I'll reveal that next Tuesday.

A regular and popular feature of Hyde Market is the children's carousel.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs on this site are copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Gerald England.
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