Cherry blossom 2006 & 2007

The picture above is a repost of the one from April 30th, 2006.

It was Hyde DP's first time taking part in a theme day. The theme was to show something that looked as if it belonged in another city. Back then there were fewer DPs and we didn't list all the participants. Here now are links to all those I could find who ran the theme that day.

Rheingau thinks Sharon ~~ Sharon thinks London ~~ Kuala Lumpur thinks London ~~ Berlin thinks London ~~ London thinks India ~~ Sydney thinks Paris ~~ Paris thinks New York ~~ Newcastle upon Tyne thinks New York ~~ San Diego thinks Hyde, London and Newcastle ~~ Tucson thinks Hyde and Akita ~~ Hyde thinks Akita ~~ Greenville thinks Los Angeles ~~ Aliso Viejo thinks China ~~ Chattanooga thinks Britain ~~ Wiesbaden thinks São Paulo

Tomorrow's theme day may or may not be along similar lines, but 75 DPs have registered to say they will run the theme.



When I passed by that same tree last week it wasn't showing any blossom at all, but elsewhere there are lots to be seen, so I've taken a new picture of the blossom on the tree in our neighbour's garden. Across the road in another tree are our two lovebirds from last Saturday.

Answer to last week's puzzle

Here is the answer to last week's puzzle.

As several astute people noted it was indeed a willow tree. The intertwining bits are in fact bindweed!

Small book prizes go to the winners who were more-or-less spot on ~~ Alice ~~ Ex-Shammickite ~~ Thiên

A small prize too to these runners up with close but not quite perfect answers ~~ Jilly ~~ エスタ ~~ Blueboat

Consolation prizes of a postcard go those with wrong but inventive or interesting answers ~~ Nathalie ~~ Isabella ~~ Kate ~~ Zsolt ~~ Irina ~~ Keropok Man ~~ Tara

Postcards too to ~~ Barb ~~ Pete ~~ The Salems [dead link removed] ~~ April [dead link removed] simply for stopping by.

Contact me privately with your snail-mail address.

The picture was taken before the arrival of the daffodils. Those have since died off and now the lawn is overrun with dandelions.

Here are some more willows on other CDPBs: Joensuu (with ants) ~~ Los Angeles (or is it?) ~~ Seattle ~~ Taunton (at the fair)

Next Sunday I plan to post a caption competition.

Ring Doves or Wood Pigeons

These two little lovebirds are frequent visitors to our back garden. Here one is on the top of our shed and the other is in a neighbour's tree.

Pictures of one of them extracting twigs for their nest from our willow tree can be seen my other blog Ackworth born, gone West

Friday market

The Friday market is almost as busy as the Saturday market. Lots of clothing bargains to be had here.

Bottle Bank

Recycling is high on the environmental-friendly agenda of many people. Here is a view of some of the bottles ready for collection in Asda Car Park.

These are near the Shoe bins.

Spring Footpath

I showed you this footpath in autumn and then again in winter, so here it is in spring.

Gone

It was there in January. At the beginning of March it was ready to go and by the end of March it was on its way and now it has gone.

Mobility Shop

Hyde Shopmobility closed down during the middle of last year. We don't know the full circumstances surrounding the closure. It used to hire out scooters and manual wheelchairs for use within Clarendon Shopping Centre and its environs. It was also a bit of a meeting place and we could leave some of our shopping there and collect it after doing some more.

A commercial firm, has now taken over the premises. The new people seem very friendly and we hope they'll continue to meet the needs of shoppers and others who require their services.

Puzzle quiz

Today's picture is a puzzle.

Small prizes for the best comments -- open until next Sunday when all will be revealed.

Willow Wood Hospice

This charity shop next door to The Queens supports the Willow Wood Hospice.

Big Tree

A few weeks ago I showed a picture of the Big Tree Memorial near the bottom of Lilly Street and visible in this earlier picture of Diamond Row Open Space.

Despite the name, the tree by the memorial is not especially big. Maybe there was once a bigger tree there, but now the biggest tree in the area is this one.

Dead Slow: ABC Wax

This sign is outside the entrance to the group of textile factories whose roofs and chimneys featured in an earlier picture.

I'm not certain whether there are three separate factories on the site, or if they are all parts of the same company. CHA Textiles is a company based in Hong Kong which trades in the UK as A Brunnschweiler & Co. making textile fabrics for use in the manufacture of saris and sarongs.

According to the ABC Wax website, ABC Wax Prints, based on the Javanese batik print, were first produced here in 1908. The original factory was constructed in 1812 as a conventional textile printing factory. Some of the company's production now takes place in West Africa.

The entrance is off Commercial Street - check the position with this Google Map

Funfair again

I've previously shown part of the Funfair that was in town recently.

Here is another of the lorries from John Collins getting ready to move on.

Watching the worker

Here is that workman again from last week. What I didn't show you were his two colleagues nearby watching him.

Don't they always come in threes?

Pigeon on Bridge

You may feel I have already posted enough pictures of pigeons but a couldn't resist showing you this one sitting on the bridge across Great Norbury Street.

It must be waiting for the Manchester train.

Flowery Field Church from the North-East

This view is looking down Newton Street from just past the junction of Lodge Lane and Old Road. On the corner is Flowery Field Church.

Our previous picture of Flowery Field Church was by guest photographer Roger May and was taken looking up Newton Street from the South.

Gee Cross Art Group

A few weeks ago Gee Cross Art Group held an exhibition in the Clarendon Shopping Centre.

The last one was by the Godley Art Group.

Ospital

This sign is in the land belonging to the Tameside Federation of Anglers, that includes Stonepit Reservoir. It lies at the corner of Back Bower and Stockport Road across the road from the Gatso.

What I find interesting though is not so much the Private notice but the old road sign to which it is attached. Only (H)OSPITAL is visible. Where there are now holes in the lettering there used to be little reflectors much like the ones in catseyes. These meant the signs would reflect car headlights at night and be visible in the dark. Assuming the sign is still in its original location, there was probably an arrow on the missing left hand side to direct traffic down Back Bower.

Back Bower is now a one-way street and you cannot turn into it from Stockport Road. Hyde Hospital hasn't been a hospital as such for at least twenty or more years. I think this kind of road sign dates from the 1940s. They started being replaced by more modern signs in the 60s and 70s. This has probably survived because it is broken and merely being used to support another notice.

Hattersley Station

This is Hattersley Station between Broadbottom and Godley on the Glossop to Manchester Piccadilly line. The single platform lies between the tracks. A set of steps and a covered walkway lead over the southbound line to the road.

The Full Picture

Last month I posted a picture of factory roofs.

Laura and others asked for more roofs.

Then last week I showed some chimneys.

All three were selected crops from this photograph.

I've made three posts from a single shot before now, but this is the first that has provided me with four!

The factories are all involved with textiles. Elizabeth guessed towels or oil. The factory that manufactures towels [once famous for making nappies] is not one of these. I'll try and find out a little more about these and post information at a later date.

Workman

This workman was spotted last week repairing a loose paving slab in the Market Place.

Easter Bunnies

Remember Louise in her flippers at the opening of a new mobile-phone shop.

Well she was back there on Saturday handing out little Easter eggs. In fact the entire staff were dressed as little bunnies!

Hyde Daily Photo is One Year Old

Hyde Daily Photo is one year old today. Our first post was a picture of Hyde Market.

In February 2006, after a holiday in Tenerife I published a set of 40 photographs. Shortly afterwards I had an email from Pamela who said "hey, that's my house on your photo of El Palmar." We got into conversation and I discovered that she ran Secret Tenerife whereon she posts a picture from Tenerife everyday.

Whilst I'd published things on my website for nearly ten years, I'd never got involved with blogging. One of my big interests is haiku and in February 2006 I was invited by Alison Williams to contribute to the Ukku Spring Haiku blog. This entailed me signing up to blogger and I began to learn the mechanisms of blogging.

I noticed that Pamela's site had lots of links to blogs in towns and cities throughout the world; that they all linked to each other; that there was in fact a loose community of around fifty daily bloggers posting photos of their part of the world. And so with Pamela's encouragement I created Hyde Daily Photo and here we still are one year on. Instead of 50 sites there are now around 250 similar sites but there is still a sense of community among the blogsite owners who are always helping each other out in various ways.

When Sharon DP turned one last week, blogowner Jenny posted a picture of a single snowdrop to represent the number one. When Paris DP turned two, I posted a picture of daffodils under our willow tree and dedicated them to Eric who is the founder of the DP movement and an inspiration for all of us.

I thought then that this picture of a single daffodil would be an appropriate way of marking the occasion.

Thanks then especially to Pamela, Alison and Eric without whom this blog would never have been born; but also to the many people who have contributed comments, words of encouragement, useful advice and constructive criticism over the last twelve months.

Please keep on coming.

Longtailed Tits

I'm sitting quietly typing at the computer and then all of a sudden I am disturbed by a tap, rap, tap at the window. The sound comes from a longtailed tit that flits between the branchs of the rosebush just outside. Frequently it flys on to the upper frame and jabs its beak at the glass.

Longtailed tits move very quickly and it is difficult to get a good picture. This is a composite of a few captures.

More photographs of the creature and a link to further information on the species and sound files are on my other blog Ackworth born, gone West.

Fire Damaged Pavillion

Shortly after I posted a picture of one of the bowling greens in Hyde Park, it was reported that vandals had set fire to the pavillion.

Ice-Cream Van

It has been quite cold recently, but on Saturday afternoon I spotted this ice-cream van doing the rounds. It is the first time I've seen or heard one on the streets this year. Summer must definitely be coming.

A view of this van in context can be seen on Spring Haiku 2007

Here are some links to ice-cream vans in other parts of world ~~ Antigua (1) ~~ Antigua (2) ~~ Singapore ~~ Sydney

Chimneys

No these are not rockets but chimneys.

Newton Arches

Just a little way from Newton station up a rough street are these bricked-up arches under the railway.

Diamond Row Open Space

I showed you the area I thought was known as Little Stonepit a few weeks ago.

This view is from Stockport Road. Lilly Street and the Big Tree Memorial are just out of sight on the left. The houses you can see are at the beginning of Back Bower next to the entrance to Stonepit Reservoir.

The area is called Diamond Row Open Space after a group of cottages that once stood on the corner of Stockport Road and Back Bower Lane.

A Public Mail-box

The DP theme for April is "a public mail-box"

I've shown you a standard pillar box and also a small post-box as well as the sorting office on Hamnett Street.

So now I'm displaying this double pillar box located opposite the Post Office.

The links below will lead you to other worldwide DPs participating in this month's theme. I'll be updating this page at intervals throughout today and tomorrow as the different sites come on stream.

1. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) ~~ 2 Tokyo (Japan) ~~ 3 Singapore by Zannnie ~~ 4 Bandung (Indonesia) ~~ 5 Sydney by Sally (Australia) ~~ 6 Newcastle (Australia) ~~ 7 Singapore by Keropokman ~~ 8 Vantaa (Finland) ~~ 9 Melbourne by John, (Australia) ~~ 10 Stavanger (Norway) ~~ 11 London by Ham (UK) ~~ 12 Melbourne by Michael, (Australia) ~~ 13 Nelson (New Zealand) ~~ 14 Port Vila (Vanuata) ~~ 15 Rotterdam (Netherlands) ~~ 16 St Kilda (Australia) ~~ 17 Budapest (Hungary) ~~ 18 Tuzla (B&H) ~~ 19 Hyde (UK) ~~ 20 Maple Ridge (Canada) ~~ 21 Grenoble (France) ~~ 22 Greenville, SC (USA) ~~ 23 Villigen (Switzerland) ~~ 24 Albuquerque, NM (USA) ~~ 25 Mazatlan (Mexico) ~~ 26 Montréal (Canada) ~~ 27 Stayton, OR (USA) ~~ 28 Shanghai (China) ~~ 29 Arradon (France) ~~ 30 Sequim, WA (USA) ~~ 31 Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) ~~ 32 Seattle, WA by Kim (USA) ~~ 33 Minneapolis, MN (USA) ~~ 34 Millerton by Sharon, CT (USA) ~~ 35 Cottage Grove, MN (USA) ~~ 36 Naples, FL (USA) ~~ 37 Jakarta (Indonesia) ~~ 38 Tel Aviv (Israel) ~~ 39 Auckland (New Zealand) ~~ 40 Vatican via Brussels (Belgium) ~~ 41 Stockholm (Sweden) ~~ 42 Boston, MA (USA) ~~ 43 New York City, NY (USA) ~~ 44 Paris (France) ~~ 45 Sydney by Nathalie (Australia) ~~ 46 Wailea, HI (USA) ~~ 47 Saint Paul MN by Carol (USA) ~~ 48 Mexico by Poly ~~ 49 Cape Town (South Africa) ~~ 50 Kitakami (Japan) ~~ 51 Little Rock, AR (USA) ~~ 52 Madrid (Spain) ~~ 53 Manila (Philippines) ~~ 54 Menton (France) ~~ 55 Monmouth County, NJ (USA) ~~ 56 Monte Carlo (Monaco) ~~ 57 Oliver (Canada) ~~ 58 Seoul (Korea) ~~ 59 Tenerife (Spain) ~~ 60 Joplin, MO (USA) ~~ 61 Lubbock, TX (USA) ~~ 62 San Diego, CA (USA) ~~ 63 Nottingham (UK) ~~ 64 Kyoto (Japan) ~~ 65 Cork (Ireland) ~~ 66 Ampang (Malaysia) ~~ 67 Miami, FL (USA) ~~ 68 Selma, NC (USA) ~~ 69 Seattle, WA by Susan (USA) ~~ 70 London by Jonemo (UK) ~~ 71 Torun (Poland) ~~ 72 Santa Clara, CA (USA) ~~ 73 Saarbrücken (Germany) ~~