Onward

Onward has been the motto of Hyde Corporation since its incorporation as a municipal borough of Cheshire in 1881.


The coat of arms can be seen not only on the Town Hall but is also emblazoned in a frieze on the top of the Theatre Royal Onward.


The rear of the theatre is on Onward Street.

To learn more about the efforts being made to restore this listed building, please support and visit the Hyde Theatre Royal Onward Trust.

My other ABC-Wednesday O posts this week are ~~ Onward Christian Soldiers at Old Hyde ~~ Oslo at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ Over the Rainbow at Sithenah

To visit more ABC-Wednesday posts go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Mid-morning Traffic Jam on A57

I've shown pictures of the M67 motorway and correspondents have remarked on the apparent low volume of traffic. I'm not usually around in the rush hour so you rarely see the worst of the jams on Hyde DP.

This is the A57 just beyond the end of the M67 motorway. It is just after 10am on a Tuesday morning. It will take us about 10 minutes to get the quarter of a mile from the roundabout to the traffic lights in Mottram. At peak periods it can take up to 30 minutes with traffic stacked up two miles along the M67 and three or four miles in the opposite direction as far as Tintwistle.

I could post links to the campaign websites and blogs both for and against the Mottram bypass, but if you are really interested they are not difficult to ferrett out. I'd sit on the fence if it weren't for the traffic fumes.

Spring blossom

Despite the heavy rain and occasional hailstorm, the trees are finally blossoming.

Heron at Stonepit

As I promised here is a close-up of the heron I spotted at Stonepit recently.

Previous photographs of Stonepit Reservoir.

• July 20th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir
• September 6th 2006 Twigs & Barbed Wire
• September 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Again
• December 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Yet Again
• December 22nd 2006 A Glimpse of Stonepit Reservoir
• January 11th 2007 Reservoir Filling Up
• May 15th 2007 Reservoir Nearly Ready
• July 7th 2007 Waterfall flowing at Stonepit
• August 11th 2007 Stonepit Reservoir Not Quite Ready
• September 17th 2007 Missed the Birdie
• November 2nd 2007 A Licence to Fish
• November 23rd 2007 Another Sign at Stonepit
• February 27th 2008 A Frosty Morning at Stonepit Reservoir
• April 20th 2008 April Morning at Stonepit

Major Works Proceeding

As warned earlier, there is Major Road Works taking place in the centre of town.

This was the scene outside the Town Hall on Thursday afternoon with a dirty big hole being dug in the middle of the road.

At least the flower tubs are filled with bright spring flowers, just like they were in May 2006.

Bus Station from Market Street

A view of the Bus Station from the bottom end of Market Street.

Scarecrow

You'll find this scarecrow in a field near Shangri-la.

Newton Hall from the rear.

I've shown you Newton Hall from the front before, and I've even shown you the beams inside, but today I thought I'd show it you from the rear.

So here we have a 14th century building with a convenient 21st century addition.

I don't know if those are damp patches on the wall or an attempt to whitewash over some graffiti.

The building is actually surrounded by modern industry including some space-age technology.

My other ABC-Wednesday N posts this week are ~~ Newton Bank Printworks at Old Hyde ~~ No Smoking at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ No Through Road at Sithenah

To visit more ABC-Wednesday posts go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Tuesday Flea Market

On Tuesdays the market ground becomes a "Flea Market", which means all the stalls are selling second-hand goods.

Clarendon Shopping Centre: Car Park Entrance

This is the entrance to Clarendon Shopping Centre from the Multi-Storey Car Park. There is no direct passage from there to the centre or to John Grundy House. You have to come outside first.

An April Morning at Stonepit

Stonepit Reservoir has been open for fishing again some weeks now. A few mornings ago I noticed that the Weak Bridge Sign had been covered up by another notice.

Regular readers will recall that last September I had missed taking a picture of a bird I'd seen.

Well I've got the birdie this time, except that I had no idea it was there until I downloaded the picture on to the computer. I shall show you closer pictures of both the bird and the sign at a later date.

Previous photographs of Stonepit Reservoir.

• Jul 20th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir
• Sep 6th 2006 Twigs & Barbed Wire
• Sep 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Again
• Dec 14th 2006 Stonepit Reservoir Yet Again
• Dec 22nd 2006 A Glimpse of Stonepit Reservoir
• Jan 11th 2007 Reservoir Filling Up
• May 15th 2007 Reservoir Nearly Ready
• July 7th 2007 Waterfall flowing at Stonepit
• August 11th 2007 Stonepit Reservoir Not Quite Ready
• September 17th 2007 Missed the Birdie
• November 2nd 2007 A Licence to Fish
• November 23rd 2007 Another Sign at Stonepit
• February 27th 2008 A Frosty Morning at Stonepit Reservoir

Corporation Street side of Town Hall

This is a close-up of the Corporation Street side of the Town Hall.

The Central Buildings are directly opposite.

As almost always, you should click on the picture to see the full-sized version.

Lower Higham Wall

This wall is by the entrance to the Werneth Low Country Park Visitor centre off Higham Lane.

Bus Ticket

Even though I have a pass giving me free travel on buses after 9.30 am, the driver still has to issue a ticket.

From the information printed thereon you can learn that I caught a 201 which started its journey at 10:06 (from Manchester Piccadilly). I boarded at Hyde at 10:44. The destination of the bus was John Kennedy Gardens, Hattersley.

Man up a Tree

ABC Wednesday - M is for Man up a tree.

Actually it only looks like he's up a tree. He is actually on the telegraph pole fixing a new cable.

The full story and more pictures of how my phone got fixed is on Ackworth born, gone West.

My other ABC Wednesday M posts this week are Mule Spinners at Old Hyde ~~ Millennium Festival Trail at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ M&S at Sithenah.

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

Bridal Gowns and Gasmen

As reported last week Major Road Works due to gas-main replacement is taking place in Market Street.

Much earlier I had also shown you the empty premises vacated by the gentleman's outfitters Montague Burton. The men have gone and the women have taken it over in the form of a Bridal Warehouse.

As to why one of the workmen has draped his donkey-jacket over a cone, I'm sorry I haven't a clue.

John Grundy House

This block of flats in the center of town sits above the Clarendon Shopping Centre.

It is named after John Grundy, a former mayor of Hyde. His widow, Kathleen, later held the same position in her own right. She was destined to be the last victim of Harold Fred Shipman.

Saturday afternoon clouds

Yesterday morning it was cold and wet with thundery showers.

In the afternoon it cleared up and there was blue sky. But also there were these white clouds and some wispy stuff as well. Somewhere up there was a pale half-moon, but the clouds kept covering it up.

In the evening the heavy rain came back.

Station Exit

Another picture from my short train ride of some weeks back. Here is the exit gate from Newton station.

Base of the Cenotaph

Last week I showed you a closeup of the top of the cenotaph on Werneth Low.

Here is the base.

What season is this?

I took this with my pocket-camera a couple of days ago whilst waiting for a taxi from Morrison's supermarket.

There is snow lying on the nearby hills and more storms coming in.

On the right you can see St. John's Church, Godley; compare the view with this picture from January which also includes the church and the hillside beyond.

Long Meadow Passage

This sign is on a shop that is currently to let.

Long Meadow Passage leads from Market Street into the car park next to the Bus Station.

The name is evocative of a long rural traditional and over on Old Hyde you can find another quaint name, Lovers Alley, which seems to have disappeared entirely.

For more ABC Wednesday L posts, visit Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Welcome to Hyde's 2nd Birthday

Welcome to the 2nd anniversary of Hyde Daily Photo.

This is the sign that greats you if you travelled into Hyde from Ashton under Lyne. A road on the right leads up to Hyde North station. On the left (out of sight) is the Village Hotel.

To hear about how Hyde DP came about please read the post I made on our first anniversary.

Five DPs celebrated their second anniversary last month: Kuala Lumpur on the 8th; Nottingham and Sharon on the 30th; Bangalore and San Diego on the 31st.

Eric in Paris celebrated 2 years on 11th March 2007 and has since passed the 3 year mark as have Tenerife [dead link removed] started in March 2004 and Port Vila which commenced in January 2005.

Other veteran blogs still going strong are: July 2005: St Kilda ~~ August 2005: Melbourne ~~ November 2005: London ~~ December 2005: Greenville ~~ January 2006: Aliso Viejo [dead link removed] ~~ Buenos Aires[dead link removed] ~~ Mexico City ~~ Rome [dead link removed] ~~ Trondheim [dead link removed] ~~ February 2006: Barcelona ~~ Brighton ~~ Newcastle-upon-Tyne ~~ Van Buren ~~ March 2006: Jakarta ~~ New York ~~ April 2006: Haninge.

My apologies to any blogs I may have missed off these lists.

Godley Arches (West)

These are the Godley Arches over the A57 on the East side of Hyde.

Just to the left, on the embankment, is Godley station and the entrance for Manchester-bound trains.

The entrance for Glossop-bound trains is on the other side of the arches.

Godley Station replaced the now closed and disappeared Godley East Station, aka Godley Junction, where a freight-only branch line ran towards Woodley. That is a now a footpath and part of the Trans Pennine Trail.

The A57 is an old road that ran from Lincoln via Worksop, Sheffield, Glossop, Hyde, Manchester and Warrington to Liverpool. This section is now by-passed by the M67 Motorway.

The railway line carries trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop, but at one time it went all the way to Sheffield via the Woodhead Tunnel. Nowadays at Dinting Junction all that is left of that old route is a short spur to Hadfield.

This post is our contribution to Broer som Binder [Bridges between]. More details and links to other participents can be found on Runes TX-Blog

Something New Being Built

Behind where this man was working last April, something is being built.

I took a glimpse behind the fence in September.

The building work is in the Market Place between Farm Foods and the Co-op Pharmacy.

Since this picture was taken, they seem to have completed building a sort of kiosk. It only extends a little way back and there is some open space behind.

Central Buildings 1899

These buildings on Corporation Street are directly opposite the side of the Town Hall and the new hanging baskets.

Once they housed a couple of insurance offices, but now you'll find a solicitors and a hairdressers.

Footpath to Church Avenue

These steps lead onto a footpath leading to Church Avenue.

They are on Higham Lane opposite the entrance to Holy Trinity Church.

Signs of impending traffic chaos

I just noticed these signs the other day.

These two were at the bottom end of Market Street, but there are others higher up, all the way to Union Street.

Kerry Foods Factory from the train

This used to known as the Walls sausage factory until it was taken over by Kerry Foods in 1994.

According to Tameside MBC the main operations at the site include the processing and packaging of pork and bacon products such as sausage and sliced bacon, white meat products such as turkey rashers and distribution of some 700 tonnes of food products each week.

It lies by the former Godley East railway station.

To visit more ABC Wednesday K posts, visit Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

April Fool's Day

It's April 1st and that means April Fool's Day. If you came here expecting me to be participating in this month's Water theme then I've either fooled you or disappointed you.

This post originally showed a photo of a local magician. Although taken quite legally and with verbal permission I have since been informed that the artist's agent now owns his image and I will be sued if I do not remove it. I can't be doing with the hassle so have removed it - it's his loss not mine.

If you still want to see the Water theme, step back in time to Old Hyde.