Tamping Down

You may remember this hole in the road some weeks back.

It has been filled in now and today's photograph shows two of the workmen tamping down the sand. The whole thing has now been covered over and the road surface tarmacked.

The Old Hyde Chapel

The present Hyde Chapel was built in 1846.

The first chapel on the site was built in 1708. It was extended in 1767. No picture of the original chapel is known to exist, but when we visited the recent Beatrix Potter Exhibition, we were shown this picture of the extended chapel. It was demolished following the completion of the new chapel, but the site can be made out in the present graveyard.

A closer look at it can by found on Old Hyde.

Hattersley Station looking East

Here is another picture of Hattersley Station, this time looking East towards Broadbottom.

You can see the A560 viaduct from which I took a picture of the approach to Hattersley Station and using my zoom a close overview of the station.

Fairground Organ at Fete

Welcoming people to Gee Cross Fete this year was Dave Stubbs with his Fairground Organ.

This organ was made in 1982 by the Dean Organ Company from Bristol and has been decorated in a traditional style to give it a more Continental look. Unlike a barrel organ which uses a cylindrical barrel with pins that activate the individual instruments of the organ, this uses a cardboard book of punched music, where each hole corresponds to a musical note or percussion instrument.

This is not the same as the Fairground Organ which attended previous fetes.

There is a gallery of nineteen photographs at Gee Cross Fete 2008 which has links to photos from previous years too

One Way

These street lights seem to feature in a lot of my photographs. From comments received, their design seems to be well liked. I've always taken them a bit for granted myself.

The dome in the background is on the top of what is now Woolworths, but a century ago was Brownson's Clothiers.

Well on Wych Fold

The Well on Wych Fold, next to the Grapes Hotel, is known as Booth's Well.

Around 1821, Ralph Booth, Jonathan Harrison and John Cheetham, local gentlemen, built a trough and laid pipes to it. By 1865 the pipes had corroded but with the help of public donations were renewed. In celebration of the restoration of the supply, the well was "dressed" with garlands of flowers. The ceremony was repeated almost annually until 1878.

In 2000 the local Women's Institute revived the practice and Gee Cross Well Dressing is now an annual event. More about this can be found on the Tameside Local History Forum website. You can also check out my own photographs of the 2006 Ceremony.

The 2008 ceremony will take place on the 20th July.

Reflected in the glass on my photograph above is the top of Knott Lane.

My other ABC-Wednesday W posts this week are ~~ Wakes Weeks at Old Hyde ~~ Wreck of the Riverdance at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ Windsurfer at Sithenah

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

Shopfitters

A year ago the Kwik Save store closed down.

The shopfitters have moved in and are transforming what was once the Hyde Equitable Co-operative Society store into a branch of Wilkinsons Plus.

Dog Bowl outside the Newsagents

This is the newsagents next door to what used to be Gee Cross Post Office.

Like so many others, the PO is no more, though you can buy books of stamps at the newsagents. They offer other services too and whilst you can't take your dog inside, it can at least stop for a drink of water.

Beatrix Potter Exhibition

The parents of Beatrix Potter were married and are buried at Hyde Chapel.

As part of Hyde Chapel's Tercentenary celebrations a Beatrix Potter exhibition was held last week.

On Friday, Andrew Parker gave a talk about the history of the chapel and conducted a tour of the building and the grounds. It was a fascinating account.

I can't promise to remember everything he said, but I'll be posting a number of photographs and revealing more details in the coming weeks.

Tramlines revealed?

When the roadworks started in April for the laying of a new gas main, our old mate Tom said

the last time I saw this part dug up you could see the old cobbles and tram tracks.. might be worth a closer look

so here is a closer look at one of the holes dug by the digger outside the NatWest.

Are those old tramlines? I'm not so sure.

See how the corner looked three quarters of a century ago.

Approaching from Denton

If you catch the 201 bus from Manchester Piccadilly via Denton to Hyde, this will be your approach.

The A57 bends round to the right and down to cross the River Tame at Broomstair Bridge.

A sliproad on the left leads on the M67 motorway.

As it is Friday, a couple of hundred bloggers will be watching the sky. Skywatch Friday is hosted by Wigger's World.

Grapes under Scaffold

The Grapes Hotel is being modernised at present and when I passed by a few weeks ago it was covered in scaffolding.

See how it looked in 1910 or more recently in 2007.

Village Fete

Last Sunday was the 15th Gee Cross Village Fete, organised by the Rotary Club of Hyde. Nowadays it is part of a "Festival Weekend" with a musical concert taking place on the Saturday evening in a marquee on Sam Redfern Green.

It seems I arrived just as the Mayoral party was leaving.

You will find a gallery of nineteen photographs at Gee Cross Fete 2008 which has links to photos from previous years too.

My other ABC-Wednesday V posts this week are ~~ Video Footage of Hyde 1947 at Old Hyde ~~ Vroom Vroom at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ Vintage Cars at Sithenah

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

Under the Bridge

This is the underpass that links Grafton Street with Mary Street and from which I took the photograph Looking under Clark Way.

Scout Hut now gone

I reported earlier that the scout hut on Hill Street was about to be demolished to make way for a new one.

Yesterday on my way back from Gee Cross Fete I walked up Hill Street and took this picture of the now cleared site.

It's a Tulip

Last week I posted a quiz picture of a wall and asked what the out-of-focus item on the left was.

No-one came remotely close. Gail's Man gave the wittiest response. I thought Babooshka was on the way there until I realised she'd written boom and not bloom.

The photographs are from the grounds of Pole Bank Hall. I'd taken a few of the solitary tulip. One close-up focused on the wall and another focused on the flower. I thought the pair would make ideal material for a little quiz.

You can see the wall and tulip in their natural surroundings in my latest post on Ackworth born, gone West

NatWest Digger

The road works have all been cleared away now but for a short while there was this digger to be seen outside the NatWest Bank.

Lumb Farm

Lumb Farm is on Dewsnap Lane opposite the junction with Rabbit Lane.

Motorway over the River Tame

I first showed you the river Tame flowing under the M67 in July 2006 and a closer view in January 2008.

This was taken a few weeks ago from a bus crossing Broomstair Bridge.

Unity Inn Sign

When I published a picture of a crane over the Unity Inn one commentator said

how about a closer shot of the pub sign. It looks interesting and we'd all like to see their interpretation of Unity.

So, as I promised, here it is.

The sign depicts a rose, a daffodil and a thistle to signify the Union of England, Wales & Scotland. The rose is both a white rose and a red rose thus representing Yorkshire and Lancashire (remember Hyde is in Cheshire).

My other ABC-Wednesday U posts this week are ~~ Uplands Farm at Old Hyde ~~ Ulriken at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ Under the Pier at Sithenah

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

Tanker on Treacle Brow

When I showed you the view down Treacle Brow at least one person spotted the tanker at the bottom.

Here is a close-up - no it isn't delivering beer nor treacle - it is clearing out the drains.

Platform 2

This is Hyde Central Station Platform 2.

There are, of course, only two platforms and this one is looking South towards Woodley, Romiley and Marple.

June Query Competition

Time for another little guessing competition.

This time I'm not asking you to tell me where the wall is located. Do you see an out-of-focus shape in the middle of the left-hand side? What is it?

I'll eliminate one answer. No it isn't my thumb caught covering the lens.

I may, at my discretion, award small book prizes for the best responses. You have until next Sunday when I will reveal the answer in all its glory.

Manchester Road Bridge

Remember the traffic jam outside the Cheshire Ring I showed last week.

Once the traffic lights changed it soon cleared. The bus I was travelling on moved closer and I took this view of the Manchester Road Railway Bridge.

Apart from the usual pigeon what else do you notice when you click on the picture and enlarge it? No, this isn't the query competition post. That's tomorrow.

Hill Street Scout Hut

This is Hill Street where 3rd Gee Cross Scouts have their hut. Last year I featured their plight following the storm damage and the Save Our Scout Group campaign.

It seems they are now in a position to start the re-building by demolishing the existing building and preparing the site for the new build.

June is bursting out all over

Never mind about the Roadworks going on below outside the Town Hall.

Look up and see all the leaves on the trees. Behind is the Hyde Seal and beyond on Greenfield Street is the old Kwik Save store which is going to be reopening soon as a branch of Wilkinsons.

T is for Treacle Brow

The first photograph on here of Treacle Brow was almost two years ago in July 2006 when the Werneth Arms was still decorated with flags for the World Cup.

That photograph emphasised the hand-rail down the middle more than the cobbles, showed only a glimpse of what was then waste-land between Stockport Road and King Edward Avenue and nothing of the land beyond.

In October 2006 I posted a picture looking up the brow, which was voted the runner-up in the Best of Hyde Daily Photo 2006

My other ABC-Wednesday T posts this week are ~~ Throstle Bank at Old Hyde ~~ Teithside Tree at Ackworth born, gone West ~~ Turnstone at Sithenah

To visit more ABC-Wednesday T posts go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.

Crane over the Unity

This crane, towering over the Unity Inn on Croft Street, is on land once occupied by Hyde Police Station on Onward Street.

A residential care home is to be built on the site.

Looking under Clark Way

Clark Way passes over the M67 twice.

I showed you the Eastern bridge in a post from February 2008 taken from the footbridge near Morrisons.

The Western bridge can be see in a post from May 2006 taken from a footbridge near the Bus Station.

Today I am showing the underside of the Western bridge taken from the underpass that links Grafton Street with Mary Street.

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

Corner Shop

The CDPB theme this month is "Corner Shop".

This is just a house. Where is the shop I hear you cry?

Alas, corner shops are an endangered species. A few have survived and some have been transformed into a Tesco Express. Many are closed.

This house on the corner of Croft Street and Railway Street was once a shop and you can see how it looked 100 years ago on Old Hyde.

To view thumbnails for all the other participants in this month's theme visit the CDPB portal