Best of Hyde 2013

The time has come to vote for the Best of Hyde Daily 2013.

On 1st January 2014 members of the City Daily Photobloggers community will be revealing their Photo of the Year. I have selected twelve contenders for Best of Hyde 2013 and am asking readers to vote for their favourites. Please visit Best of Hyde Daily Photo 2013 and vote for your top three photographs.

Closing date for voting is 12 noon GMT on December 28th 2013.

Note: these thumbnails are just a taster - you must use the form on the page to cast your votes.

ABC Wednesday: J is for Jaipur

It was only a few weeks ago that I posted a photograph of the Bengal Spice which replaced the "Bay Leaf" that replaced the "Garlic".

Now it has become the "Jaipur".

For more J posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Footpath to Food

This footpath connects the town centre with Morrisons supermarket.

There was a FineFare supermarket here earlier and originally the site was home to the Fire station.

More F posts can be found on ABC Wednesday.

Bengal Spice

Previously this was an Indian restaurant on Clarendon Place went by the name of Garlic. That moved some time ago to new premises above Clarendon Mall.

For a short time this opened as the "Bay Leaf" but has now metamorphosed into Bengal Spice.

ABC Wednesday: Y is for Ye Olde Village Fish & Chip Shop

When I showed you this shop back in July 2008 it was closed.

But now it is open.

It is a Grade II listed building and you can read its official description on Old Hyde.

For more Y posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Hyde Park Café

The Bayley Hall in Hyde Park was converted last year into a café run by Tameside Disability Living Services and is a roaring success for both customers and staff.

You can read all about it on this Tameside MBC webpage.

Pizza Romero

I took this photo when I was walking down Market Street to watch the switching on of the Christmas lights.

The pizza place would have been open for an hour or so and stay open until after midnight. The newsagents next door would have been open from early morning and be closing after the evening rush hour.

In the mile from the top of Market Street to the shops on Manchester Road there must be more than a couple of dozen different takeaway food shops. Whether it is pizza, kebabs, fish and chips, burgers, curry, fried chicken, Indian, Chinese or whatever is your fancy, there is no excuse to go hungry in Hyde.

The Milkman Always Gets Through

The snow finally hit us yesterday morning but the milkman still got through.

This was the scene around 7.30am. It snowed quite heavily off and on during the day and though the main road saw traffic flowing slowly hardly anyone tried to move their cars.

I don't think I'll be going anywhere for the next few days or so.

Morning outside The Cotton Bale

Remember the days when pubs opened about 11 or 11.30am and then closed in the middle of the afternoon?

These days they can open at 7am and serve tea and coffee and breakfast.

Pumpkins for Halloween

A week before Halloween these pumpkins outside the Strawberry Garden were priced at £2.99.

The ones that are left are probably a bit cheaper than that now.

Shops on Manchester Road

This group of shops on Manchester Road at the edge of town presently consists of a furniture/bedding shop, a domestic appliances shop, a pizza takeaway, an Indian restaurant/takeaway and Kwikfit.

The Scarecrow at Greggs

Last weekend there was a "Scarecrow Festival" in Hyde Park. I can't be everywhere and I wasn't there. However whilst most of the scarecrows were in the park, a number were dotted around the Town Centre.

This one was standing outside Gregg's in Clarendon Mall.

I'll show you some more scarecrows at a later date.

The Town Hall in Garlic

Above the entrance to the Clarendon Shopping Centre from the market is an Indian restaurant called Garlic.

The dome of Hyde Town Hall is here reflected in the restaurant's window.

The original photograph from which this was cropped can be seen on Geograph.

See more weekend reflections at Newton Area Photo.

Clarendon Cafe

The Clarendon Cafe is on the corner of Clarendon Place and Reynard Street.

We used to frequent it many years ago. It was run by a Greek lady who did a mean lasagne. Whether she is still there I don't know.

It doesn't have many seats inside and it is not wheelchair accessible so we haven't been in for a long time, but it always seems busy so it must still be a good place to eat.

The Leading Edge

Since I showed you this section of Dowson Road in July 2009 the premises on the corner have re-opended as the Leading Edge Health and Beauty Salon.

Unlike the Hot Crumpet next door, the last time I passed by, it didn't appear to very busy but maybe that will change.

I can't help but notice that the tyre sign is still flying above.

ABC Wednesday:Y is for Yorkshire Bank

The Hyde branch of the Yorkshire Bank is on Market Street in the Town Hall Buildings sandwiched now between the Chicken Hut and Subway.

Check out the 1990 view on Old Hyde and you'll notice that it had different neighbours twenty years ago. The shop above was Etcetera which I think was a ladies dress and accessories shop. The shop below was Granada TV Sales & Rentals and to the right of that was Greenwoods Gents Outfitters.

According to Wikipedia

the bank was established on 1 May 1859 by Colonel Edward Akroyd of Halifax. Based in Leeds it was known as the West Riding Penny Savings Bank. It had originally been planned as a provident society but the status of savings bank was eventually chosen. ... The bank was operated on a non-profit making basis and in 1860 it was decided to extend operation to the other ridings of Yorkshire {and later obviously to surrounding counties}.

To recognise this the name was changed to the Yorkshire Penny Bank. In 1872 it issued cheque books for the first time, primarily for small tradesmen. At that time the bank became the first to create school banks, to encourage the idea of saving at an early age. {I recall as a child having a number of savings boxes and piggy-banks donated by the YPB}

... In its centenary year of 1959 the bank's name changed to the more familiar Yorkshire Bank Limited. During the 1970s the bank became one of the first to offer fee-free banking whilst in credit, a move that took bigger rivals a decade to follow. In 1982 it adopted public limited company status.

In 1990 it was acquired by the National Australia Bank who in 2005 announced its intention to merge the Yorkshire Bank with the Clydesdale under one operating licence, in which the former would be a trading name of the latter. Both operate under separate identities although the Clydesdale brand is the one that has been used in further expansion into the south of England.

For more Y posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Grilled Cheese

There used to be three pubs in Hyde called the Cheshire Cheese.

Now there are only two. I reported last September that the one on Market Street was for sale.

It has recently reopened as the Cheshire Grill.

Post #1500

This our 1500th post.

Today's photograph was taken from the top deck of a bus at the Market Place heritage bus stop with its fine finial.

Over the market stall roofs is the entrance to the Clarendon Mall, or "Clarendon Square Shopping Centre" as it calls itself.

Meanwhile shoppers by the HSBC Bank are busy buying their burgers at Sizzler's.

Ice Cream and Black Puddings

I've shown you the ice-cream van outside the White Lion before. Indeed it sparked several people into providing a cartoon caption.

I've also shown you the Black Pudding stall before.

Now you can see both of them together on the Saturday market.

Site of Windy Harbour

Site of the restaurant at Windy Harbour.

Windy Harbour has had mixed fortunes over the years. Once it was a popular restaurant but at various times the buildings here have lain vacant. Despite plans for a new restaurant and hotel, the buildings were badly damaged by arsonists and demolished in 2000. Since then no plans to restore the facility have come to fruition. The carpark has been fenced off.

The only photographs I have of the old restaurant are from a distance but you can see them on Old Hyde.