Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Chester

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


Our final day trip destination is Chester whose city streets are always very busy.


Eastgate clock is an icon of Chester overlooking the throngs below.


Anyone fancy a trip on the river?

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Liverpool

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


South from Southport is the city of Liverpool. This shot of the iconic liver birds was taken from the Albert Dock on a misty Sunday afternoon in 2006.


The river Mersey starts its life a few miles from Hyde at the confluence of the Tame and Goyt under the motorway in Stockport.

It ends here as it flows into the Irish Sea.


Just South of the city the name Bill Shankly has been engraved on a flagstone. Quite why I do not know. This is part of the Trans Pennine Trail that goes from Southport through Liverpool and Hyde to Hull and Hornsea on the East coast.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Southport

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


Across the Ribble from the Fylde coast is Southport, geographically in Lancashire but politically now part of the Sefton borough of Merseyside.

Southport Pier is the UK's oldest surviving iron pier, opened in 1860. It underwent a £7 million refurbishment in 2002.

This was the little train that ran to and from the end of the pier in 2005.


By 2008 it had been replaced with this more modern version.


On a more recent visit earlier this year we spotted this on Lord Street.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Lytham

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.

Our last stop on the Fylde Coast is at Lytham. Though often linked with its Northern neighbour (Lytham St Annes often forming a joint administrative or political area) it has a separate identity. Its parish church is St Cuthbert's, built in 1834.


Fishermen go searching off nearby Church Scar for mussels in the Ribble estuary whilst flocks of dunlin fly through the air.



For more L posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to St Anne's

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


Down the coast from Blackpool is St Annes, St Anne's on Sea or St Annes-on-the-Sea - with or without an apostrophe or hyphens - all forms of the name are equally correct.

Here is the Grand Hotel on South Promenade.


Dubbed by some as the posh end of Blackpool, in gardens near St Annes' Pier stands comedian Les Dawson (1931-1993). Although born in Manchester he spent his latter years in St. Anne's. This bronze statue of Dawson, by sculptor Graham Ibbeson, was unveiled by his widow Tracy and daughter Charlotte on 23 October 2008, the fifteenth anniversary of his death..


The sands here stretch out at low tide towards the Ribble estuary.

On the right can be seen Southport which we will visit in a couple of day's time.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Blackpool

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


South from Cleveleys and we arrive in Blackpool a popular destination for hen parties.


Somewhere near the South Pier I found this flat fish.


Down at Starr Gate a new state of the art tram shed is being built as part of a complete refurbishment of the tram network. Due to open Easter 2012, it is costing £20m and will house 16 new supertrams.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Cleveleys

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


A few miles South of Fleetwood lies Cleveleys.

This how the beach looked on a late afternoon in 2004. Somewhere in the distance lies Barrow in Furness.


In 2007 the North Promenade was closed as work began on much needed sea defences.


By 2008 the promenade had been completely transformed.

It made an excellent vantage point for watching the Wreck of the Riverdance.

Hyde Holidays: Day Trip to Fleetwood

Whilst I am away on holiday, Rune from Visual Norway is minding the blog for me. I have scheduled some special posts for the period taking readers on day trips to the West.


Today's destination is Fleetwood, the most Northern town on the Fylde Coast.

This long row of houses is known as Queens Terrace. It overlooks the river Wyre.


From Fleetwood you can take a ferry across the river to Knott End on Sea or all the way across the Irish Sea to Ireland.


At the other end of Queens Terrace is the Steamer Inn with these magnificent chimneys.

Neighbours Week: 5. Dukinfield

This week we are visiting our five nearest neighbours.

North is Dukinfield and this is Dukinfield Town Hall. Fans of "Coronation Street" and other TV shows might recognise it as the registry office where several weddings have taken place.

Like Hyde, Dukinfield is part of Cheshire, has a Stockport postcode, and is now part of Tameside Metropolitan Borough. It forms a buffer between Hyde and Ashton-under-Lyne which is in Lancashire and has an Oldham postcode.


Outside the Town Hall is a statue of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Duckenfield (1619 - 1689). Colonel Duckenfield was High Sherrif of Cheshire and Lord of the Manor of Dukinfield, living at the now-demolished Dukinfield Hall. He fought for the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War and led the forces that captured the Isle of Man.

Neighbours Week: 4. Stalybridge

This week we are visiting our five nearest neighbours.

North-East is Stalybridge and this is all that is left of Stalybridge Town Hall.

Like Hyde, Stalybridge is part of Cheshire, has a Stockport postcode, and is now part of Tameside Metropolitan Borough.


Here, from behind the Town Hall Portico, is a view of Market Street.

Neighbours Week: 3. Glossop

This week we are visiting our five nearest neighbours.

South-East is Glossop and this is Glossop Town Hall viewed from Norfolk Square. Topped by a distinctive clock tower, its arcaded and colonnaded ground floor is now used as a small shopping precinct.

The "Cooltraders" store next door was originally "Woolworths".


Although its major public transport links are towards Manchester, Glossop is part of the High Peak District of Derbyshire.

Neighbours Week: 2 Stockport

This week we are visiting our five nearest neighbours.

South-West of Hyde is Stockport and this is Stockport Town Hall. Most parts of Hyde were historically part of Stockport parish, and Hyde still has a Stockport postcode.


Close to the Town Hall is this old signpost on the A6 showing the mileage to London and Carlise down to the nearest half mile.

Neighbours Week: 1. Denton

This week we are visiting our five nearest neighbours.

West of Hyde is Denton and this is Denton Town Hall.

Historically part of Lancashire, but like Hyde, now part of Tameside Metropolitan Borough. It has a Manchester postcode and is a buffer between Hyde and the City of Manchester.


At one time it used to have an open-air market but competition from nearby large supermarkets forced its closure. Fountains now play on the old market ground.

A Bridge from Hyde to Colmar

The CDPB theme for 1st September 2008 is "Sister Cities" which is the American term for what we generally call "Town Twinning". It is a concept whereby towns or cities in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. It acts as a cultural bridge which is why today's post is also our contribution on the first Monday of the month to Broer som Binder [Bridges between].

I thought the signpost here on the A560 was the only place where mention was made of Hyde being twinned with Colmar, but recently I saw a similar sign greeting motorists exiting from the Eastbound carriageway of the M67.

The Tameside MBC website informs us that

• Tameside is twinned with Bengbu in Anhui Province, China.
• Ashton-under-Lyne is twinned with Chaumont.
• Dukinfield is twinned with Champagnole.
• Denton is twinned with Montigny-le-Bretonneux.
• Droylsden is twinned with Villemomble.
• Mossley is twinned with Hem.
• Stalybridge is twinned with Armentieres.
• Longdendale is twinned with Ruppichteroth.

but there is no mention of Hyde and Colmar.

According to Wikipedia Colmar

is a town and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. It was founded in the 9th century and was the location where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years. The city was conquered by France under Louis XIV in 1697. The Treaty of Nimwegen ceded Colmar to France. With the rest of Alsace, it was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. It returned to France after World War I, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945.

This picture of Petite Venise is by Infrogmation and used here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license

Colmar is 64 kilometers (40 miles) south-southwest of Strasbourg, at 48.08°N, 7.36°E, on the Lauch River, directly to the east of the Vosges Mountains. It is connected to the Rhine by a canal.

The North-West Film Archive has a 16mm film of the CEREMONY OF TWINNING BETWEEN THE BOROUGH OF HYDE AND THE TOWN OF COLMAR, FRANCE produced by G. Wain in 1963. Lasting 4 mins 54 secs it includes brief exteriors of Hyde Town Hall, followed by interiors featuring participants from both towns, speeches and ceremony.

A number of George Wain's films have been featured on Old Hyde, but we have been unable to locate a copy of this one.

I did manage to find a little extra information in the Tameside Local Studies Library and you can read those findings on Old Hyde.

More details of and links to other participants to Broer som Binder can be found on Visual Norway.

To view thumbnails for all CDPB participants to the theme, visit the City Daily Photoblog portal

Reykjavik: Laugavegur

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

This third of three photographs from Reykjavik shows the quieter end of the main shopping street, Laugavegur.

You can see more photographs and read an account of my day in Reykjavik on my 2005 Cruise Journal.

Tomorrow it is back home to Hyde.

Nuuk: Kuussuag

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

This second of two pictures from Nuuk show Kuussuag, the road leading out of town towards the airport, beyond which there is little but icy wilderness.

You can read an account of my day in Nuuk on my Cruise 2005 site.

Chania, Crete

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

Now for somewhere completely different. This is a street in the Municipality of Chania in Crete. The name is pronounced Hania and sometimes spelt as Xania.

You'll find sixty pictures of Crete, including one of Giorgious, the horse we are riding behind, on my Crete 2006 site.

Another good website is Welcome to Chania

St Petersburg: Trollybus on Nevsky Prospekt

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

St. Petersburg was one stop on our 2006 Baltic Cruise. So far you can read about Copenhagen, Warnemünde, Stockholm and Tallinn. I hope to add accounts and pictures of St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Gdynia and Oslo when I find the time.

Reykjavik: Frakkastígur

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

This is the second of three photographs from Reykjavik. Having walked up Skólavörðustígur to the Hallsgrímskirkja and visited the modern Lutheran church, I made my descent down Frakkastígur.

You can see more photographs and read an account of my day in Reykjavik on my 2005 Cruise Journal.

Nuuk: The Colonial Harbour

I'm away at present so Pamela of Secret Tenerife is posting here the pictures considered but not selected for the City Exchange Theme on May 1st.

This is Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. This first of two pictures looks out over the colonial harbour where people are already gathering for tenders back to the cruise ship. Others are walking down the road that leads to the Greenland National Museum. On the right hand side of the picture is a school and on the hilltop is the monument to Hans Egede.

You can read an account of my day in Nuuk on my Cruise 2005 site.