The Price of Petrol

Here is the Shell garage on Dowson Road open on Christmas Day when the price of petrol was 123.9 pence per litre.

The day before it had been 122.9ppl.

Yesterday it had gone up to 124.9ppl.

I wonder what it will be tomorrow.

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.

Ethel Austin

The Ethel Austin shop on Market Street is having a massive stock clearance sale.

The discount clothing store founded in 1934 operates 276 stores around the UK. It was put into adminstration two years ago before being bought by Elaine McPherson who vowed to restore the 76-year-old business to its former glory by revamping stores and clothing ranges.

Her plans have not come to fruition and the company is once more in adminstration.

Three Golden Balls

Three golden balls are the traditional sign seen over a pawnbroker's shop.

These are not ancient but of very recent appearance over a jewellers on Market Street.

Another set can be seen a few doors down over the "Cash Generator" shop.

See them from the other side on Hyde DP Xtra.

Crawing over the price of petrol

I don't know if this is the same rook that I saw dancing on market stall roofs a few weeks back, but recently I saw it crawing over the price of petrol at Morrisons supermarket.

Here in January 2007 unleaded was 85.9 pence per litre and city diesel 89.9 ppl. By December 2007 the cost had risen 15p & 16p to 100.9 and 105.9 ppl. Now it is up a further 7p and 13p to 107.9 and 118.9 ppl respectively.

The price of petrol (or gas as the Americans call it) is a recurring theme among CDPBs. As a non-car-driver these days it doesn't directly concern me on a daily basis, but I do notice the rises.

The Three Bob Entrance

Lying on Tinker's Passage at the back of Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde United, is this old entrance to the ground.

The disused turnstiles are probably rusted shut. Going by the inscription on the lintel, this was the three-bob entrance!

Last year the advertised entrance fee was £9 adults, £3 OAPs and children.

A bob is a shilling in old money (5 new pence); there were 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pence in a shilling; a 6 penny piece (half a shilling) was a tanner.

The UK went decimal in 1971 so I wonder how long ago this entrance was last used.

Cemetery Garden

Just past the entrance to Hyde Cemetery is a little garden of remembrance.

Scattering of cremated remains here costs £50; supplying and fixing a brass memorial plaque is £135 with a £55 fee for renewal every ten years.

New China at the Coffee Morning

Many of my readers will be aware that on Saturday mornings we go for tea and toast at the Methodist Church on Crook Street.

One morning a few months back I was tracked down here by a blogfan from Vancouver, Canada who wanted to say hello.

A church member visited a pottery recently and now we have a whole new set of bone china cups from which to drink our tea. It might not be Starbucks but check out these prices!

Keeping Warm this Winter

Last week there was a stall in Clarendon Shopping Mall selling Polo Panchos.

It is made of fleece and is a kind of cross between or combination of a hat and a scarf. Essentially it consists of a tube and two flaps. It comes with an instruction leaflet detailing some of the different ways you can fold and wear it. Well I bought one for a tenner [you can have three for £20] and I can attest that it is very warm and I'm well satisfied with it.

Mine is the same design as the one being worn by the salesperson. She is wearing hers as a hat, but I've been wearing mine more like a balaclava and covering my ears, neck and chest. I've had a few strange looks from folk who think I look like a hoodie but it has kept my ears warm from the cold icy blasts that are currently blowing around these parts. Every time I cough though my glasses steam up, but that's another story.

The Price of Petrol

The price of petrol is a common theme that raises its head from time to time on the CDPBs. Here it is has now gone over a pound a litre, which by my reckoning is about US$9 per gallon and over there they are complaining about it costing $3!

With currency fluctuations and the difference between litres and gallons, it is hard to make comparisons: here a few posts I came across

• 13 Jun 06 Vancouver (Canada) [dead link removed] CN$1.20 per ltr.
• 20 Oct 06 Seoul (Korea) US$1.50 per ltr.
• 25 Jan 07 Hyde (UK) 86p per ltr.
• 05 Apr 07 Stavangar (Norway) NKr11 per ltr.
• 02 Nov 07 Accra (Ghana) GP98 per ltr.
• 12 Nov 07 Albuquerque (USA) $2.75 per gal.
• 12 Nov 07 UK £1 per ltr.
• 20 Nov 07 Silver Spring (USA) $3.05 per gal.
• 28 Nov 07 Silverdale (Canada) CN$1 per ltr.

Pumpkins galore

We don't really celebrate Halloween over here and certainly not Thanksgiving but there are a sizeable minority of people who do engage in trick-or-treating, dress up for the occasion or carve pumpkins &c.

I took this photo inside Morrisons earlier this month. Later on I saw that Asda were selling pumpkins at £1 each. Supplies seem to have dried up as I didn't see any in Morrisons last weekend (not that I was especially looking).

There has been a lot of posting of pumpkins on blogs this last month so for all those who haven't yet had their fill of pumpkins, check out this lot and have a happy halloween, thanksgiving or whatever. Just don't come trick-or-treating at my door.

American Fork DP ~~Anderson DP ~~ Another Las Vegas DP ~~ Barcelona Photoblog ~~ Based in Villigen ~~ Bellefonte, PA — Photo a Day ~~ Cheltenham DP ~~ Colorado Springs DP ~~ Daily Dose of Imagery ~~ Dusty Lens ~~ Evry DP ~~ Gadget Lady's Photoblog ~~ Grandfogger ~~ Greetings from Orlando, Florida ~~ Great Pumpkin Massacre ~~ Guildwood Gardens ~~ In Good Light (1) ~~ In Good Light (2) ~~ Inverness, Illinois DP ~~ Jackson DP ~~ Kansas City DP ~~ Kyle DP ~~ Liège Urbain ~~ Mandy's Meanderings ~~ Miss B in NYC ~~ Mr. Mapper ~~ New York City DP ~~ NYC Taxi Photo ~~ Own Little Universe ~~ Paderborn DP ~~ Photowannabe ~~ Picture a Day of Regina, Saskatchewan ~~ Pin-ups from Portland ~~ Port Angeles DP ~~ Present Tense ~~ Princess Haiku ~~ River Falls DP ~~ Rogers Park in 1,000 words ~~ St. Louis DP Blog ~~ Seattle DP ~~ Selma, Ala. DP ~~ Seguin Photo Blog ~~ Sequim DP ~~ Shanghai (China) DP ~~ Sharon DP ~~ Silver Spring DP ~~ Synchronizing ~~ Tog of Coral Gables DP ~~ Toruń DP ~~ Visual St Paul (1) ~~ Visual St Paul (2) ~~ Wailea DP ~~ Walk Through Durham Township ~~ West Sacramento Photo of the Day ~~ Zürich DP

Clamping Release is now £100

A warning to would-be parkers that they avoid this place on Norfolk Street. I always thought the usual £50 release fee was extortionate enough. Of course, if you belong to the legal profession ...

Post-smoking ban picture worth £2,500

Following the ban on smoking in public buildings, this is now the scene outside in the street. I won't name the particular pub as it is much the same all over town.

Now, wait a minute; hasn't there also been a recent crackdown on litter in the street? Didn't someone get fined £50 for a single dropped matchstick?

By my reckoning there must be £2,500 worth of litter in this photo alone!

Whippets, Crickets, Worms and Locusts

At the newest pet shop in town you can buy live foods.

I don't know much such exotic food costs but a pedigree whippet will set you back £350.

Bags for Mothering Sunday

Today is Mothering Sunday, but usurped these days by commerce as Mother's Day. The price of flowers has doubled or trebled.

My picture is of a temporary gifts stall in Clarendon, and dedicated to bag-loving Lynn of Cheltenham. The bags on this side of the stall are all priced at a fiver. There are some more on the other side but the dearest one I saw was marked as £65 reduced to £30.

Tulips

Today's picture is dedicated to Isabella of Naples, Florida who has just reached her 100th post.

Big bunches of tulips in Zurich are 75 francs a bunch, which is around £30, although you can get smaller bunches for around £12.

Here on Hyde Market yesterday they were £1.60 a bunch [thats about 3 US dollars or 2 euros].

Down in Brighton, they are a little dearer, but very reasonable at £2.95 a bunch.

The Price of Fuel

I was going to take a photograph of the entrance to Morrison's supermarket but this display of fuel prices seemed to dominate the picture.

I haven't driven for a few years now so haven't really noticed the fluctuations in prices in the way that I used to.

I remember though that the price of petrol per litre was heading towards the £1 mark. Now it seems to have dropped to 85.9 pence. Deisel was always slighter cheaper than petrol but is now dearer. In the late 80s when I drove a deisel car the price differential in mainland Europe was even greater. As for autogas, that was almost unheard of a few years back.

Sizzlers

On busy Market Days there are usually two mobile hot food outlets on the market. Next to the Baked Potato Man is Sizzlers.

You can get bacon butties, hot dogs, burgers and hot drinks. BLT is bacon, lettuce and tomato. A quarter-pounder will cost you £1.50, onions and sauce free, cheese only 20p extra.

On sunny days you can sit outside and throw your crumbs to the starlings and pigeons.

On cold and/or rainy days you can go inside the Shopping Centre and eat them there.

Handbags for Sale

Last month Ham posted a picture of handbags on London DP, prompting Lynn of Cheltenham DP to comment

A fiver for a bag? hmm.... Gerald would be more impressed with this, than my post recently talking about a bag for £135.

Here on this stall, prices start at £3.99!

Fun Day

This year there was no Gee Cross Fete. Instead there was a "Fun Day".

It was geared up to attract the children mainly. Entrance was £2 for adults (up 50p from last year) though children were allowed in free (or for 50p if unaccompanied!).

There were no vintage-cars nor falconry display, few craft stalls. But there was a "bucking bronco" and lots of hot sunshine. It was only later that the sky darkened and we had an almighty thunderstorm.