I Can't Believe It's Nearly Christmas

Yesterday afternoon workmen were busy putting up the Christmas decorations on the Town Hall and along Market Street.

ABC Wednesday: K is for Kirkley Street

Kirkley Street is a short side street off Dowson Road leading to K McKenzie's auto repair yard.

See how it looked on Christmas Day 2009.

For more K posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Garden Ornaments

Need some garden ornaments?

Maybe this stall on Hyde Market would meet your needs.

Douglas Street ex Queen Street

Before the demolition of James North and the building of an estate of new houses, this was Queen Street.

Now it is a continuation of Douglas Street, the other end of which I showed you in my post of August 16th 2010.

This end adjoining Lumn Road is similarly blocked off by bollards.

You can see photos of Douglas Street/Queen Street and how it used to look on Nancy & Tom's Hyde, Cheshire.

Gray Day Across Travis Street

Taken from the rear of Union Street Clinic looking past the Iceland frozen foods store and across Travis Street towards John Grundy House and the multi-storey carpark behind which can be seen the Queens' chimneys.

For the original uncropped but reduced coloured version see Geograph.

Weekend Reflections Canal Turn near Automasters

This is a followup to my earlier photograph of the Peak Forest Canal turning East having passed under the M67 motorway.

Here it turns South again opposite the old Automasters site, now busily being turned into a housing estate.

Compare it with Stephen McKay's photograph taken from the canal a few weeks earlier which can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

For more Weekend Reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

Laughter on Hyde Market

Empty Car Showroom

There is an empty car showroom near the end of Clark Way.

At one time, if memory serves me right, it used to specialise in imported American cars but more recently it was just a general used-car showroom.

ABC WednesdayJ is for James North Clock

James North's was a multi-national safety apparatus and clothing manufacturer who operated out of a huge cotton mill in Hyde. The firm patented the PVC glove in 1947 and they were commissioned to make gauntlet gloves for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s great Antarctic expedition.

The firm closed down and Slack Mill was demolished in 1998. An estate of houses was built on the site. In 2006 the clock from the top of the mill tower was re-erected on this mini-roundabout. The road into the estate is called James Drive and the houses on the left are in Clock Tower Close.

An old image of Slack Mill can be found on Old Hyde.

More information about James North's can be found on Hyde Cheshire.

For more J posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Walker Lane Playing Field

Here are the playing fields on Walker Lane.

The building on the left is Tameside Leisure Pool which was recently refurbished and renamed Hyde Pool.

Just beyond the trees is Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde FC.

St George's School

St George's Church of England Primary School lies on Church Street.

When school is out it looks like Fort Knox with all the steel shutters and the high fence. Strong security around schools is alas a feature of the times we live in.

Through Godley Arches

Last Sunday I showed you the steps to Godley Station.

Turning left at the bottom of that set, before descending to the road, I took a photograph through one of the Godley Arches.

You can see the arches and the steps from street level in a post from January 2007.

See more Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Canal reflections by the M67

Here is the opposite view to last week's Weekend Reflection looking back along the Peak Forest Canal from the old sluice gates to where the canal bends North to pass under the M67 motorway.

For a closer view of the sluicegates visit Hyde DP Xtra.

For a wider shot that includes a glimpse of the new houses on the old Automasters site see Geograph.

For more weekend reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

Haughton Dale Nature Reserve

This is the entrance to Haughton Dale Nature Reserve off Mill Lane.

On the left is the River Tame on the other side of which once stood Hyde Hall.

Here was Glass House Fold, where a company of refugee Flemish glass makers and blowers had settled during the reign of Elizabeth I and where the Clarke family worked coal pits but these were abandoned by the mid 19th century.

Nowadays Haughton Dale is the largest reserve in Tameside covering 40 hectares.

Ewen Villa off Villiers Street

Villiers Street is a short street off Mottram Road nearly opposite the Bankfield Hotel.

At the top is Ewen Villa. By the side of it is a footpath that leads into Tinkers Passage and the entrance to Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde FC.

ABC WednesdayI is for Improvement

This is the Church View end of a footpath that leads to Dowson Road.

I don't have a photograph of how this used to look, but believe you me - THIS is a vast Improvement.

For more I posts visit ABC Wednesday

Wheelie Bins on Market Street

The blue ones are for paper. The green ones are for plastic bottles and cans. They will have been brought out from the rear of the rows of shops ready for the arrival of the refuse wagon.

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.

Shadow Shot Sunday:Godley Steps

These steps lead up the Glossop-bound platform at Godley Station.

The original coloured version can be seen on Geograph.

For more shadow shots visit Hey Harriet.

Weekend Reflections: Canal Turn

After crossing under the M60 motorway, the Peak Forest Canal turns East towards Hyde Town Centre before turning South again towards Marple.

Compare this with the view in January 2008 when the sign for Automasters peeped over the wall on the right.

Compare too with the view in January 2010 when the canal was iced over and before the new houses had reared their head above the wall.

For more weekend reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

A Glimpse of the Theatre Royal

It is a little difficult to get a full frontal shot of Hyde's Theatre Royal.

Here is just a glimpse of this Grade II listed building through the trees at the edge of Asda's car park.

Friday (10th) and Saturday (11th September 2010) are Heritage Open Days. Last year the doors were closed but I've been informed that the theatre will be open this year on Friday & Saturday between 10am and 3pm. Whilst it will only be possible to have access to the ground floor of the auditorium this year due to Health & Safety reasons, it will give you a rare chance to glimpse inside the wonderful Theatre and see why the Theatre Royal Onward Trust are so passionate about saving it!

My photographs of the inside from the 2006-2008 open days can be seen at http://www.geraldengland.co.uk/gx/royal.htm.

For the full history of the theatre and the fight to save it, visit the Theatre Royal Onward Trust website.

Photographs taken this Friday morning can be found on Hyde DP Xtra.

The Plastered Crown

In June 2009 I showed you the Uncrowned Crown. It had then only recently closed down.

Now the outside has been given a makeover. What it will become remains to be seen.

Hyde FC in Blue

As I reported here on August 24th 2010, Hyde FC's ground is now home to Manchester City Reserves for at least the next three years. As part of the deal, an upgrade of facilities has dramatically transformed Ewen Fields, with a new colour scheme and general improvements to the ground.

This is how the main stand now looks.

The new sign at the entrance to Ewen Fields can be viewed on Hyde DP Xtra.

A history of Hyde FC can now be found on Old Hyde.

For more H posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Werneth Low Golf Course

I had the pleasure of visiting Werneth Low Golf Club last week and took a few shots from the clubhouse.

Camera shots, that is; I've never lifted a golf club in my life, a few rounds of Crazy Golf excepted.

According to the club website the course was founded in 1912.

There may have been an earlier clubhouse - see the post on Tom & Nancy's Hyde Cheshire blog.

Another four photographs can be found on Hyde DP Xtra.

Back Lane Working Men's Club

Situated on Wilson Street off Walker Lane, the club is affiliated to the Club and Institute Union.

Its history dates back to at least 1904 and it is still going strong.

Donald Avenue Bridge

This bridge over the old Godley to Apethorn railway (now part of the Trans Pennine Trail) connects Donald Avenue to Grange Road North.

The view is from top of the footpath leading down on to the trail at the end of Grange Road North (see photograph on Hyde DP Xtra).

For more Sunday Bridges visit San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

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.

Back Lane

I always thought this was the corner of Lumn Road and Stockport Road but as an old photograph on Hyde Cheshire attests, it is actually Back Lane.

A Summer's Day on Hyde Market

The CDPB theme today is "Open Air Market".

Our very first post featured Hyde Market and it has appeared many times over the last four years - just click on the label/tag.

Today's photograph was taken on a sunny Saturday morning a few weeks ago.

A photograph of the market in the 1950s and a painting by Harry Rutherford can be found on Old Hyde.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in the CDPB theme.