Animal Farm

 

Spent the week in Hepworth looking after my girlfriends cousins farm (as you do!). It's not a full working farm, but there are chickens, rabbits, cats and dogs. Actually the girlfriend did all the work as she's the trustworthy one. But I did make great friends with Maggie the young Alsatian. She followed me everywhere. We played football, until the ball died a grizzly death. Good fun.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Last pics from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Some more pictures of the sculptures from Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Pics from a visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield.

Big place, didn't get round all of it. Second visit required some time.

Sun Flowers

Local residents brightening up Mossley Road!

Pumpkins!

Ah, nearly Halloween.

Ashton-under-Lyne, Wellington Court

So this is where all the people from the knocked down flats on Wellington Road went to.

Wellington Court, next to Albion Mill.
Wellington Court was Ashton's Building of the Year 2005. And very nice too with it's matching brickwork.

This is the view up Crickets Lane.

Glory of the Garden

Glory of the Garden, by Paul Margetts.
The date on the sculpture tells us that it was finished on 1.3.1994

This fascinating sculpture sits in the ornamental gardens in front of the impressive and very blue Asherton House.

Wasteland

Wasteland may be, but this is rumoured to be the site for the Ashton Centre Metro stop. From memory there were some flats here, but they were knocked down a year or two back.

This site is on Wellington Road next to the bus station. Across the road from Gala Bingo.

Modern transport. M60

When the M60 opened in October 2000, I jumped in the car and drove all the way round. 35 miles.

Well I've not had a car for a few years now, and indeed the M60 claimed my car in a fury of rain, burnt rubber and multiple visits to the central barrier. See here.
But I still find the motorway an impressive piece of civil engineering.

This is the view clockwise from Lumb Lane, looking towards junction 23, the turn off for Ashton.

The Woodman Inn

The Woodman Inn.

This is the pub just to the side of our mystery twin towers at the Junction of Oldham Road and Wilshaw Road.

Waterloo & Taunton Conservative Club

Behind the stone pedestals is an old driveway leading to the 'Waterloo & Taunton Conservative Club'. Ian tells me it's an old Manor House. I've Googled it and can find no better explanation.

As it was built in 1891, the driveway would indeed have been the horse and cart entrance to the building. Now closed to all but pedestrian traffic as there is access via a side road.

I'm sure the unsightly entrance shed is a later and ill considered addition to the fine old building.

In case you were wondering about the name, Waterloo and Taunton, they are names of areas local to the building within Ashton-under-Lyne.

Twin Towers

Well I don't have any good shots to blog at the moment.
(I did have, but Martin beat me there :-)

But my girlfriend sent me on a different mission. She'd spotted these two stone posts from the windows of the 409 on Oldham Road. She didn't know what they were for.
















So here they are. I think I've worked out why they are here. Any one else have ideas?

The Clock Shop

Martin did a piece about how the Clock Shop didn't actually have a clock on it any more, as seen here.

Well, they've done it up a bit, and now once more, it has a clock on the Clock Shop. (Still doesn't actually sell clocks though).

Tameside Hippodrome Theatre

Now, where was I, oh yes. Tameside Hippodrome Theatre. Here it is next to the Theatre Tavern.

Tameside Theatre closed on 30th March 2008. I went a couple of times. Once to see a Pink Floyd tribute band and once to ... no, I've only been once I think. Not sure now.

Anyway, looks like it's going to be bulldozed.

See here and here.

How not to tile

OK. So here we are.

On the right, we have my first attempt. This tile fits round the sink perfectly, if I turn it over.

On the left is my second attempt, which fits round the sink the right way up.

I was going to smash the first one in anger when I saw my stupidity. But then realised I could use it as a template for version two!

And finally, here is the tile in place.

(Think calm thoughts, calm thoughts ...)

IKEA, good or bad.

I've heard people saying that the IKEA in Ashton is an eyesore.
Well it's not the best bit of architecture I've ever seen. Not even the best in Ashton, but I think it's good to have a world famous multi-national company in our town centre. So it gets the thumbs up from me.

So here it is, overlooking Oldham Road, dispassionately staring towards the Theatre Tavern, not that we actually have a theatre any more.

Ashton-under-Lyne, Taxi

Caught!

Taxi driver emptied his cab onto the road.
He just chucked out all the rubbish into Old Street, then got back in his cab a drove on.

Dukinfield - River Tame

Down on the River Tame by Rock Terrace on Park Road.

Someone told me Shaw's Brewery was alive and well and somewhere on Park Road.
Took a look, but I couldn't find it.

Harper Mill

Illegally parked car at Harper Mill?

Well the sign tells us that it will be towed away.



Don't think so!

Dark Skys

Oh I do love these dark threatening skies.
Just a shame I was on the bike and got drenched cycling home later on.
One of the giant electric pylons striding past Hartshead Pike.

Ashton-under-Lyne, Market Hall

Ashton Market hall, deserted and floodlit.

Ashton-under-Lyne, Memorial Gardens

Memorial Gardens at night

Ashton-under-Lyne, Town Hall

The Town Hall, by night.

Ashton clock tower

Another night shot. This of the clock tower by the market hall.
All the clock faces tell the same time now, 10:30.
Wonderful!

A-u-L. St Michael's Parish Church

The church used to be lit up at night, but these days the lights are off. I went down to photograph the church thinking it would be floodlit. But it was in darkness. Just a dark hulk against a dark sky. The only illumination available was reflected street light from the A635. So leaving the camera on long exposure we get this very forced image.

Uppermill, The Church Inn

A Partridge on a pub roof.

The Church Inn, Uppermill. Actually there was also a horse and a dead dog...
I didn't photo those.

Cromer Pier

One for Gerald.

Norfolk, Sherringham

More holiday snaps.

The sea front at Sherringham

England Norfolk Cromer

Holiday snaps.

Kings Lynn, F1 Stock Cars

Just back from the BriSCA F1 stock car world final at Kings Lynn.

I follow the Smith brothers. 391 Andy Smith & 390 Stu Smith Jnr. Cars pictured here in the pits before the race.
Both race 8 Litre powered Chevys. These stock cars are the most powerful that race together on a track anywhere in the world. More powerful than anything Jenson Button races. A F1 stock car is nothing like as quick, as they are heavy, but are designed to hand out, and withstand, massive hits from their fellow drivers, as well as belt round an oval track at high speed.

Well Andy Smith won. So he has held onto the title of World Champion, and gets to keep his gold painted roof to show that he has won the world final.
More info here.