WNBR Manchester 2018

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

photograph © 2018 Gerald England

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

A contribution to Wordless Wednesday.

Bees are buzzing in Manchester

This mural of a bee on Mason Street was created in December 2016 by street artist Bubek. I spotted it the day after the city had been rocked and shocked by the atrocity at the Manchester Arena. Roads around the area were closed off but this is not far away. During the Industrial Revolution, Manchester adopted the worker bee as a motif for its city. Seven bees are included in the crest of the city’s arms which were granted to the Borough of Manchester in 1842. Following the tragedy of May 22nd the bee has become a symbol of remembrance and hope.

Last Saturday I was on Oldham Street and saw this new mural being painted on the gable end of the Koffee Pot. It is a work in progress. When completed it will feature 22 bees representing the 22 people who died in the Arena bombing.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Flowers for Manchester

photograph © Gerald England, 2017.
On the afternoon following the tragedy at Manchester Arena, a woman has placed a bunch of flowers below the information display at Piccadilly Gardens and is now taking a photograph. The display says "We love Manchester" and gives out the emergency contact number for the police. Doubtless more flowers will be laid here and around the city as the day goes on.

Sysyphus by Alex Void

In May 2016 a team of artists created nine new murals as part of the "Cities of Hope Street Art Festival" in Manchester.

Sysyphus on the side of a building off Oldham Road is the work of Alex Void.

More information and photos of the artist at work can be found on the Insta-grafite mag

A contribution to Monday Murals.

CATS delivery site

This is part of the former Oldham Batteries site which has been derelict for more than 10 years.

According to the council website "Tameside Council has been successful in securing £1.67 million from the Greater Manchester Growth Deal Round 2, which will deliver a new relief road linking the A6017 Ashton Road at the M67 Junction 1 slip road to the A57 Hyde Road in Denton. The proposal seeks to relieve congestion to reduce traffic delays, improve air quality and road safety for the travelling public and the population of Denton. Alongside these improvements the road will also facilitate the comprehensive redevelopment of the former Oldham Batteries Site.

According to the sign on the side of Edward Street:
"This site has been selected for the delivery of the
Greater Manchester NHS Clinical
Assessment & Treatment Service
(CATS)
Our mobile units will visit this location
at regularly scheduled times."

Information on the service can be found on the Greater Manchester CATS website.

A contribution to
signs, signs;
Good Fences;
Skywatch Friday.

Reflections at Droylsden Marina

Droylsden Marina lies off an arm of the Ashton Canal that used to lead to the now lost Hollinwood Branch.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

St Mary's Graveyard, Haughton Green

Looking across the graveyard of St Mary's, Haughton Green.

For more photographs and information about the church see my earlier post from March 2015

A contribution to Skywatch Friday and Inspired Sundays.

Hallé St Peter's

St Peter's Church was built in 1859 to designs by Isaac Holden, the founder chairman of the Manchester Society of Architects, who was able to design in a number of continental styles, and the building was consecrated in 1860. Once built the church could seat up to 1,336 people. It was consecrated at 3 pm on Saturday 14th January 1860. A Sunday school opened in 1863.

In the late 1950s, the congregation was joined by that of the nearby St James' Church and briefly became known colloquially as St Peter's and Little Jimmies'. St. Peter's desperately needed repairs but, with a declining congregation, struggled to ever raise enough money for them. The size of the congregation soon became unsustainable again, however, and the church closed shortly after its centenary in 1960.

Twenty-five years of mixed use followed, from University theatre prop storage to a knitting factory. The building was Grade II listed in 1989 as part of the designation of the Ancoats Conservation Area but in the early 1990s it was abandoned, purchased by a developer with long-term plans to convert it to residential use.

The building suffered vandalism and St Peter's was left to rot, a symbol of the wider neglect and dereliction of Ancoats. In 1998 initial work began to restore St. Peter's. By 2003 a major grant had been confirmed from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as others from English Heritage, the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

St Peter's Church is now a permanent rehearsal centre for the Hallé ensembles and a resource for the whole community. This restoration is Phase One of a longer term project to build an extension on the adjoining site to provide workshop, archive and other facilities.

For more details see the Hallé St Peter's website.

I didn't explore the vicinity much further - see my post Kitten at New Islington to learn the reason why.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Kitten at New Islington

A couple of weeks ago I was exploring the marina at New Islington which caters for boats on both the Ashton and Rochdale Canals but without providing an access between them. As I was there a little kitten appeared and started its own investigation of me.

I'm not sure whether black cats are supposed to be lucky or not but afterwards I made my way through Ancoats heading for a main road. As I cut across the area I encountered a large group of mainly adult males chanting "We are going out" coming towards me. I crossed the road and headed away from them. A few moments later I heard them running up the street followed by police cars with their sirens wailing. I was a couple of streets away and photographing an old church and a derelict pub by then. It was obviously all kicking off and my thoughts were to get away from the vicinity. There was a young couple nearby who had also been taking photographs of the buildings. Their car was parked nearby and I asked them for a lift out of the area. Fortunately they agreed and dropped me off near Piccadilly railway station.

I later heard on the news that they were so-called football fans and the police "kettled" them. See the news report on Manchester Evening News. I guess in the end I was indeed lucky.

A contribution to
Weekend Reflections;
Scenic Weekends;
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters.

ABC Wednesday: A is for Abel Heywood

  © Copyright Gerald England and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Abel Heywood is a Hydes pub, restaurant and boutique hotel on the corner of Turner Street and Red Lion Street which opened in December 2014 after conversion from a semi-derelict building.

  © Copyright Gerald England and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

It is named after Abel Heywood (1810 – 1893) who set up a penny reading room in 1831 and had a bookselling business in Oldham Street. An active Chartist, his business published much of the reading material of the town's movement, including the Northern Star. In 1841, he was elected treasurer of the National Charter Association, as well as sitting on the executive committee. At the same time he campaigned actively for the incorporation of the city and, once this was achieved, was elected to the council in 1843. Heywood served as alderman in 1853 and in 1859 stood unsuccessfully as a Radical Liberal candidate for Manchester. His first term as Mayor was in 1862–1863, during the cotton famine. He became Mayor again in 1876–1877. A major achievement was his role in guiding Manchester Town Hall to its completion; the clock bell of the Town Hall, "Great Abel", is named after him.

  © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

His son, also named Abel continued the business after his death and the gable end of the building carries the words "Abel Heywood and Son".

  © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

According to Pubs of Manchester The Red Lion stood here from the early 19th century until the early to mid 20th century. It seems probable that the pub occupied only that part on the corner of Red Lion Street and Catlow Lane. The section to the right was once a gallery, where it exhibited sets from the BBC series, Cutting It. Catlow Lane was originally Church Lane.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

U is for Unicorn Hotel, Church Street, Manchester

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
Wordless Wednesday;
signs, signs.

See another photograph of the Unicorn on sithenah.

The Vale Cottage

The sign for the Vale Cottage hangs on the Kirk Street side of the public house on Croft Bank in Gorton. Although very close to the urbanised area of Gorton, Manchester, the public house appears to occupy a rural setting. It has recently re-opened under new management.

A wider coloured view can be seen on Geograph.

A contribution to
signs, signs;
Skywatch Friday;
Weekend Reflections;
The Weekend in Black and White;
Shadow Shot Sunday.

Street art and skin art

The premises at 27-29 Church Street, Manchester are home to several different tattooists.

The side wall facing Red Lion Street is covered by a mural that seems to complement their skin art.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Tarriff Street Mural, Manchester

The mural on a 30 metre long, 3 metre high wall on Tariff Street was created by Parisian artist Florence Blanchard (also known as ema).

The piece, in blues and green, that reflect the waterside location, has a camouflage background with an abstract design on top. It was created over three days in 2013 using spray paints, emulsion and gold paint.

According to a report in Manchester's Finest, the artwork was expected be in place until 31 March 2014, but more than a year later it is still here.

See photographs of it under construction on the artist's blog.

Chrissy featured it in Monday Murals on Mancunian Wave in June 2014.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

Hearing dog on a Metrolink tram

I took this photograph today on a Metrolink tram when it was stopped at Droylsden. The dog is a hearing dog for the deaf. I've not seen too many about. The sun was streaming through the windows and casting shadows.

A contribution to
Saturday Critters;
Camera Critters;
Shadow Shot Sunday;
Monday Mellow Yellows.

Zozagardo at New Islington

The New Islington Marina is centred on Old Mill Street in an area of Ancoats, Manchester, that has seen considerable urban regeneration since the Millennium. The marina services both the Ashton Canal on one side and the Rochdale Canal on the other, although there is no direct connection between the two canals.

The Zozagardo is a 57ft, metal-hulled narrowboat from the River Weaver that has been based at the New Islington Marina since 2011.

The large central basin off the Rochdale Canal has a number of permanent moorings.

Some narrowboats have been moored at New Islington long enough to develop their own canal-side garden.

A contribution to
ABC Wednesday;
Wednesday Waters;
Skywatch Friday.

Salute to the V-Force

Last weekend was the final flight for the Vulcan XH558 on a two-day, round-the-country tour - Salute to the V-Force - of the locations where the remaining V-Force airframes & planes are on display in a variety of museums and exhibitions.

At around 3pm last Saturday it flew over Manchester Airport and I captured these few shots from near the Shadowmoss tram stop close to the perimeter of the airport.

Avro Vulcan XH558 was built in 1960 and retired from display flying for the RAF in 1993. In the 1960s, these planes were to carry the UK's nuclear deterrent (had it ever been necessary) until that task fell to the Polaris submariners. They were used for long range conventional bombing missions during the Falklands conflict in 1982, and then retired from active service. This plane was restored to flying between 2005 and 2007 by by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

2015 is to be her last flying display season. A variety of factors have led to this situation - XH558 now has more flying hours under her belt than any other Vulcan ever did, so whilst still perfectly airworthy for the foreseeable future, it's now getting harder to know where to look for potential problems; spare parts are increasingly difficult to source, and last but not least, engineers with real, hands-on experience of the aircraft in RAF service are almost all retired or departed this life.

As a result, the Technical Authorities (essentially the three businesses that maintain the aeroplane) have decided not to continue to keep her flying beyond 2015. Under Civil Aviation Authority regulations, she must therefore be evermore grounded.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Manchester Piccadilly Platform One

A contribution to
Our World Tuesday;
Wordless Wednesday.

Arise and Shine

The Arise and Shine Christian Ministry on Hyde Road, Gorton, Manchester shares its premises with "BetFred". I wonder how many other churches share their premises with a betting shop.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Street Art in Manchester by Ruby Heart

The latest street art to decorate the former toilets in Stevenson Square, Manchester is by Leeds based artist Ruby Heart.

A contribution to Monday Murals.