Victorian Post Box and Green Bus

In the foreground is a Victorian postbox M3 116 originally located at Knott Mill Station, junction of Deansgate and Chester Road, but now across the road from Deansgate Station (as it is now called) on Whitworth Street West.

In the background is one of the Manchester city centre Metroshuttles, free buses that link the main rail stations, car parks, shopping areas and businesses in Manchester city centre. Metroshuttle buses run from Piccadilly, Salford Central, Victoria, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations. There are three circular routes covering the main areas in the city centre. The service is funded by Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester, NCP and Allied London. The diesel-electric hybrid vehicles use less fuel and produce lower emissions than most standard buses and are made possible through the Green Bus Fund from the Department for Transport.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

ABC Wednesday: Q is for Queen's Promenade

  © Copyright Dr Neil Clifton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Queen's Promenade stretches from Blackpool North Shore to Bispham. Dr Neil Clifton's photograph was taken Tuesday, 24 August, 1993 and shows trams near the Cabin. Two 'Balloon' cars are coming southwards, while in the distance, a 'Boat' car is on the northbound track.

At that time the tramlines shared the road with other traffic. Note the position of the bus stops.

My own photograph was taken Monday, 8 April, 2013. The road has been reclaimed and a #12 bus en route to the Pleasure Beach can be seen on the right. The tramlines have been moved to a dedicated track on the left and a new tramstop erected to serve the Cliffs Hotel.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Monday Murals: Stevenson Square, Manchester

(Click on image to see the bigger picture)
Last week I thought it was time I ventured into Stevenson Square in Manchester to see the regularly changing street art there having heard of it via Chrissy Brand at Mancunian Wave. Her post this week shows one side of the latest artwork and a close-up of part thereof.

My photo shows one end which seems to compliment the advertisement on the back of the nearby bus. The street art is set around some closed underground toilets.

I found some other murals in the vicinity which I'll share in future posts.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

ABC Wednesday: D is for Disruption in Droylsden

Back in February I brought you Disruption on Droylsden Road due the laying of the new Metrolink tramline from Manchester to Ashton under Lyne.

These pictures were taken one day in June. The 216 bus was stuck at the traffic lights. I'd just alighted from the bus a moment before.


This was the view behind me showing the state of the tramlines being laid along the road. After alighting the bus I had time to take a few photographs and re-board the same bus before it was able to set off again.


This last shot was taken from onboard the bus and shows work ongoing in the town centre. If newspaper reports are to be believed it would seem no-one in Droylsden wants the Metrolink whose construction has disrupted the town to the extent that business have closed. They are very dubious of the so-called benefits which they feel will accrue mainly to folk passing through rather than stopping in Droylsden.

For more D posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Weekend Reflections:Waiting in St Helier

Another photograph from our recent visit to Jersey.

Here reflected in the windows of Top Shop are the buses from Maison des Landes waiting to return us to the hotel after some afternoon shopping in St Helier.

For more weekend reflections visit Newtown Area Photo.

ABC Wednesday - W is for White Winter Weather

Yesterday I had to go to Tameside General Hospital for a routine clinic appointment. All was well until I came out of the clinic where it was snowing heavily. The clinic I was visiting was at the back of the hospital and it was a ten minute walk from there to the hospital bus-stop.


It is normally an eight minute journey into Ashton under Lyne but it took 35 minutes in barely moving traffic. I got off by the inside market. This is the view from the Market Hall entrance looking over Bow Street towards the Parish Church.


I did my shopping, had a bite of lunch and exited to the market ground which was full of slush and compacted snow.


Even though it was only noon, many of the market traders were already beginning to pack up for the day.


This is the pedestrianised section of Warrington Street which leads from the market ground towards the bus station.


The bus station was almost deserted of buses though not of passengers. I joined the queue for the 330 which goes via Hyde to Stockport, normally at ten minute intervals. After we had been waiting for an hour, another bus was diverted from its own route to provide a service but only to Hyde. It was packed to the gills and the normally twenty minute journey took seventy.

On arrival at Hyde bus station it terminated. There were no taxis available and I had a thirty minute trudge through the slush to get home. I didn't stop to take any photographs on this last part of my journey.

For more W posts visit ABC Wednesday.

Stockport Viaduct Again

For our contribution on the first Monday of the month to Broer som Binder [Bridges between] we have gone again to Stockport to take another look at its famous viaduct.

Do check out my first post about the viaduct on January 5th, 2009


This month's photographs are from Wellington Road South, the main A6 road from London through Stockport and Manchester to Carlisle.

Underneath the massive viaduct is the busy Stockport Bus Station.


The rivers Tame and Goyt meet to the Northeast of Stockport Town Centre to form the Mersey which then flows under the town's Merseyway shopping centre to emerge here beside the bus station before making its 70 mile journey to Liverpool and the Irish Sea.

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

cold Saturday

cold Saturday
when it is time to go home
ah the joy!

words & photograph © 2008, gerald england

posted in response to the laughter prompt at One Single Impression.

Something that Annoys

The Daily Photo theme for February 1st is Something that Annoys.

Since Hyde DP is posting its 300th post today, and I wanted that to have a more positive feel about it, I'm running the theme here instead this month.

One of the annoying things about Hyde is the seemingly haphazard way in which the roads and pavements are changed, repaired or improved. I had intended showing one of a number of roads that fail to have dropped kerbs to allow wheelchair users to progress smoothly across. What especially annoys is when new access roads, for example to the school that replaced the one originally on Greenfield Street, don't have them built in. At older junctions it is understandable but with new building there is no excuse.

Our latest annoyance however is with what is happening here. This busy little junction outside the entrance to Clarendon Square Shopping Centre is being made narrower! This is where the Ring and Ride service set down and pick up. It gets quite congested sometimes with cars parking, people often thinking they can nip quickly in and out of the shopping centre or use the hole in the wall (ATM) at Lloyds Bank. The pavement is already wide enough so what on earth are they doing extending it? Three [albeit illegal] parking spaces will be lost but I can't see how that will improve traffic flow or discourage folk from parking on the crossing opposite the Jolly Carter.

So what annoys people around the world?

The links below point to the other DP sites participating in today's theme.

1. Porto (Portugal) ~~ 2. Stayton, OR (USA) ~~ 3. Albuquerque, NM (USA) ~~ 4. Tenerife (Spain) ~~ 5. Greenville, SC (USA) ~~ 6. Dubai (UAE) ~~ 7. Evry (France) ~~ 8. Jakarta (Indonesia) ~~ 9. London (UK) ~~ 10. Sequim, WA (USA) ~~ 11. Buenos Aires, (Argentina) ~~ 12. Seattle, WA (USA) ~~ 13. Minneapolis, MN (USA) ~~ 14. Stavanger (Norway) ~~ 15. Joplin, MO (USA) ~~ 16. Nelson (New Zealand) ~~ 17. Milano (Italy) ~~ 18. Singapore by KeropokMan ~~ 19. La Antigua (Guatemala) ~~ 20. Nottingham (UK) ~~ 21. Singapore by Zannnie ~~ 22. Budapest (Hungary) ~~ 23. Not Strictly Seattle, WA (USA) ~~ 24. Bandung (Indonesia) ~~ 25. Vantaa (Finland) ~~ 26. Hyde (UK) ~~ 27. Madrid by Dsole (Spain) ~~ 28. Oulu (Finland) ~~ 29. Saarbrücken (Germany) ~~ 30. St. Paul, MN by Carol (USA) ~~ 31. Sydney by Sally (Australia) ~~ 32. Tokyo (Japan) ~~ 33. Kyoto (Japan) ~~ 34. Trujillo (Peru) ~~ 35. Shanghai (China) ~~ 36. Rotterdam (Netherlands) ~~ 37. Chicago, IL (USA) ~~ 38. Nice (France) ~~ 39. Naples, FL (USA) ~~ 40. Hong Kong ~~ 41. Santa Clara, CA (USA) ~~ 42. Quito (Ecuador) ~~ 43. Cottage Grove, MN (USA) ~~ 44. Paris (France) ~~ 45. Lubbock, TX (USA) ~~ 46. Brussels (Belgium) ~~ 47. Auckland (New Zealand) ~~ 48. Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) ~~ 49. Sydney by Nathalie (Australia) ~~ 50. Houston, TX (USA) ~~ 51. Mumbai (India) ~~ 52. New York, NY (USA) ~~ 53. Anderson, SC (USA) ~~ 54. Cherbourg-Octeville (France) ~~ 55. Cheltenham (UK) ~~ 56. Constanta (Romania) ~~ 57. Nantes (France) ~~ 58. Adelaide (Australia) ~~ 59. Tucson, AZ (USA) ~~ 60. Maple Ridge (Canada)