Red car outside iFood

There is a mix of takeaways and terraced housing on Stockport Road. The Indian takeaway has recently changed its name to "iFood" but the Chinese takeaway has been known as "Happy Family" for at least the last fifteen years. On the other side of Lumn Road is the Clarkes Arms.

For Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.

Sign for the Clarkes Arms

Sign for the Clarkes Arms on the corner of Stockport Road and Lumn Road.

See the pub itself on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Skywatch Friday: The Clock & The Bells

The B6468 through Gee Cross used to just bend right at its junction with Smithy Lane. In 2006 a roundabout was built to accommodate the James North Clock which had previously stood in the grounds of the Slack Mill which had closed in 1998 and was subsequently demolished.

The Ring o' Bells pub in the background has recently closed and is now boarded up.

See the view from further down Market Street on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Sign of the Ring o' Bells

Take a last look at the sign for the Ring o' Bells on Stockport Road. The pub is the latest in the area to shut up shop and the sign probably won't remain here much longer.

See how the pub looks now on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Market Place before and after

Whilst work on the revamping of Hyde market ground was being undertaken, the area of Market Place in front of the White Lion, William Hills and Santander (formerly Abbey) Bank was used as a works site. Above is how it looked on the Saturday before Christmas. Below is how it looks three weeks later with everything finally cleared away.

A contribution to the CDPB theme Festival of the Belly Button.

Weekend Reflections at Gabbotts Farm

The Queens in Clarendon Place is reflected in the plate glass of Gabbotts Farm.

See the whole photograph on Geograph.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

Wreaths outside the White Lion

My contribution to ABC Wednesday this week is a photograph of these wreaths on sale at just £3.95 a time (same price as last year) on the market ground outside the White Lion.

An advent wreath hung on the door is a tradition that several of my neighbours continue to observe.

Please visit Best of Hyde 2012 and vote for your favourite photos.

ABC Wednesday: V is for Voting

The time has come to vote for the best of Hyde DP 2012.

View the twelve contenders at Best of Hyde 2012 and vote for your favourite three photographs.

Voting closes 12 noon GMT, 28th December 2012.

For ABC Wednesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Unity Inn

The Robinson's pub on the corner of Oldham Street and Croft Street casts its shadow on the house below.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Painting the shelter/bench in the Market Place

The shelter in the Market Place was fenced off recently whilst it got a new coat of paint.

Originally it was a tram shelter but now it just shelters a pair of benches in the pedestrianised Market Place.

For Friday Fences.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Hyde Market

Yesterday I showed you a photograph of the market in the pouring rain.

Today for contrast I bring you autumn sunshine and shadows.

In the background, Madge's ice-cream van is parked in front of the White Lion.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday.

Sign of the Clarence

The writing on the side wall of the Clarence on Talbot Road is long-standing but the sign is relatively new. It wasn't there in 2010 when the pub was closed and looking for a new landlord. Unlike other pubs in the area it found one and is still open.

I don't know for sure but it seems possible that the Clarence referred to is the Duke who became King William IV after whom the pub across the road is named - see my post of two weeks ago.

See the pub itself on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to signs, signs.

King Bill's sign

The King William IV on Talbot Road, Newton is affectionately known by locals as The King Bill.

The landlord in the 1980s was Derek Quinn who was the guitarist in the 1960s group, Freddie and the Dreamers.

View the whole pub on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to signs, signs.

A bit more blue on show

The blue in my post last Monday belonged to a betting shop and so does the blue this week.

This time it is bookies "William Hill" next door to the White Lion.

They've been hidden from view for many months by the site office for the construction workers who have been busy transforming the market ground.

It'll be a few more weeks yet before it's all finished but they've removed some of the fencing here and started on clearing up this section.

Another contribution to Blue Monday.

Weekend Reflections: The Bike 'n' Hound

The Bike 'n' Hound reflected in the windows of the Job Centre on Hamnett Street.

Learn more about the pub and live music venue on Hyde DP Xtra.

A contribution to Weekend Reflections.

ABC Wednesday: G is for the George & Dragon

The George & Dragon is probably the oldest pub in Newton. Records date the licence back to around 1756. It wasn't the large public house there today; probably just a small cottage.

Before 1756 it is thought that the premises were a shop before it gained a licence. The first recorded landlord was James Harrison, who kept the house for over twenty years.

The next landlord, Jonathan Smith the elder, kept the George and Dragon from 1778 to 1826, a grand total of 48 years. When he died in 1826 his wife Elizabeth carried on for a further eight years and then Thomas Smith, thought to be a son carried on until 1850. It seemed to be a family tradition to be in the licensed trade as Jonathan had another son known as Jonathan The Younger who kept the Shoulder Of Mutton Inn on Talbot Road (1819-1823) and also the Bay Horse (1825-1834).

The George & Dragon is supposed to be haunted by a ghost affectionately known as Ferdinand who seems to have been around since the 1950s. Nobody knows his origin; he is described as of average height with long, bushy beard, side whiskers, and wearing a long frock coat.

The pub boasts a fine bowling green at the rear and over the years a consistently good bowling team have won many prizes in local leagues.

More information can be found on Hyde, Chehsire.

The pub sign can be viewed on Hyde DP Xtra.

In front of the pub is Bennett Street War Memorial which was paid for by money raised for the George and Dragon Soldier's Comfort Fund.

More "G" posts can be found at ABC Wednesday.

Weekend Reflections: John Street Puddles

This morning was a mixture of brief sunny spells and heavy showers.

Reflected in these puddles on John Street are the barred windows of the Albion public house.

For Weekend Reflections.

The Back of the New Inn

This is the rear of the New Inn as seen from Sundial Close off Wardlebrook Avenue on the Hattersley Estate.

The former Robinson's Inn by the side of the A57 road from Liverpool to Lincoln, is currently being demolished.

There may have been an inn on the site since the 1600s and it was known as a highwayman's inn. There are tales of it being haunted by a ghost named Mary.

However the New Inn was first licensed around 1856 with Robert Turner being the first Innkeeper.

William F Gratton was the landlord in the 1930s. Between 1927 and 1930 there were sixteen serious accidents on this stretch of road that were attributed to a "Phantom Lorry". Read the story. This is probably why a lorry features in the Inn sign.

It was the local of the Moors Murderers, Brady & Hindley whose house on Wardlebrook Avenue was behind the Inn. That house was demolished many years ago.

A later landlord was the father of boxer Ricky Hatton who was brought up in the New Inn. Part of the celler was used as a gymnasium.

See the view of the front of the Inn on Mottram Road as it looked recently on Hyde DP Xtra or as it looked in 2008 on Sithenah.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Sign for the Buxton Inn

The Buxton Inn was closed a little while ago but appears now to be "Under new management". The advertised opening hours when I walked past just over a week ago were "Sundays 11pm - 12am; Friday & Saturday 11pm - 1am" unless I misread them.

In 2007 it included a Thai restaurant.

In 2002 before it had expanded into the adjacent property we had celebrated our wedding anniversary therein.

A fuller view of the Buxton can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

For signs, signs.

The Blue Window Club

The building at the corner of Lumn Road and Smithy Lane was known as the Blue Window Club. Its official name was the Werneth Unionist Working Men's Club. It closed in the late 1980s but re-opened briefly in the 1990s as the "Irish Club". It has since been converted into residential use.

More information on the Hydonian Blog.

The site of the original smithy is now a carpark for the Ring o' Bells pub which is around the far corner. In the centre of the roundabout at the end is the clock from the now demolished James North factory.

For Ruby Tuesday.