Diggle, Delph & Dobcross: A walk in 3-D!

Yes, the sun DOES shine in Manchester (sometimes) and when it does there is nothing more glorious than seeing all the flowers in bloom, hearing the birds singing and feeling the hot sunshine beating down. We had company this weekend and took them on a walk around the Saddleworth villages, on the fringes of the Peak District National Park.

Less than 10 miles from Manchester city centre and only 20 minutes by train is a little slice of Yorkshire, with steep slopes of grassy moorland sprinkled with stone villages. Perhaps it is a ploy to confuse potential pillagers, but there are four villages in close proximity to one another, the names of which all start with the letter 'D': Diggle, Delph and Dobcross and Denshaw. During our 9-mile hike on Saturday we visited all but Denshaw and this map shows a rough outline of the route.

It was a varied walk along canal towpaths, up hillsides, along bridleways and even past a Roman fort.

First sight was a field of nesting lapwings, a species which has been declining rapidly in numbers lately. Further along we had to turn away from the canal when it reached the mouth of Standedge Tunnel, the longest tunnel on Britain's canal network (near point C on the map).

Further up the valley and the countryside felt wilder and more remote, with amazing views.

Crossing the highway at point D on the map, we spotted this derelict old pub begging for restoration.

Down a quiet lane and heading towards a pair of reservoirs, we found the Castleshaw Roman fort. Don't come expecting anything to rival Hadrian's Wall! This outpost relied on turf walls and the buildings were constructed from wood, so nothing is visible aside from the line of battlements the Romans dug for themselves over 1900 years ago.

In the photo above you can see the south gate clearly. The road between the Roman settlements in what are now Chester and York would have passed by.

It was a lovely stroll from the fort, along the reservoir dam and down towards the village of Delph following a series of streams, meadows and fishing ponds along the way.

Delph was the grandest of the towns we walked through and it would have been nice to linger except the hot sun was driving us towards the pub!

We found the perfect pub on the small village square in Dobcross, another postcard-perfect village. This is the view from Dobcross towards Uppermill and the gap in the moors called Pots & Pans.

From here it was downhill all the way along the shady canal back to the train station at Greenfield. Oh, and the trackside pub there since we conveniently missed the train to Manchester. A perfect end to a perfect day!

New exhibition coming soon

I'm one of many participants in the Capture Manchester 2009 competition at the CUBE Gallery on 133-115 Portland Street.

Dozens of people were allowed to enter and each of their images of Manchester (whether a drawing, photo, etc) will be reproduced postcard-sized and displayed in the gallery 28 March - 9 April.

Judges will pick their favourite 9 and a public vote will decide a 10th winner, with each of these being printed as real postcards available in shops.

For my own entry I assembled this montage from a series of photos I had taken of the shutters on an old wedding clothes shop around the corner from my flat.

Just photos: Manchester

One recent sunny Sunday afternoon I cycled around Strangeways Prison here in Manchester.

You may have heard about the Americans touring Manchester on a 'ghosts and ghouls' tour where they were being told about mysterious sightings, strange happenings and heartless crimes.

The tour guide mentions that in one particular instance that the criminals were apprehended and hung in Strangeways. To which a tourist pipes up: 'And in what strange ways were those?'

The Victorian prison is surrounded by warehouses, old factories and empty lots all earmarked for development now that the former Boddingtons brewery has been flattened.

Cycling down Derby Street, I noticed how many of these vast industrial buildings had grand featues like marble entrances, classical columns and clock towers despite the rest of the structures being built from plain brick.




Here is the Manchester Ice Palace, built in 1901 and home to the World Ice Skating Championships in 1911.

The skating rink used to work in tandem with a nearby ice works, in the days before refrigeration and television. These days it's a handbag warehouse.

Even in an industrial wasteland, it's still possible to find vibrant colours...

...odd juxtapositions...

...and interesting contrasts.

Just photos: Manchester

Christmas kicks off

Christmas starts to make its presents felt (geddit?) around the end of August here in England, when the first holiday chocs and mince pies find their way to the shelves.

Americans are lucky, they have Halloween first to get out of the way, plus the official first weekend for Christmas shopping is not till after Thanksgiving towards the end of November.

In England about the only thing keeping Christmas off the calendar is Bonfire Night on the 5th of November. The bonfire embers were still glowing when thousands crowded into Albert Square in front of the Town Hall for the switching on of the Christmas lights on the 7th.

Manchester hosts a superb Christmas season with several weeks of festive markets, skating rinks, decorations and street lights threaded through the squares. Each year the opening ceremony is much the same with an assortment of washed-up soap stars, X Factor also-rans and local radio deejays screeching into the mic for about an hour.

The main reason I keep going is to see the 10-minute fireworks finale set to music. I remember one year it was set to The Nutcracker Suite and it was remarkable how the big bursts matched the crescendos, while floating sparklers wafted along in time with the melody.

This year it was Supercalifragili...whatever with music from Mary Poppins (the West End production is transferring to Manchester). So not nearly so classy. Never mind, I was not paying much attention to the music because this time I took my tripod and snapped away throughout.

My camera has a default fireworks setting which keeps the lens open for 4 seconds at a time. It was my first time shooting fireworks so I didn't want to spend time fiddling with manual settings and missing half the show.

These are just some of the thumbnails from the night, straight out of the camera. I'm sure with a bit of tweaking there are a couple more good shots from the show. Not long to go now!

On sale now

The 2009 Visit Salford calendar is now on sale in the Salford Tourist Information Centre in the Lowry Gallery on Salford Quays.

Click here for ordering info.

Inside you will find two of my shortlisted photos from the Seen in Salford photo competition, including this year's grand prize winner and this one from last year as well.

Seen in Salford 2008 - an update

Some good news today about my entries to the Seen in Salford photo competition.

Both my photos have been shortlisted and are being exhibited at the Lowry Centre for the next few days. On the evening of 30 October prizes will be awarded for the public favourite and judges' top picks.


Have a look at the shortlist and vote for your favourite (mine are here for illustrative purposes only!).

And more good news...two of my photos, the one to the left and my shortlisted entry from last year are going to be featured in the 2009 Salford calendar.

I will let you know when these go sale in case anyone is interested.

"Ring out the false, ring in the true"

These are the words inscribed on the bell inside Manchester's Town Hall clock tower. A handful of visitors are permitted each year to climb the tower and I was pleased to secure a place on this year's tour last Saturday.

Construction on the current Town Hall began in 1868, soon after Manchester was incorporated as a city. It was designed by the famed architect Alfred Waterhouse in a mock gothic (gothick) style inspired by Flemish medieval civic halls, but with central heating and room for hundreds of Victorian pencil pushers. Fourteen million bricks were required for its seven floors, clustered around a 280-foot clock tower.

I am proud to say our Town Hall welcomes visitors inside to see the mosaics, sculptures and paintings which adorn its beautiful public spaces. However, access to its clock tower is restricted, but this year I managed to reserve a ticket.

Our guide was an expert in Victorian clocks who took us up the tower in stages. He was so much an expert I'm afraid the only word I understood was 'pendulum' - the rest of his spiel was lost on me.

The clock mechanism was surprisingly small and it was here the bell above us tolled the hour.

We were still only halfway up the 176 steps leading up the tower and our next stop was behind the four clock faces. Here it was pointed out the clocks do not actually show numbers for the hours and that the 10-foot hour hands sweep across the motto Teach us to number our days.

With no warning, he invited us to step through a slim doorway and 'have a look'. The door opened out onto a narrow balcony below the clock face which overlooks Albert Square about 150 feet below!

Rather disconcertingly, the carvings behind us meant we had to lean forward a bit for a gargoyle's view, with only a low stone balustrade between us and the cobbles.

We had to climb higher still up the tight spriral of steps in order to reach the bell, Great Abel, named after the mayor of Manchester at the time. Abel Heywood started his working life at the age of 9 and was imprisoned for refusing to pay for a licence to publish his newspaper for the working man, stating that it was a tax on knowledge. His radical stance meant Queen Victoria declined to attend the opening ceremony.

His bell no longer rings of its own accord, but instead sits on a steel platform and is struck. From this airy perch we were invited to step out onto the balcony. Thankfully this was a bit wider and ran all around the tower.

Unfortunately the sunshine we'd been enjoying the day before had dried up, but we still had great views for miles in all directions. This is looking northwest towards the Lancashire moors.

A birds-eye view of the Union Jack. There were a noticeable lack of pigeons in the clock tower, thanks to the falcons nesting there.

Looking southwest to the former Central Station, which is now a conference centre overlooked by the tallest residential tower in Britain.

Thanks to lousy weather, I think my best photos from the day were of the series of rooms we visited during our climb.

I am a sucker for peeling paint and textured walls!

So the next time on my lunch break in Albert Square, I'll be listening out for Great Abel's chime and counting myself lucky to be enjoying another day in Manchester!

Seen in Salford 2008

Manchester's sister city of Salford sponsors an annual photography competition called As Seen in Salford. Last year this photo of mine (to the left) was a finalist and was exhibited in The Lowry Centre. With with the 2008 contest deadline approaching here at the end of September, I've made a couple special trips across the River Irwell.

On one of these excursions I ventured out to Salford Quays. These are the old docks of the Manchester Ship Canal, where oceangoing vessels could unload their cargo after travelling about 35 miles inland. Today the quayside is home to an art gallery, war museum, shopping centre, football ground and high rise apartments. It will soon be the home of the BBC's first major media hub outside of London.

The futuristic architecture, graceful bridges and huge expanses of water attract a steady stream of photographers. At least three-quarters of last year's Salford competition finalists were taken around the Quays and I'm sure the main reason my entry last year was shortlisted is because it was taken elsewhere in the city. However, Salford is a bit short of scenic spots and I decided to visit the Quays, challenging myself to find something new.

It was late afternoon and cloudy, so at first I focused on reflections in the water and the birds that live here.

It was a calm evening and there were interesting reflections in the water before some hungry swans cornered me.

Before long the clouds peeled back and the Quays were graced with some golden, raking light. This made some lovely shadows and shapes on this boat which was docked nearby.

But the light was shortlived so I only managed a few more shots before it became too dark. Here are some of the high-rises I mentioned.

I was only able to submit two entries to the competition. I submitted a version of the high-rise towers in a vertical format to accentuate the curves and one of a reflection in the windows of the Lowry Centre. Something like this...

Fingers crossed!