The Metro

The Metro - if you ever come to Manchester you will see these trams crossing the streets of the city centre.

They are a great form of transport - fast and usually efficient.

 

We are promised extensions to the metro lines  ( in particular to the airport) but we will see what happens ..

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Central Station

Manchester's old Central Station long closed to railways and now an exhibition centre - it was to here that I took the train as a youth from my home in Stretford to the city centre - 6 minutes !! It was great !!!

It was possible to travel to Liverpool and Chester from here - now you use Oxford Road Station.

It seems strange now to visit exhibition stands or watch shows where once trains stood..

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A trip to the bank ...

Today I emptied all the pots with saved coins and small useless low denomination currency - popped out to the bank and paid into my account  £102 - a very pleasing feeling ...

I notice in my local store that a machine will turn my change into cash and only charge me a fee of 7.9% !! Feed your change into the machine and it prints out a voucher which then take to the cash desk for cashing ( in notes I assume ).

Sorry but in my book change is cash already .... perhaps it is my family upbringing but I could never pay someone or a machine to count my money for me !!! Just take your change to the local bank. Today I would have spent £8 using that machine to convert the change to notes.

This form of laziness reminds me of the time I was sat in our car outside one of the local shops - children emerged from the shop with their sweets and then proceeded to throw their small change on the floor - I assume because they could not be bothered to put it in their pockets. Once they had gone I went and picked the money up.

Do the words " Waste not - want not "  or " Easy come - easy go " come to mind ?

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Monochrome Monday - 10th November

During WW II the troops had to be fed and this is where the NAAFI came to the fore. They ran the canteens that fed the troops.

NAAFI stands for Navy, Army, Air Force Institute.

Like members of the armed forces the staff also wore a uniform. This is my mother around 1940/41.

She was employed by the NAAFI at their site in Heaton Park, Manchester.

Not only were there British troops here but also members of the Free French Army and a considerable number of Poles who trained for the Parachute Regiment at Ringway Airport, Manchester.

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St. Ann's Church, Manchester

The other day whilst in Manchester I managed to capture one or two more photographs for my Blog and here is one  -

St. Ann's church in St. Ann's Square in the centre of Manchester . Built of local pink  sandstone it dates back from 1712 and is the only remaining church out of 19 that survived from the 18th century.

The church tower is said to mark the exact centre of Manchester.

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Heywood - In need of repair !

This lane is certainly in need of repair .. it connects the main road with a near derelict mill and is only used by a few odd lorries and dog walkers.

I doubt very much if Rochdale Council will worry about the state of this lane ..

No doubt this country area will be turned into a rubbish dump or have industrial units built on it in the future .. that seems to be the nature of things in this town ..

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Manchester - King Street.

Manchester's King Street -an upmarket shopping area near to Deansgate. Full of expensive shops this area was once the haunt of the " well to do  " high earners.

I think people now prefer to do their shopping in " out of town " shopping centres like the Trafford Centre.

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ABC Wednesday - P for Palm

ABC Wednesday - and we now have P for Palm.

We've all seen palm trees somewhere but who's seen them made of concrete ??

You'll find a collection of giant concrete palms here in this little square in Guardamar - all looking very attractive amongst the trees and bushes .

It was not always so - at one time the square had no trees or bushes and was frequented by " the young " on skateboards - not really an attractive place at all.

Summer 2007 and planting out of the area commenced and within a year the trees and bushes have taken hold and are now a good display .. making the whole area look a lot better .

Derelict Lancashire

Down by the River Roche in Heywood, Lancashire this cotton mill would once have been a centre of hustle and bustle - cotton goods being sent all over the world to our old Empire.

The cotton industry has long gone from this part of Lancashire and the mill which is in a very sad state  just houses one or two small businesses .

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Monochrome Monday - 2nd November

Here we have a really old photo of my grandfather possibly taken any time from 1910 to 1930 - it's so difficult to say when ..

Sorry the quality is so bad.

As you can see he was a printer ..

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Sitting on the side of the dock ..

This lot are waiting for something to happen - not sure what ?

Picture taken at the old Manchester Docks - now the Lowry Centre.

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