Taking a horse to water at Aqueduct Cottage

Aqueduct Cottage in Bollington, Cheshire. The 18th and 19th century silk and cotton industries in the north-west led to the development of the canals and then the rail network, and this cottage sits atop a hill where the Macclesfield canal crosses above the road. Until 1905 the cottage was the Navigation Ale House, with stables beneath it for the horses that worked the canals. Taking part in Our World Tuesday.

Monday Mural, moving bread mountains

A different approach from me this Monday for my mural entry.

3663 are a catering company that can be seen early mornings all over the city dropping off ingredients to keep canteens, cafes and restaurants stocked up. Some of their vans have murals, I think there are at least two designs, above is the rural version. I managed to track down a van depicting the urban scene too, which is also made from food (below). While I can't vouch for their food, their van livery is to be applauded.

Sundays in my city: Brinnington Bridge

I rarely visit the suburb of Brinnington out beyond Stockport, in fact I may never have been there before. It’s only a short train trip from Manchester Piccadilly heading out towards far lovelier Marple. At a quick glance Brinnington , or Brinny, doesn’t have much going for it - although Reddish Vale Country Park is nearby.

Wikipedia states that "Brinnington has high crime levels and long-term unemployment at 20%. Two streets, Northumberland Road and Brinnington Road were named by police as 2 of the 3 'Worst Roads in Stockport' in April 2010."
But this formidable, still in use yet slowly decaying, railway bridge struck me. I was in Brinnington visiting a friendly printers, Chapel Press, for work. Great to see that the printers now use vegetable-based ink and eco-friendlier machinery, and I will be using them later this year for various printing projects. Taking part in Sundays in my city and Weekly Top Shot #168.

Weekend Reflections at The Lowry

My old Sony phone's camera gives everything a tint of blue in this photo at Salford's Media City. The Lowry Theatre and Galleries are to the left. Taking part in Weekend Reflections number 284.

Skywatch Friday: How far away?

Looking in an north easterly direction from the city centre past the Coop HQ on Angel Square (the right slither), beyond tower blocks and possibly into the hills above Oldham. Maybe even 11 miles away to Top o' th' Meadows and Scouthead, if my zoom and minimal map reading is to be believed? Locals, please do correct me if I am wrong. A grey sky for Skywatch Friday.

Back in the city centre there's an interesting walk taking place this evening, a Guided walk for International Women's Week: Women Thinkers and Drinkers. 6:30 PM at the People's History Museum entrance, Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3ER.

Anti-capitalism & fashion – marking International Women’s Day

The Working Class Movement Library (51 Salford Crescent, M5 4WX) will celebrate International Women’s Day (events actually go on all month!) on Saturday 7 March at 2.00 p.m, with a talk by Tansy Hoskins about her book Stitched Up: the Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion. Ballad singer Jennifer Reid will perform alongside the talk. Approrpite today for World Book Day

Winner of the ICA Bookshop Book of the Year 2014, Stitched Up delves into the alluring world of fashion to reveal what is behind the clothes we wear. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, the book explores consumerism, class and advertising to reveal the interests which benefit from exploitation.

Tansy dissects fashion’s vampiric relationship with the planet and with our bodies to uncover what makes it so damaging. Why does ‘size zero’ exist and what is the reality of working life for models? In a critique of the portrayal of race in fashion, the book also examines the global balance of power in the industry.

Stitched Up provides a unique critical examination of contemporary culture and the distorting priorities of capitalism. Alongside this Jennifer Reid’s songs, drawn from the Library’s vast collection of songbooks and songsheets of protest and rebellion, will form an apt commentary.

This event is part of Wonder Women: Radical Manchester. It is free, and open to all.

ABC Wednesday: "H" is for the Hotspur Press

Percy Brothers Ltd appears to have once been a printing press, part of the Hotspur Press building which now house various artists. A lovely old sign, this is taken round the back of the building away from the more impressive iron signage on the front.

The building started life as a textile mill - Medlock Mill, in the 19th Century. It is now home to various artists' studios and other creatuve spaces, or was the last time I popped in a year or two back.

Hello to "H" at this week's ABC Wednesday.

Snowdrops of hope & a focus on crocus

There was a hope of spring on the wing on Sunday morning, as I stumbled across this field of snowdrops and crocuses (crocii?). It will be with us in three weeks for real, although this week it's been a battle between sunshine and light snow flurries so far. The promise of 12°C by next weekend seems a long way off from here ;-)

As well as flowers on the ground we saw scurrying pheasants along a country lane and stationery herons on the water. Overhead we spotted woodpeckers, and heard their resonating pecking from across the wood, while skylarks swooped over ploughed fields.

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Monday Mural: Shutter swirl girl

This new work by Inkie is on one of the shutters of Koffee Pot, who have now moved to a neighbouring street. All the shutters, side and front are now drawn down so we are treated to a permanent and, hopefully, evolving street art display.

Taking part in the Monday Mural meme, sharing innovative street art around the world.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Ageing

Julie in Sydney has chosen the City Daily Photo Theme Day topic for the first of the month. It's Ageing. 

Above is a 1915 postcard of Oxford St in the heart of Manchester, complete with trolley buses, a Cook's Tourist Office (Thomas Cook?) and cobblestones. How has it aged one hundred years later, after two world wars and a revolution of social change? See for yourself, below. 

Much is still surprisingly recognisable. The towers of St James Building and the Refuge Assurance building (now Palace Hotel) remain.  The cinema below left - the Paramount, later an Odeon, opened in 1930. I thought I spotted it in the postcard above but there is a similar, different building. (It's the first white building on left below, which closed in 2004 and is awaiting demolition for another bland office block). 

I would love to be able to return in another 100 years to see how this view changes, in fact I would like to return to see what all my city daily photography friends' locations look like in 2115...