Autumn Photo walk

The clocks went back one hour this morning so I had a lie in which is something I rarely do nowadays due to early starts with work etc. I had planned to do this as a summer photo walk in mid-August but other commitments got in the way. My plan was to park my car in Stockport not far from the college campus and walk the 15 minutes or so up to Lark Hill road which is next to Hollywood Park.

Hollywood Park: Art installation or a rock for climbing on?

Back in 1961, the film ‘A Taste of Honey’ by dramatist Shelagh Delaney starring Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan was released in cinemas. Some of the filming locations were shot in Stockport around St Mary’s church, the viaduct and Lark Hill road in Edgeley. The film was originally a novel which was then turned into a play. More details about the filming locations can be found here at the Reel Streets website.

From Lark Hill road, I walked down the footpath towards (A560) Brinksway.

Footpath at Lark Hill Road going down to Brinksway

The path looked a bit slippery and there were lots of ladybirds on the handrails. I decided to walk back up the footpath to continue my walk.

From Lark Hill road, I walked the streets of back-to-back house towards Alexander Park and on towards Skye’s Reservoir.

Alexander Park is not far from the town of Edgeley and is a public park with bowling greens and playgrounds. A nice leafy park with Skye’s Reservoirs nearby.

Information sign on the history of the reservoirs and bleach works

Sykes’ Reservoirs was so named after businessman William Sykes who rented then bought the land in 1793 to establish the Edgeley Bleach Works. The reservoir supplied fresh water to the bleach works which aided in bleaching the cloth using natural alkaline derived from ash. The cloth was then stretched and dried in the sun. The whole process could take up to 8 months. The cloth was then sold to Manchester and London merchants.

The business which later became Sykes and Company ceased trading in 1986.

From the reservoirs now frequented by anglers and geese, I walked towards the football stadium at Edgeley park.

Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport County in 1890 after the borough of Stockport. The club is currently first in league 2.

Old workhouse/former hospital in Shaw Heath

Back to the walk. I made my way towards Shaw Heath towards the old workhouse buildings.

There seems to be some activity at the old hospital site with some clearing work in progress. The area is sealed off by high wood and metal fencing. I was able to take some photos through the fence.

Old workhouse building entrance, Shaw Heath

Hopefully this area will be regenerated in the not too distant future into maybe housing or an extension to the college.

Finally, I headed towards the college and visited Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery to look at a couple of exhibitions.

Most of the campus at the college looks as though it’s been abandoned and is in a sad state. Hopefully as with the workhouse buildings, this whole area can be fully regenerated and bring back some dignity to the place.

I headed back to my car and set off for home. I was lucky with the weather (14c) and really enjoyed the photo walk with plenty of images from a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Vernon Park Linocut update

I printed the last colour on the Vernon park bench linocut recently. I added a light grey ink to the inset panels on the bench. Scroll down to view the different colour layers and the final print.

The Real Public Art Show

I attended The Real Public Art Show at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery this afternoon.

Me today besides my print depicting Stockport Exchange.

An excellent exhibition celebrating Stockport as part of the Stockport Town of Culture. I enter one of my prints depicting Stockport Exchange which was based on a sketch I did on location a few years ago.

Abandoned Recreation

I’ve been working on a small series of gelli plate/matt medium prints depicting the abandoned pool hall that was once a cinema in its heyday. There’s a stone sign above the entrance which reads ‘The Wellington’.

I am naming the series of print’s ‘Abandoned Recreation’.

On one of my recent photo walks, I photographed an oval shaped boarded up window which I have used as a framing device for my some of my prints.

I use acrylic paints in my Gelli printmaking and for these set of prints I have experimented with textures such as bubble wrap and stencils. On top of the gelli prints, I have added using Matt Medium to add a high contrast black and white reverse laser print. I reverse the image if there is text in the image so the text appears the right way around when the laser print is glued face down to the gelli print.

The results have been amazing and unique as each print is slightly different as not all the transfer sticks to the paper once the excess paper is removed through the process of soaking the acrylic print in a bath of water and after 5 minutes soaking removing the paper from the print by rubbing off the paper gently with your fingers.

Finally, once the prints are throughly dried out, you cure and seal the prints by applying 2 coats of acrylic varnish.

Crowther’s family gift linocut

Here is the latest print I have been working on recently which is a reduction linocut depicting a quirky stone bench located in the rose garden of Vernon park. More prints to follow soon…

‘Crowther’s family gift’ (Reduction Lino cut) Work in progress.

Football stadium print

Just before the new year, I created a new dry point print which depicts the football ground at S.C.F.C. I used a thin sheet of transparent plastic and etched the image onto the plastic using a sharp etching tool. This type of printing plate is useful if you need to copy a photograph or drawing as you can place a copy of the image underneath the plate. Be sure to reverse the photograph or drawing (use a photo editing software product like Photoshop Elements for example) so that if there is any text in the image it is printed the right way around.

Drypoint of Stockport County Football Club

New Year photo walk

Happy belated new year. I thought I would publish my first blog post of the 2023 about my recent photo walk around the marketplace that I did yesterday on a cold sunny Saturday afternoon.

Starting my photo walk on Lower Hillgate, I made my way along Wellington Street up to the Robinsons brewery visitors centre which is on Apsley Street. Making my way pass the stables housing the shire horses for the brewery, I made my way down Churchgate heading towards the marketplace.

Robinsons Brewery in background with the patterned pavement barrier in front.

On Churchgate, I took a couple of photos of the signage on the side of the brewery building in the distance and noticed a metal barrier in front of me had an interesting pattern which looked like aircraft rotary blades. This could be a connection to the former AVRO aircraft factory which was prominent in the town for many years and which has since closed down. The factory was based south of Stockport town centre in the Cheshire village of Woodford where there is now a heritage museum at the former site.

I arrived at the marketplace and decided to walk down towards Mealhouse brow, a steep incline of a street which eventually heads down towards the Underbank. As it happens, the dungeon was open for viewing and I had a look round as I have never visited this heritage site before.

Before 1824, Stockport justice was administered from this small building and prisoners were held in the cells. It was well worth the visit and I managed to have a look around one of the two cells that was accessible to the public from some steep steps. I was able to look through a hole in the cell wall and view the adjacent cell. While I was in the building, I learnt about the people who had been unlucky to have been imprisoned in the cells and learnt of the gruesome stories of murderers and their fate at the hands of the authorities.

After visiting the dungeon, I walked up towards Staircase House located in the marketplace. I took a few photos of the building and also some of the produce hall which I remember used to be a fish-mongers hall. It is now a trendy food outlet where you can dine-in and have lunch from various eateries. The produce hall is very popular especially at weekends all year round.

Having taken some photos of Staircase House and the Produce Hall, I headed for a much needed coffee at a well-known coffee shop outlet on Warren Street.

After enjoying my Flat White, I returned to the marketplace and took a series of photographs of the exteriors of the Boars Head and the Bakers Vault public houses from different angles. I must admit I’ve never been inside the Bakers Vault.

On my return to my car, I spotted a ghost sign on Park Street near the marketplace. I think the sign was advertising a men’s tailoring shop. There are quite a few ghost signs around Stockport and I spotted another one as I drove home.

Maybe I could do a blog post about these sorts of signs as there are many of them in the area.

December photo walk

While visiting the art gallery last weekend and doing some Christmas shopping, I did a mini photo walk around town to capture buildings I will be making prints of using my photographs as a reference. I headed down to the old Debenhams store which is now closed and took some images.

From there, I walked back up the A6 and saw that progress has been made on the new 1 billion pound bus interchange next to the Hatworks museum and you can see the apartment block being constructed.

As I made my way back up the A6, I made a slight detour and had a look at the Stockport Village area behind the Plaza theatre is in the progress of being demolished. I took a few pictures from behind a metal fence.

Stockport Village (now being demolished)

Stockport Village was once a thriving little shopping precinct hidden away and has been abandoned for over 15 years. There used to be boutique shops, gym and cafe. I remember it in its heyday and is sad to now see it all abandoned and being knocked down. Hopefully some of it can be kept and redeveloped as with the other parts of the town.

Here is a last shot of the viaduct with the sun starting to set.

Strawberry Studios etching

Here is my latest print that I have been working on at the weekend called “Strawberry Studios”.

Stockport Open exhibition

I attend the preview of the Stockport Open 2022 art exhibition this afternoon. I have two prints in this year’s exhibition and am really honoured to have my work accepted.