Captain Clarke's Bridge 1984

Photograph © Janet Howie taken Easter 1984.

The towpath of the Peak Forest Canal changes sides at this point.

A horse, pulling a narrowboat along with a towline attached to its harness, would walk up and cross the bridge then curve down and go under the bridge, or in the opposite direction would walk under the bridge then up around the curve, over the canal and down the other side. The towline could remain attached the whole time, which would save the boatmen both time and effort.

It is named after the navel officer, John Clarke who lived at Wood End in the 19th century.

Other photographs of Captain Clarke's Bridge:

• c.1900 (Old Hyde)
• October 2007 (Hyde DP)
• December 2007 (Hyde DP)
• February 2009 (Hyde DP)

The CDPB theme today is Changes:
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Hyde Grammar School Photo July 1959

Seftonwallet has just added a new video to his YouTube collection. It is an eight-minute scan over the school photo from 1959.

Travellers Call No More

When I published a 100 year old photograph of the Travellers Call, I was asked if I had a photograph of the modern building.

Well I've not yet had the chance to get up there and take a recent view. I do however have this photograph taken by Janet Howie in 1982. So far as I recall it looks much the same now.

Waiting at the Travellers Call

The Travellers Call was a public house on Joel Lane just above Slateacre.

Who they are and what all these people were waiting here for some 100 years ago, I cannot say.

Neither do I know when the pub was converted to a private residence.

Waiting is the CDPB theme for today; click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Dowson Road 1982

Taken from the end of Queen Street, Janet Howie's photograph from 1982 shows the junction of Market Street and Dowson Road.

Compare it with my photograph of 2009 on Hyde Daily Photo.

Kelly's fishing tackle shop has gone along with the three adjacent shops. The first recognisable building is Robinson's funeral directors. The whole junction has been widened up with a left hand filter and pedestrian crossings.

Diamond Row

Janet Howie sent me this photograph of the cottages known as Diamond Row. I'm not sure of the age of this; I'd guess circa 1920.

They used to stand on the corner of Stockport Road and Back Bower Lane.

The Diamond Row reservoir, which was behind them, has been covered and is now an open space.

Alfred Woolley in his Shop Doorway

Denys Meakin sent me this photograph of his wife's great grandfather, Alfred Woolley, sitting outside his grocery store at 284 Stockport Rd, Gee Cross, around 1900.


This second photograph is probably ten to twenty years later and shows the premises on the corner of Knott Lane. Denys' wife lived next door at 286 Stockport Road until their marriage in 1959.

With two-foot-thick walls, it dates back to around 1750 and was one of the earliest buildings in Gee Cross. At one time, it was apparently a pub, The Beeston Castle.

In the forties and fifties, the shop was Johnny Graham's barber shop.


This third photograph is © Denys Meakin and taken in 2003. Compare it with my own photograph from 2008.

Today the CDPB theme is Doorways: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.