Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 20
Tue 20th December 2016 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Last week, Episode 19 took us to the border city of Carlisle – represented in our League by Carlisle City.
The photo shows the main stand at their Gillford Park ground – most impressive – and leads us nicely on to the quick link which, to be fair, was not that quick. We asked what links the legendary music venue the Glasgow Apollo with this club?
The Glasgow Apollo was once owned by the millionaire Frank Lynch who was also the individual who put money into Celtic Nation FC. Celtic Nation took over the ground of Gillford Park FC and, when Celtic Nation folded, the ground became the home of Carlisle City FC.
Let’s start this episode with a question. What do we think of the Northern Powerhouse? Controversial stuff indeed as the old saying “never talk about religion or politics in polite company” comes to mind.
Polite and respectful person that I am, I still think we can just about raise this subject without the thread holding the sword of Damocles unravelling and the sword becoming the instrument of a sorrowful end.
There are many aspects of the Northern Powerhouse, and transport between our major centres of population is just one of them. Indeed, close to where I live there has been talk of a by-pass for the better part of 40 years but we are still no nearer seeing “spades in the ground” and many of us locally doubt that we ever will.
But as we have seen in previous weeks, transport has been the key to the development of many of our towns over the last couple of centuries and will remain so if we want to develop our economy yet further – no comment on Brexit here, promise, well not this week anyway.
Transport was the key to the development of our destination this week and in this particular case it was canals. For students of transport systems, canals are a fascinating subject and, in our region, we can lay claim to much of that history. If we start from the Bridgewater Canal which took coal from Worsley into Manchester, we can follow developments right the way through to the majestic Manchester Ship Canal – a fine construction but, even when built, with a limited commercial lifetime. We may refer to the concept of contour canals in a subsequent edition of this series but, then again, we may not.
Back to the business of the day and we find ourselves close to a key part of the Trent and Mersey Canal which, not surprisingly, was built to join the rivers Trent and Mersey and was one of the key connecting routes throughout the canal network. Also close by is a river which has been strategic to the development of industry in the area.
Most rivers in this country are not navigable to commercial traffic but this one was made so, at least as far as was necessary, in the first half of the 18th century. This gave a connection to the sea for commercial ships. The later building of the Trent and Mersey Canal saw the opportunity taken to link up these two forms of waterborne transport and one of the finest pieces of river/canal engineering was constructed in order to do just that.
These days, little commercial traffic is carried by canal barge but many sections of canal are well used for recreational purposes and this part of the Trent and Mersey forms part of the Cheshire Ring of canals providing a circular route of 97 miles including 92 locks and some great pubs.
Talking of pubs, there is much talk around and about concerning the rate of pub closures in this country. Recent estimates suggest that there is now one pub for every 1,250 of population. On that basis, the residents of this place must feel very hard done by in that the equivalent figure here is over 2,500 per pub. But, as is often the case, the bare statistics don’t tell the whole story as the local cricket club will bear witness. Here we have the winner of the 2014 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Club of the Year with a fine range of real ales in excellent condition and always worth a visit.
There is a strong community spirit here and a quick glance at the local newsletter confirms that. The July issue leads on the subject of a potential replacement of a narrow bridge which, as I know, causes significant traffic problems. A movement has been organised, signatures collected and a petition submitted to the local authority. Developments are awaited but I wish the residents rather better fortune than I have seen closer to home – see paragraph 2 above.
Other items in the news relate to the annual Flower and Produce Show, an update on progress with the refurbishment of the local Recreation Ground and a message from the local Police Community Support Officer. Overall a good read and very informative on local matters.
Reports are also given about the local cricket club – see above and the prospects for the local football team for the forthcoming season. The football club, having been formed just after the Second World War, spent decades playing in and often winning the local League.
A high point was representing England on behalf of their League in a UEFA competition played in Slovenia and Bosnia. This came as a result of winning the National League Systems Cup (now known as the FA Inter-League Cup) in 2004. The FA Inter-League Cup is a competition for Leagues at Step 7 in the National Leagues System and is strictly for players who have never played under a written contract.
The club applied to join the North West Counties Football League and were accepted for the start of the 2014-15 season.
And, before I forget, and just to complete this little narrative, the MP for this place is the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr. George Osborne who, arguably, was the most senior voice in government advocating the Northern Powerhouse.
No quick link this week but, instead, a cryptic crossword clue:- A nobleman might include 27 books to get to this place.
Turn Right At Mottram Roundabout - Episode 20
Tue 20th December 2016 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Last week, Episode 19 took us to the border city of Carlisle – represented in our League by Carlisle City.
The photo shows the main stand at their Gillford Park ground – most impressive – and leads us nicely on to the quick link which, to be fair, was not that quick. We asked what links the legendary music venue the Glasgow Apollo with this club?
The Glasgow Apollo was once owned by the millionaire Frank Lynch who was also the individual who put money into Celtic Nation FC. Celtic Nation took over the ground of Gillford Park FC and, when Celtic Nation folded, the ground became the home of Carlisle City FC.
Let’s start this episode with a question. What do we think of the Northern Powerhouse? Controversial stuff indeed as the old saying “never talk about religion or politics in polite company” comes to mind.
Polite and respectful person that I am, I still think we can just about raise this subject without the thread holding the sword of Damocles unravelling and the sword becoming the instrument of a sorrowful end.
There are many aspects of the Northern Powerhouse, and transport between our major centres of population is just one of them. Indeed, close to where I live there has been talk of a by-pass for the better part of 40 years but we are still no nearer seeing “spades in the ground” and many of us locally doubt that we ever will.
But as we have seen in previous weeks, transport has been the key to the development of many of our towns over the last couple of centuries and will remain so if we want to develop our economy yet further – no comment on Brexit here, promise, well not this week anyway.
Transport was the key to the development of our destination this week and in this particular case it was canals. For students of transport systems, canals are a fascinating subject and, in our region, we can lay claim to much of that history. If we start from the Bridgewater Canal which took coal from Worsley into Manchester, we can follow developments right the way through to the majestic Manchester Ship Canal – a fine construction but, even when built, with a limited commercial lifetime. We may refer to the concept of contour canals in a subsequent edition of this series but, then again, we may not.
Back to the business of the day and we find ourselves close to a key part of the Trent and Mersey Canal which, not surprisingly, was built to join the rivers Trent and Mersey and was one of the key connecting routes throughout the canal network. Also close by is a river which has been strategic to the development of industry in the area.
Most rivers in this country are not navigable to commercial traffic but this one was made so, at least as far as was necessary, in the first half of the 18th century. This gave a connection to the sea for commercial ships. The later building of the Trent and Mersey Canal saw the opportunity taken to link up these two forms of waterborne transport and one of the finest pieces of river/canal engineering was constructed in order to do just that.
These days, little commercial traffic is carried by canal barge but many sections of canal are well used for recreational purposes and this part of the Trent and Mersey forms part of the Cheshire Ring of canals providing a circular route of 97 miles including 92 locks and some great pubs.
Talking of pubs, there is much talk around and about concerning the rate of pub closures in this country. Recent estimates suggest that there is now one pub for every 1,250 of population. On that basis, the residents of this place must feel very hard done by in that the equivalent figure here is over 2,500 per pub. But, as is often the case, the bare statistics don’t tell the whole story as the local cricket club will bear witness. Here we have the winner of the 2014 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Club of the Year with a fine range of real ales in excellent condition and always worth a visit.
There is a strong community spirit here and a quick glance at the local newsletter confirms that. The July issue leads on the subject of a potential replacement of a narrow bridge which, as I know, causes significant traffic problems. A movement has been organised, signatures collected and a petition submitted to the local authority. Developments are awaited but I wish the residents rather better fortune than I have seen closer to home – see paragraph 2 above.
Other items in the news relate to the annual Flower and Produce Show, an update on progress with the refurbishment of the local Recreation Ground and a message from the local Police Community Support Officer. Overall a good read and very informative on local matters.
Reports are also given about the local cricket club – see above and the prospects for the local football team for the forthcoming season. The football club, having been formed just after the Second World War, spent decades playing in and often winning the local League.
A high point was representing England on behalf of their League in a UEFA competition played in Slovenia and Bosnia. This came as a result of winning the National League Systems Cup (now known as the FA Inter-League Cup) in 2004. The FA Inter-League Cup is a competition for Leagues at Step 7 in the National Leagues System and is strictly for players who have never played under a written contract.
The club applied to join the North West Counties Football League and were accepted for the start of the 2014-15 season.
And, before I forget, and just to complete this little narrative, the MP for this place is the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr. George Osborne who, arguably, was the most senior voice in government advocating the Northern Powerhouse.
No quick link this week but, instead, a cryptic crossword clue:- A nobleman might include 27 books to get to this place.
