Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019

Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019
On the Archduke's Path in Mallorca

Friday 8 January 2010

Winter in Timperley

The Bridgewater Canal in Timperley on 5 January 2010
We have enjoyed some unusual scenes over the past few days.

It snowed on Monday night and continued to accumulate during Tuesday.  This is unusual close to central Manchester.  So unusual that Jamie recorded a visual diary of his commute to work from Altrincham to Manchester.

Our street on 5 January 2010

With abandoned cars littering the roads, the residents of our street stayed at home or used the trams, which surprised everyone by continuing to work despite the expectation of ‘leaves on the line’.

An Altrincham bound tram at Timperley

There’s now even somewhere for passengers heading towards Manchester from Timperley to shelter from the elements, albeit less adequate than their predecessor!  Some new trams, designed for ‘rush hour’ use, with narrower seats and wider passageways, have been operating since before Christmas, but I have yet to capture one ‘on film’.

Two new shelters adorn the Manchester bound platform

The canal remained frozen. 

The Bridgewater Canal from Timperley Bridge on 5 January 2010

Drivers played at ‘dodgems’.

Park Road, Timperley, beside the Metro Station

We remained at home.

On Wednesday the crisp, clear day enticed us out, but (and the situation remains so) we couldn’t justify getting the car out as the roads remained treacherous.  So we walked to Hale and enjoyed a game of Monopoly with some friends whose school was shut but whose mum needed to work.  Then we had fun in their garden.

Hale Tower

What happened next? 
Snow Boy
The walk home made us quite glad we hadn’t bothered with the car.

Thursday brought another crisp day, with the sun beating down from a clear blue sky, causing the thermometer to rise to a spectacular minus 5C, the coldest I can recall it at midday around here.

It was lovely, with a very light wind and crisp compacted snow underfoot, though a trip to the dentist by car did test my skills of manoeuvring through deep snow in the remoter parts of a car park in Urmston!

We didn’t have to venture far to get some more wintry images, some of them from angles normally only accessible by boat.

A view along the Bridgewater Canal to Marsland Bridge

Blogger Jogger

An afternoon view towards Timperley, from Marsland Bridge

Sunset - 6 January 2010

A full set of images, mainly for H and the children, is here.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can actually go somewhere more interesting – I’m yearning for the winter tyres we have in Canada that make driving in these conditions relatively easy!

2 comments:

Jamie Bassnett said...

I saw some people on Granada News last night ice skating on roads in Timperley! Had a mixed week of loving the snow and also hating it which I never imagined I would ever do as I usually love it! Our water out pipes are frozen now and at my sisters the actual water pipes are frozen and having to use water from Tesco, which they are rationing as lot of people are having to apparently! Managed to get to work every day except Thursday when the tram I was on failed, stuck for hours and freezing! Love the last two pics on this post, so contrasting. Hope you get out this weekend! J.

Phreerunner said...

Thanks Jamie, sorry to hear of your woes.
They were playing ice hockey on the canal today. Police not impressed - we must be in a crime free zone. Sue and I walked along (on) the canal to Dunham. (Is that a crime?)
We are lucky - no frozen pipes yet - but my daughter's boiler has been destroyed by frozen pipes, and my son's car seems to have frozen, but that hasn't stopped the exhaust dropping off! Ours had its annual check up today with no problem.
May stay local at the weekend - orienteering (2nd try) at Wythenshawe at 10.30 - http://www.mdoc.org.uk/ - but Sue will perhaps report from Moel Famau.