Mundane pictures of the North

[farmerbarleymow]

Another row of shops. Shops stretch for miles down Stockport Road.







And you don't often see an engraving shop, and it seems to be still in business.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A typical street in Levenshulme - this one is Attwood Street.

 

[tufty79]

bits of this/last week's ambling mundanity

 

[tufty79]

 

[neonwilderness]

And you don't often see an engraving shop, and it seems to be still in business.

"Jack's video library"

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A happy clappy church I think, on Crowcroft Road:



Random car wash - there are loads of them down Stockport Road:



Tatty back of house:



This building was empty for all the time I lived in Levenshulme, now a joint barbers/ladies hair salon, if a tad garish! Interestingly random way to paint a building...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

"Jack's video library"

It does sound a bit strange!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

This DIY shop has been around for at least since I lived there, but looks a lot longer given the state of the signage. I used to wait at the bus stop right by this for the 192 to work.

Edit to add - thinking about this, it is quite surprising it is still in business, given that there is a huge B & Q about 3 miles away in Stockport, straight down Stockport Road. Its nice to see it has survived, and presumably have a good local customer base. Maybe its popular with the landlords of the great number of rental properties in the southern belt of Manchester.

 

[neonwilderness]

It does sound a bit strange!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OE35pVrlg2c#t=280s

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I think this may be an extension to the DIY place, given the stuff stored in the back yard.





And another alley...

 

[Tom A]

Did you get "the street with no name"? Or is that too obvious?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I used to live in this street, many years ago. A young lad who was cycling around asked me what I was taking photos for, and after I'd explained that it was because I used to live here, he was telling me that the house I lived in burned down last year. He said the first floor collapsed, which sounds a bit bad.

The whole terrace was infested with mice so I wonder if they chewed through the electric wires to cause the fire? You could hear them scurrying around in the floor and wall cavities, they were everywhere in the kitchen and I used to find them in the laundry bin, presumably trying to establish a nest - the little furry fuckers.

The main railway line out of Manchester is at the end of the street, and used to be a good alarm clock as the frequency of trains increased as rush hour kicked in.



And my old back alley:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Did you get "the street with no name"? Or is that too obvious?

Where is that? I didn't see it, but it rings a bell so might have been mentioned earlier on here.

 

[Tom A]

Where is that? I didn't see it, but it rings a bell so might have been mentioned earlier on here.

Just off Albert Road, behind Levenshulme station. I think it was mentioned but no photo was posted.

Also there doesn't seem to be any gaps in that terrace, and I can't find any on Google Street View (photos taken October 2012)...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

This used to be a branch of Netto, so the area was moved up in the world, if only very slightly (I hate Asda I'm afraid):



This used to be a cheap, if mostly empty pub when I lived there. Oddly, the stalls outside had no one attending them - so the stuff might have been 'help yourself for nowt'. Missed a trick there!



And this annoyed me greatly. This was my local when I lived there, and it was so close to home there were many a night I'd stagger home trollied. Great bunch of locals who use to go in too - used to have a right laugh with them. And it was called The Farmer's Arms - how dare they close my namesake pub!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Just off Albert Road, behind Levenshulme station. I think it was mentioned but no photo was posted.

Also there doesn't seem to be any gaps in that terrace, and I can't find any on Google Street View (photos taken October 2012)...

Ah right, I was by the station but didn't explore much around that side of the tracks. The house that had the fire was rebuilt, so no gaps.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Ugly church, and not exactly inspiring as I guess a church should be. We could of course do a whole new thread on ugly churches, as there are loads of them about.



Another row of shops:



I don't think the name lives up to the appearance somehow:



'Butt' is perhaps not the best choice of name for your shop



Another pound shop - I've noticed that apart from the chain ones, the independents all seem to be painted yellow, presumably to attract attention.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

More rows of odd shops.





Another DIY shop, about five minutes walk from the previous one.

 

[Tom A]

Ugly church, and not exactly inspiring as I guess a church should be. We could of course do a whole new thread on ugly churches, as there are loads of them about.

View attachment 37131

I volunteered for FairShare (distributing nearly-out-of-date food to charities and community projects) as part of Emerge Recycling last year, and that was one of our customers whom we delivered to. They were pretty awkward regarding when they expected their delivery as well, the person co-coordinating it all had to deal with a lot of stick from them.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Another outside fruit and veg display, something that is missing in the city centre. This building used to be a bank:



A fishy pun on the sign for this chippy:



An amazing sight - a butchers shop that is still open! I used to go in here.



An ex-pub - a shame as it is a lovely building and wasn't a bad pub. Look at the inscription at the top of the building - I never noticed that in all my time living there. I guess it was licensed so long ago because this must have been the main route between Stockport and Manchester for centuries:



A definitely misnamed street - nowhere near a farm:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I volunteered for FairShare (distributing nearly-out-of-date food to charities and community projects) as part of Emerge Recycling last year, and that was one of our customers whom we delivered to. They were pretty awkward regarding when they expected their delivery as well, the person co-coordinating it all had to deal with a lot of stick from them.

Should have told them to sod off, and stop being so bloody awkward!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Just off Albert Road, behind Levenshulme station. I think it was mentioned but no photo was posted.

Is this the one? It is the little street where the entrance to the station is on, and there is no nameplate on the wall?



Edit to add - aha, it is the one - here is the other side:



And a close up as its not that distinct in the picture above:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

And more - there is a lot to see in mundane Levenshulme.





A blue pound shop for a bit of variety:





And another:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A run down building...



...but at least they are trying to make the row look more cheerful, which is good. Although quite why they've picked Luton as a distance marker is beyond me.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

A sad neglected old phone shop...



...and the gentleman's club next door.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I liked this old thing, parked appropriately enough opposite the Antiques Village.



And the registration plate if anyone is able to work out how old it is:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I like the name of this barbers - to the point.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I like the painted xmas tree on this wall with the CND symbol, which looks rather incongruous with the random dumped road barriers.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

And the last from my trip to Levenshulme, I think this charity shops needs a bit of charity itself given the state of this sign:

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Oops, I nearly forgot the whole reason for going to Lev!