IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Clothorn Road, MANCHESTER, M20 6BP

Houses in a pleasant street which runs down to Fog Lane Park.

On a drizzly Manchester morning.

Ball Brook is little more than a muddy ditch.

East Side. Didsbury Day Nursery

Large Edwardian Villas. Probably little has changed around these large semidetached and detached villas since they were built - except the road surface, kerbs, "furniture" and traffic controls. The garden walls are original sandstone ones and the hedges are trimmed evergreens. More than a casual glance (see Image) reminds us that we are accustomed to a plethora of objects, signs and signals in our roads. Here there are lampposts, smaller posts, bus stop posts and words such as Bus Stop painted on the road surface, bollard posts, bus stop shelters, metal telephone(?) junction cabinets, signs for speed limits, parking regulations, notices about a building's function, cycle lane information signs on posts and painted on the pavement, road names, logos, advertisements, etc. Most of it is necessary, some critically so for safety: it is a veritable mine of information that we should all be able to "read" in our various roles as users of the thoroughfare. Some may see parts of it, though, as a minefield. There are messages everywhere which have to be decoded, but most of us are good at it, by necessity.

Across the road, a small sign under Moorland Road reads "PRIVATE ROAD ACCESS ONLY". Such roads are remnants of the past which have somehow escaped into the present. There is a sign which indicates 15 mph limit, but for where? Not Wilmslow Road. Yet 20 is painted on Moorland Road's surface. The rowan tree on the corner has berries and has been protected with wire, but from what? Surely there are no wild deer? In the garden there look to be large bay trees, but I may be wrong. Certainly there are rhododendrons and privets (one golden), those old favourites in Manchester suburbs. What an impressive Edwardian house it is, too, on the corner, with fine brick chimneys as vertical as the day they were constructed. An extension has impressive brick built pillars topped with sandstone caps. The low boundary wall may have been rebuilt later as it appears to have more modern concrete capping, though there are decorative sandstone inserts which are normally used to promote drainage or ventilation. These may be original. Perhaps the original builders had some spares. Not sure what the small metal box FP46 is for? Some sort of service box, maybe. Pushbike riders are guided with a sign and have a separate lane.

The "Slug and Lettuce" chain are widespread. I've never been in one.

Large Edwardian Villas. Probably little has changed around these large semidetached and detached villas since they were built - except the road surface, kerbs, "furniture" and traffic controls. The garden walls are original sandstone ones and the hedges are trimmed evergreens. More than a casual glance (see Image) reminds us that we are accustomed to a plethora of objects, signs and signals in our roads. Here there are lampposts, smaller posts, bus stop posts and words such as Bus Stop painted on the road surface, bollard posts, bus stop shelters, metal telephone(?) junction cabinets, signs for speed limits, parking regulations, notices about a building's function, cycle lane information signs on posts and painted on the pavement, road names, logos, advertisements, etc. Most of it is necessary, some critically so for safety: it is a veritable mine of information that we should all be able to "read" in our various roles as users of the thoroughfare. Some may see parts of it, though, as a minefield. There are messages everywhere which have to be decoded, but most of us are good at it, by necessity.

East Side. The old sandstone block wall is probably little changed since it was built. The heavy dressed cappings are clearly original. The tarmac pattern on the pavement trace a history for those who can read it telling of underground services of all kinds.

A look back up Wilmslow Road where another necessary piece of street furniture appears - a litter bin. Opposite is the Medical Centre which years ago would have been termed a doctor's surgery but nowadays such centres provide a range of services, though today they are under extreme pressure owing to funding which is inadequate to meet all the needs of the UK's population. House for sale notices up the road, but as with the health service, housing is even less adequate for the needs of the UK's population. Didsbury is a very desirable area of Manchester in which to live, so the prices of properties are unaffordable for most.