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

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.

Didsbury in Bloom. On entering the village the efforts of local people to enhance the environment with planted containers are evident and striking. What a difference living plants with flowers make to the inanimate hardness of the objects that cluster next to our roads! And Wilmslow Road is a whacking thoroughfare taking thousands of cars and heavier vehicles in and out of Manchester every day. Pedestrians who necessarily have to enter the maelstrom can take moments of enjoyment from the pockets of greenery. Different coloured wheelie bins tell us that rubbish collection is now a sophisticated process and also attests to the threat to the environment that the life of homo sapiens poses. Gone are the days of dumping it all in a convenient gigantic hole and forgetting about it.

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.

Picture was taken over a high wall and shows the metroline travelling northwards to the centre of Manchester. It has been a huge success in so many ways.

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.

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.

A small bay which has been reclaimed from dereliction by caring residents. Formerly a neglected space in front of the electricity substation; active residents prevailed upon the owners of the ground, "the powers that be" (a lovely term) to organise the legal steps to allow the small improvement to take shape behind the protective bollards and new railings. The "Didsbury in Bloom" containers made a suitable boundary. The overhanging trees have made it a little challenging for those planting flowers, but at a glance I can see there are Calendula (marigolds), Digitalis pupurea (foxglove), a Geranium, bedding plants, Lunaria annua (honesty), Sedum and shrubs such as Mahonia, Cotoneaster, Buxus sempervivens (?) (box) along with plenty of indigenous moss, ferns, "weeds", brambles and even trees which have relished an improved space - such as ash tree - and the ivy has stormed back up the tree trunk. It is easy to be annoyed by ivy's resilience but it is as well to remember that it flowers late in the year and is a very useful source for foraging pollinators such as bees. There is a also a birdbox and what looks like a bughut for bees attached to the trees. Emily Williamson who lived in Didsbury for thirty years until 1912, a pioneer wildlife protector, campaigner and co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (originally the Plumage League) would strongly approve. The ivy, the sycamore and the bramble were here when "Dyddi" founded Didsbury in the first place (over 800 years ago?) and from where its name originates. This is a place to stop and stare, reflect on life and wonder at and enjoy the resilience of Nature. "What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?" W H Davies