<< return to the photographs index

• View from the Mottram Hill above Broadbottom east to Mouselow Hill and Hadfield to the left (of League of Gentlemen fame).
  The villages in front of the hill are Hollingworth (left) and Gamesley. The hill is reputedly the site of a Saxon fort.
• View from Mottram Hill above Broadbottom south towards Charlesworth.
  The ridge above Charlesworth, Coombes Edge, appears to be a caldera? The road leading over the top of the hill is the Monk's Road.
• Looking from Lower Market St towards Market St, Broadbottom.
  The railway arches are heritage listed buildings.
• View from Lymefield up Lower Market St, towards Market St, Broadbottom.
• View eastwards from Lower Market St, Broadbottom towards Cown Rocks and Coombe's Edge.
• View from Lower Market St, Broadbottom down Lymefield towards the Etherow Vistors Centre and Lymefield Mill.
• The old Wesleyean chapel behind the Cheshire Cheese public house on Lower Market Street, Broadbottom. It was originally 100 metres further up Lower Market St. The chapel is now split into three houses.
• "The Stand", Lower Market Street, Broadbottom.
  79 is to the right. To the rear of the stand are the remains of the former coalsheds, the communal wash house and the communal toilets. The well that was formerly behind 'The Stand' is now bricked in. The road in front leads down to the river Etherow. The small park opposite is the site of the now demolished Forester's Arms. This was one of the many public houses that used to be in Broadbottom. The Forestor's Arms was also the meeting place for the Friendly Society of Forestors. Perhaps ironically, residents of the Stand pay the Order of the Buffaloes a ground rent of 86p per annum.
• Lymefield, built in 1861, the last remaining mill in Broadbottom. It is now specialises in the hand printing of textiles.
• Mysterious stone found in Broadbottom and now in the Tameside visitor's centre on the banks of the Etherow at Broadbottom.
• A tree on the cliffs above the Etherow.
  Opposite this point across the Etherow is the location of Pym's Parlour, a Romano-British site.
• Broadbottom Station and the public house, 'The Station'.
  Built in the early 1850s, the station was known for many years as 'Mottram Station'. The confusion still exists as the current Ordnance Survey map for the Dark Peak area labels the station as 'Dinting'. The station was originally part of the Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne & Manchester Railway Company's Woodhead line.
• Gibble Gabble, one of the (small) streets in Broadbottom.
  According to the Cheshire Glossary of 1877 'Gennell' is a Macclesfield term for a long narrow passage between houses. Similarly, a Gannel or Gammel is a narrow entry or passage. It also has a more colloquial meaning.
• The Besthill railway and road bridge over the Etherow at Broadbottom.
  The rail bridge was built in 1842 with arches built of laminated timber. However, the traffic and general state of repair meant that the bridge had to be reinforced and the additional (middle) pillar of brick needed to be added. Beneath the bridge (and built about 1790 before the bridge was constructed) are the remains of the Best Hill mill. During WWII this mill was used to produce munitions. The road bridge is heritage listed and dates from the late seventeenth century. The road itself was a spur of the Manchester to Saltersbrook turnpike that was built in 1825.
• The Etherow in flood.
  To the left of the picture are the stone remains of the inlet for the mill leat that provided water power for Broad Mills in its earlier stages.
• Catholic Church on the Etherow at Charlesworth (and home to the 'floating jesus').
• The Etherow looking towards Tom Wood.
• Looking out from Tom Wood towards Broad Mills and Broadbottom.
• A tree and a fenceline.
• In Tom Wood.
• Looking towards Tintwistle with the edge of Bleak Low on the right.?
  Tintwistle (meaning fork of a river) originally held a traditional court leet (along with Mottram) under the auspices of the Lords of Longdendale. However, the expansion of the Mottram estates was a speculative venture and Tintwistle was almost deserted in the fourteenth century. The town was later revitalised with the introduction of mills into the area. However, Manchester's need for water in the form of the Longdendale reservoirs flooded these enterprises in the nineteenth century.
• Broadbottom at twilight.
• A horse guarding the footpath at Woodseats Farm.
  Woodseats Lane was an important connecting footpath between the Glossop - Marple turnpike and the mills at Broadbottom.
• Broadbottom and Hodgefold from Far Woodseats.
• Coombe's Edge and the Cown Rocks.
  Celtic tradition associates this place as sacred to the horse goddess Epona. This is also claimed as one of the final battles between Celts and Romans in this part of the Pennines. The Roman army drew the Celts down from the Edge towards Ludworth Moor (to the right of the picture) where the Celts were defeated and their chief, Edas, was killed. The bodies of the slain are buried in barrows on this moor.
• North from Werneth Low, across Godley Water towards Buckton Castle in the distance. Werneth Low itself is the site of early argiculture in the Tameside region with indicative ploughing marks on its sides.
• North West from Werneth Low. The settlement to the right of the picture is Hatterley. Matley is in the top left.
• Looking east from Werneth Low towards Glossopdale. Broadbottom is at the base of the hill to the left of the picture. Glossop itself is the dense settlement at the base of the hill country in the middle of the picture. Charlesworth is at the base of the hills to the right of the picture.
• The Mottram Show 2002. In the grounds of the Mottram Old Hall. Looking down into Glossopdale, Gamesley is to the right and Simmondley (can just be seen) directly ahead.
• Another view of the Mottram Show. Looking though the main rings towards Hadfield (on the left) and Glossop (on the right). The small hill almost directly ahead is Mouselow.
• Mottram Church - 'The Cathedral of East Cheshire' - standing on Warhill, Mottram. The church is associated with a battle between Empress Maud and King Stephen in 1139. Where Stephen caught Maud's army and was victorious. The church is claimed to be a memorial to this event. The 'war' however is more probably a term for quarry, of which there were many. To the south of the church is an exposed coal seam which was mined and contributed to Mottram's early (but shortlived) industrial development.
• The Lowry House, Mottram. L.S.Lowry lived here in the latter part of his life.
• Old Post Office Farm, Mottram. The plinth above the door says - N.W.M. 1694. Built by Nicholas and Martha Wagstaffe. The farmstead was rented from the Wilbrahams when they were Lords of Longdendale.
• The Old Schoolhouse in Mottram. This is a listed building and situated at the base of Warhill, Mottram.
• The old stocks, Mottram. The name Mottram is claimed to mean Court House or alternatively, Meeting Place.

  not Longdendale

• The Underbank, Stockport. Part of the old section of Stockport near the location of the old Castle (of which nothing now remains except a small section of the outer bailey that is behind the shops on the immediate left of this photograph).
• Underbank Hall, Stockport. Now a NatWest branch and one of the few remaining buildings from the Tudor period left in Stockport.

All photographs linked from this page are free to use with acknowledgment that includes the words, 'spaceless.com'.