Fred Dibnah was a steeplejack and television personality from Bolton, who was well loved because of his infectious enthusiasm and passion for engineering. His home became his playground, littered with many of his homemade projects. Since his death in 2004, the venue has become a heritage centre thanks to Leon Powsney who took over after Fred’s death, aided by some of Fred’s friends including Alf Molyneux who was one of Fred’s best friends and who starred with him on the BBC Made in Britain series.

All images taken with Android phone.

On our drive to Poole’s cavern and Buxton country park we stopped to take in some of the views and of course take a few pictures.

Once we arrived we walked to the summit of Grin Hill, just a 20 minute brisk walk from Poole’s Cavern, to Buxton’s very own folly, Solomon’s Temple.

Solomon’s Temple actually occupies a site of ancient significance. It rises from the centre of an ancient burial mound, and during the tower’s construction an archaeological dig revealed several Bronze Age skeletons from the ‘Beaker’ period, along with later Roman items.

After taking a short rest to enjoy the spectacular views across the High Peak we resulted to take a guided tour of Poole’s cavern.

You can find more information from Poole’s cavern official website at poolescavern.co.uk

It says “Take a journey beneath the earth with expert guides, explore the vast limestone caverns see how crystal stalactites have lined the chambers over millions of years.”

We did and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Hesketh Park is one of the largest parks in Southport. The Victorian Park has plenty to offer visitors, a short mile walk away and with plenty of on street parking, this picturesque park is a perfect place to lose track of time.

The gardens and ornate fountains have been restored and reconstructed, to bring the park back to its former glory. There are numerous nature trails, varied wildlife, a large lake, a children’s play area.

All photos taken with a mobile phone camera.

We recently went for a drive to Uppermill, which is a lovely village in Saddleworth, well worth a day out, here are some photos of the day, at the bottom of this post is a Google map of the location, hope you enjoy the photographs, all done with my mobile phone.

A post shared by Mike Turner (@miketurnerphotos) on Nov 12, 2017 at 6:19am PST

I grew up in Lowton, living there until the age of 17, I have now worked in Lowton for 10 years and still have close family in the village. So I’ve seen many changes in the area over the years, not many of them positive to be honest, the latest being the demolition of Lowton Civic Hall. It was sad to see it go so easily, I’m glad I managed to grab the video when I did, because a couple of weeks after taking it the centre was no more. The video above was taken using an android phone so please excuse the quality.

Below is a brief history of Lowton Civic Hall later known as the Rose center which was a centerpiece for the area known as HMS Cabbala, Scotia North and Lowton Meadows at various times in it’s history.

In 1939 farmland at the bottom of what is now known as Hesketh Meadow lane, was compulsory purchased by the war department with the intention to be used for accommodation for the munitions factory at Risley Moss and was to be known as Risley Hostels.

Building work began in 1941 on a self-contained village which was designed to house 600 workers but in 1942 before the first resident could move in plans were changed and it was instead used as a Royal Navy signal training centre known as HMS Cabbala.

There were approx 600 sailors and 60 wrens on what was known as a land-based ship until 1946, teaching top secret methods of sending and receiving messages including the Morse code.

After the Navy vacated the site it became an hostel for displaced Eastern European people who mainly worked in the local coal mines.

It was later taken over by the Ministry of Works who used it to house American service personnel and their families from the base at Burtonwood and was called Scotia North.

In 1960 it was taken over by the Golborne Urban District Council and used to house local families becoming part of the council housing stock. It was locally known as The Meadows.

In 1974 Wigan Metropolitan Borough council took over all the local district councils in the area including Golborne, and subsequently decided to demolished the village, re-housing residents on a new council house estate built nearby, now known as Egerton road estate.

However the Civic Hall was retained for leisure purposes up until 2011 when it was sold into private hands, being renamed the Rose Centre, later falling into disuse.

The Hall was demolished in November 2017, shortly after the video above was filmed.