Thursday 30 October 2014

The Winter gardens, Cleethorpes.

The Winter gardens, Cleethorpes.

It started out as the art deco style Olympia in 1934, and it was built with compensation which local railway worker George Eyre received from an accident which resulted in his legs being amputated. George's wife, Rose, owned the land on which Olympia was erected.

After the war in 1946, the establishment was reopened as the Winter Gardens. The Winter Gardens held a range of events including rock gigs, a Melody Night and a Tea Dance. Groups that played the venue include Suzi Quattro, Doctor Feelgood, Wishbone Ash, The Hamsters, Brix, Queen, AC/DC, The Damned, the Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, Genesis, Black Sabbath, Queen, Free, Hawkwind, Edgar Broughton Band, Family, Egg, Thin Lizzy, Roxy Music with Brian Ferry, Caravan, Colosseum, and Taste, some of these up-and-coming during the late 1960s and early 1970s[citation needed] It also hosted an annual folk festival for many years,[when?] featuring concerts, ceilidhs, craft stalls, and workshops and performances by local dance teams.[citation needed] One of the most popular events was presented by the Colin Chamley Band along with local singer Sandra Browne. Northern soul events also took place at the winter gardens and established it as one of the major venues for Northern Soul in the UK and up there with Wigan Casino and The Twisted Wheel.

Melody Night took place every Wednesday Evening, through to 2am, and was famous throughout the county of Lincolnshire and beyond, thanks to the local economy needing to bring in contractors from all over the country. However it's nickname of "The Bags Ball" still lives in the memory of those that frequented it, much more than it's official name of "Melody Night"

15th Aug 2013, plans have been unveiled for a £3.5-million housing development on the former Winter Gardens site in Cleethorpes. 

Demolition
The Winter Gardens were demolished in the summer of 2007 through a decision made by North East Lincolnshire Council the previous February. Prior to demolition there had been local representations for and against closure. After demolition an apartment development began on the site, but was halted because of the economic downturn. In June 2013 the site was still empty, being used as a car park at £4 a day.


The above text courtesy of Wikipedia.

Tuesday 28 October 2014

Doddington Hall Sculpture Exhibition, 2014. (Part 5 of 6)






These were back lit little cameo scenes in display cases.  Very "Halloween"!!

Another back lit scene, this one was more like "The Bates Motel"!!!!
(See the girl in the shower!!)

More plaster figures.




A pair of busts!


I liked these flower sculptures.





The last part of this series will follow soon.

Monday 27 October 2014

Cleethorpes Railway Station.

Cleethorpes Railway Station.


Station Approach leading to Cleethorpes Railway Station.

The clock tower is a well known local landmark. 
Cleethorpes station was opened in 1863 by what later became the Great Central Railway and linked the coastal resort to Sheffield and Manchester. The station layout was remodelled in 1889 to give six platforms and two carriage sidings extending in the direction of Grimsby. By 1891 the carriage sidings had been increased to six and extended to a new signal box at Suggitt's Lane. This layout also included a turntable to the rear of the signal box. A 1910 report into work carried out the previous year refers to new crossovers to enable trains to arrive and depart from any platform. The signal box by this time had 100 levers and was jointly the third largest on the Great Central system with Marylebone.
The original GCR station buildings on platform one were replaced by the current single storey BR-era structures in 1961-2,[1] but they still stand and are now used as train crew accommodation.

Until 1985 the station and surrounding area was still controlled by a mechanical signal box with full semaphore signalling, including double track throughout to Grimsby and beyond. However, a resignalling scheme for the entire area saw the line to Grimsby singled & the number of platforms reduced to four (numbers 1–3 and 5). Platform 5 was renumbered 4 and the Diesel Fuelling Road is what used to be platform 6. The signal box was closed & demolished and new colour light signals installed which were operated from a panel in the signal box at Pasture Street in Grimsby. In later works the platform surfaces have been rebuilt to modern specifications.

In the 1970s Cleethorpes had a twice daily return service to London Kings Cross, typically hauled by a Class 55 Deltic.

Even after resignalling until the withdrawal of locomotive hauled cross-Pennine services and the through Kings Cross service, evening time at Cleethorpes was a very busy time with most arrivals requiring cleaning through the carriage washer, fuelling on the small fuel point and shunting into the various departure positions for the following morning. Locomotives returned to the diesel depot at Immingham for overnight servicing, and the High Speed Train from Kings Cross was fuelled at the fuelling point at the rear of what used to be called Hawkeys Cafe via a siding that went round the back of the Wash Plant control building and joined up with the old Platform 6 road.
The Mermaid Cafe at Cleethorpes Railway Station.


As of 2004 only platforms 2 and 3 remained in use, but as of 2007, Platform 1 has reopened and all platforms have recently been fitted with new information displays. Other platforms at the station remain unused are in a state of neglect as sand has blown from the nearby beach onto the lines and formed drifts. Platform 1 is used by only First TransPennine Express Services to Manchester, platform 2 for Northern Rail services to Barton on Humber, and platform 3 for peak hour services to/from Sheffield (including the Saturdays-only service via Brigg & Retford).
About half a mile north are the station's cleaning facilities, which are used in the evenings by the units off the TPX Manchester trains. These first arrive on no.3 platform then go out to the washer and then on to the fuelling point. This happens every night with all four units that are stabled there.
First TransPennine Express have built a small depot, to provide stabling, light maintenance and re-fuelling at Cleethorpes for their DMU fleet. The Class 153 units used by other operators do not berth here overnight but work in and out either in service or empty from Doncaster (Northern)/Lincoln (EMT).
All information courtesy of Wikipedia.



Lincolnshire Paintings.

A couple of paintings by my wife Carole.

A rainy day along Cleethorpes Promenade.
(Acrylic)

Sunset at the Humber Bridge, taken from the South (Lincolnshire) side.
(Acrylic).

Friday 24 October 2014

The neighborhood Foxes.

These pictures where taken from the rear of our house.

This fox regularly sleeps on a neighbors' roof on sunny days.

Fast asleep!!

This one has found a spot on an old Clematis.


A mother and 2 cubs.

The 2 two cubs.

Taken with a Panasonic FZ150 + an FZ75 bridge cameras.

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Doddington Hall Sculpture Exhibition, 2014. (Part 4 of 6)

Continuing the series from the Sculpture Exhibition at Doddington Hall Gardens.




An art directer was used to site the various pieces and I think he/she did a good
job here with the sculptures appearing to "introduce" this permanent urn within the gardens.



Another modern piece set alongside this permanent temple.

There were quite a few of these figures that I presume depicted "Earth Mother".  I took a lot
of photo's of them but only include a few in this set.


Being a dog lover this had a special attraction for me.  Ok, I know it's a wolf!

Possibly what the wolf was admiring?

More of the Earth Mothers.






More images from Doddington to follow soon.

Monday 20 October 2014

A few Doggy Pics. (2 of 2)

More "doggy Pics".

My old dog Jasper, he knew how to relax.  Sadly he's no longer with us.








This little dog was spotted at a Steam Rally.