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15 August 2016

THE DENTON FLYER | BRITIAN'S LEAST FREQUENT TRAIN SERVICE


Last Friday at 09:22 exactly I boarded the Stockport to South Reddish to Denton to Stalybridge service,  known at the Denton Flyer. It is Britain's least frequent train service, running once a week, one way. A true Ghost Train. [ aka a 'Parliamentary Special' ]

Some background info:

Denton railway station is a station in Denton, Greater Manchester, on the Stockport-Stalybridge line, famous for having one train a week in one direction only (currently calling on Friday mornings at 9:32am), christened the "Denton Flyer".With 30 passenger entries and exits between April 2011 and March 2012, Denton is the third-least used station in Great Britain.  [ more

So onto the journey... 

The announcement [ AUDIO ] :
  The train itself:


Leaving Stockport - 4 people (including me) on board:

A video posted by Tom Clarke (@visuals0und) on

  The train then passes through Reddish South (check out the Friends of Reddish South)
I think four more people got on...


Then at 09.32, the service arrives at Denton Station, where I got off. It then heads onto Stalybridge.

Nobody else got off the train, or got on the train, at Denton Station.

Thank you for the wave inspector!

A video posted by Tom Clarke (@visuals0und) on


Welcome to Denton Station (not many get to see this sign...) 



The 'Friends Of Denton Station' are a group campaigning for the reinstatement of regular train services from Denton into Manchester. They've worked with local schools to raise awareness, arranged for a new station sign and ran petitions - you can show your support be becoming a friend of Denton Station too..


The National Rail website lists this bench as the only amenity at Denton Station.


Poster about the Friends of Denton Station's campaign


The station wasn't totally deserted though - as I was leaving this single Freightliner carriage rolled through...


Denton Station did find some fame last year when appearing on Paul Merton's 'Secret Stations' - click here to view.


& from time to time, Denton Station welcomes some exotic guests, such as the Scarborough Flyer, which passed through in 2011:





 So until the next departure, here's a poster from a recent project that the 'Friends of the station' group did with Denton Community College...

 

08 August 2016

DANCEHALL 45 LABEL ART | 1983 TO 2003



Have been enjoying Soul Jazz Records' ace 'SOUNDSYSTEM : REGGAE 45 LABEL ART' book recently but it ends at 1979, on the brink of the 80s dancehall explosion. Hopefully they'll cover that era in a follow up volume but in the meantime, here's a few photos of some sevens I found in various shoeboxes...

Should probs link up each one but not sure how many will be online currently, Instead there's a dancehall mix at the end, features quite a few of these, from 1983 through to 2003...































A 2006 mix of various UK / JA / NYC sevens, dubs & 12s...

04 August 2016

SECRET CONCRETE GRAFFITI TEMPLE | CHORLTON MANCHESTER


Located in the depths of the Chorlton Ees Nature Reserve lies the former Mersey Valley Water Pumping Station Secret Concrete Graffiti Temple, AKA [incorrectly in terms of local council boundaries] Withington Pumping Station

It's a super brutalist concrete structure that's currently abandoned so has become a spot to paint without any outside interference. It's worth a visit - just walk down from Chorlton Green en route to Jackson's Boat and swing right, when you get to this gate...


Photos of the art below but assume it changes week to week.



















& here's a kinda similarly-themed soundtrack, recorded in Chorlton in 1999,