My younger son is married to a girl from Rochdale and travelled down there for Christmas. Unfortunately his present to me got mixed in with the Rochdale ones. Hence I did not receive this lovely surprise till the New Year had arrived. A 1000 piece jigsaw depicting Boghead Park, home of the mighty Sons of the Rock for well over a hundred years.

Slightly belated but nevertheless very welcome.

(We currently have a different jigsaw on the go so this one will be on the back burner for a while.)

Hollingsworth Lake is near Rochdale. I mentioned it two posts ago. In 2017 I took these three photographs from its shores.

In November 2018 we visited Rochdale for the second time.

I photographed two more Deco style buildings.

Former King’s Cinema later converted to Bingo but that has also closed and the building is now in a sad state of neglect:-

Spotland Bridge. The unusual roofline, projecting beyond the slope of the roof, gives it the deco look:-

Art Deco style cinema in Evesham, Worcestershire.

Not perhaps as high deco as the Regal, Rochdale, or the Embassy, Braintree, this is still clearly deco with its rounded corner, the rule of three in windows to left and chevron patterned doors:-

Central portion:-

Doors:-

From left. Rule of three in windows again:-

English Football Tier 3,* Spotland,** 24/11/18.

As you can tell from this post’s title I’ve been away again. Down to see friends in Rochdale and seizing the opportunity to take in my first ever English League game. Not my first game in England – that was in Oswestry earlier this year, that wonderful magical night.

As you can see from the programme cover it was celebrating Ian Henderson’s 100 goals for the club.

My main impression overall was that the players’ work rate was higher than in the SPFL (Tier 3 or 2.) In particular the pressing was sharper and quicker.

I was a bit surprised to recognise the referee (from highlight games.) It was none other than Lee Probert. A high profile referee for a 3rd tier game surely?

Rochdale started on the front foot but Stanley’s more direct style soon had them making inroads at the back. Dale’s keeper Josh Lillis was only just back from injury and initially looked shaky, spilling the ball on his first contact but he was called on three times in the first half and made good stops each time. Stanley seemed prepared to shoot on sight but were only on target those three times. Dale tended to play the ball about at the back and tried to pass their way through but mostly didn’t penetrate. Dale’s number 7 scurried about, though, and his running style reminded me very much of Kenny Miller. Stanley had more of the first half but lacked that clinical edge.

Things changed in the second. Dale substitute forward Calvin Andrew immediately brought a new focus to the attack. Whatever Ian Henderson’s qualities winning high balls isn’t to the fore. Andrew put himself about and won the first four of his aerial duels. Thereafter the man marking resorted to climbing over him to get the ball. The Dale fans weren’t too keen on Probert’s failure to penalise that.

For all Dale manager Keith Hill’s desire to play football it was ironic that the goal came from that most basic of football attacking ploys, an inswinging corner. Ian Henderson worked himself room in the box to head it down and in. I thought the keeper might possibly have done better and kept it out but it squirmed under him. So goal no. 101 for Hendo. I think it was Dale’s only effort on target.

Stanley pushed in the final ten minutes but were reduced to long range efforts only, none of which troubled Lillis. Young David Perkins came on and perked up Dale’s midfield. He looked very much one for the future. Apparently Dale’s football academy is now one of the most respected in England.

It was a good result for my first experience of Spotland which is a tidy ground with stands on all four sides, the one behind the goal at Dale’s favourite end standing only. Stanley’s supporters filled the middle portion of the stand opposite the main one and made a lot of noise at the start. This faded towards the end. Dale’s supporters were notably more quiet and only roused thenselves a few times but it seems they take a good lot on away trips.

*EFL Tier 2 – call it Sky Bet League One if you must.

**The Crown Oil Arena, no less – it’ll always be Spotland to me.

I thought I’d take a respite from Norway for a while so here are some pictures of Liverpool where our friends from Rochdale took us on one of our days with them.

Liverpool is a bustling city with a lot of fine architecture.

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral from the side of the River Mersey:-

It’s a traditional kind of building, quite chunky and solid.

View from the road:-

Liverpool Catholic Cathedral is by contrast in a much more modern style, a bit like a tepee in appearance:-

Keeping up the ecclesiastical theme, the bus tour we were taken on stopped at traffic lights by St Luke’s, a bombed out church which wasn’t restored after World War 2 as reminder and memorial:-

St Luke’s bombed out church:-

St Luke’s Church spire:-

*As the line from the song In my Liverpool Home has it,

I liked this frieze above the windows of Rochdale Museum:-

Also these stained glass windows which seem to be on someone’s extension:-

Across the road from the Museum was a green park-like area with this iron pedestrian bridge:-

Nearby was this statue of John Bright:-

This spire-y thing is by the side of the road. I’ve no idea what it’s for:-

The town centre has this statue of sheep (rams):-

And spot the dedication on the bridge (which I ought to have placed in yesterday’s post):-

Rochdale is the home of the modern Co-operative Movement, through the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers

The original site of their first shop, in Toad Lane, is now a museum:-

Side view with Co-op Tea painted on the brick:-

The museum extends into the modern building you can see on the left in the first photo.

Just up Toad Lane are two shopfronts which are Victorian in appearance with lovely stained glass:-

On the other side of the entrance to Toad Lane is a memorial to the Kobe earthquake, which, from its inscription, seems to have something to do with the Co-operative movement:-

Like the Cenotaph in London (and the one in Manchester) Rochdale’s War Memorial was designed by Edwin Lutyens.

It lies opposite the Town Hall, but not facing it, with a memorial gardens behind.

Inscribed “1914-1919 and 1939-1945”. The carved wreath encloses the arms of Rochdale:-

The Stone of Remembrance faces the Town Hall and is inscribed, “Their name liveth for evermore.” The small bronze plaque reads, “To all those who died in the service of their country”:-

Strictly speaking the memorial is not a cenotaph (empty tomb) as it has a figure of a recumbent soldier wrapped in his greatcoat at its summit:-

Rochdale War Memorial Gardens which serve as Rochdale’s memorial to the Second World War:-

A Gallipoli Memorial lies between the Main War memorial and the Memorial Gardens:-

The Memorial Gardens, inscribed as a Memorial to the Rochdale members of the Lancashire Fusiliers :-

In front of and behind the Memorial – at right angles to the Town Hall – are two memorial benches:-

Apart from the Town Hall there are several fine buildings in Rochdale town centre, a few of them banks or former banks.

Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS:-

This has “bank” inscribed in the stone above the door but is somewhat anonymous now:-

Lloyd’s Bank (the rounded building):-

If you look closely at the above picture you can see a blue plaque. It was once the Union Flag Inn. In 1745 a confrontation between the Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the town authorities took place here:-

Beside Lloyd’s Bank is the very modern Beales and behind and above both a building with faded writing on the brick. “Rochdale (something I can’t make out; equitable?) Pioneer Society (something I can’t make out.)” The Co-operative movement started in Rochdale (see later post):-

This building has a fine cupola:-