Birchwood - Photo Galleries

Welcome
Welcome to my Birchwood Photo Galleries, several of which also have local history information.

Encounter	The sculpture that forms the gateway to Birchwood. With sunset photos from 2007 and photos with the new floodlighting in two different colours added January 2008.
Pestfurlong Hill Views	Views to the north, the east and the south, including Manchester, Rivington Pike, and Bosley Cloud, all taken from the highest point in Birchwood, plus pictures and history of the hill itself. Night-time photos added Jan 2008.
Sunrise	The results of an early walk on a frosty and misty October morning in 2007 - sunrise from Pestfurlong Hill.
Risley Moss	A new section with local history and several gallery pages of Risley Moss, a designated Local Nature Reserve and SSSI in Birchwood. Also includes a video of Risley Moss Winter Walks. *NEW - Risley Moss micro-site - July 2009*
Risley ROF	Remnants of Risley Royal Ordnance Factory - Walled Garden, Pillbox and other photos, placed in an historical context. Completely re-written and new photos added Jan 2008.
Walled Garden	Now with a second page with aerial photos from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and with a new video added to the main gallery page. *UPDATED - October 2009*
Birchwood's Wartime Bunkers	Modern photos of the bunkers that remain with clues to their past and a description of where some of the 16 bunkers that were demolished would have been in today's landscape. Vastly expanded from the section that was previously on the ROF page.
Business Parks	An historical perspective of Birchwood Park, the Science Park, the Connections sculpture and surrounding areas in words and pictures.
Birchwood's New Hotel	Birchwood's first hotel opens for business on 19th January 2009. This page records the progress as the hotel building took shape. Photos are still being added, so this page is being actively updated. Latest update has photos taken on 18th January 2009.
Warrington Road	A virtual tour along Warrington Road, once the main road through the village of Risley, with a flavour of how it has changed over the years.
Autumn Images	Changing colours of autumn - a video slideshow from October 2009 and November walks in 2006 between Oakwood Gate and Birchwood Forest Park. *UPDATED - October 2009*
Winter	Completely reorganised with several galleries from different years, this section is currently being populated with new images from the Jan 2010 snowfall. NEW and UPDATED - January 2010
Christmas	Photos and videos of Christmas lights and events in Birchwood since 2007. Includes coverage of Rachel Adedeji at the Birchwood Christmas Extravaganza in November 2009 and Birchwood's Community Carols event. Also includes some footage of Warrington Town Centre. *UPDATED - December 2009*
Carnival	A small gallery of photographs from Birchwood Carnival events since 2007. At the 2009 event, I was involved for the first time, with material in the local history display within the marquee.
Wildflowers	Summer 2009 saw a blaze of colour across Birchwood as the newly sown wildflower meadows sprang up with a colourful display. This gallery records some of the colour on display locally during June and July. *NEW GALLERY - added Aug 2009*

Dragonflies in Risley Moss	This link takes you to another section of my site, to a gallery of dragonflies, most of which were photographed in Risley Moss in August and September 2008.
Risley Moss	The Visitor Centre at Risley Moss pictured at dusk after an evening walk in May 2008.
Birchwood Forest Park	Afternoon sun illuminating the autumn colours along the path between the Park and the Fire Station, pictured early November 2007.
Remembrance Sunday 2009	Photos of the two memorials in Birchwood pictured on Remembrance Sunday, the modern memorial next to the main entrance of Birchwood Shopping Centre and the older memorial in the grounds of the former Risley Presbyterian Church. The Risley image was published in the Winter 2009 edition of Birchwood Community News.

Permission has been given for non-commercial use of my photos by the following Community Organisations:

Some of my photos are also published on the website of Birchwood Community Church birchwood-church.org

Hope 09 - Future Past
This was a project by learners at Birchwood Community High School in June and July 2009. One of the teams "Future Past" was looking at Birchwood past, present and future. Within their project work, they used some information and photos from my Birchwood pages. Their work has been on display since Summer 2009 in the windows of The Encounter Centre (Birchwood Community Church), the former Silver Birch building at the Birchwood Shopping Centre. I have taken some photos of the display that are published on the website of Birchwood Community Church

I have also taken photos specifically for the Birchwood Partnership and have made photos available to other local organisations

Images on this site are copyrighted and should not be used or re-published without permission. More details here. I normally agree to free use of my photos by non-commercial organisations. If commercial organisations wish to make use of my work, I will be pleased to discuss your requirements, both in terms of stock photos and specific assignments. The photos published on these pages are a small selection of my work. I also welcome ideas and suggestions for other themed galleries of Birchwood.