F C of S T O C K P O R T C O U N T Y in Edgeley

Spotting the final parts of the Stockport County street art in Edgeley.

We recently noticed some newly placed street art in the form of mosaic tiles spelling out "STOCKPORT" along Castle Street in Edgeley. It was a nice surprise to see it, and after a bit of research we found that the group behind the street art were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad.

During another wander around our local area we spotted another "O", which led us to find other tile art letters that spelled out "COUNTY".

We then found out that there were 17 mosaics in total - and we'd found 15 of them. So we set out to find the final two to spell out the final words in the Edgeley Mosaic Trail.

The final two pieces of the puzzle

A map for the Edgeley Mosaic Trail can be found on the Stockport County FC website.

The C O U N T Y part of S T O C K P O R T

Spotting some more street art in Stockport.

We recently noticed some newly placed street art in the form of mosaic tiles spelling out "STOCKPORT" along Castle Street in Edgeley. It was a nice surprise to see it, and after a bit of research we found that the group behind the street art were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad.

During another wander around our local area we spotted another "O", which led us to find other tile art letters that spelled out "COUNTY".

A trail map for the S T O C K P O R T letter mosaic artwork is coming soon...

New mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Finding some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. Earlier this week we spotted a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

We did a bit of further research - as well as receiving a comment from the artists on Instagram - and found that the group behind the new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley were Grit Studios, Mosaics in Manchester, Stockport County Community Trust, and The Writing Squad. It's from some of the same team that were behind the prominent 'The Scarf My Father Wore' mural project in Edgeley.

The Scarf My Father Wore Mural, snow and Christmas tree in Edgeley in January this year

A trail map for the S T O C K P O R T letter mosaic artwork is coming soon...

S

T

O

C

K

P

O

R

T

You can find some other nice mosaics in Edgeley at the Library on Edgeley Road.

There's also a lot of superb street art around the town centre and wider borough.

We're big fans of Invader's work too, and you can find Invader Was Here mosaics in Manchester city centre.

We'll be keeping an eye our for more of Mosaics in Manchester's work too - we've seen some pieces on our walks around the city before.

Check out these other posts about mosaics on the blog.

S T O C K P O R T mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport

Spotting some new mosaic tile street art in Edgeley, Stockport.

We're big fans of street art and it's always fun spotting new pieces when wandering. We noticed a new piece showing a circle/letter O on the side of The Friary fish & chip shop on Castle Street in Edgeley and on a subsequent walk found the letter R on the Royal Oak pub, so guessed there were more letters that would spell out the word "STOCKPORT"!

Mosaic tile street art on Castle Street in Edgeley, Stockport

There are no other markings on the artwork so we don't know who did it, and we're pretty sure they're very recent additions to the fabric of Edgeley as we are round that way pretty much every day and hadn't noticed them before.

They're a very nice touch, so a job well done to the artist or artists behind them. 

Edgeley Station mural mosaic on the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport

Edgeley Station mosaic to be removed and replaced in Stockport.

The Edgeley Station tile mosaic on the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport will be removed as part of the year-long works to replace the bridge the roundabout sits on.

The Greek Street roundabout in Stockport - you can see the 'Edgeley Station' mural on the left of the photo. I wonder how many roundabouts are also bridges over railway lines?

Unfortunately the original mosaic won't be able to be put back in place, so a new mural in keeping with the heritage of the roundabout will be put there at the end of the works.

The Edgeley Station mural mosaic on the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport. The roundabout is also known locally as the Armoury roundabout after the armoury military installation and pub there. Stockport railway station hasn't been called Edgeley Station, or Stockport Edgeley Station for many many years! 

Social distancing at Freeman, Hardy & Willis

A look at some new decals on an old shop doorway mosaic.

We saw these modern day social distancing floor markings at the entrance of a charity shop while having a walk along Magdalen Street in Norwich last month.

The shop was once a branch of the national footwear chain Freeman, Hardy & Willis. All that remains of that brand is the lovely old advertising mosaic in the doorway.

Yarmouth Stores in Lowestoft

We saw this nice old shop doorway tile mosaic advertising Yarmouth Stores while in Lowestoft last month.

The company was incorporated in 1898 and is still trading today. Check out the Yarmo website for more information.

The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail in Southampton

Finding an art trail in Southampton.

It's always fun finding art trails when out exploring and while in Southampton we found two. The first was The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail.

The 400 mosaics were placed around the city to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from the UK to America.

The other art trail was the Elephant Parade - the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues.

Visit the The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail section of the Southampton council website for more information.

Old Littlewoods logo in Ashton-under-Lyne

Finding an old mosaic tile logo at the former Littlewoods shop on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne.

A few doors down from the old Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne is a Cash Converters. The doorways to that shop also hold a link to the past.

Past meets present - the decades old Littlewoods logo and the signs of the pandemic times of 2020

Before becoming Cash Converters the building was home to Hitchens, a catalogue clearance store.

Another interesting thing about the building is that the street light is attached to the building itself, rather than on a pole.

Many thanks to Richard Eccles on Instagram for help in identifying the logo.

Old Woolworths sign in Ashton-under-Lyne

Finding an old mosaic tile logo at the former Woolworths on Stamford Street Central in Ashton-under-Lyne.

This branch of Woolies opened in 1927. It closed in the 1960s.

The building is now a charity shop for the Wooden Canal Boat Society.

I found out about this old logo on the excellent Woolies Buildings blog.

It's great to look up, down and all around while out exploring as you can see so many interesting things.

You can see still other remnants of Woolworths on the UK high street if you know where to look.

We visited the old Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent earlier this month. It's one of the few former Woolworths shops that has not been occupied since the brand's demise in January 2009.

We also spotted an old Woolworths store in Brunstane, Edinburgh on a minigolfing trip back in August 2011. That was the Big W Woolworths store at The Jewel retail park.

Invaders in Manchester

A look at a piece of Invader street art in Manchester.

It was nice to have a walk round Manchester again for the first time in a while on Saturday.

One of the best free-to-do activities in the city centre is to look for street art. There's plenty of it about.

Space Invaders

Manchester is the site of an Invasion by French street artist Invader. He created 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970 back in 2004.

You have to look in a wide-range of places to see the Invaders

Over the years some of these retro video game inspired pieces have been damaged, removed or stolen. While some have been lost entirely because the building they were on has been demolished!

Luckily some of these lost Invaders have been replaced.

Look up!

Space Invaders in Gateshead

A look at the seven Gateshead Invaders.

The French street artist known as Invader has invaded London, Manchester and Newcastle. On our trip to the World Transplant Games in Newcastle last weekend we were able to add to our tally of Invaders spotted.

Clockwise from top left - NCL_21, NCL_19, NCL_20, NCL_14, NCL_25, NCL_05 and NCL_06

There were originally 25 Space Invaders in Newcastle and Gateshead. Made during the INVASION of Newcastle in 2006. One has since been destroyed. We've found the remaining 24, with seven of these 'Newcastle Invaders' over the border in Gateshead.

• NCL_05
• NCL_06
• NCL_14
• NCL_19
• NCL_20
• NCL_21
• NCL_25

You can find them at Gateshead Interchange, on the approach to the Sage Gateshead and at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Invader has so far invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3785 pieces.

To date I've managed to find 120 Invaders, worth 3040 points on the Flash Invaders app. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13640 in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 34485. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2544 of them!

Looking for the Space Invaders has been great fun and we've seen lots of the parts of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader hunting.

Street art in Manchester

On Monday I managed to see two of the latest reactivated Invader street art pieces in Manchester.

The French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

This Mario Invader is one of my favourites

Over the years some have been damaged, removed and stolen. While some have been lost because the building they were on was knocked down!

That was the case for MAN_15.

The new MAN_15 on a new building in Manchester city centre

A closer look at MAN_15

Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3779 pieces in total.

The reactivated Invader MAN_46. It's probably in the grubbiest location in Manchester

In the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

During my latest trip to Manchester I also saw some of Mr Do Not's stickers in town.

No Space Invaders

No Monopoly

No photos and no love

And I noticed a new sticker has been added to the large Invader piece MAN_45.

The wall around MAN_45 has got increasingly busy in the last year or so

Kim Chunk Un!

Space Invaders street art

As fans of retro video games, tickable lists and urban exploration it's been brilliant to go 'Invader Hunting' over the last year and a half.

Invader LDN_120 in London

Luckily for us French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

Invader MAN_16 in Manchester

Here in the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

Invader LDN_24 on Brick Lane in London

But it's in Paris that Invader has really made his mark, with more than 1414 Invaders worth a total of 37650 points to be found all over the city!

Emily's first flashed Invader

Emily's first official Invader logged on the Flash Invaders app was in Paris - PA_598.

PA_598 was worth 10 points

To date I've managed to snap 112 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 2890 points. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13281st in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 62128th. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2527 of them!

The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street

Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun and we've seen a lot of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leader-board for something too.

Invader NCL_01 in Newcastle is worth 30 points

To date Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3776 pieces.

Invader LDN_99 in London