Tag: Manchester Corporation
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Fog!
There can be few sights more incongruous than that of a half-century-old bright red Manchester Corporation Leyland PD2 making its way through lush, green Derbyshire countryside on a warm sunny day with the word FOG displayed in huge letters on its via blind. But that was one of the attractions of the June 2009 Chatsworth…
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To School by Bus – Part Four
Not read Part Three Click here I mentioned that the daytime schedule on the #31 was not enhanced at rush periods and there was a good reason for this – the #31A. The #31 ran from Manchester, by 1958 using the Chorlton St terminus, to the Cheshire village of Bramhall and was exclusively MCTD. Never…
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To School by Bus – Part Three
Not read Part Two Click here The alternative route to school in 1958 was through Didsbury and Withington, along Wilmslow Rd. As with the route along Kingsway there were two services available but they were of an altogether different nature to the #29 and #40. The Manchester #1 was a limited stop service between Gatley…
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To School by Bus – Part Two
Not read Part One Click here In September 1958 the Manchester Corporation #40 from Parrs Wood to Albert Sq was entrusted to the Northern Counties bodied 1953/54 batch of Leyland PD2s (3300-3329) all of which were delivered to Parrs Wood where most stayed for the next 15 or so years until withdrawn – apart from…
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To School by Bus – Part One
54 years ago few children were driven to school by their parents and most of those who, at ten or eleven, passed the Eleven Plus exam and went on to grammar school (and not a few who didn’t and went to secondary or technical school) found themselves travelling by bus using normal services, often changing…
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From Heaton Moor to Ashton under Lyne 1956
In early 1955 my father started work as a rep for a London based electronics components company, covering the whole of the UK and Ireland except the Home Counties – though visits to London were frequent. During school holidays I used to travel the country with him and was able to see a much wider…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Two
Not seen the start of this article Click Here One of the problems of driving a large vehicle in a city is having to constantly change gear. Add frequent stops for passengers, having to steer eight tons without powered steering when sitting next to a hot and noisy diesel engine, not to mention having to…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Three
Not seen the start of this article Click Here The evolution of the British double deck bus began with the stagecoach lines of the 18th century. The “engine” (horses) was at the front, the driver sat at the front of the vehicle with a clear view of the road, passengers sat inside and on top…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Four
Not seen the start of this article Click Here Ralph Bennett didn’t have far to travel for his interview. As General Manager at Bolton he had been at the forefront of turning the ugly duckling Atlantean if not into a swan, at least into something that looked pleasing – and a great deal more advanced…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Tailpiece
All the articles published over the last few months were originally written between 2006 and 2009 for a Manchester Forum dealing basically with local history. They have been updated and corrected with new or better information that has come to light in the meantime. Re-writing these articles has been both a trip down memory lane…