Past bus routes in Manchester

[riceuten]

I Always assumed the point of the 253 was to allow students a quicker journey to Uni/Colleges around Oxford Road area on a morning.

Another one in Manchester is the once a day (M-Fri) in one direction service 108,running from Timperley near Wythenshawe into Manchester - Odd that it does not have a return journey meaning anyone from Timperley or the Wythenshawe Park area can get a direct bus on a morning into the city,but on a evening have to either get a bus into Wythenshawe bus stn & change or use the tram & walk.

Moderator note: Split from existing thread

Trivia: Britain's Strangest Bus Routes

Hi all. After reading this very interesting article about strange bus routes in London, it got me thinking... What are some strange (or unique) bus routes within Britain as a whole? Obviously this can be for a variety of reasons, but I'm going to start things off with the ridiculously short...

www.railforums.co.uk

I remember the 108 being a regular service is the 1970s and 1980s, and travelling to see Altrincham FC on it.

 

[daodao]

Regarding Stagecoach routes 253 and 255, these are the descendants of NWRCC routes 3 and 5 from Flixton which were worked from their Urmston depot and ran via Church Road and Flixton Road respectively. Route 3 used to be hourly and ran via Deansgate to the Exchange terminus; I recall seeing it on many occasions as a youngster while waiting on Deansgate for a bus on route 94 (ex tram route 37) to Southern Cemetery; the bus stop also served route 48 (later route 64 and then 264) to Altrincham. Route 5 ran to Piccadilly - I don't recall its exact route, but the street map of Hulme/Moss Side has been revised radically in the last 60 years.

Route 108 was a M/c CT route from Timperley (Hare & Hounds) to Piccadilly via Northern Moor, Princess Road, Denmark Road and Cambridge Street, which ran hourly and was nominally joint with NWRCC. It was only extended to Altrincham in the mid 1970s. It alternated with route 44 (latterly route 109, and also hourly) from Baguley Sanatorium; the number 44 was a historic number succeeding the tram route of the same number to Southern Cemetery. The M-F morning inbound journeys on route 108 are all that survive - I presume the new tram service (the old trams never got to Wythenshawe) has abstracted the passengers from Northern Moor and Wythenshawe Hospital to the city centre.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Regarding Stagecoach routes 253 and 255, these are the descendants of NWRCC routes 3 and 5 from Flixton which were worked from their Urmston depot and ran via Church Road and Flixton Road respectively. Route 3 used to be hourly and ran via Deansgate to the Exchange terminus; I recall seeing it on many occasions as a youngster while waiting on Deansgate for a bus on route 94 (ex tram route 37) to Southern Cemetery; the bus stop also served route 48 (later route 64 and then 264) to Altrincham. Route 5 ran to Piccadilly - I don't recall its exact route, but the street map of Hulme/Moss Side has been revised radically in the last 60 years.

The 255 is indeed the descendant of the NWRCC 5, it ran via Flixton Road between Flixton and Urmston, and followed the main Chester Road into Manchester City Centre, turning right onto Gt Bridgewater St and then via Mosley St to Piccadilly (Parker St in fact), returning via Portland St and Chepstow St. The extension to Partington was certainly in place by the early 1980s, although it didn't run beyond Flixton in the evening or Sundays at that time.

The 253 is not the descendant of the 3, however, but the 12, which ran via Church Road and was routed from Trafford Bar via Stretford Road, Hulme (passing some of the iconic "Crescents" flats) and All Saints to approach via Oxford Street then Mosley St to Piccadilly. Return was via Portland St and Princess St, but I can't remember now exactly how it regained the route to All Saints, this probably changed over the years as at one time Oxford Road used to have a tidal flow bus lane.

The NWRCC 3 was indeed Flixton to Manchester Exchange, but it ran via Flixton Road, straight up Chester Road and along most of Deansgate. It became the 254 when the routes were renumbered, and moved to the now-demolished Arndale Bus Station when that was opened (along with the 264 from Altrincham). All the routes were jointly operated with Manchester Corporation in theory, but I seem to recall the 3 was the one on which an MCT bus was most likely to appear.

I was brought up just a few yards form the main bus stop in Urmston, so these routes were very much part of my childhood, and later a brief part of my working life at GMT. Incidentally, Bee Line Buzz Company briefly ran a route 12 between Manchester and Flixton in 1987. This served Church Road, which I think had lost its through service to Manchester at deregulation, but I can't remember the rest of the convoluted route exactly. It was interworked in Piccadilly with the 11 from Stockport, having a rather unwieldy total round trip time of over three hours.

 

[daodao]

The 255 is indeed the descendant of the NWRCC 5, it ran via Flixton Road between Flixton and Urmston, and followed the main Chester Road into Manchester City Centre, turning right onto Gt Bridgewater St and then via Mosley St to Piccadilly (Parker St in fact), returning via Portland St and Chepstow St. The extension to Partington was certainly in place by the early 1980s, although it didn't run beyond Flixton in the evening or Sundays at that time.

The 253 is not the descendant of the 3, however, but the 12, which ran via Church Road and was routed from Trafford Bar via Stretford Road, Hulme (passing some of the iconic "Crescents" flats) and All Saints to approach via Oxford Street then Mosley St to Piccadilly. Return was via Portland St and Princess St, but I can't remember now exactly how it regained the route to All Saints, this probably changed over the years as at one time Oxford Road used to have a tidal flow bus lane.

The NWRCC 3 was indeed Flixton to Manchester Exchange, but it ran via Flixton Road, straight up Chester Road and along most of Deansgate. It became the 254 when the routes were renumbered, and moved to the now-demolished Arndale Bus Station when that was opened (along with the 264 from Altrincham). All the routes were jointly operated with Manchester Corporation in theory, but I seem to recall the 3 was the one on which an MCT bus was most likely to appear.

I was brought up just a few yards form the main bus stop in Urmston, so these routes were very much part of my childhood, and later a brief part of my working life at GMT. Incidentally, Bee Line Buzz Company briefly ran a route 12 between Manchester and Flixton in 1987. This served Church Road, which I think had lost its through service to Manchester at deregulation, but I can't remember the rest of the convoluted route exactly. It was interworked in Piccadilly with the 11 from Stockport, having a rather unwieldy total round trip time of over three hours.

Thanks for your correction regarding NWRCC route 3 in Urmston and its renumbering as route 254 rather than 253. NWRCC route 5 though ran via City Road (rather than Chester Road) into the city centre before passing Lower Mosley Street bus station. I should have looked at my MCT 1960 route map before commenting.

I left M/c in 1973 and only returned to Cheshire in 2005, so the route changes and re-numberings over that lengthy absence passed me by. In any case, I lived in the Barlow Moor area of Chorlton as a child and recall route NWRCC route 3 mainly from its passage along Deansgate. I don't know Urmston well and my only visits there have been to visit my paternal grandparents' graves.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Thanks for your correction regarding NWRCC route 3 in Urmston and its renumbering as route 254 rather than 253. NWRCC route 5 though ran via City Road (rather than Chester Road) into the city centre before passing Lower Mosley Street bus station. I should have looked at my MCT 1960 route map before commenting.

I left M/c in 1973 and only returned to Cheshire in 2005, so the route changes and re-numberings over that lengthy absence passed me by. In any case, I lived in the Barlow Moor area of Chorlton as a child and recall route NWRCC route 3 mainly from its passage along Deansgate. I don't know Urmston well and my only visits there have been to visit my paternal grandparents' graves.

The 5 (later 255) was routed via Chester Road during the period I can remember, so probably by 1970 onwards. The 11 and 23 "top road" routes to Davyhulme and Flixton certainly ran via City Road, as their descendant 256 still does, although that of course now goes via Stretford Arndale (the last set of schedules I did for GMT in 1985 was for this change). The same change should have seen the 254 extended from the AArndale to Piccadilly to interwork with the 253, as the trade union reps were extremely concerned about the congestion on Deansgate, but I left before it was implemented and I can't recall if this made the final plan. The 253 and 254 interworked at Flixton anyway, 3 buses providing an hourly service on each route at that time. The 255 had 4 buses providing a half-hourly service through to Partington. Mealbreaks were taken at the canteen at Trafford Bar. Happy days!

 

[daodao]

The 5 (later 255) was routed via Chester Road during the period I can remember, so probably by 1970 onwards. ….

City Road was closed as a through route into the city centre by 1967, when the Mancunian Way opened, and this led to significant changes, with services 5 (now 255) and 11/23 (now 256) subsequently taking significantly different routes between Old Trafford and Lower Mosley Street.

Another odd bus route in the Stretford area in the 1960s was MCT route 2x (rush hours only) from Moston to Firswood via King's Road. Unlike other MCT services with an "x" suffix, this route extended further than the main route 2 (now 181/2), which was a joint service with NWRCC from New Hey via Broadway to Stevenson Square. I don't know when it was withdrawn, but when I returned to the area a completely new all day route from the city centre along Kings Road had appeared (Stagecoach 15), replacing route 2x and extending to Urmston/Davyhulme/Flixton. Route 15 has presumably abstracted significant custom from pre-existing routes to these areas, and partly contributed (along with the new tram services) to the demise of route 94 (latterly 84) from Southern Cemetery via Seymour Grove to the city centre.

 

[M60lad]

Whereabouts at Trafford Bar was the drivers canteen out of interest?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Whereabouts at Trafford Bar was the drivers canteen out of interest?

Not sure if the building is still standing, but, if I rightly recall, it was roughly where the Sam Do Trading premises is currently (at 557 Chester Road, Old Trafford).

Can anyone confirm?

 

[Whisky Papa]

Whereabouts at Trafford Bar was the drivers canteen out of interest?

Here on the old main Chester Road, at the time the A56 - the Sam Do building Mcr Warrior suggested. The canteen was upstairs, with an Inspectors office on the ground floor - the brown tiles look very much GMT standard design to me. There was a parking ground a short distance away the other side of the White City junction, which was considerably smaller in those days! The canteen was used for mealbreaks exclusively by staff from Princess Road garage I think, although I guess drivers from other garages on the 53 route might have popped in during their layover. The Urmston routes were some of the last to be converted to OPO, partly because the bridge at Carrington required low-height buses, and the only ones available were ex NWRCC and MCT types not considered suitable for OPO.

I'm increasingly aware I'm dragging this thread well off topic, if a moderator wants to split these recent posts off into a new thread or find a more suitable home for them then I'd be more than happy.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Another odd bus route in the Stretford area in the 1960s was MCT route 2x (rush hours only) from Moston to Firswood via King's Road. Unlike other MCT services with an "x" suffix, this route extended further than the main route 2 (now 181/2), which was a joint service with NWRCC from New Hey via Broadway to Stevenson Square. I don't know when it was withdrawn, but when I returned to the area a completely new all day route from the city centre along Kings Road had appeared (Stagecoach 15), replacing route 2x and extending to Urmston/Davyhulme/Flixton. Route 15 has presumably abstracted significant custom from pre-existing routes to these areas, and partly contributed (along with the new tram services) to the demise of route 94 (latterly 84) from Southern Cemetery via Seymour Grove to the city centre.

The 15 does seem an odd one, but it gives useful access from Urmston and Flxton to Manchester Royal Infirmary and the university campuses of Oxford Road. The number, I believe, stems from a service that GM Buses introduced in 1987 to counter Bee Line Buzz Company's new route 20/21 from Stockport to Flixton, on which I was a regular driver at the time. Little Gem almost immediately introduced the S14 and S15 to cover the section of route between Stretford Arndale and Flixton. At least, I think the prefix was S - most S-prefixed routes were in Stockport. At some later date, this was extended to Manchester to form the current 15 route, operated by single-deckers rather than minibuses.

Kings Road was for a long time served by the 266, Piccadilly-Stretford Arndale-Lostock, which was OPO with "Mancunian" double-deckers at the time when the other routes were still crew-operated with much older vehicles. The Lostock section of this was replaced in 1985 by the diversion of half the 256 service via Stretford Arndale and Chester Road, leaving half the service as 257 on its original route via Derbyshire Lane (or Davyhulme Rd E outward). The Kings Road section was by now also covered by the relatively recent 260 from Piccadilly to Sale Station via Ashton-on-Mersey, so the 266 was deemed superfluous on this section. However, the 266 didn't run the full length of Kings Road, it turned left at the Quadrant to reach Talbot Road to Old Trafford, so to cover Talbot Road one of the Moston-Piccadilly-Sale Moor services was diverted off Chester Road - I think the 113 but could have been 112.

 

[daodao]

The 15 does seem an odd one, but it gives useful access from Urmston and Flxton to Manchester Royal Infirmary and the university campuses of Oxford Road. The number, I believe, stems from a service that GM Buses introduced in 1987 to counter Bee Line Buzz Company's new route 20/21 from Stockport to Flixton, on which I was a regular driver at the time. Little Gem almost immediately introduced the S14 and S15 to cover the section of route between Stretford Arndale and Flixton. At least, I think the prefix was S - most S-prefixed routes were in Stockport. At some later date, this was extended to Manchester to form the current 15 route, operated by single-deckers rather than minibuses.

Kings Road was for a long time served by the 266, Piccadilly-Stretford Arndale-Lostock, which was OPO with "Mancunian" double-deckers at the time when the other routes were still crew-operated with much older vehicles. The Lostock section of this was replaced in 1985 by the diversion of half the 256 service via Stretford Arndale and Chester Road, leaving half the service as 257 on its original route via Derbyshire Lane (or Davyhulme Rd E outward). The Kings Road section was by now also covered by the relatively recent 260 from Piccadilly to Sale Station via Ashton-on-Mersey, so the 266 was deemed superfluous on this section. However, the 266 didn't run the full length of Kings Road, it turned left at the Quadrant to reach Talbot Road to Old Trafford, so to cover Talbot Road one of the Moston-Piccadilly-Sale Moor services was diverted off Chester Road - I think the 113 but could have been 112.

I don't recall any buses serving King's Road south of Firswood Circle pre-1973. There was an all day MCT cross-city service (83) from Clayton to Firswood via Talbot Road, but this was a regular service and not odd in any way. Stagecoach route 15 must be quite well used, as (at least until March 2020) it seems to be run generally by double-deck vehicles, unlike most of the routes serving Altrincham and Sale.

 

[ian1944]

Re. Flixton, I remember in the 50s/60s that five routes terminated at The Red Lion (now demolished to build a care home, I believe), being 3, 5, 11, 12 and 23. Google Streetview still shows the turning semicircle to the south of the B5158 Carrington Raod. Maybe other routes passed to Carrington/Partington. One to Sale certainly did, the NWRCC 103 which was an oddity as it had just one return journey a week on Saturday afternoon. All other 103 journeys ran Sale/Ashton only, but were of course operated by Urmston garage.

 

[daodao]

Re. Flixton, I remember in the 50s/60s that five routes terminated at The Red Lion (now demolished to build a care home, I believe), being 3, 5, 11, 12 and 23. Google Streetview still shows the turning semicircle to the south of the B5158 Carrington Raod. Maybe other routes passed to Carrington/Partington. One to Sale certainly did, the NWRCC 103 which was an oddity as it had just one return journey a week on Saturday afternoon. All other 103 journeys ran Sale/Ashton only, but were of course operated by Urmston garage.

NWRCC used to operate route 102 from Urmston to Warrington via Partington, Warburton, Lymm & Statham. It shared the route from Warburton with route 98 from Altrincham to Warrington via Bowdon and Dunham (now Warrington route Cat5), on which specially designed buses with a convex roof were required in order to pass under a low bridge beneath the Bridgewater canal in Dunham. For many years there were no direct buses between Partington and Warburton, but a new route Cat5A (currently suspended) was recently introduced from Altrincham to Warrington via Sinderland and Partington.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Re. Flixton, I remember in the 50s/60s that five routes terminated at The Red Lion (now demolished to build a care home, I believe), being 3, 5, 11, 12 and 23. Google Streetview still shows the turning semicircle to the south of the B5158 Carrington Raod. Maybe other routes passed to Carrington/Partington. One to Sale certainly did, the NWRCC 103 which was an oddity as it had just one return journey a week on Saturday afternoon. All other 103 journeys ran Sale/Ashton only, but were of course operated by Urmston garage.

You are right in that the Red Lion was demolished and a care home now stands there (my late mother was briefly a resident there), but if you are suggesting it was at the turning circle on the B5158, that is not the case. That was the Flixton (Carrington Road) terminus of routes 3,5 and 12, which ran through the centre of Urmston and Stretford. The Red Lion was further north on Irlam Rd at the junction with Woodsend Rd and the 23 (later 257) ran via Davyhulme Circle (aka Nag's Head) and Derbyshire Lane to join Chester Road north of Stretford Arndale (hence the "top road" tag I believe). I personally can't recall the 11, I vaguely thought it was a short working of the 23 from Manchester to the Nag's Head, but am open to correction on this one.

By the time I was involved in schedules for this area in the early 80s, the 257 had been extended a short distance west beyond the Red Lion along Irlam Road to what was known as Towns Gate, and alternate jouneys had become 256 which was extended the other way along Irlam Road to Flixton Road and then down to Carrington Road terminus.

 

[Whisky Papa]

NWRCC used to operate route 102 from Urmston to Warrington via Partington, Warburton, Lymm & Statham. It shared the route from Warburton with route 98 from Altrincham to Warrington via Bowdon and Dunham (now Warrington route Cat5), on which specially designed buses with a convex roof were required in order to pass under a low bridge beneath the Bridgewater canal in Dunham. For many years there were no direct buses between Partington and Warburton, but a new route Cat5A (currently suspended) was recently introduced from Altrincham to Warrington via Sinderland and Partington.

The final buses for this route were Bristol RELLs with specially-contoured ECW bodies, which became Crosville SRL238-246 when NWRCC was dismembered. The 102 from Urmston to Warrington became the 42 - it is listed as W42 on an early GMT route map I still have, but the W is only a signifier that it was a Warrington Borough Council route. However, the through journeys to Urmston every two hours were operated entirely by Crosville. The earliers one were Bedford VALs with (I think) Strachan bodies - at least one finished up with Rigby's of Eccles and regularly appeared on a school contract at Urmston Grammar School.

Just returning briefly to NWRCC service 11, on that same GMT map the 256 is shown operating to Carrington Rd terminus but via Bowfell Road rather than via the Red Lion. I'm pretty sure from what my older sister recalls that this was the former 11 route.