A quick question regarding validity.
I have the Advance ticket shown in the photo below. It is issued from Manchester Stations, but the reservation is from Piccadilly. Am I right in thinking that boarding at Oxford Road would in this case be prohibited?
Thanks in advance.
As an Advance, in theory you are only valid to travel on the booked itinerary, which in your case means travelling from Piccadilly rather than Oxford Road.
Some tickets are printed in a way which makes it possible to deviate from the booked itinerary without anyone knowing (e.g. if you have portions of the journey with unreservable trains not printed on the ticket). But unfortunately this is not of that type.
In practice there is no chance whatsoever of a ticket check between Oxford Road and Piccadilly, so it is just a matter of whether the barriers at Oxford Road will let you through (I suspect so, it being a Manchester Stations ticket - the booked trains aren't encoded into the magnetic strip on a paper ticket). And if not, whether the barrier staff will let you through instead (I suspect so, based on personal experience).
You could try contacting EMR to ask them whether you're OK to board at Oxford Road (likely to be a mixed bag, but no harm in trying). Or if all else fails you'll either have to rebook (shouldn't cost you anything extra, thanks to the Book with Confidence scheme), buy a single from Oxford Road for a ripoff £1.70 each, or just walk it!