Trip to Bury / Ramsbottom 14-02-2015

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
30880	Bury TI	Bury Old Rd/Heaton Park Tram (Stop C)	135	First Manchester
12004	Bury Old Rd/Heaton Park Tram (Stop D)	Bury TI	135	First Manchester
37293	Bury TI	Ramsbottom, Ramsbottom Lane/Market Place (Stop A)	474	First Manchester
37296	Ramsbottom, Ramsbottom Lane/Market Place (Stop B)	Bury TI	474	First Manchester
148	Bury TI	Bury & Rochdale Old Rd/Bamford Rd (Nr Open Land)	468	Rossendale Easyride
51	Ramsbottom, Ramsbottom Lane/Market Place (Stop B)	Bury TI	475	Rossendale Easyride

Today we decided to re-visit Bury. We gave Matthew a list of places go go and from the list Matthew chose Bury. We had checked the weather and it was similar in all directions... Cold and cloudy. Matthew got up just after 10:00 and had toast and Strawberry juice for breakfast. We set off just after 11:45. We drove onto Beaconsfield Drive and we saw First Potteries 60202 on #22 to Dresden. We went onto the A5035 and turned right. We turned right onto Stanley Matthews Way. We then turned onto the A50 and then onto the Northbound A500. We saw Pauls of Stoke YX54 BGO. Traffic was light and we made good time up to the M6. At the M6 we went North before leaving the M6 at Junction 21A to head East on the M62. We did the road forward onto the clockwise M60. We turned North on the M66 before running into town up the A58. We turned into town at Haymarket Street and saw First Manchester 30871. We parked on Moss Street and we decided to eat at the Greene King pub 'Knowsley'. Matthew used the toilet and he had burger and chips washed down with a glass of Coke. Whilst we were eating we were able to see some of the bus going into the bus station from the Bolton Street end of town. After we had finished eating we said goodbye to mum and we headed into the bus station. On the way in we paused to see First Manchester 37417 on a #163 to Manchester.

First Manchester 37417 in Bury interchange

We walked down the A-E stands and as we got to the crossing we spied required First Manchester 30880 on a #135 to Manchester.

First Manchester 30880 in Bury interchange

I asked Matthew if he wanted to do this bus and he said yes. We crossed over into the middle section of the bus station and we waited for the driver to ready the bus for service. When the driver was ready we got on the bus and booked System One bus only tickets at £5.20 each. We went upstairs and the rear of the bus was empty.

Inside First Manchester 30880

The bus set off out of town and down the Manchester Road. We had not done a #135 before... We had always turned them down in favour of other services on which you used to get step entranced double deckers such as the #93 or the #524. The bus carried on South a few miles through Blackford Bridge and into Whitefield. We carried on South along the A56 and we left this road at Besses O' Th' Barn and we turned onto Bury Old Road. We crossed over the M60 and we headed into the Heaton Park area of town. I had though that this bus was going through Prestwich, but we went just to the East of this area. We decided to get off as we had traveled around 25 minutes and we wanted to try and get in around 2 buses an hour otherwise we would be back late if we waned to get our usual 6 buses in. Somebody else had rung the bell to get off so we decided to get off at this point, which turned out to be the stop for Heaton Park tram stop. Once we were off the bus we saw another double decker going the other way on the #135. it was First Manchester 37400. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 30880 before it carried on South.

First Manchester 30880 in Heaton Park

We crossed the road completely unaware at this point that the tram line was underneath us. It turned out we had already been on First Manchester 37400. It was a bus was we had been on back in January 2013 from Radcliffe to Bury. We were just considering having a Milky Way when we saw a Scania bendi-bus approaching. As it got closer we saw that it was required First Manchester 12004.

First Manchester 12004 in Heaton Park

We got on the bus and we flashed our System One tickets, before sitting down in the back half of the bus. This was only the second time we had been on one of these bendi-buses. The previous time was a journey from Tonge Fold to Bolton back in March 2012 on First Manchester 12016. We traveled back Northwards through Besses O' Th' Barn. It was interesting to see the front half of the bus almost side on to us as the bus turned the corner! We carried on Northward through Whitefield and Blackford Bridge and up the Manchester Road. Once we crossed the A58 we headed along Haymarket Street and into the bus station. We unloaded at the same stop on which we had boarded on the Southbound #135. The driver opened the rear door and Matthew took a picture of the rear of First Manchester 12004 before we got off the bus.

Inside First Manchester 12004

We saw First Manchester 30881 depart from the bus station on a #15 before we could do anything. We wanted to catch another bus quickly. Matthew used the toilet and then we saw a few double deckers. Two of them were on the #474 to Ramsbottom. On stand and about to work was required First Manchester 37293.

First Manchester 37293 in Bury interchange

The bus was readied for service and we got on the bus. We flashed the driver our System One tickets and we went upstairs. The top deck was emptyso Matthew took a picture inside First Manchester 37293.

Inside First Manchester 37293

On an adjacent stand about to work a #98 to Manchester was required First Manchester 60242.

First Manchester 60242 in Bury interchange

The bus left the interchange around 15:00. We went onto Haymarket Street and down onto Bolton Street crossing over the East Lancs Railway. We then headed North up the B6214 to Greenmount. At the A676 we turned right for the last couple of miles run into Ramsbottom. We got off at the junction of the A676 and Bridge Street. Awaiting time for its Northbound #484 journey to Accrington was 'Rosso' 232.

Rossendale 232 in Ramsbottom

We crossed the road to wait for a Bury bound service. We let First Manchester 37293 go on the #474 to Bury as we had just got off it. We didn't have to wait long for the next #474 service... It was required as First Manchester 37296.

First Manchester 37296 in Ramsbottom

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One tickets to the driver. We went upstairs and it was empty. Matthew then took a picture inside First Manchester 37296.

Inside First Manchester 37296

The bus set off Southwards and turned into Bridge Street. We crossed over the East Lancs Railway at the level crossing and then we started to climb out of the valley up Peel Brow. We turned right into Eliza Street and left onto Bury New Road. We crossed over the M66 and we joined Southbound A56. We carried on South and we crossed back over the M66. We passed through Warmesley and we carried on South into Bury. We went past The Rock shopping centre before going West on the A58 and around the town. We turned right into Haymarket Street and we turned into the bus station. We decided to have a short break from the buses. We walked up to the top of the interchange and we saw Rothwells coach K811 EET.

Rothwells K811 EET in Bury interchange

We left the interchange and we walked to the Mill Gate shopping centre. Matthew said hello to a couple of people and we went into Poundland. In Poundland we brought some bottle of pop at 2 for £1 and some cans of Coke at 2 for £1. He also had a pack of Milky Ways. We headed back to the interchange and Matthew said hello to someone else. We had a quick look around for buses to catch. We considered doing First Manchester 60269 which was on the #92 to Manchester.

First Manchester 60269 in Bury interchange

We had spotted an East Lancs bodied Rossendale Dart on the #468 to Rochdale. It had dissappeared for a while and then it returned. I asked Matthew if he wanted to do this bus and he said yes. Matthew took a picture of required Rossendale 148 before we walked over to catch it.

Rossendale 148 in Bury interchange

We got on the bus and we show the driver the System One ticket. We sat down towards the back of the bus. We noticed it was empty behind us so Matthew turned and photographed the rear of the bus.

Inside Rossendale 148

We had noticed that where the old toilet block once stood that they had removed a section of the bus station, allowing bus access directly onto the Eastbound A58. We had wonder why the #135 service had moved from stand A to the centre island. It was so the eastbound service could use stands A-E and could now depart straight onto the A58. We also saw First Manchester 30879 work the #135. The bus set off onto the A58 and we passed the Mill Gate and The Rock shopping centres. we tirned left and went around the side of The Rock before turning left onto the B6222. We climbd up the hill out of town and we passed under the M66. When we got to Fairfield the roads became familiar as we joined up to the roads we traveled on on our trip to Rochdale in December 2013. We carried on East and we decided to get off when we saw two stops opposite each other adjacent to a junction. At turned at we were near to Heywood, which was about 1/4 mile down the adjacent road. Once off the bus Matthew took a picture of Rossendale 148 as it carried on towards Rochdale.

Rossendale 148 in Heywood

We crossed the road to wait for the next bus back to Bury. We were expecting either a First Manchester 468 or #469 or a Rossendale bus on either #468 or #469. We saw First Manchester 60276 on a Rochdale bound service and we also saw Rossendale 50 on a #475 to Heywood. What we weren't expecting is for a bus to come around the corner. Which is exactly what required Rossendale Optare Solo 51 did working the #475 to Bury.

Rossendale 51 in Heywood

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One tickets to the driver for the final time today. The bus was empty and so Matthew took a picture inside Rossendale 51 before we sat down.

Inside Rossendale 51

Matthew was very good and didn't attempt to beep the horn. The bus set off West towards Bury and we turned into the Fairfield hospital site. It took a few minutes to get back onto the main road as the hospital site is quite large. We carried on West and just before we got to the M66 we turned left into a housing estate. There is a section of the M66 just North of the Bury exit that appears to run through a housing estate. The bus ran along the side M66 on the East side before returning to the B6222 and crossing under the motorway. after we went under the motorway we turned left again onto Willow Street and right again onto Wash Lane which runs parallel to the A58. We turned left onto Bond Street before joining the Northbound A58. We went around the town and we came into the bus station from Haymarket Street. We got off the bus and we decided to take a few bus pictures before we return to the car. We saw Rossendale 246 on a #469 to Tottington.

Rossendale 246 in Bury interchange

We also saw First Manchester 12006 on a #135 to Manchester.

First Manchester 12006 in Bury interchange

On a Rochdale bound #471 service was dud First Manchester 37398.

First Manchester 37398 in Bury interchange

We then saw First Manchester Mercedes single decker 60275 #468 to Tottington.

First Manchester 60275 in Bury interchange

This was followed by First Manchester 66916 which was on a #163 service from Manchester.

First Manchester 66916 in Bury interchange

We then saw First Manchester 66918 on a #472 to Ramsbottom.

First Manchester 66918 in Bury interchange

Sitting in the bus station was between service was First Manchester 66929.

First Manchester 66929 in Bury interchange

On a #483 to Burnley we saw required Rossendale 232.

Rossendale 232 in Bury interchange

We then headed across to the monument to meet mum. We walked back to the car and and on the way Matthew went to say hello to someone in the Knowsley pub. Back in the car Matthew had a Greggs sausage roll and a small bottle of Irn Bru. We set off onto the A58 and around the town before heading down onto the M66. We carried on South until we reached the M60. We went West on the M60 until we reached the M62. We carried on West and we got to the M6 and turned South. It was now fully dark. As we approached the A500 we started being passed by coaches. We turned onto the A500 and we passed Z Carz GL04 CVE on the parking at the Northern end of the A500. As we went South we were passed by several coaches. These coaches were Pauls of Stoke FJ58 LSD, Warringtons of Ilam SCZ 9652 & W636 MKY and Hills FJ57 CSZ. We turned onto the A50 and we headed up to Longton to see what was at Z Carz. There was nothing on the spare ground so we turned into Willow Row to see what was in the compound. We saw Z Carz Mercedes minbuses S952 VMY and M372 NWN.

Z Carz M372 NWN in Longton

As we went to go back onto the A50 we saw Z Carz GL04 CVE which had caught us up.

Z Carz GL04 CVE in Longton

We went onto the A50 and we headed up to Heron Cross. We went through Blurton and onto Beaconsfield Drive. We got to the stop by Ladybank Road and we realised that we hadn't passed the #22 to Dresden. We paused across the road and we only had to wait a few seconds before First Potteries 60069 came around the corner. We got home just before 19:00. For a late tea Matthew had bangers and mash with carrots followed by a cake bar. Matthew then chilled out on his computer until bedtime around 01:00... Mark