Trip to Leigh / Manchester 18-03-2023

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
39242	Leigh BS	Salford, Broad St/Pendleton Church (Stop U)	V1	First Manchester
40838	Salford Shopping Centre (Stop D)	Manchester, Piccadilly Gardens	36	Rotala Diamond NW
2740	Manchester, Piccadilly Gardens	Hulme, Hulme Park	263	Arriva NW&W
11262	Hulme, Hulme Park	Old Trafford, White City	256	Stagecoach Manchester
4020	Ordsall, Clipper Quays	Salford Shopping Centre	53	Go North West
39244	Broad St/Pendleton Church (Stop Q)	Astley Street, Guided Busway Stop	V2	First Manchester
39237	Astley Street, Guided Busway Stop	Leigh BS	V1	First Manchester

Today we decided to re-visit Leigh. We gave Matthew a choice of locations around the North West and he chose Leigh. We wanted somewhere where we knew where to park and where to eat as mum was finishing work in the morning and we just needed to go. We did no research for this trip other than to check the weather. It forecast grey weather with showers and occasional sunny intervals, with hindsight checking the Google Maps App would have saved us an hour of time. Matthew got up around 10:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. Mum got home later on and we set off just before 12:00. We set off and we ran along Beaconsfield Drive. We turned left onto Church Road and at the roundabout we veered left onto Blurton Road. We ran through Blurton and into Heron Cross and over the A50. At Heron Cross lights we turned left onto Grove Road. We ran forwards onto Wheildon Road and we picked up uncle Dave. Once we had picked up uncle Dave, we continued down Wheildon Road and we joined the Northbound A500.Running up the A500 we saw Plants P19 NTM, Redline BJ17 RED / SN69 RED, The Traveller Choice reg like 382 NBF, Stanton's of Stoke WSV 530, grey coach ???? GJD and Flixbus BV67 JZJ. We joined the Northbound M6 and as we joined the motorway we saw Lauderdale Coaches CU68 VKE in front of us.

Lauderdale Coaches CU68 VKE on the M6

We continued up the M6 and we saw an unidentified TJ Travel coach, Selwyns (NX) 235(#121), 2 Stagecoach E200MMC's SN65 ???, white minibus SH56 ODT and taxi minibus ML15 TVA. We came off the M6 at junction 22 and we headed Eastwards alonng the A579. A mile or so up the road we hit a queue of traffic. If I had the sat Nav up and running I would have seen the reason why. There were roadworks on the A572 and as such on;y a few cars at a time could get through off the A572. We queued up for nearly an hour before eventually turning right onto the A579. We got through the roadworks and we crossed over the A580. We continued for the last few miles into Leigh and we turned right onto Spinning Jenny Way. We turned left onto Queen Street and left onto Brown Street South. We turned right onto Gas Street and we turned left into the car park. We parked up and we walked through the Spinning Gate Shopping centre and we came out by the bus station. We saw First Manchester 39260 on a V1 to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

First Manchester 39260 in Leigh bus station

Seen arriving on a V1 service was First Manchester 36279.

First Manchester 36279 in Leigh bus station

Matthew went to the toilet and afterwards we met up mum at the food truck. Matthew had a sausage barm washed down with a can of Coke. When we had finished we said goodbye to mum and we had a walk around the bus station. We saw Stagecoach Manchester 10446 on a #8 to Wigan. We decided to head towards Manchester via Salford. We saw there was a V1 on stand. As we got closer we saw it was First Manchester 39242 on a V1 service to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

First Manchester 39242 in Leigh bus station

We got on the bus and we booked System One Bus Only Day tickets at £5.80 each. We went upstairs and we sat down near to the back of the bus. We set off out of the bus station and onto Spinning Jenny way. We ran forwards onto Princess Street and onto the guided busway. We ran along the busway for approximately 4 miles and we joined the Southbound B5232 in Ellenbrook. We ran South for around 1/4 mile and we turned left onto the A580. We ran fast along the A580 and we crossed under the A580 and the Wardley park and ride car park. We continued Eastwards and the A580 merged with the A6. We continued on to Pendleton and near the the police station we cam off the main A6 and onto a parallel slow lane where we got up and got off the bus. Once off the bus Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 39242 as it continued towards Manchester.

First Manchester 39242 in Salford

We had a look around to see what bus we might catch towards Manchester. We quickly worked out the Diamond NW & Stagecoach Manchester buses towards Manchester departed from stand D. A short time later we saw Stagecoach Manchester 12186 on a #38 to Manchester.

Stagecoach Manchester 12186 in Salford

Matthew decided not to do this bus as he wanted to go to the toilet. We walked into the shopping centre on the Eastern side and we followed the signs towards the toilet. We cam out on the Northern side and there was a small toilet block behind where we have caught buses towards Bolton on stand G. Matthew used the toilet and afterwards we cut through onto the North side of the shopping centre. We saw Go North West 4017 on layover in between runs on the #53 to Cheetham Hill.

Go North West 4017 in Salford

We walked around to the East side to stand D and we waited for a bus towards Manchester. Whilst we waited we saw Arriva NW&W 2948 on a #10 to Manchester.

Arriva NW&W 2948 in Salford

A short time later we saw a bus approaching. As it got closer we saw it was Rotala Diamond 40838 on a #36 to Piccadilly Gardens. We got on the bus and we flashed the System One Bus Only Day ticket to the driver before we went upstairs and sat down. We set off along Hankinson Way and we turned left Rossal Way. We joined the roundabout and we turned right onto the Eastboundd A6. We passed the point where somebody has tagged themselves as being a business on the road which is 'Temporarily closed'. We headed past Salford Crescent to the edge of the city Centre. We ran forwards onto Chapel Street and we turned right onto the A34 past Salford Central station which is temporarily closed for refurbishment. We turned left onto Cross Street and right onto King Street. We turned left onto Spring Garden and we followed the road around onto York Street. We turned left onto Mosley Street and we turned right into Piccadilly Gardens. We pulled up on stand and we got up and got off the bus. Once off the bus Matthew got another picture of Rotala Diamond 40838 before it returned to Bolton.

Rotala Diamond 40838 in Manchester

We had a bit of a walk around to see what we might catch. We saw Stagecoach Manchester 19406 on a #42 to Stockport.

Stagecoach Manchester 19406 in Manchester

Whilst having a look around we saw Little Gem 1968 on a #44 to Altrincham. A short time later we saw an Arriva bus enter the bus station. As it got closer we saw it was Arriva NW&W 2740 on a #263 to Altrincham.

Arriva NW&W 2740 in Manchester

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One bus only Day tickets to the driver before we sat down towards the back of the bus. The bus set off out of the terminal and we turned right onto Portland Street where we saw Stotts (NX) BV67 JXM(#173) and Ausden Clark BIG 9828. We turned left onto Princess Street and right onto Whitworth Street. We turned left onto Oxford Street and we headed Southwards. We turned right onto Booth Street West. We passed the College of Music and we turned right onto Boundry lane. We decided to get of somewhere we could get on a #53 service so that we could get back to Salford. We turned left onto the A5067 and we ran for about 1/3 of mile and we got up and got off the bus. Once off the bus we had a look at the timetable. We had just missed a Salford bound #53 so we had alomost 30 minutes to wait. We whilst we waited Matthew had a flapjack. We decided to could catch another bus towards trafford and walk over the ship canal to get a #53 forwards. A short time later we saw a bus that we could catch. As it got closer we saw it was Stagecoach Manchester 11262 on a #256 to Flixton.

Stagecoach Manchester 11262 in Hulme

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One bus only Day tickets to the driver before we went upstairs and sat down. We set off along the A5067 and we ran for about 1/4 of a mile before we turned right following the A5067. We turned left onto Royce Road and we headed Westwards. We ran forwards onto City Road an we turned left onto the Chester Road. We followed Chester Road to the right and we turned left onto the A56. As we approched the White City Retail Park we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took amother picture of Stagecoach Manchester 11262 as it continued towards Flixton.

Stagecoach Manchester 11262 in Old Trafford

We crossed over the A56 and we saw Angela GX21 ECF heading Westwards. We walked forwards onto Trafford Road and we crossed over the Bridgewater and Manchester ship canals. We walked past Clipper Quay and we stopped at the bus stop. We sat down at the stop and we checked the timetable. The bus was due in 5 minutes. A short time later we saw the bus approaching on the other side of the bridge over the ship canal. As it got closer we saw it was Go North West 4020 on a #53 to Salford.

Go North West 4020 in Ordsall

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One bus only Day tickets to the driver before we sat down towards the back of the bus. We set off Northwards passing Britannia DU61 LLC & The Travellers Choice PO18 EES pasrked in a side street. We turned left into The Quays and we followed the road through the Salford Quays area. We crossed the Marinas Canal and we passed petween the North Bay and Huron Basin. We ran past Media City and we ran forwards onto Broadway. We turned left onto Trafford Road and we crossed over the A57. We turned left onto Liverpool Street and right onto Cross Drive where we saw Alfa 107 parked up. We turned left onto Churchill Way and we turned right onto Hankinson Way and we pulled up outside of the shopping centre where we got up and got off the bus. Once of the bus Matthew took another picture of Go North West 4020 before it returned to Cheetham Hill on a #53 service.

Go North West 4020 in Salford

We walked around the cober onto Rossall Way and we saw Go North West 6163 on a #95 to Bury.

Go North West 6163 in Salford

We walked around the corner and down the alleyway to the toilet block. The toilets had clsoed by the time we had got there. We decided to do across the car park to Tesco Extra. We went into the shop and Matthew used the toilet. Afterwards we went into the shop and we had a look around. There were very few drinks left with the meal deal section of the shop and there was nothing that Matthew would drink. There wan't much chocolate either and Matthew ended up getting a Kinder Egg. We went to the self service tills and we paid for the egg before meeting up with uncle Dave and walking across the car park. We were now heading back towards Leigh. We walked along Pendleton Way. We walked through the passageway onto the sliproad for the A6 and we waited at the bus stop for a bus towards Leigh. There were 2 buses coming at once. A V2 to Atherton and a V1 to Leigh. The V2 came first and the V1 was right behind it displaying Bus Full. We decided to do the V2 and get off at the junction. As it got closer we saw it was First Manchester 39244 on a V2 to Atherton.

First Manchester 39244 in Salford

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the driver before we went upstairs. We decided to go to the Astley Street guided bus way stop and get off to catch the following V1 service. We ran fast along the A580 and we we passed Stagecoach Manchester 10443 on a Leigh bound #34 service. We also passe a silver Mercedes mini coach parked outside a pub on the Southside of the A580. We went under the M60 and we ran up to Worsley where we turned right onto Newearth Road. We went North for a short while and we joined the guided bus way. After running West along the bus way we came to the Astley Street stop so we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 39244 before it carried on towards Atherton.

First Manchester 39244 in Astley Street

We waited for the next bus to Leigh. A minute or so later the bus that had been full came into the stop. It had now emptied out so we could get on it. As it got closer we saw it was First Manchester 39237 on a V1 to Leigh.

First Manchester 39237 in Astley Street

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the driver before we went upstairs and sat down. We set of along the guided bus way and we ran fast to edge of Leigh and we left the guided bus way and we joined Spinning Jenny Way. We past Tesco and the shopping centre and we turned right into Leigh bus station where we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 39237 before it returned to the depot.

First Manchester 39237 in Leigh bus station

Matthew decided that he needed the toilet so we headed to the George and Dragon which was next to the bus station. Matthew used the toilet and afterwards had a glass of Coke. We watched a bit of the Manchester City vs Burnley match and we drank our drinks. When we had finished we headed outside to the bus station and we met up with uncle Dave again. On the way to the road we saw Rotala Diamond 30971 on a #584 to Crankwood.

Rotala Diamond 30971 in Leigh bus station

We walked onto Spinning Jenny Way and we walked around the shopping centre to the car park and we met up with mum. We got in the car and Matthew had a can of Irn Bru before we set off onto Gas Street. We turned left onto Brown Street South and right onto Queen Street. We turned right onto Spinning Jenny Way and we turned left onto the A572. We crossed the A579 and in Lowton we turned right onto Sandy Lane. We followed the road around onto Byrom Lane and we turned left onto Slag Lane. We stopped at Victoria's Plaice and I went to the chip shop whilst Matthew went to the shop next door with mum. He brought a bottle of dandelion & burdock and a bar of chocolate for later on. Matthew had sausage chips and gracy and once I had finished eating we set off onto Slag Lane and we turned left onto Church Lane. We crossed over the A580 and we turned right onto the A572. At the light we turned left onto the A579. The traffic had allo gone and we got to the motorway in a few minutes. We joined the M6 and we headed Southwards. Travelling back along the M6 we saw an unidentified Bibby's of Ingleton coach. At junction 16 we went South down the A500 through Longport and Etruria into Stoke. We came off the A500 and we diverted onto Wheildon Road. We dropped off uncle Dave and Matthew got out to use the toilet. He also had some of uncle Rob's Irn Bru. We updated uncle daves calendar to show recent activity. Once we had dropped off uncle Dave we set off onto Wheildon Road and past the former Regent pub which is now up for sale. We ran forwards onto Grove Road and we saw green minibus R482 NDM parked up. We turned right onto Blurton Road and we crossed over the A50. We continued through Blurton and we turned right onto Church Road. We turned right onto the A5035 and we got back to Blurton around 20:00. Matthew chilled out on his computer and we did some of the Blog. We also wrote a few emails and generally used the computer to entertain ourselves. We watched TV and Matthew got ready for bed. Matthew settled down around 00:00... Mark