Trip to Middleton / Miles Platting 14-10-2017

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
30945	Middleton BS	Oldham BS	59	First Manchester
30960	Oldham BS	Miles Platting, adj Varley St	83	First Manchester
30936	Miles Platting, opp Varley St	Chadderton Precinct (Stop B)	181	First Manchester
37468	Chadderton Precinct (Stop A)	Middleton BS	59	First Manchester
30947	Middleton BS	Mills Hill Station (Stop B)	59	First Manchester
30946	Mills Hill Station (Stop A)	Cheetham Hill, Woodlands Rd	59	First Manchester
37470	Cheetham Hill, Waterloo Road	Middleton BS	59	First Manchester

Today we decided to re-visit Middleton. We had checked the weather and it was for mainly dry cloudy weather with the chance of an odd shower, but warm for the time of the year around 18'. We gave Matthew a choice of destinations from the Midlands and North West and from the list Matthew chose Middleton. Matthew got up around 10:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. We set off around 11:30 onto the A5035 and we turned right onto Stanley Matthews Way. We joined the Westbound A50 and then turned right onto the A500. We came off the A500 at Shelton and we ran up to Etruria to fill up with LPG. After we had filled up we returned to the A500 along the A53. We continued Northwards for a few miles and we joined the Northbound M6. Seen on the M6 as we travelled Northwards were ABC Supreme FY52 NSV, National Holidays NH63 EYH & Galloway YJ14 CDX.

Galloway YJ14 CDX on the M6

We came off the M6 at junction 19 and we ran Eastwards along the A556 to the M56. This was the first time that I had used this road since it had been re-built and I have to say it was a big improvement over the old road. We continued onto the M56 and then forwardsonto the anti-clockwise M56 and we passed Stockport & Hyde before coming off the M60 at the A576. We ran the last couple of miles into Middleton along the A756 and we parked i the small car park by MacDonalds. Once we had parked went into the shopping centre stopping at the toilets. We went around to the bus station and we had dinner at the food van on to pavement opposite to the bus station. Matthew had a sausage and egg barm with some fries, washed down with a can of Coke. Whilst we ate we saw First Manchester 30957 and 30962 on #59's between Manchester and Oldham. When we had finished we said goodbye to mum and as we walked up to the bus station we saw required First Manchester 30945 on a #59 to Oldham.

First Manchester 30945 in Middleton bus station

We got on the bus and we book System One bus only tickets at £5.60 each before we went upstairs and sat down. We left Middleton bus station and we went East out of town along the A669. A couple of miles out of town we crossed under the railway line by Mills Hill railway station and we carried on another 3 miles or so through Chadderton. We crossed under Oldham Way and we ran forwards onto West Street and into the bus station. We got up and got off the bus and we headed to the toilet. Once we had used the facilities we had a look around to see what buses we could catch. We saw dud Rosso 219 on a #408 to Shaw.

Rosso 219 in Oldham bus station

We also saw dud First Manchester 42941 on a #415 to Middleton.

First Manchester 42941 in Oldham bus station

We had a look around to see what we could do next and as we were about to go to the other half of the bus station we saw an unidentified First Manchester ALX400 double decker approaching. As it got closer we saw that it was required First Manchester 30964.

First Manchester 30964 in Oldham bus station

We walked over to the stop but this bus appeared to be going out of service. Almost immediately we saw another ALX400 double decker. It was required First Manchester 30960 on a #83 to Manchester.

First Manchester 30960 in Oldham bus station

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the bus driver before we went upstairs and sat down. The bus set off down West Street and at the bottom of the hill we turned left onto King Street. At the next junction we turned right onto Manchester Street and we ran South Eastwards towards Manchester city centre. We were on wide urban dual carriageway and we travelled through Failsworth and Newton Heath. We ran along the A62 for around 6 miles and just after we crossed lover the A6010 we got up and got off the bus. As we were getting up we saw a coach on the other side of the road by the bus stop. So we crossed over the A62 and walked up to the bus stop where we saw Rothwells coach RIB 4404.

Rothwells RIB 4404 in Miles Platting

We looked at the stop and we studied the timetable to see when the next bus was due. There was a #181 to Shaw due in a few minutes and it was going North via Chadderton. As it got closer we saw that it was required First Manchester 30936 on a #181 to Shaw.

First Manchester 30936 in Miles Platting

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the bus driver before we went upstairs and sat down. The bus set off up the A62 and we ran for just under a mile before we turned left onto Dean Street. We continued onto St Mary's Road and we went past the old Newton Heath railway shed as we travelled North. We continued onto Nuthurst Road and at the next big junction we joined the Northbound A663. We travelled North for around 2 1/2 mile and then we turned right onto A669 and we got up and got of the bus outside the shopping centre in Chadderton. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 30936 before it carried on towards Shaw.

First Manchester 30936 in Chadderton

Once we saw the bus set off we walked into the shopping centre and visited the newsagent by the entrance. Matthew ad a bottle of Coke and a chocolate bar and we also brought a pack of tissues. As we headed back onto the A669 we saw a Middleton bound bus approaching. It was required First Manchester 37468.

First Manchester 37468 in Chadderton

We crossed the road at the pelican crossing and as there were quite a few people boarding the bus we were able to get across quickly enough... We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the bus driver before we went upstairs and sat down. The bus set off along the A669 and travelled the straight Road via Mills Hill railway station into Middleton. At the roundabout we entered the bus station and we got up and got off the bus. Matthew went to the toilet and whilst in there we saw First Manchester 30947 go past on a #59 to Oldham. Once Matthew came out of the toilet we walked around to the Oldhem stand and First Manchester 30947 was still there.

First Manchester 30947 in Middleton bus station

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the bus driver before we went upstairs. As the rear of the top deck was empty Matthew took a picture inside First Manchester 30947 before we sat down.

Inside First Manchester 30947

It wasn't until we set off we realised that this was a bus that we had been on before! We made a quick decision to make a shortish journey on the bus and we would catch something back through Middleton to Cheetham Hill. We came off the roundabout and onto the A669 we ran the mile out of town to Mills Hill station and we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 30947 as it carried on towards Oldham.

First Manchester 30947 in Mills Hill

We crossed over the road and we stood at the stop to wait for a Westbound #59. We had around a 10 minutes wait for the bus and we saw another First Manchester ALX400 double decker approaching. As it got closer we saw that it was required First Manchester 30946 on a #59 to Manchester.

First Manchester 30946 in Mills Hill

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the driver before we went upstairs. The upper saloon was empty so Matthew took a picture inside First Manchester 30946 before we sat down.

Inside First Manchester 30946

The bus set off along the A669 and we ran Westwards for about a mile until we got to Middleton. We joined the bus station off the roundabout and we stopped for a short while before we continued out of town along the A576. We crossed over the M60 and we ran past Heaton Park and down through Crumpsall to Cheetham Hill. We turned left onto Cheetham Hill Road and we ran down through the centre of town. We decided to go one stop further than we had been before so we continued down to the point just before the bus turned right into Waterloo Road where we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of First Manchester 30946 before it continued towards Manchester.

First Manchester 30946 in Cheetham Hill

We got off the bus and we crossed over the road. There were road works going on and we saw that the bus stop was possibly out of use due to resurfacing. As we looked around the corner we saw a #59 to Oldham approaching, so we took a chance and stood at the stop and flagged the bus down as it came around the corner. The bus did stop and it was required First Manchester 37470 on a #59 to Oldham.

First Manchester 37470 in Cheetham Hill

We got on the bus and we flashed the System One ticket to the driver for the final time today before we went upstairs and sat down. We set off up Cheetham Hill Road and after around a 1/3 of a mile we turned right onto the A576. As we passed Bowker Vale tram stop we saw C&S Coaches minibus PO62 AGX. We continued up the hill past Heaton Park and we crossed over the M60. WE ran the last 2 or so miles into Middleton and we entered the bus station off the roundabout. The bus emptied out a little and Matthew took a picture inside First Manchester 37470 before we got off the bus.

Inside First Manchester 37470

Once we got off the bus we met up with mum and we decided to have a last walk around the bus station and take a few more bus pictures. We saw required First Manchester 30955 on a #59 to Manchester.

First Manchester 30955 in Middleton bus station

We walked out of the bus station and stood outside the shopping centre and Matthew got another picture of First Manchester 37470 before it carried on towards Oldham.

First Manchester 37470 in Middleton bus station

We walked around to the other side of the bus station and we saw required First Manchester 37290 on layover between working on the #19 to Langley.

First Manchester 37290 in Middleton bus station

We also saw required First Manchester 39208 on the #17 to Manchester.

First Manchester 39208 in Middleton bus station

We walked over to where the car was parked near to McDonalds and we saw new minibus Diamond cars SD17 OAH parked up between duties.

Diamond cars SD17 OAH in Middleton

We got back in the car and mum had brought Greggs sausage rolls and a bottle of Irn Bru for Matthew. We set off onto Limetrees Road and we ran Westwards towards the A576. We ran the 2 or so miles down to the M60 and we joined the clockwise carriageway. We ran South around Manchester and through Stockport. As we travelled around we saw an unidentified Maynards Travel coach and Mercedes minibus & Andy's PO53 WVX. We came off the M60 onto the M56 and we ran near to Manchester Airport before joining the Westbound A556. We joined the M6 at junction 19 and we ran Southwards through Cheshire. As we travelled South we saw white minibus BG55 XAM. We got onto the Southbound A500 and we saw Leon's Coaches 214, an unidentified Afford Rent-a-car minibus in the MAN garage at Shelton, & Alfa 88. We came off at Sideway onto the A50 and we ran up to Longton to see what was parked up at Z Carz this evening. There was nothing on the spare ground. We turned left into Willow Row and we couldn't see anything in the compound either! We ran back along the A50 to Heron Cross and we came off the A50 onto Blurton Road. We ran through Blurton and we turned right onto Church Road. We turned right onto Beaconsfield Drive and we got home around 18:30. For a late tea Matthew had bangers and mash with carrots followed by a jam filled shortbread biscuit. We chiiled out on the sofa and we wrote a couple of e-mails and watched television. Matthew chilled out on his computer until bedtime around 00:00... Mark