Daggy Pastimes: The Not So Perfect 10

Pastimes for the inner dag

For this incarnation of the Not So Perfect 10, I am focusing on what I would consider are the most daggiest pastimes. Most of these have been inspired by my personal experience:

Godley Bus Saved

387 (Ashton – Hyde via Hattersley) bus service guaranteed till July 2009

Following fears that the 387 route was going to withdrawn, GMPTE has stepped in to save the people of Godley from being in a bus-free zone.

A Stalybridge Legend Retires

Popular stationmaster retires after 32 years

In a reign which has seen three recessions, privatisation, and several restructuring attempts, a well-known figure at Stalybridge station is to retire after 32 years in the job.

Ashley Oliver joined the Cheshire station in 1976, preciding over an era which has seen the Stockport – Stalybridge line service cut to once a week, substantial improvements on Manchester to Huddersfield services, and a multitude of liveries.

When Ashley joined Stalybridge station, the stopping service from Manchester to Huddersfield only ran in the peak hours, Class 40s, 123s and 45s formed the Trans-Pennine services, and the station buffet bar only had the conservatory and main bar.

Since 1976, Stalybridge station has seen:

• Class 40s and Class 45s replaced by DMUs on Trans-Pennine routes;
• The famed buffet bar closing for most of 1996 till its grand reopening in January 1997;
• Vast improvements to toilet facilities in 2006;
• The loss of its Red Star Parcels point and left luggage facilities;
• New Class 185 DMUs on Trans-Pennine services.

Always a popular sight at Stalybridge station, Ashley’s announcements will be missed by over 700,000 people who use this station. In honour of his 32 years at the station, a special poster was produced on platform 1 by First Transpennine. George Wright Brewery have also made a special ale (Ashley’s Ale) in honour of his tenure.

We wish Ashley well on his retirement and hope his successor does as good a job he did. See you at the buffet bar over a pint of some obscure ale.

Some photos were taken at his farewell do at the buffet bar by Mike Smith (also known as Mossley Smiffy).

Photos

S.V., 15 October 2008

Stagecoach service changes (Tameside and Glossop), 26/10/2008

• Off-peak evening services on 236/237 to run between Ashton – Glossop;
• 4 hour gap between direct Manchester services in Dukinfield cut to 1 hour 45 minutes;
• 220 Sunday service replaced by 217/218;
• New direct link with Carrbrook and Mossley on Monday – Saturday for Dukinfield (King Street and Boyd’s Walk) residents.

Most often than not, the very two words ’service changes’ fill me with dread. Thankfully not this time.

With the summer season ending in the Peak District, the Tameside area often gets four sets of service changes from Stagecoach alone. In addition to those affecting Manchester routes, Tameside’s are also affected by revisions affecting Glossop and Peak District routes at the beginning of and at the end of the summer season.

For probably the first time ever, the King Street and Boyd’s Walk area of Dukinfield will have a direct link with Mossley on Monday – Saturdays. Between the Albion Hotel and Mossley (Brookbottom), this will augment Speedwell’s 343 service. This is the knock on effect caused by the withdrawal of Mayne’s routes 232 – 235. Mossley passengers travelling into to Manchester by bus will take the 217 in a clockwise direction, with the 218 moving anti-clockwise.

Sunday services on the 220 will be renumbered 217 on journeys to Manchester from Stalybridge and 218 on journeys out of Manchester into Stalybridge and follow the route of the present 218 service.  The present 217 Sunday service to Tameside Hospital will see westbound journeys renumbered as the 218.

The Littlemoss and Smallshaw sections of the 232 – 235 routes will be served by an upgraded 231, with a 15 minute daytime frequency between Ashton – Manchester – and buses running every 7/8 minutes in the weekday peaks.  This will also replace the whole 230 route operated by Stagecoach.

The revisions also end an embarrassing gap in service provision in Dukinfield where there is at present a 4 hour gap between direct Manchester buses (1515 – 1915 from the Albion Hotel).  However, there are some gripes with the changes, in that a more direct link with Tameside Hospital has been severed, and that there is no longer a journey between 0830 and 1012 to Stalybridge from Dukinfield (Albion Hotel).

Though less of a gripe (and of surprise) evening services on the 236/237 will terminate at Ashton, with extra journeys on the 216 taking over.  I was also relieved to find that the 236/237 will still run to and from Manchester in the peak hours.

All other services are unaffected, thus meaning the evening 217 (Speedwell), evening 220 and 230 journeys (both First Manchester) will run as normal.  The new 217/218 will also augment the extra peak hour journeys on the 220 and 221, also operated by Stagecoach Manchester.

S.V., 03 October 2008.

H.A.P.P.Y (Birthday) Tameside Radio

Live from Harrop Edge; 75% music, 25% chat, 100% Tameside, and now 367 days old*

Some time between the 30th September 2007 and the delocalisation of the Piccadilly Radio stations, the radio landscape in Tameside was a most barren place. Aside from the formation of Revolution 96.2 (the FM station serving Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside), the CD player or MP3 file were the only sanctuaries from mechanical playlists and reduced local coverage.

Quietly happening between test transmissions and within the walls of Tameside Hospital were the pioneers of who were about to become Tameside Radio. Most of which cut their teeth on Eight Towns Radio, a hospital radio station founded on Sunday 22 October 1983 as ‘Heartbeat Radio’.

Just under 24 years after and numerous limited service licences later came our station.  Not for two weeks, not for a month, not only for Tameside Hospital, but the whole area.

At Chez Vallantine, Tameside Radio has now taken over from all other stations for radio needs (except for one, Oldham Community Radio, which has a good brass band programme).  For me, its main factors include: a less rigid playlist, the excellent ‘The Show That Time Forgot’ (hosted by Mike Wallbank) and (most importantly) its local bias.  I would be interested to know what effect Tameside Radio has had on other popular stations in the borough, such as Key 103.

For a community station, it is hard to tell whether they are a commercial one or one ran by volunteers.  This is down to its professionalism and experience with Eight Towns Radio and Tameside’s other local station Revolution 96.2 – with production values that can hold their own against other commercial stations.  Unlike the other local stations, Tameside’s non league clubs are covered, giving much needed coverage to my beloved Stalybridge Celtic.

Since ‘Beautiful Day’ by U2 marked Tameside Radio’s first song, we have been hooked ever since.  Though I could listen to the other stations, overseas SW stations and the national radio stations on my portable radio, it is firmly stuck to Tameside Radio 103.6FM.

Long may they continue.

S.V, 02 October 2008

Links:

Eight Towns Radio history: http://tamesideradio.moonfruit.com

Tameside Radio 103.6FM: http://www.tamesideradio.com

* At the time of writing this entry.