Stagecoach Manchester strike update

As stated on the Stagecoach Manchester website and in today’s Manchester Evening News, the proposed stoppages on the 27th and the 29th November have been postponed.  Instead, there will be a second ballot on Tuesday 27th November over a revised pay deal.

Should drivers agree to the revised offer, then the strikes on the 29th November, and the four days in December will be called off.

Stagecoach Manchester: Industrial Action

• 1/3 of Greater Manchester bus users affected by industrial action;
• Dukinfield, Mottram-in-Longdendale, Stockport area and Glossop worst affected by dispute;
• Limited services on key routes.

Confirmed in today’s [23 November 2007]

Don’t Look Ethel…!

Setanta Shield, First Round, 25 October 2007

Stalybridge Celtic 0, Blyth Spartans 0 (AET Blyth Spartans win 4 - 3 on penalties)

A: This is your action news reporter coming to you live from the Setanta Shield First Round. Pardon me sir, do you see what happened?

B: Yeah I did. I saw a goalless draw taken to extra time and penalties with every ounce of drama you could think of. Four men ran on to the pitch from the Popular Side with 10 minutes to go, half a dozen teens had a fight just before extra time, and worse, the floodlights cut out during the penalty shoot out.

Today’s blog entry would have had a more mundane title like “Stalybridge Celtic on TV” had it not been for four streakers, in a game that was remembered most for anything other than the game itself.

Party Like It’s 1989: The Wispa Returns

The Not So Perfect Ten: 10 Lost Chocolate Bars and Toffees

To commemorate 2007’s National Chocolate Week, this post is dedicated to

“When You’re Up on the Stage it’s so Unbelievable*”

RH@M/CR: Roger Hodgson, Palace Theatre, Manchester, 03 October 2007

One of the geniuses behind Supertramp Roger Hodgson delivered a virtuoso performance at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.

Most of the audience

‘The Not So Perfect 10′: Ten Greatest Half Man Half Biscuit quotes

Regular readers of my blog will already know about my liking for the greatest band to have hailed from the Wirral since Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Back with a vengeance, this month’s ‘Not So Perfect Ten’

“…Remember, pavements are more important than your children.*”

600 more face court for feet on seats

Is dirtying a train seat as heinous a crime as murder, rape, assault or robbery? In the eyes of one rail franchise, this seems to be the case.

Stalybridge to Stockport link restored

Service changes, September 2007

One happy accident of Stagecoach in Manchester’s September service revisions has been the restoration of a link between Stalybridge and Stockport.

“So you think you’re a Romeo, playing a part in a picture show..?*”

New Roger Hodgson DVD out next month

Some great news from Eagle Rock Entertainment comes in the form of a new Roger Hodgson DVD. Entitled *’Take The Long Way Home’,

Nowhere to go?

Young people’s haven faces closure in 2008

It was revealed in the Tameside Advertiser (09 August 2007) that unless funding could be sought, an important haven for Tameside’s 13 - 25 year olds could close by New Year’s Day 2008.

The Information Shop for Young People has for the last ten years offered free and confidential advice to young persons on services from counselling to anger management. From their premises in Market Avenue, 1,900 youngsters turned to the Information Shop in the last year alone. For its users, the shop is a comfortable place and often busy.

Losing this facility would leave its users devoid of a private, confidential and non intrusive place much needed in the Tameside area.  Supported by NHS personnel, the Information Shop’s sexual health clinic is the busiest in the borough.  Its counselling services have saved many a young person from mental distress and eating disorders.

It is important, for the greater good of Tameside that this facility should be saved.  Having used this place myself, I too found the Information Shop a comfortable place when I was unemployed.  I would like to see this place remain so.