In Other News… Bus Fares go up in North Manchester and Salford

Or how 20 million tram passengers get priority over 70 million North Manchester bus users in terms of ‘Fare Increase Shocker’ style stories.

It seems that Philip Hammond’s revised 2012 regulated rail fare cap is coming to Greater Manchester’s tram users a year early. With great candour among its 20 million users, Metrolink fares will rise by 6% from January 2011. As one would expect, the Metrotrolls are out in force on the letters pages and on the internet. In the last two years, like their rail travelling counterparts, Metrolink users have enjoyed a two year fares freeze.

Tameside: Have your Say on the Comprehensive Spending Review

Open discussion on the Comprehensive Spending Review, The Sportsman, Mottram Road, Hyde.

On the Monday 1st November, the Tameside Nine Towns Green Party will be holding an open meeting at The Sportsman pub in Hyde, near the Morrisons store.

Starting at 7.30pm, it covers George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review made on Wednesday 20th October this year. This is an open forum which aims to express its effects on the Tameside area and the UK as a whole.

Among the main issues of the Comprehensive Spending Review are the cuts to state benefits, public sector job losses and the eventual shrinkage of local and central government. All of which likely to have an adverse effect on the living standards of Tameside folk – given that almost a third of the borough’s workforce are public sector employees.

The speakers for Monday’s discussion will be representatives from the PCS and UNISON trade unions, Failsworth Green Party Councillor Ian Barker and local Green commentator Peter Allen.

Monday’s meeting will take place in the upstairs room of The Sportsman. The venue is easy to get to by car or on public transport from the Greater Manchester area. The Stagecoach Manchester 201 bus from Manchester (Piccadilly Gardens) to Hattersley stops by the pub with Hyde bus station 5 – 10 minutes walk away for a wider range of services. Nearest railway stations are Hyde Central (limited evening service), Godley and Newton. All are within reasonable walking distance, though catching the 201 to The Sportsman from Godley station is a better option.

CAMRA members will be happy to find that The Sportsman is one of three pubs in Hyde which feature in the Good Beer Guide.

Tameside Nine Towns Green Party Open Meeting: Comprehensive Spending Review:

• Monday 1st November 2010 (All Saints’ Day), 7.30pm;
• The Sportsman, 57 Mottram Road, Hyde, Cheshire SK14 2NN;
• Buses: 201 (every 30 minutes, after 7.00pm) and 202 (once hourly); Hyde bus station 5 – 10 minutes walk away;
• Trains: limited evening service from Hyde Central or hourly evening trains from Godley and Newton stations.

S.V., 27 October 2010.

Tameside and the Comprehensive Spending Review

How the ConDems’ Comprehensive Spending Review will affect the Tameside area

Slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us.

Ladies and Gentleman, never has so much misery ever been caused by so few, namely a clique hellbent on destroying each and every trace of the public sector. That of the services which we value highly, our right to work, enjoy ourselves without being priced out of the pubs or buses, and most importantly a full and purposeful life.

When the Computer Age Came to Tameside

Computer gaming in the Tameside area

Today, we think nothing of spending a few hours on our favoured games console, or on social networking sites like Facebook. The personal computer and games console has become part of our lives, possibly responsible for dwindling TV viewing figures, along with multichannel television channels. The X-Box 360 has become as ubiquitous as The X Factor, likewise has the Wii and the PS3 in today’s homes.

Esoteric Cover Versions Every Child Should Listen To: The Not So Perfect 10

Greetings list lovers, the latest instalment of The Not So Perfect 10 focuses on weird and wonderful cover versions. Ones which every child should listen to on account of comedy value and avant-garde approaches to the original song. Some are also chosen for the sheer crapness yet are important reminders of How Not to Ruin an Excellent Original Song.

Stalybridge Station, 2011 and Beyond?

Could a third through platform be coming to Stalybridge station?

With 800,000 tickets purchased each year and a few more besides using the station, Stalybridge station has 5 passenger trains per hour using the through lines and a further two services which terminate there. One of them is an all-stations daytime service to Liverpool Lime Street. The other one is the infamous Stockport to Stalybridge Ghost Train which terminates there once weekly.

Tameside Service Changes Autumn 2010 edition

SpeedwellBus hits Ashton Road whilst JP Travel takes over 217/218 Sunday and Bank Holiday service

• New S49 service launches;
• Sunday and evening S48 journeys introduced;
• 217/218 Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys transfer to JP Travel.

Independent companies have been the greatest beneficiaries of the autumn round of bus service changes in the Oldham and Tameside areas.