Lost Bus Routes of Greater Manchester V, The Ocarina of Bus Times: The Not So Perfect Ten

Ten more lost bus routes of Greater Manchester

When did we last do a Lost Bus Routes Not So Perfect Ten? The answer to that was eight years ago. Since then, Lost Bus Routes of Greater Manchester has spawned a fair number of spin-offs. These have focused on individual routes or a collection of routes in and around Greater Manchester.

An Awesome Alliterative Album: Rebellious Mixtape #12

Can you create a good album with songs by alliterative artistes? Rebellious Mixtape will be your music and your friend

Before social media became a thing, we used to stand out from the competition by using catchy names and jingles. ‘Murray’ would always rhyme with ‘hurry’ among Baby Boomers because of a 1950s advertising jingle.

Bus Regulation The Musical: The Review

How Ellie Harrison’s show brought us fifty years of Greater Manchester transport history on wheels

Baroness Castle of Blackburn (played by Summer Dean, left of centre) with the eight skaters.

• Bus Regulation The Musical.
• Manchester Art Gallery, 28 September 2019 (2pm and 3pm).
• Produced by Ellie Harrison.

I could think of several ways of spending half an hour of my leisure time. One is listening to the entire ‘B’ side of Foxtrot, Genesis’ 1972 LP which includes the magnificent Supper’s Ready. Another is sitting on a 216 bus or tram bound for Manchester city centre. By opting for the latter, I unearthed a little gem in Ellie Harrison’s production, Bus Regulation The Musical.

TfGM’s Prospectus For Rail: A Bold Vision to Boost GM Rail Journeys

How would Our Prospectus For Rail boost heavy rail and light rail journeys in Tameside?

Make no bones about it: Manchester is a UEFA Champions League city with EFL Division 2 rail services. In spite of Northern’s introduction of new trains on the Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness route, it can do a lot better.

A Brief History of Teen Travel in Greater Manchester

Who remembers Greater Manchester’s previous attempts at wooing teenagers onto the bus?

Over the last week, details of Andy Burnham’s Opportunity Pass have been revealed in the Manchester Evening News and on the GetMeThere website. From the 01 September, young people aged 16 to 18 years old – so long as they produce a smart card – will be given free travel on Greater Manchester’s bus routes. Known as Our Pass, it aims to make bus travel more affordable.

Irritating Radio Adverts of Times Past: The Not So Perfect Ten

Ten earworm-tastic radio adverts from the last 40 years of Independent Local Radio

Four sources of inspiration are behind our latest Not So Perfect Ten. One is my memories of 1980s Independent Local Radio – Piccadilly Radio in particular. The second source is an episode of Pablo [CBeebies’/RTEJr’s exciting children’s television series] where Pablo is tickled by a radio advert. Which reminded me of my formative years with Piccadilly’s adverts. The third source of inspiration is Half Man Half Biscuit’s cover of Mandy.

Train Seats in All Parts: The Not So Perfect Ten

A selection of the best train seating positions on Network Rail metals and preserved lines

An interior shot of a British Rail Mark 2 carriage (TSO).

If you travel by train in the peak hours, there are two inevitabilities. One is the fact you’ll need a mortgage for the rail fare or the season ticket. The other, are the chances of getting a seat. Which is pretty rare at ten to six on the 1757 to Huddersfield.

The Three Ages of Greater Manchester’s Bus Stations

A look at the evolution of Greater Manchester’s bus stations from 1969 onwards

In the last fifty years, Greater Manchester’s bus stations have changed dramatically. More recent trends favour single terminals and improved connections with other modes of transport. In smaller towns, they form part of a focal piazza, as seen at Radcliffe’s bus station.

Britain’s Greatest Television News Themes: The Not So Perfect Ten

East of the M60’s latest Not So Perfect Ten looks at Britain’s greatest television news signature tunes

…And now, the headlines from the East of the M60 newsdesk:

• Leading blog’s countdown of the ten best news themes;
• Countdown includes nostalgic look at best news tunes from the 1950s onwards;
• Most of which are from BBC and ITN news programmes.

In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and countless news sites (some truthful, and some you wouldn’t trust with your car), television news still plays a part in our media diet. Though more people timeshift their viewing, TV news programmes and channels command a good audience once an important story breaks through.

Now We Are Ten: Our Not So Perfect Ten

A special edition of The Not So Perfect Ten celebrating ten years of East of the M60

Was it really ten years when East of the M60 began to trouble the deepest recesses of cyberspace? Indeed it was.

East of the M60 started life as a secondary blog to The Stuart Vallantine Web Experience. Its original aim was to promote my activities as speaker with an autism spectrum condition. It was also seen as an extension of the ‘old school’ website – the Mouth of S.V. to the MacNeil of the portfolio. In the early days, blog posts went out on a fortnightly basis, usually written in the last twenty or so minutes of my work dinner hour. As Chez Vall didn’t get broadband access till 2009, anything written at home was done via a 56k dial-up modem.