Four Weeks in the Life of Fun Time Friday

How and why Stuart and Kevin were no April Fools in Future Directions’ most celebrated streamed sessions

“We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”

– An Inspector Calls, J.B. Priestley (1894 – 1984)

John Boynton Priestley could have preempted the arrival of Kevin Phoenix’s song Stronger Together. His quote from An Inspector Calls is in simple form, our need to be one happy family. He may well be looking to our time on Earth, the planet that Professor Carl Sagan called “the pale blue dot”.

A Mission to Entertain: Future Directions’ Fun Time Friday

What do you get if you cross an extremely talented musician with a pretty good blogger and dancer (!) on a Friday afternoon?

Make no mistake: this sub-headline isn’t a dad joke, though a fast-paced mixture of dad jokes, dad dancing and mad music is behind one of Future Directions CIC’s most notable projects. Known as Fun Time Friday, it is a 45-minute programme of music, dad dancing and jokes which goes out on Friday afternoons.

A Vision of Post-War Chadderton, 1946 Style

Did you know that plans were made to shift Chadderton town centre to Broadway?

Answer me this question: where do you think the real centre of Chadderton is or was? Near Chadderton Hall Park? Foxdenton Hall and Gardens? Off Middleton Road? Broadway, even?

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, 19 April 2020

A look at the more lasting changes that will affect Oldham and Saddleworth bus passengers

Though Oldham and Saddleworth passengers weren’t as badly affected by MCT Travel’s demise as those in Tameside, there are still a few significant changes. At the sharpest end of these changes will be Royton passengers, particularly with the 402 and 412 routes.

It is also worth noting that the following changes will be effective from the 19 April, in spite of lockdown. Therefore temporary timetables will be in operation, even with newly tendered routes.

An Absolute Beginners’ Architectural Guide to Oldham Cotton Mills

A potted guide for beginners about a dwindling part of Oldham’s landscape

Ever since my formative years, the cotton mills in Oldham and Tameside have been a source of fascination for me. What piqued my interest was the sheer size of the buildings. Also how the early cotton mill architects predated Mies van der Rohr in building such vast structures for commercial usage.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, 26 January 2020

More tinkering around the edges: nothing too drastic

Unlike the previous set of changes which has butchered Greenfield’s bus network, the latest set of changes are a more sedate affair. Usually, this is a lull before the storm of post-Easter changes.

The Road Least Travelled: The Chadderton to Shaw Circular Route

Is this Greater Manchester’s most obscure bus route?

If you mention the 22 in relation to Greater Manchester bus routes, the first one that springs to mind is the long withdrawn route from Bolton to Stockport. The one that has been split at the intu Trafford Centre of late, renumbered 2 and 25.

Today, there is only one 22 route in Greater Manchester with a decent frequency. A service from Ashton-in-Makerfield to Warrington with an evening extension to Wigan. Did you know that Greater Manchester has a second 22 route?

You Know You’ve Spent Too Long in Oldham If…

A wry look at the joys of East of the M60‘s other immediate locality

Before local government reorganisation in 1974, Oldham was large enough to warrant its own County Borough. On the 01 April 1974, this was superseded by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, taking in part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and a few Urban District Councils. This included municipalities in Royton, Chadderton and Failsworth.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, 27 January 2019

A low key affair – unless you want to visit Foxdenton Hall and Gardens from Middleton

• 415 rerouted during daytimes;
• All the usual timetable tweaks.

In a marked contrast to the forthcoming changes facing Tameside bus passengers, this month’s set of changes is a quiet one for Oldham bus passengers. For some passengers, retimings are the order of the day. If your regular bus is the 415 service, we have news for you; it is not very good news either.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, April 2016

Not-so-light tweaks order of the day with curtailments and contract changes

• 415 reverts to Oldham – Middleton only service;
• Operator changes for 408 and 412 services;
• 425 evening changes and service cuts;
• 81A evening journeys replaced by revised and renumbered 343 route.

Curtailed and split after 7pm: along with the 415 service, the 425’s evening journeys will be split at Mumps Bridge. There will also be a change of operator along its easterly section to Holts Estate.

For Oldham and Saddleworth bus passengers, a case of few changes in number though with each one having a more tremendous impact than those affecting its Tameside neighbours. Whereas many of Tameside’s changes are brought about by Manchester’s traffic and some tender changes, Oldham’s will have more of an effect on its overall network.