Revealed: Northern England’s Slowest Inter-City Train Route

The North of England’s slowest inter-city train route may surprise you

Once upon a time, 33 years ago, a famous female singer made a real comeback with the song If I Can Turn Back Time. Though 1987’s I Found Someone marked her return to the singles charts, it was the former song that made a greater impact. By 1991, thanks to the film Mermaids, her cover of The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss), she reached the top spot.

During Cher’s rise up the singles chart, Britain’s railways was in a state of transition. British Rail swapped Robert Reid for Robert Reid (in other words, Robert Basil Reid for Bob Reid). The InterCity sector started operated without a subsidy from HM Treasury. Regional Railways became a swish new identity for BR’s Provincial Sector. Locally, Stalybridge station’s buffet bar was under threat of closure with rumours of it becoming a florist; the Stockport to Stalybridge service was cut to three return journeys a day – still an improvement on the Saturdays Only return journey we see today.

What Has the North Done For Us?

Quite a lot to be honest!

The iconic Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge

Imagine a world without Northern England. It would be a dull place devoid of The Beatles, iconic suspension bridges, daft footballers, and railway lines. Prior to the late 1970s, we were the manufacturing heart of the world. We built bridges, ships, made cutlery and built the world its locomotives and carriages. Today, most of what manufacturing capacity we had has been eviscerated by London-centric governments and globalisation. Prior to the mid 1980s, we kept most of our country’s power stations ticking over and our houses warm, before they closed down the pits and started importing its coal.

Ten Good Reasons to Love Lancashire: The Not So Perfect Ten

Ten things that make Lancashire stand out from many other English counties

Where is Lancashire? Is it the present-day county that has been chipped away by the 1974 Local Government Act and the later creation of Unitary Authorities? Or, if you go to the Friends of Real Lancashire website, is it the historic county that covers Barrow-in-Furness, Ashton-under-Lyne and Liverpool as well as Morecambe?

Stalybridge Celtic’s F.A Cup Trail Begins

Three year winless stretch in competition ended at Parkside Road

Stalybridge Celtic ended a miserable run of three successive defeats in the F.A. Challenge Cup at Kendal today [26 September]. Prior to today, the ‘Bridge had lost to Shildon (1-0) in the previous season, and to Worksop Town (5-3) before then, in 2013.

EX30 and Beyond: Greater Manchester and the Leyland National

How Leyland’s revolutionary single decker began 42 years of National service within Greater Manchester

EX30, seen on the turning circle outside the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport.

For your maximum enjoyment, this article is best read in conjunction with the Not So Perfect Ten article on Experimental SELNEC and GMT Buses Since 1969. Thank you.

For many people, 1971 meant Decimalisation, hot pants and T-Rex. In the bus world, the orange and white of SELNEC made its presence known throughout today’s TfGM boundaries; in our living rooms, 10 million homes tuned in to the antics of Stan Butler and company in London Weekend Television’s On The Buses. Instead of the fictitious Luxton, Lillyhall was the UK bus industry’s centre of gravity. A legacy that would outlive LWT’s series by several years. Not only on our streets, but also on our railways.

Banishing the January Blues: Doing Good and Feeling Good

Add a Rosy Tint to the January Blues by Volunteering to Help Others

As 21 January – labelled the most depressing day of the year hits, Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is calling on people across the North of England to give Blue Monday a rosy glow by volunteering their time at a local community group or charity.