The Shape of Memes to Come!

Brian Moore’s Almanack looks at what could be the shape of memes to come

If you have spent the last twenty years of your life in front of a computer screen, tablet or smartphone, you will have seen many a social media channel or fad come and go. When I dipped my toe into the world of SEO and content creation nearly two decades ago, you shared things by email attachments. There was chatrooms – ICQ, AOL and newsfeeds – and Friends Reunited. Then MySpace came along in 2005, taking us to what was known as Web 2.0, followed by Facebook and Twitter.

Carry On Up The Fare Stage

An irreverent look at unusual places served by everyday bus routes

11: Cemetery Gates, 125: Doffcocker, 583: Dangerous Corner, 666: Hell…

From our disjointed list seen above, could you guess which one of our four bus routes is actually a fictitious one? Well, you may surprised to find that the 11 is a fictitious route. Cemetery Gates was the terminus of Stan Butler’s usual route on LWT’s ever-popular On The Buses. The only 11 bus I knew which ran close to a cemetery is today’s 346 route.

In a previous article, we did find you could catch a bus to Hell in Poland. With 666 as its route number. Dangerous Corner and Doffcocker are both in Greater Manchester, near Leigh and Bolton respectively. Somewhere along this soggy (well, scorching at this time of writing) island alone, are a plethora of unusual places that are served by everyday bus routes. Some of which might raise a titter due to their Carry On… style nature.

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 On the 01 April 1974, this was superseded by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, taking in part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and a few Urban District Councils.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.

Have Yourself a Merry Disco Christmas: A Cheesy Tunes Special

Reflections on Mirror Image? A spin with the Roller Disco Orchestra? Cheesy Tunes bites back

Christmas: such a great period to spend time with our family, or put aside a few musical differences. Or the good use of a few days or fortnight away from work (unless the Tories use Brexit to stop this). At this time of writing, it looks as if Ed Sheeran is set to have this year’s Christmas Number One single. A world away from when cheesiness used to dominate the pop charts at Christmas.

Halloween Haunts By Bus

Ghostly bus routes in Greater Manchester

Halloween: it is a time of year associated with fancy dress as well as ghostly gatherings. It is a time noted for trick-treating, apple bobbing, and a bit of all round silliness. Of a horror variety of course. It also means films like Hocus Pocus and any instalment of the Halloween franchise.

Why My Heart Lies in Non League Football

Why there’s more to the beautiful game than telephone number sized transfer deals

Football. Britain’s national game. One of many things we brought to the world, yet fell hopelessly behind as other countries improved. See also the railways: once the most advanced in the world, though now behind its peers in France and Germany.

The railways are still popular today, and rising in popularity despite being overpriced for the masses. Yes, it sounds a bit like the cost of watching Barclays Premier League football. Without the railways, there would have been no Football League, fewer theatres and tourist attractions, and certainly no away days. How did Stalybridge Celtic fulfil their Southern League fixtures before the First World War? By train. How else would a smattering of ‘Bridge fans get to Rushall for an early afternoon? By road these days. The nearest station is at Walsall.

The 666 Rides Again: A Lost Bus Routes of Greater Manchester Special

A look at Greater Manchester’s lost bus route from Hell

If you celebrate Halloween (I personally don’t), we at East of the M60 hope you enjoy yourself and not get too giddy. Thanks to my recent attendance at the Museum of Transport in Cheetham, I was surprised to find that Greater Manchester Transport (or, more specifically, Lancashire United Transport under GMT’s ownership) had its very own 666 bus route.

You Know You’re In Your 30s When…

(At this time of writing) You were born between 1975 and 1985

Me, as seen in glorious Commodore 64-o-vision! The train I’m aboard isn’t much older than the C64 itself.

For a change from the usual stuff, this post follows in the theme of the “You Know You’re a Mancunian Child of the ’80s…” type of entries. Only this time, we focus on the travails of being a thirty-something male. Most of – perhaps all of – the points are gender neutral (yes, in an age where political correctness is on the wain, I still refer to Sony’s portable cassette player as a ‘Walkperson’).

Enough of the waffling, on with the show…

Should the Houses of Parliament Move to Saddleworth? East of the A627

West Riding instead of Westminster? Bring it on!

The Mother of Parliaments’ HQ is starting to show her age. Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben is starting to crack under the strain. No prize for whom they are billing? Yes folks, it’s us and you wonder why there isn’t a cheaper way? Guess what? The answer lies on our doorstep east of the A627. I shall tell you this for free as I have paid for the ninth drink on my coffee shop loyalty card.

Coming Soon: Free Internet Access on Pacer Units

East of the A627 World Exclusive: Ageing DMUs set for online revolution

A still from the Northern On-Line tutorial video (available in VHS, Betamax and V2000).

On the same day the Department for Transport announced the launch of free WiFi on most trains south of Colchester (and odd ones in Wales), East of the A627 can reveal the latest breakthrough in rail travel affecting Northern English passengers. Northern Rail – the Cinderella franchise of Cinderella franchisees – will be getting a piece of the online action pretty soon.