Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, September 2017: The Ashton Review of Shops

This month’s window on the shop windows

We think this image via Historic Photos – Lancashire dates from the 1950s. (Creative Commons License: Attribution – Some Rights Reserved).

• Ashton Review of Shops is Up For The Cup;
• Simply Clintons is up for the chop;
• Hyde’s new store will sell you a chop, with a neat price drop;
• Plus all the other retail movements.

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Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, Autumn 2017

School day timetables restored plus some changes to Stalybridge routes

Back to normal: the 216 route, outside Ashton bus station.

• First Greater Manchester withdraws Stalybridge journeys on 408 route;
• Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys of 353 and 354 withdrawn and replaced by new 355 service;
• Plus the usual minor changes, and details of services reverting to school day timetables.

This Autumn’s set of changes make for mixed reading in the borough. Unless you live in Stalybridge or the Roughtown area of Mossley. Both areas are at the sharpest end of cuts to tendered and commercial services from the 03 September.

Morecambe: The Decline, Fall and Rejuvenation of a Seaside Resort (Part Two)

Part Two: Soul Searching and Birdwatching

Tower of strength: the lighthouse at Stone Jetty, Morecambe. Image by Neil Turner, 2010 (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Some Rights Reserved)

Throughout Morecambe’s most prosperous, and its leanest of years, there is one structure that has been key to the town’s future.

The Stone Jetty.

The Stone Jetty has been a feature of the town centre since 1853. Before Heysham port opened, passengers bound for the Isle of Man took a ferry to Barrow-in-Furness. From there, they would transfer onto another boat for Douglas. They stayed at The Midland Hotel. It was also a terminus for Scottish and Irish ferries

Morecambe: The Decline, Fall and Rejuvenation of a Seaside Resort (Part One)

Part One: To Hell With Blobbyland

In the resort’s heyday, Morecambe’s 1930s grandeur brought day trippers and holidaymakers to the resort, which also coincided with the introduction of the Holidays With Pay Act.

Before package holidays grew in popularity, Morecambe was known as Bradford-by-the-Sea. Owing to the “Little” North Western Railway line via Carnforth, it was a popular resort for Bradford folk. A western alternative to Bridlington and Scarborough for a Wakes Week jolly. There was at one time the largest lido in Britain, neatly complementing the Midland Hotel. The Winter Gardens had a ballroom as well as its theatre. There was two piers: three if you counted the Stone Jetty.

Northern Rail Strike Update: Two More Dates in September

News of the latest Arriva Rail North strike dates

Following on from July’s strikes, there will be another two days of rail strikes next month. Again, this is due to the RMT members’ opposition to Driver Only Operation.

Ten Shops That Have Defined The Ladysmith Centre: Ashton Review of Shops Extra

An Ashton Review of Shops Extra Not So Perfect Ten

Fifty years old: the Ladysmith Shopping Centre, Ashton-under-Lyne. This is the Warrington Street entrance. Photographed by Mikey in Easter 2015 (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Some Rights Reserved).

Back when the creator of East of the M60 was born, this entrance seen above was between two iconic stores: Marks and Spencer, and Woolworths. It was also the last weekend before VAT almost doubled from 8% to 15%. Warrington Street wouldn’t be pedestrianised till 1985, and the market ground had three roundabouts. A gigantic yellow-bricked hulk was under construction.

Retail Comings and Goings in Tameside, August 2017: The Ashton Review of Shops

This month’s window on the shop windows

Ashton-under-Lyne in the 1960s: captured in postcard form. Image courtesy of Historic Images – Lancashire (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Some Rights Reserved)

Better late than never. Please note that this month’s ARoS is later than the usual time of the first Saturday of the month (yours truly was otherwise engaged – on holiday that week). Thank you for your patience.

• Dinosaurs and new look ‘Spoons make up the Stalybridge scene;
• Co-op returns to Newton;
• Ashton-under-Lyne rail engineering works update;
• Plus all the usual retail movements.

We Need to Talk About Bi-Mode Trains

What are Bi-Mode Trains, and why are they being hailed as a cheaper alternative to fully electrified systems?

At this moment in time, Network Rail are in the midst of realigning The Old Lanky line from Stalybridge to Miles Platting. On completion, it is hoped that overhead line equipment would follow shortly. By 2018, it is claimed that the new timetable will see Ashton trains terminating at Stalybridge. Plus, the possibility of Mossley and Greenfield passengers having to use Manchester Piccadilly and a skip-stop service. Therefore, passengers from the two stations wanting a direct Ashton link would have to get the bus!

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, Summer 2017

Summertime timetables and a subtle service review

The normal bus of choice on the 216 route, outside Ashton bus station.

For the first time in a good while, we have little to say about this summer’s set of service changes. All but one set of service changes entail the Summer timetables.