Leeds to Manchester and back,
including a case of the Mumps
2 April 2022
ABOVE: Diamond Bus 40758 (MX20 KYP) on route 163, somewhere between Bury and Middleton. That’s the best I can do – I’m sure a local could pin it down more specifically! All pictures in this article were taken on Thursday 12th August 2021
It’s a lovely summer’s day as I arrive at Leeds Bus Station seeking a bus to Huddersfield. I’m aiming for Manchester, with the specific intention of riding the Metrolink to Bury, as it’s a branch I haven’t done before. But I’ve literally got all day to get there and back again.
There are two different Arriva routes to Huddersfield due to depart at about the same time – the 203 at 7.53am and the 229 at 7.55am, and they go from adjacent bays. Journey times aren’t much different either. I have a slight preference for the 229, as I’ve travelled on the 203 before.
Both routes are normally double-deckers, but there’s a single-decker parked on the 229 bay and, when the 203 then pulls in, I decide to go for that one to guarantee a top-deck ride. This will turn out to be the wrong decision.
As I take my seat, the single-decker on the next bay pulls off the stand and the double-decker that will form the 229 service pulls in. Just to rub my nose in it, especially for later, my bus follows the other one all the way out of the city.
ABOVE: Arriva Yorkshire 1523 (YJ61 OAW) in Leeds City Centre
Disappointment is to follow. At Dewsbury, the driver advises his passengers (two of us, after there has just been a large exodus) that the bus needs to be substituted. We’re directed to the departure stand in the Bus Station while he exchanges vehicles. He then turns up in a single-decker which I have to endure the rest of the way to Huddersfield.
It’s pretty filthy as well, with a hand-print on one of the windows that is every bit as clear as Faresaver’s skeleton face. But this is at a time (August 2021) where everyone’s sense of the importance of cleanliness is heightened, and buses are full of notices about how they are cleaned frequently.
We arrive just in time to see the double-deck 229 pull in.
The disappointment of the 203 is soon forgotten when I board First’s 184 service towards Oldham. This is a Volvo B7TL and provides a panoramic view of what quickly turns out to be a stunning drive across Saddleworth Moor.
This area is notorious because of the “Moors Murders” in the 1960s and, before that, a plane crash in 1949 in which 24 people died.
The biggest hazard today, though, is sheep, which are wandering slowly across the road. Clearly they, like me, have got all day. But the bus driver has a schedule, as do other motorists in the vicinity!
ABOVE: Baa-ware! Animals in road ahead! There’s another one in front of the Tesco van, and both have stopped, presumably to admire the lovely view!
There’s a group of about 12 people on the top deck with me who are clearly senior citizens out for a hike across the moor but, as they get off the bus in, frankly, the middle of nowhere, the leader of the pack confesses that he’s not sure they are alighting at the stop he had intended to.
The hike might be a bit longer or a bit shorter than planned! I’ll never know how they got on, but presumably they found their way home or we would have heard about it.
It’s a lovely drive on the 184, and well worth doing if you’re in the region. Saddleworth town looks like a lovely spot as well but, in my typical fashion, I’m not stopping.
ABOVE: High Street, Uppermill, Saddleworth
I recognise the centre of Oldham coming up, so jump off the bus at the bus station. Except that it isn’t Oldham Town Centre Bus Station; it’s Oldham Mumps interchange, about a mile to the east of where I intended to be.
Never mind; it’s just a one-stop ride on the tram to correct my error, and gives me a chance to buy the cheap “System One” day ticket that will allow me free rein to run all around Manchester, by bus and tram, until I reach Rochdale a few hours from now.
I have been intending to catch the number 84 into Manchester itself but end up on an 83 instead. Only takes about five minutes longer, and drops me right by the tram stop at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester City Centre. Not only that, but the tram is just pulling in!
The tram ride is pleasant (I love the name of the “Besses o’ th’ Barn” stop). There’s a good view of engineering works on the parallel main line out of Victoria, for which a blockade is in full swing. (A Blackpool Transport Palladium-branded vehicle is on Rail Replacement duties.)
My plan from Bury is to catch Diamond’s 163 service back into the City Centre, before coming out again on the 17 to Rochdale, operated by Go-Ahead.
Diamond stepped in when First Manchester decided to divest itself of some of its depots. The buses are bright and smart and almost brand new.
The 163 is supposed to run every 12 minutes, but two have turned up together and these run in tandem until Middleton Bus Station, where there’s five minutes stand time for my service, whilst the other bus is able to get away and is now five minutes less late than it was (it’s always the other one that ends up in front when there’s a choice of two, isn’t it)...
ABOVE: Market Street stop in Heywood Town Centre. The earlier 163 is still trying to get away from us.
It looks like route 163 is broadly arc-shaped. Manchester is south of Bury, but we have ventured east to Heywood and then south to Middleton. We’re now taking a broadly south-western trajectory back into the City Centre.
ABOVE: Middleton Bus Station
It’s a few minutes down this road that I realise that every bus stop claims to also be served by the 17 – my next bus. I find myself wondering whether there is any point going all the way into Manchester just to come out again on the same road. I conclude that there isn’t, so I bail out at Harpurhey and cross the road.
The 17 does indeed follow the same roads back to Middleton before heading north-east to Rochdale. It’s a brisk trip and we’ve arrived at the interchange in no time at all. I’m afraid Rochdale isn’t one of those places I can get enthused about, so I don’t spend a lot of time there.
In fact, I’m there for a grand total of four minutes, as I have discovered First’s route 590 loading up for Halifax. I join the throng – it’s quite a busy service as it’s now 4.15pm and the homeward commute is getting started (but it’s the school holidays so at least there’s no school run to contend with).
This is a lovely drive back into Yorkshire, but unfortunately on a single-decker so cannot be enjoyed to the full. The highlight for me is Hebden Bridge, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water and a very picturesque town (especially the parts on the banks of the water). It’s a busy run all the way into Halifax, with significant churn at Todmorden.
At Halifax I enjoy a ride on the 576 to Bradford. This is one of those incredibly scenic routes that makes a steep climb out of Halifax whilst other roads run along the bases of the valley. The impression is therefore that one is flying.
ABOVE: I make no apologies for using a very similar picture to one I have used before – not when it’s taken from the 576 climbing out of Halifax! We are somewhere between Boothtown and Catherine Slack, looking west.
Bradford brings me back down to earth, though! The First 72 that I take back to Leeds isn’t quite in the same league as some of the other services that I have travelled on today. However, just prior to boarding, I take a phone call informing me that a flat I am overseeing the sale of has actually been sold (subject to contract). So I can mull over that news as I head back to my hotel.
By the time I get to Leeds, the whole day has been just a quarter-hour shy of 12 hours. An average day’s riding for me in fact.