Buzzing Around Greater Manchester - Again!
Part One
11 May 2025
ABOVE: Stagecoach Manchester 11517 (SK20 AVR), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, passes along Cutnook Lane in Irlam, on Bee Network route 67A. All photos in this article were taken on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May 2025, unless otherwise stated.
Here I go again…
I can’t keep away from Manchester! Whenever I am anywhere in the north of England, I have to call in to sample the buses here, and this has become more pronounced since the arrival of the Bee Network.
It had always been my intention to call in again once the Bee Network had been fully implemented. That happened with the arrival of Tranche 3 in January 2025, so here I am now to take a proper look at how it is bedding in.
And I'm going to find out by doing another full circuit of the city by bus. I did a circuit in 2021, before the Bee Network was even a thing, and again in 2024, when Tranches 1 & 2 were in place but Tranche 3 was not.
The aim of this latest circuit is to stay with the Bee Network, but also to stay out of the City of Manchester (the most central of the 10 boroughs that make up Greater Manchester). I inadvertently went into the City of Manchester last time when I took a short-cut because I was running late. This time, I’ll try hard to avoid that.
And this time, rather than try to cover the circuit in one go, I am going to spread it over two days. This will give me the opportunity, I hope, to sample some less direct services and to venture into a few new areas. In fact, I want to make it a rule this time that I avoid the 'obvious' direct services as far as possible, and use 'new' (to me) services wherever possible.
I am starting at the Trafford Centre, the third-largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom by retail space; when its original owners sold it in 2011 for £1.65 billion, it set a record as the costliest single property sale in British history.
The Bus Station here serves a wide range of destinations from its 16 bays. Like the Centre itself, it's a busy place, although less so at 0845 on a Bank Holiday Monday. There are quite a few people around, though, at this relatively early hour, and five buses are on stand awaiting their departure times - all are in the yellow Bee Network colours.
ABOVE: Taken the afternoon before my trip (Sunday 4 May 2025), are two of the latest electric double-deckers to have been delivered to Metroline Manchester as part of Tranche 3 of the Bee Network. VMD 424 (BD74 WHG, left) and VMD 381 (BU25 YVE, right), both Volvo BZL DDs, will shortly be heading to the City Centre on routes X50 and 250 respectively.
Having completed one clockwise circuit and one anti-clockwise, which way to go round this time? I've decided on clockwise, and am starting out for Cadishead. Both of my previous circuits have linked me between the Trafford Centre and Leigh, on route 126; hence I need to do something different this time!
This first journey brings me into contact with a service that I am familiar with – route 100, which at its fullest extent runs from Manchester City Centre to Warrington. I wrote about it very recently, in fact. But it’s allowed in the ‘rules’ for this trip because I didn’t use it in either of the previous circuits!
The 0858 departure has started from the City Centre Shudehill Bus Station at 0815, and is the first through bus of the day (on a Sunday Service) to Warrington. The bus arrives a few minutes ahead of time, as scheduled. It’s an ADL Enviro400 MMC, operated by Stagecoach Manchester. Tap-on, tap-off is now available for holders of contactless cards, and I tap in. As my first ride of the day, the cost is a standard £2.00, as is the case for any single Adult journey across the Greater Manchester region. As the day progresses, my fares should automatically 'cap' at the day rate of £5.00.
As we set out from Trafford, the viaduct that carries the orbital M60 motorway through this area can be seen. This motorway is 36.1 miles long, and, as we're both doing a full circuit of the city, we'll be coming into contact with one another at various points. To be honest, though, I don't give much thought to this for the bulk of my journey!
This is only scheduled to be a 22-minute journey. When we reach the end of the Salford Western Gateway, and join Liverpool Road, a 67A service towards Cadishead crosses the junction ahead of us.
I mentioned the 67 in my recent article as well. It follows a similar route to the 100, all the way from Cadishead to Manchester City Centre, but it doesn’t take the detour into the Trafford Centre. I also realise on this trip that the 67 doesn’t deviate at Irlam to serve the Cutnook Lane area as the 100 does. But the 67A does make the detour...
ABOVE: Stagecoach Manchester 11515, an ADL Enviro400 MMC working route 67A, turns off the Liverpool Road in Irlam to serve the Cutnook Lane area. It is passing the Old Nags Head Inn, which began life as
a farmhouse with adjacent land used for stabling visitors’ horses. For many years it was known as the ‘Halfway House’ between Manchester and Warrington.
And it's this detour that has given the particular journey that we are following its suffix… The 67A only runs in the early mornings, and my initial hunch is that it exists to provide a service to Cutnook Lane at the times that the 100 doesn’t run. The first Sunday 100 towards Manchester doesn't reach Cutnook Lane until 1053, as the bus (the one I am on) has to get all the way to Warrington and back. The 67A provides a half-hourly service from 0644 to 0944, so my hunch makes sense, I think.
But this much earlier first trip towards Warrington means that this particular 67A seem a little pointless, given that it is running directly in front of the 100 (according to the timetable, it should be two minutes in front). I'm not sure what the point of this journey is, in this direction, when, as a 67, it could take the direct route... The only passengers on the detour shun the 67A in favour of the 100, with its much more distant objective.
Five minutes after turning off the Liverpool Road, we return to it, 175 yards from where we left it!
On into Irlam itself and I find this "Green Goddess" Bedford Fire Engine parked up outside the "Irlam Steel Recreation and Social Club", possibly for a VE Day celebration?
My bus is about a minute late reaching the “Coach & Horses” stop in Cadishead, dropping me off at 0921.
ABOVE: My 100 bus can just be seen disappearing into the distance as I stand outside the Coach & Horses public house in Cadishead. The chimney in the distance is on the site of a waste management company called CSG.
This trip has taken me towards one extremity of the city – the border is about half a mile away before Hollins Green – but, now that I'm here, it feels like a slightly pointless exercise, as I’m now about to retrace my steps. And I'm doing so on the 67A.
When it comes... It's due at 0933, but there's no sign of it at that point. I know for sure - given that my bus was following it - that it went through on time on the outward journey, and it only runs another five minutes on from the "Coach & Horses", into the Glaze Estate. Surely it can't have got lost in that short time?
It turns up at 0938, and my notes record a "brisk" drive back towards Eccles. Once again we venture through the Cutnook Lane deviation, picking up passengers this time. The direct route to Eccles, bypassing the Trafford Centre, is new to me.
I had been intending to leave the bus at Eccles Interchange, and to take a short run on route 33 to Worsley, to put me in touch with route 35 to Leigh. However, I realise that, by staying on the 67A a little longer, I can get directly to the 35 without needing the 33 at all (the 35 does go to Eccles, just not to the Interchange).
On the approach to Eccles I find this magnificent old mill, which is now home to a business called "Transcend Studios", a wellbeing community.
The spirited driving has not recovered any of the lost time as we reach Eccles Interchange; if anything, we have lost a couple more minutes.
ABOVE: Go North West 3432 (MX20 KXU), a Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner, passes along Gilda Brook Road in Eccles, working route 21 (Agecroft to The Trafford Centre), a much more direct link to Eccles than the route I have chosen! The bus was previously owned by Diamond Bus North West, but was transferred to Go-Ahead under Tranche 1 of the Bee Network - hence the old Diamond fleet number (40734) has been covered over by the new one.
We reach Salford Royal Hospital seven minutes late, at 1012.
I cross the road to await the 35 to Leigh, which is due at 1023 (originating at Piccadilly Gardens in the City Centre). It turns up on time (in fact a minute early, but this is not a timing point), and is a Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner (an ultra low-emission diesel). Operated by Go North West, there is cold air blowing directly into the top of my head from the air-conditioning. Whilst it is a dry day, and will get to a decent temperature later, it's pretty cold outside at present so this is not welcome!
The bus waits a couple of times along the way as it is ahead of schedule, which prompts one of two men sitting at the front to remark to his companion that the driver is a "jobsworth"!
We pass the Worsley Court House (where I had originally expected to change from the 33 to the 35). The Grade II-listed building was built in 1849 as the local Manorial Court, and was later used as a Magistrates' Court. It is now a conference and wedding venue.
ABOVE: Worsley Court House (right)
My "jobsworth" driver (I prefer the word "efficient") gets us into Leigh at exactly the scheduled 1057, and promptly turns into a 608 to Wigan, which is a little unexpected!
ABOVE: A Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner arrives into a very quiet Leigh Bus Station, ready to form a service 35 to Manchester City Centre.
It's very quiet here, and it feels like a Sunday without the usual Sunday accoutrements (obviously as it's Bank Holiday Monday)... I will have the Sunday vibe all day!
I'm not expecting to see a huge number of electric buses on my trip today, as I think they are being focused on routes into Manchester City Centre rather than those running around the edge, but I get a reminder in Leigh that Manchester electrics are not the only ones in town, in the form of a Warrington's Own Buses electric:
ABOVE: Warrington's Own Buses 1024 (BU74 YVR), a Volvo BZL MCV, is about to depart for Warrington on route 28A when seen in Leigh Bus Station.
Having photographed the bus, I am sorely tempted to board it, despite the implications for my planned journey. This temptation is very short-lived as, while I consider my options, the bus pulls off the stand!
There is also a good lesson here on paying attention to what is going on around you... You will note I only have a rear view of the Warrington bus. As it pulls away, I decide to share the photo with some friends. Whilst I am engrossed, the bus turns around at the far end of the Bus Station and comes back down to my end, offering a perfect front view - except that I am only vaguely aware of it, so miss what would have been a magnificent shot (as good as the title shot of my earlier Manchester article - and in the same location)! D'oh!
Tea break taken and lost opportunities rued, I am heading for service 611 to Wigan, which is due out at 1135. There is a brief message in the Bus Station warning that smoking and vaping are prohibited. It repeats every 30 seconds (I measure it!), and this gets rather annoying after a minute or two. The 25-second gaps between messages are sometimes interspersed with other messages, just in case anyone is starting to enjoy the peace and quiet.
The 611 turns up on time. I'm still with Go North West and this is another Ultroliner. I haven't done the 611 before, but I have used the companion route 610, which is very similar apart from some minor variations in the Ashton-in-Makerfield area. But I'm going the opposite way round as well, so it feels different.
I haven't mentioned that the Bee Network includes next stop announcements and customer information screens as standard, and this is the first bus I have boarded today where the latter isn't working - the screen (upstairs one at least) just shows "Bee Network" the whole way through.
In Lowton, I get a first class view of the St Mary's Parish Church - the kind of view that is only possible from the top of a bus.
Just beyond Lowton is Lane Head, less than half a mile from the Cheshire border, where a quirk of the routing means that serving the area requires us to cross the A580, the Liverpool to East Lancashire Road, twice in quick succession. (Incidentally, this road was the first purpose-built A-road in the United Kingdom.)
We come to the town of Golborne. The "old road south" from here seems to have been pivotal to the Second Civil War. In 1648, the Scots, having advanced into England, were intercepted by Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Roundhead Army, at Preston. In a series of running battles between Preston, Wigan and Warrington, including here, Cromwell defeated the Scots even though his army was outnumbered ten to one.
As morning turns to afternoon, it remains very quiet, both on the roads and on the pavements. Everybody seems to be enjoying their Bank Holiday by staying at home!
ABOVE: Go North West 3488 (MX70 APZ), a Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner, passes along Heath Street in Golborne, on route 611 towards Leigh.
The market town of Ashton-in-Makerfield is similarly peaceful as we pass through. There was a World War II Prisoner of War Camp here - two High Schools now occupy the site. We're right at the western border of Greater Manchester (with Merseyside) - the M6 motorway to the immediate west of Ashton-in-Makerfield conveniently marks the boundary.
A few miles further on and we're into the environs of Wigan itself. I did once try to persuade my partner that Wigan North Western was the name of a rugby team, but, as we all know, it's actually the name of the railway station on the West Coast Main Line, which we pass.
Soon after comes Wigan Wallgate station. Roger French visited both stations for one of his always-excellent Bus and Train User articles, and made the hilarious observation that "Tessa Sanderson could easily throw a javelin from one entrance to the other (assuming no pedestrians were about for obvious Health & Safety issues)". And it's true - the stations are only about 100 yards apart (again, Roger illustrates the proximity of the two stations with two fine photographs in his article). I shall satisfy myself with a view of Wallgate station - another of those views that can only come from the top of a bus:
The 611 reaches Wigan Bus Station three minutes late at 1237. It's not obvious where the time has been lost but of course three minutes is not significant, and can just be the result of an odd 30-second hiatus here-or-there, or even a traffic light that stays on the wrong phase for a moment too long.
Wigan Bus Station is modern and comfortable. It dates back to 2018, when it replaced an older facility on the same site.
A 2018 photograph on Wikipedia shows a long line of Stagecoach buses (with the odd Diamond Bus for good measure). Today could not be more different. All but one of the buses are in yellow Bee Network colours, showing how effectively the take-over has been completed, in this part of Greater Manchester at least. The interloper is an Arriva North West vehicle on route 320 from St Helens.
If you are touring Greater Manchester by bus, I would recommend keeping a good supply of 20p coins to hand, as every bus station in the region charges an entry fee for the essential facilities. The entry to said facilities is akin to breaking out of Slade Prison, and, for two young boys here, there's a problem as they don't have the requisite coins. After a few minutes of trying to figure out if they can somehow get through without paying (believe me, with the barriers in place, it's not possible), they head off into town to seek alternative options. If a charge has to be applied then surely a contactless payment option can be added?
I'm now heading to Bolton on route 575, which was my original plan for this part of the previous circuit, although I eshewed it last time in favour of a 607. So this is now the main option as I want to avoid repeating myself. The 1245 departure is not on the stand but a number of people are waiting and there seems to be a confidence that it's coming. Indeed, the incoming service arrives at 1247 (should have been 1240). A quick exchange of the old passengers for the new ones sees us reversing off the stand within one minute.
This is my first single-decker of the day - a modern, full-length ADL Enviro200 MMC with all the mod cons of the Bee Network. Once again, the service is operated by Go North West. As part of the Tranche 1 award of September 2023, the Bee Network arrangements have been in place on this route for more than 18 months now. This 73-reg vehicle was presumably bought new for the changeover - part of the massive investment of new buses that has been pushed into Greater Manchester as services have joined the Network.
ABOVE: The interior of my route 575 bus at Wigan Bus Station, with another Wright Streetdeck Ultraliner visible to the right working route 605 (Beech Hill circular)
Some of the windows seem to have an additional layer of film across them for some reason, which causes the views through those windows to be slightly blurred. Fortunately, my main window view is not so obscured.
This is another of those journeys that twists and turns a bit, and takes us right to the Greater Manchester border (with Lancashire in this case). Four miles on from Wigan is Blackrod, derived from the Old English, "blaec" and "rodu", meaning a "dark clearing". The scenery around here is delightful, and far better than my camera can adequately capture:
ABOVE: View from somewhere in the Blackrod / Horwich area.
We reach Horwich, which proclaims itself as a "historic railway town". Horwich (railway) Works was built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and the town grew as a result, with the population almost quadrupling in the 10 years between 1881 and 1891, to 12,850 people.
The Crown Hotel stands on one side of a busy roundabout, the Crown Roundabout. The latter includes an historic roadsign that was recently restored after having been damaged in a crash - significant enough to be a local newsworthy item.
ABOVE: The Crown Hotel in Horwich
It doesn't take long to get into Bolton Town Centre, about three minutes from Bolton Interchange and the end of the route. The railway station is adjacent to the Bus Interchange, and the Customer Information Screens are showing onward departure information for the train services. There's only one problem... Can you work out what it is...?
Well, with us still being a couple of minutes from the Interchange and a couple more minutes from the train platforms, and with the actual time confirmed on the screen as 1346, all of the listed 1345, 1348 and 1349 departures will have gone before anyone can possibly get to them; indeed, the delayed 1338 to Carlisle (expected at 1345), should have gone already...
We reach Bolton Interchange at 1350, four minutes later than scheduled - not bad as we started out three minutes down. It's been a lovely, scenic ride, and relatively busy for what is proving to be a generally quiet day. The Interchange, which has more than 20 departure stands, opened in 2017. As was the case in Wigan, a vast sea of yellow Bee Network buses are punctuated by the occasional out-of-town service, including in this case the Stagecoach 125 from Preston and the Transdev Blackburn Bus Company route 1 from Blackburn.
ABOVE: Go North West 2038 (LK73 FXK), a BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV, departs from its stand at Bolton Interchange on route 36 to central Manchester. A long ADL Enviro200 MMC, similar to the one I have just come in from Wigan on, is parked up behind.
So, as the map below shows, I have broadly covered the western side of Greater Manchester. To continue my circuit I need to head through the northern environs, towards Bury and Rochdale. Route 471 would take me all the way across to Rochdale, but I've already done this, so I want to go a different way. What will be my chosen route?
TO BE CONTINUED...
BELOW: A diagrammatic approximation of the journey described in this article
