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News Archive for 2013
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Christmas Time
Remember that trains do not run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and
finish early on Christmas Eve. Davenport's last trains on 24
December will be the 19:51 from Manchester Piccadilly to
Buxton, due at Davenport at 20:09, and the 20:29 from Buxton to
Manchester, due at Davenport at 21:08. Don't be left behind!
On Boxing Day, but not Christmas Day, some Stagecoach Bus
routes, including the 192 Hazel Grove - Manchester via the A6, will be
running a limited service (details)
and
Metrolink
trams willl be running between 8am and 10pm.
Note also that Manchester Victoria station is closed throughout the
Christmas - New Year period for engineering work - see Northern Rail information.
23 December 2013
Busy time!
Trains
are very busy at this time of year. If travelling to Manchester
during the daytime, we suggest that, if possible, you aim for one of
the (Monday - Saturday) trains which start from Hazel Grove, calling at
Davenport at xx.35,
as they offer a more comfortable journey than those emanating from
Buxton which will often be full by the time they arrive here.
Timetable change
A new timetable period starts across the national network on 8
December. The Buxton line timetable remains the same except that the
trains towards Manchester return to their 'normal' times, in many cases
a couple of minutes later than has been the case during the autumn.
Sadly, alll the annoying faults in the schedules remain (more on this
another time.) A major change in the North West in general is
that Manchester Airport - Scotland services will run via Wigan
(North Western) rather than via Bolton, as that route is now fully
electrified and new Class 350 electric trains will be phased in
shortly.
Glimpsed one evening at Oxford Road, one of the 'Rail Head Treatment
Trains' which have run nightly in autumn to keep the rails free of
leaves.
5 December 2013
Northern Rail is supporting the 'Movember'
campaign
by
applying
moustaches
to
the
front
of
its
trains,
as
shown
on
156
438
on
15 November working the 10:30 Hazel Grove - Preston. A far
cry from the 'speed
whiskers' worn by the DMUs of the 1950s...
18 November 2013
A Chip off the Old Block
Currently for sale through the Gumtree
website as a framed print, set in a mirror, by local artist
Frederick 'Davenport' Bates (1867-1943) whose life
and times
are chronicled elsewhere on our site. The picture is entitled 'A
Chip off the Old Block'. If you live in one of Davenport's fine
Edwardan houses, this might be just the thing to complement your decor.
Bates lived on Mile End Lane, and his in-laws James and Elizabeth
Shepherd lived at 'Shird Fold' on The Crescent; he was
patronised by several local residents, but is seldom remembered today.
18 November 2013
Anyone for Snooker?
Not many buildings in the Davenport area can boast a 'blue plaque' but
one that does, awarded by the Socety for the Protection of Ancient
Buildings, is No. 12 Flowery Field in Woodsmoor, a Victorian
'gentleman's residence' which is currently on the market, through
Gascoigne Halman. Recently used as a the base of a business
specialising in historic textile patterns, it is certainly one of the
more unusual buildings we have, as well as being across the road from
the cottage which is one of the oldest. It's reall selling point,
according to the board outside, is the '40-foot long snooker room.'
The sale details
are on the Gascoigne Halman website. Described as Edwardian, it appears
to date from around 1892 when the land was sold by the Freeholders
Company to Henry Lomas.
3 November 2013
Vandalism...
From Twitter:
Charlie Hulme @Altfelden
@Northernrailorg Who is responsible for cleaning the mass of graffiti
from the path down to Davenport Station car park (railway property)?
04:20 PM - 29 Oct 13
Northern Rail @northernrailorg
@Altfelden we are aware of this and our contractors will come to clean
or pass to council or @networkrail if not in our lease area.
04:38 PM - 29 Oct 13
Leaf Fall Season
Sunday 7 October is the the first day of the railway's official autumn,
when trains from Buxton (and Chester via Northwich) are given extra
time to allow for any 'leaves on the line' problems which may occur,
although these are not rare since Network Rail run a special train
which applies a special sand mixture to the rails.
From Monday 7 October, some trains from Davenport towards Manchester
will depart up to three minutes earlier than normal. New
timetable leaflets are available at the station or as a PDF
download
from
Northern
Rail.
2 October 2013
Old and New revisited
Our 2006 feature Old and New
Homes contrasted the cottage at 2 Flowery Field, possibly the
oldest building in the Davenport area, with the Southlands development
on Bramhall Lane, then new. Ironically perhaps, we now find that the
current 'newest house in the area' is being built right next door to
the oldest; two are being created on the site of a former bungalow, as
our picture from 21 September shows.
The Estate Agent's digital impression shows how one is being built to
resemble the old cottage adjacent to it, and the other is a pastiche of
the Victorian building on the other side. Curiously, they have already
been given names by the agent - 'April Cottage' and 'Walmsley House'
respectively.
22 September 2013
Little house by the garages
Planining permission has been requested for a small detached house to
be fitted between No.2 Oakfield Road and the access alongsde the
Oakfield Road industrial units. Details and plans can be found on the
Stockport Planning Database under ref.
DC052731. It seems no space is too small to have a house in it...
29 August 2013
Knotweed (again)
Letter sent to Network Rail Community Relations Advisor:
I'd like to raise with you again the matter of the Japanese Knotweed
infestation at Davenport station up platform. Although you wrote in May
that the treatment you organised could not have failed, it seems to me
that the stuff is flourishing better than ever. I took a picture
yesterday which attach and am also copying to
www.davenportstation.org.uk.
Ever more concerning, I noticed yesterday that contractors had been
attacking it with strimmers or similar equipment, leaving residue lying
about, which can only have the effect of spreading it even further,
including over the fence into neighbouring gardens. I understand there
are laws about such matters.
The situation continues that this is preventing friends of the station
from doing work to improve the station garden, for fear of accidentally
introducing the plant at home or otherwise spreading it. Now that the
Buxton line is designated as a Community Rail line this must be
considered even more important.
See also Knotweed
and
the
Law.
When you write that treatment takes time to take effect, is this time
measured in years?
22 August 2013
Woodsmoor Classic Car Rally
The third Woodsmoor Classic Car Rally takes place at the playing fields
adjacent to Flowery Field on Bank Holiday Monday 26 August 2013. As
well as the cars, over 15 stalls selling gifts, crafts and delicacies
will be there including a food pod caterer, ice cream van, candy floss
and, most exciting, 'Radio Controlled Cars for kids and Dads alike'!
Two local charities will be supported by the event.
Let's hope the weather is better than last year. Full details on the WCCR website.
10 August 2013
Community Rail
Passengers in the north west will have more say on how local rail
services are run after the designation of the Glossop line and the
Buxton line each as a Community Rail Service, Rail Minister Norman
Baker announced on 25 July.
The Government press release tells us that designation of the line[s]
between Glossop and Hadfield to Manchester and Buxton to Manchester
will enable train companies to work more closely with the community
rail partnership to better design services to meet local needs. Says Mr
Baker: I want to encourage communities to become more closely involved
with their railways to help create the services and stations passengers
deserve. That's why I am delighted to announce these 2 latest community
rail service designations. Today’s designations are a major step
towards helping the High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail
Partnership work closely with local groups to provide innovative and
more cost effective rail services for their community..
Alan Chaplin, Interim Managing Director for Northern Rail, which runs
services on the route, said: 'We welcome the designation of the Glossop
line and the Buxton line as community rail services. These routes are
integral to the area and the designation will help them to prosper,
benefiting local people and visitors to the region.
What this means in practice for Davenport passengers, and we will be
represented in the Community Rail Partnership remains to be seen. Will
we get our hourly Sunday trains to Middlewood restored, for example, or
will the views passengers further up the line still dominate decision
making?
9 August 2013
Stockport 170
Sunday 4 August saw two events of great interest in our area. At Stockport railway station the annual
'Rail Day' celebrated the 170th anniversary of Stockport station, and
included the naming of Virgin Pendolino train 390 156 'Stockport 170'
by media celebrity Peter Waterman, seen above in full flow, watched by
Virgin Trains staff member Niki Abnett who is the driving force behind
these events. (Our pictures from the Stockport event are kindly
provided by Chris Tasker).
There were sales
and charity stands, a visiting locomotive - with cab visits permitted -
provided for the day by the DB Schenker freight company in the shape of
60 020, between duties on the Peak District stone trains. These locos
have a Stockport connection, as their disel engines were built at the
Mirrlees works.
The event was enlivened by the the
arrival and departure of the steam-hauled 'North Wales Coast Express'
to Holyhead, scheduled for 11:00, hauled by a 'Black 5' steam loco, a
type once very familiar in our area. This excursion runs again on 18
August and 1 September from Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport and
Altrincham: bookings are open at the Railway
Touring
Company website.
8 August 2013.
On Mirrlees Fields
Also on Sunday 4 August, the Mirrlees
Fields Action Group were
offering guided Nature Walks in the Fields, with a guide from the
Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Cakes and other refreshments were available,
and members of the
Group and the Trust were on hand to explain their campaign to assure
the future of
the former Mirrlees playing fields and golf course as a natural amenity
area for the community. See the Group Website.
The afternoon was clearly a great success, with many people of all ages
turning up for the walks which were full of interest. The plan is that
the Cheshire
Wildlife Trust will care for the fields on behalf of the owners,
MAN Diesel (Successors to Mirrlees) and develop their use as a
nature-friendly public resource. It is to be hoped that this goes
ahead, as it is a wonderful area. While there we were able to raise
with the Group the matter of officially allowing cycling along the
track acrfoss the fields from Woodsmoor to Bramhall Moor Lane, and the
members there, some of whom had brought their bikes, appeared very
supportive of our campaign.
At present, demolition of redundant factory buildings on the Mirrlees
site is taking place: outline
planning
permission has been given for a housing development on
this area, but the Fields are not included in this and will be
preserved.
08 August 2013
Mind the Step
Regular passengers will have noticed that 'Mind the Step' has been very
neatly stencilled all the way along both our platforms. Very nice, but
a rather poor substitute for platforms of a sensible height that don't
require mountaineering ability. A tip for less-able travellers
travelling to Davenport from the from Manchester direction: travel in
the very front of the the train, especially if it has four coaches and
you will find that there is less of a drop than at the rear.
Note also that the rails on the Manchester-bound line through Woodsmoor
and Davenport have received their annual summer coat of white paint. A
few years ago, this line was re-laid using the then-new idea of steel
sleepers, and it was later realised that these early installations
might not protect against buckling movements if the rails were heated
by the sun and expand; the white is an attempt to reduce the risk.
Among all this white paint, there is a distinct lack of a white line
and tactile surface along the platform edges, as required by Railway
Group
Standard
RGS
GI/RT7016 section 11.2.3.1: 'Platform edges
shall be clearly identified by visible marking and provision of a
tactile surface.'
26 July 2013
Right-of-Way improvement
New Woodsmoor - Bramhall cycle
link open: see
our
Cycling
pages.
5 July 2013
No steam: The steam excursion which was planned
(after several postponments) to pass through Davenport on 27 June has -
again - been cancelled 'due to engineering works'.
Tweeting the Manager
Our contribution to a Virgin 'Tweet the Manager' session about station
facilities:
@VirginTrains What I'd like to see: outside seats on 'Platform Zero' at
Stockport as well as in the poky waiting room. 09:04 AM - 25 Jun 13
@NWrail1 It is on our to do list and will get round to it as quickly
as we can! 09:05 AM - 25 Jun 13
Maybe they should just visit a local garden centre?
26 June 2013
Busking in the Park - 30 June
On Sunday, 30 June from 1 pm until 5 pm, the Friends of Cale Green Park are
hosting a "Busking in the Park" event, featuring a variety of acoustic
performers raising money for Cancer Research UK and SPARC (Stockport
Progress and Recovery Centre). The latter being the nominated charity
of the Cale Green Park Residents' Association.
In addition to the performers,
there will be a number of stalls including Keith Howard (local wood
turner), Judith Howard (local jam maker), the Residents' Association
craft stall, Pure Studios (hand made products), Jody Appleton
(Higgledy Piggledy China Shop), Karen Spencer (hand crafted jewellery),
the 24th Stockport Guides (operating a hands on craft stall), and
DogWorx (dog grooming and doggie related sales).
But that's not all! Therer's also a Hog Roast, Sivoris Ice Cream, Face
Painting, Ferret Races, Rockahula, a Dog Sled Racing display, Body
Zorbing, Magenta Hairdressers, and two Punch and Judy shows (at 2 pm
and 3 pm). To top it all off, Donkey rides for the little
children.
One of the highlights of the event is sure to be "The Big Din". After
the raffle, and to bring everything to a LOUD end, everyone is
asked to bring their musical instruments (homemade or otherwise) for a
big group crescendo at the end of the event. It doesn't matter if you
can play the instrument, we just want everyone to make some noise.
17 June 2013
Bramhall Festival
Over the weekend of 29-30 June there is this year's Bramhall Festival,
with events around Bramhall village including a parade at 11am on
Saturday, an 'Artisan Market' from 10am to 4pm both days, a variety of
musical entertainment, and a record/CD fair in Centre Point.
16 June 2013
Oakfield Road
Residents may have seen a recent letter from the Libreral council
candidates regarding parking restrictions on Oakfield Road. For enyone
interested in the history of this situation, we have found in our the
letter sent to residents about the situation in that area back in 1991
and a copy in PDF can be downloaded
here.
14 June 2013
Metrolink openings ... and a closure
The Metrolink line beyond St Werburgh's Road to East Didsbury, with
intermediate stops at Withington, Burton Road, West Didsbury, and
Didsbury Village, opens to passengers on Thursday 23 May. The route
lies on the trackbed of what was once a main line from Manchester
Central to London St Pancras, with expresses suach as the 'Palatine'
and later the famous 'Midland Pullman' passing through before joining
the line which still exists as a goods line running along the Davenport
/ Bramhall border and as a passenger line south of Hazel Grove. The 'Disused
stations'
website has some interesting pictures of the 'Old'
Didsbury station.
This picture by Greg Mape
shows trams on test at East Didsbury station on 14 May. On the left is
the Trans-Pennine Trail cycleway, which continues on the trackbed under
the bridge in the distance and then down to the side of the Mersey
river which it follows to Stockport town centre. This section of the
Trail has been closed off for some time, hopefully it will be open
again soon.
Trams to East Didsbury run via Manchester Victoria and do not serve
Manchester Piccadilly, so the best wasy to catch one is to travel by a
train which is running through towards Bolton and change at Deansgate.
East Didsbury (Metrolink) is not adjacent to the Network Rail station
on the Airport line, it's few minutes' walk away across a major
crossroads and on a higher level.
Less welcome to some people is that Mosley Street tram-stop will close
permanently after the last tram on 17 May, now that the real-time
indicators on the other stations in the city centre are finally working
again, along with the new signalling system. Hopefully future
passengers will be spared the long signal stops and other hold-ups
which have been prevalent recently.
14 May 2013
Knotweed again
Needless to say the Japanese Knotweed is growing again despite the
'treatment' by Network Rail. We have fired off another email to Mr
Rankin.
14 May 2013
Upcoming engineering
work
On Sunday
19
May, and also Saturday
and
Sunday
25-26
May, the line between Furness Vale and Buxton will
be closed for engineering work, with replacement buses in operation. As
far as we can see, train times at Davenport are the same as normal, but
do check before travelling.
Also note that a new timetable period starts on 19 May: there do not
seem to be any dramatic changes. The leaflet can be downloaded or you
can get a copy from the station during opening hours Monday - Saturday
mornings.
25 April 2013
Save our Parks
Stockport Council, still desperate to cut costs, is proposing to cut
the costs of looking after our parks, including Cale Green Park and
Hallam Gardens. There is a Consultation on the Council website in the
form of an on-line
questionnare which will be live until 31 May. We would encourage
everyone to complete this, as if some of the plans are carried out the
parks would start to look very shabby and unwelcoming. Already, flower
displays have been abandoned, although the Friends of Cale Green Park
are doing their best to remedy this and would appreciate help.
In future, planned measures for the parks include 'Graffiti deemed to
be non‐offensive would be removed as and when resources
allow' and
'Most parks and open spaces will be litter picked no more than once a
week.' Trained gardeners will be replaced by 'Multi-tasking
operatives.'
See the Friends of Cale Green
Park website for more information.
25 April 2013
Buxton Fringe
Michael Cain writes: 'I am a committee member of the Buxton Fringe and
am trying to foster busking and train entertainment so that the journey
and the town feel festive. Details are on the website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/. '
Over 100 events have already been entered for this year's Fringe which
runs from Wednesday July 3 to Sunday July 21. If you would like to be
part of the Fringe, there is still time so - see the information for
entrants. The strict and final deadline for the printed programme
is April 21.
9 April 2013
Buxton station, Sunday 7 April, with trains awaiting the Monday morning
peak. How nice it would be if the ocasional Sunday special ran over the
goods lines to Chinley and Dowlow...
Knotweed, pt 2.
We've received a reply from Mr Rankin, Network Rail's Community
Relations Advisor, who writes: 'We have recently been to site and and
treated the Japanese Knotweed. I trust this is helpful.'
Will it return? Time will tell...
5 April 2013
Bus changes
The following bus route changes affecting Davenport take place from 7
or 8 April:
Route 372 Mondays - Saturdays, Stockport - Woodsmoor and North Park
Road, run by Stagecoach. Until early afternoon, journeys are
extended to Hazel Grove, Fiveways via Stepping Hill and Torkington,
partly replacing bus 390. An interesting feature of this is that to
reach Stepping Hill Hospital it runs along a section of Bramhall Moor
Lane past the former Mirrlees factory which has not been served by
buses in recent times. It also provides a useful link from the
Davenport and Woodsmoor areas to the Sainsbury's 'Superstore' in Hazel
Grove. Here
is
the
timetable
leaflet.
Route 378 Stockport - Wilmslow. From Sunday 8 April evening, Sunday and
public holiday journeys will be run by Stagecoach and are changed to
run between Grove Lane and Stockport only. Monday to Saturday evening
journeys also run Grove Lane only, due to financial cutbacks by
Cheshire East council. Timetable
leaflet.
The weekday evening 378 will be run by Manchester Community Transport,
who are also taking over the 307/308 Stockport - Bramhall circular
routes, with changes to the route and timetables. This again raises the
irritating issue of non-availability of Stagecoach bus 'Dayrider' and
'Megarider' tickets on other operators' services.
Above: On 7 March, one of the last 372 journeys by BakerBus of
Biddulph, who have now pulled out of Stockport area operations, passes
Davenport station. Stagecoach now operate this route.
5 April 2013
Cale Green Park Farmers' Market
On Easter Monday 2013 (1
April)
from 11 am until 3pm, the Friends of Cale Green
Park are hosting a Farmers
Market. There will be about 20 stalls,
an Easter Egg Hunt, some egg and spoon races, a magician [for the
children], clog dancers, and much much more.
27 March 2013
No trains Sunday 31 March
A bus replacement service will operate all day between Hazel Grove and
Manchester on Sunday 31 March. See the Journey Planner
for details.
Also, engineering works connected with the enlargement of the station
at Salford Crescent
will block the line through Salford Crescent all day on 30 and 31
March. On 30 March the trains which normallly run between Hazel Grove
and Preston will run between Hazel Grove and Manchester Oxford Road at
the normal times.
27 March 2013
The Wallace Sutherland Collection
We have been given permission by Mrs Sutherland to present a collection
of colour slides taken by her late husband J.W.Sutherland, including
many of Davenport and the Buxton line. Follow this link
to explore the collection.
27 March 2013
Knotweed
We've sent the following email to Network Rail. If it generates any
response we'll let you know:
'Davenport station has been infested with Japanese Knotweed all
along the back of the up platform for several years. This is a threat
to neighbours' property, and is also a great disincentive to Friends
Group members from gardening at the station due to the risk of
transferring it to our own gardens. You say on your website that it is
your policy to remove this invasive plant, but nothing has been done.
Please can something be done soon? It is not close to the track and
will not require any precautions regarding passing trains.'
15 March 2013
150 years Whaley Bridge to Buxton
June 2013 marks 150 years of the opening of the line from Whaley Bridge
to Buxton, which took place some years after the opening of the
original Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge line in 1857. We
understand that there will be events along the line to commemorate
this, including at Chapel-en-le-Frith Carnival on 15 June. More details
when we can find them.
5 March 2013
More bus changes
Following on from the changes to bus service mentioned earlier, there
are some other alterations in forthcoming weeks. Cuts in subsidy by
Cheshire East Council have resulted in changes (from 4 March) in the
Stockport - Poynton - Macclesfield / Middewood services which have been
operated recently by Potteries-based BakerBus. These will now be run by
High Peak (Macclesfield service 392/3) and GHA (Middlewood service P1).
The Middlewood service no longer serves Stockport, running instead from
Hazel Grove railway station and calling at Poynton Railway station en
route. Unfortunately, departures from Hazel Grove station at 37 minutes
pass the hour are not a particularly good match with trains from
Manchester which arrive at 13 and 45 minutes past.
As a result of the above, BakerBus no longer wish to run 'our' 372
service Stockport
- Davenport - Woodsmoor - North Park Road, and their bright yellow
buses will disappear from the scene, replaced by Stagecoach buses. This
is in fact a benefit to Davenport passengers as Stagecoach day and
monthly passes can be used on any bus to/from Stockport during the day.
5 March 2013
Bus service changes
Good news on the bus service front is that the contract for the evening
journeys on Route 374, connecting Stockport and Hazel Grove via
Davenport and the New House Farm estate, which had been given to small
local firm 'M Travel' has been returned to Stagecoach Manchester who
run the route for the rest of the day. This not only means that more
modern buses are used, but also that Day Saver tickets bought on
Stagecoach buses earlier in the day can be used for the return journey.
Less good news for some, however, is that the 23:00 bus from Stockport
to Grove Lane, which had also been entrusted to M Travel, has now been withdrawn completely. The last
buses from Stockport Bus Station to the Davenport station area are now
the 22:30 which continues towards Bramhall, and the 22:45 on route 309
which continues along Garners Lane. However, the 192 along the A6 to
Hazel Grove has much later departures from Stockport, until after
midnight.
The timetable booklets are available as a PDF file from the TfGM
bus
leaflet
finder.
31 January 2013
Greengrocery news
We
reported previously on the closure of the 'Garden of Eden' greengrocery
on Bramhall Lane. Following this, customers found that the nearby
'Spar' shop does have a good selection of fruit and vegetables, and
makes a point of proudly labelling those which produced in the UK, a
matter which some customers consider important.
We are pleased to say that the 'Garden of Eden' has now re-opened under
new management. We wish them good luck with their venture. Recently the
baker next
door to the 'Garden' had begun to include fruit and veg in its range,
but has agreed to cease.
Down the road at what used to be called Charlestown, the 'Best One'
store remains closed and shuttered, and is now advertised for lease or
sale.
Updated 31 January 2013
Middlewood Sundays (update)
As mentioned here earlier, Sunday
trains
to and from Buxton now call at Middlewood (for the Middlewood Way) only
every two hours during
the day, instead of hourly as before. This matches the new weekday
stopping
pattern, in which trains to stop alternately at either Middlewood
or Dove Holes, rather than alternate trains either missing both or
stopping at both. But Sunday is the day when people go for walks and
cycle rides
for which Middlewood station is very convenient, and until recently
hourly Sunday trains have stopped at all stations.
We have spoken to Mr Chapman of Transport for Greater Manchester about
this. He says that the policy is to reduce overall journey times from
Buxton to Manchester. The rail industry has a computer model
which predicts how much percentage increase in patronage from shorter
journey times, and if Buxton - Manchester times can reduced to 55
minutes then then significantly more people will travel by train, even
on Sundays. Middlewood has, according to the official figures, just
19,000 passengers per year, and so does not justify an hourly train
even on Sundays. So walking and cycling trips to the Middlewood Way
using the train will now have to be planned to last either 1 hour 38
minutes or 3 hours 38, although exceptionally the Sunday 09:13
and 10:08 'up' trains from Davenport do call at Middlewood.
Most Sunday trains do stop at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme. The ironic
thing about all this is that the service is slower now with the
'modern' (25-year-old!) trains is slower than the best times of the old
diesel railcars built in the 50s. The 1967 timetable shows an uphill
time of 55 minutes from Manchester, non-stop to Stockport then
all stations) and just 48 minutes down. The equivalent times today are
59 minutes uphill, missing Middlewood or Dove Holes, and 58 minutes
down. The main reasons seem to be the longer time now allowed between
Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly, and the restrictions on speed now
in force on the downhill sections.
Update 23 January 2013
Timetable notes
Extra departures from Davenport towards Manchester on Sundays are at 09:16, 13:16, 15:11,
17:17, 19:11 and 21:11. Note the variable times and the gap in the
morning service. Return from Manchester Piccadilly is more regular at
12:22, 14:22, 16:22, 18:22, 20:22 and 22:22. All these trains use
Platforms 13/14 at Piccadilly and also serve Oxford Road, Deansgate and
Salford Crescent stations, which is useful. However,
from 6 January to 10 February they will run between Hazel Grove and
Piccadilly only.
Less welcome news about the new timetable is that the policy of running
buses to Buxton in place of the last trains of the day, Monday - Thursday, to allow
engineering work, has now been included in the timetable, and will
happen every Monday - Thursday from the New Year until 31 March.
However, it's not too bad for us in that the 21:52 and 23:10 trains
from Manchester will run as far as Hazel Grove before handing over
passengers to a
bus. In the downhill direction, the 21:29 Buxton - Manchester
(Davenport 22:04) runs as normal, and there will still be a train
starting at 23:32 from Hazel Grove (Davenport 23:36) to Manchester, but
passengers wanting the last train from Buxton (22:56) will need to
travel all the way by bus, arriving at Davenport at 00:01. Days to be
avoided if planning a trip to the Buxton Opera House, perhaps.
Another change is that - with exceptions in the early morning and late
evening - trains from our line towards Manchester on Mondays to
Saturdays, even the ones from Buxton, do not stop at Heaton Chapel or
Levenshulme. However, it has not been possible to make this change in
the reverse direction, and most trains do continue to call, so we will
have to continue to compete for seats at Manchester.
3 January 2013
Metrolink Matters
Metrolink trams are now running beyond Oldham Mumps to Shaw &
Crompton, calling at Derker. The line is served by trams from St
Werburgh's Road (Chorlton) via Victoria, so it is necessary to change
if travelling from Piccadilly, either at St Peter's Square or by
walking from Piccadilly Gardens to Market Street. The line to
Droylsden, which leaves Piccadilly station in the opposite direction
from other routes, is now scheduled to open on 11 February.
For a story about the ongoing fiasco with the new tram signalling
system which has led to much inconvenience, and is likely to prove
expensive, see the Manchester Evening News.
3 January 2013