Manchester day trip/bash - tomorrow. Suggestions?

[nicobobinus]

I have return advance tickets from London up to Manchester and back tomorrow. It's a city I've never been to, ever, and I've got next to no clue about the public transport network. I know I can get a day ticket for the TfGM area which lets me do bus/rail/tram, and beyond that the day is basically a blank page! I get in at about 1045 and return on the 1935 from Piccadilly.

My main priorities for the day are:
- A couple of pacer trips.
- Anything step-entrance era left on the bus network (?) .
- A trip or two out to the 'edge' of the area. Somewhere rural, the Manc version of what Theydon Bois is to London..

Any suggestions gratefully received!

 

[telstarbox]

Which ticket are you planning on getting?

Marple / Strines (on the Piccadilly-New Mills Central route) or the outer stations on the Hadfield/Glossop line are fairly rural.

At Piccadilly, Platforms 1-4 have most of the Pacer services.

If you're keen on the Metrolink, you can go from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale on Northern, then come back into the city centre on the Metrolink. You can also go from Piccadilly to East Didsbury and come back into town on Metrolink.

Are you interested in travelling on new classes or units you haven't travelled on before?

 

[gnolife]

Lets see.

For pacer trips, you'll be looking at Manchester - Wigan, Manchester to Marple or Manchester - Altrincham for the greatest chances of getting a pacer. They also sometimes turn up out of Victoria on the Calder Valley line to Littleborough, the Huddersfield line to Greenfield and the Ribble Valley line to Bromley Cross.

Step entrance buses are something of a dying breed in the city. I think that JPT run some on routes 112 and 118 to Middleton/NMGH. First still had some based in Bury last time I checked, and Warrington Coachways has some (route 38 to Dunham Massey fits criteria number 3 for you as well)

As for point three, I'd recommend Middlewood as a good station to pay a call to if you want the **** end of nowhere. It serves pretty close to nothing. Strines also fits the bill, although not as well. If you want a bus going to countryside, then there isn't a lot that I can suggest, other than the aforementioned 38 to Dunham.

 

[ValleyLines142]

In terms of Metrolink, you could go out to Altrincham from Piccadilly and return on a Pacer on the Mid-Cheshire Line (although whenever I've been in the area I've only ever seen 150s and 156s). The same 'circular' method of using using Metrolink/Trains can also be done at Rochdale and East Didsbury, as telstarbox suggested.

In terms of step-entrance buses, I'm not sure of any myself unfortunately; Manchester is infested by Stagecoach Enviro 400s!

 

[nicobobinus]

A short reply of thanks for the suggestions folks as I've only just got in after what turned into a 6 hour trip back to London. I had a read of them before I got into Piccadilly today. In the end I followed my nose - a trip out to Altrincham was coincidentally timed to mean I had about a 20 minute wait for the two-hourly Northern service back in, but all the Northern offerings I managed today were 150s. Pacers were sighted rasping into the distance but I didn't manage to bash a single one! Plenty of Metrolink mileage, though

I also had a 'vintage bus' session of sorts on a pretty rough V-reg trident on the Magic Bus 143 to East Didsbury, so all was not lost.

There will be a repeat trip with the Rochdale and Middlewood suggestions taken on board and a little more strategic planning to try and grab a pacer. Perhaps Sunday wasn't the best day to try and hunt them. Manchester definitely merits more than a single day for it. Really nice city to boot - just a shame the WCML died a death on the way back. Thanks again everyone!