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The route started off as a a combination of tram or trolley bus routes, connecting at Hathershaw and Thornham. In 1939 the three towns of Ashton, Oldham and Rochdale replaced the trams and trolley buses on this route and started a through motor bus route - the 9, with buses from all three towns travelling the whole route on a joint running arrangement. In the 1970s the route was re-numbered 409 and this is still the number of the same bus route today.
The photograph, although showing a scene that might have been common in the 1960s, was in fact taken last Saturday, when the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport organised a special event remembering the Number Nine service. Four buses re-created the old Corporation bus days by running along the entire old Number 9 route, stopping for photos at several points.
The photo above was taken outside Park Cake Bakery on Ashton Road, Hathershaw. The photo below shows the four buses that took part in the re-enactment lined up outside the Museum of Transport. Ashton 44 is on the right and Oldham 394 on the left. Also in the photo are former Rochdale Corporation 280, new in 1956, with its distinctive swooping livery, and rear-engined former Oldham Corporation 163, new in 1967. This last bus is based at the transport museum in St Helens. The other three buses are part of the Manchester transport museum's collection.
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"Number Nine" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "N" posts from around the world please follow this link.
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Wow. I remember 1965. I even remember 1957. But 1867 is beyond me. What amazes me is that they are all immediately recognizable as buses, and how very little they changed in a century!
ReplyDeleteI can hardly believe it. 1867? Wow again.
Kay, Alberta
You are right not to believe it, Kay - it was a typo! It should have said 1967 and I have now changed it. I shall give my typing fingers a little smack later.
ReplyDeleteNice little Number 9 Blue Bus. We had identical red buses plying on our roads till some years back. Makes me think that this place is somewhere near Darly Dale in Matlock (Derbyshire).
ReplyDeleteLove these vehicles. Love the number nine, too, numerically.
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC Wednesday team
A fun look at the old buses. Great choice for the letter N.
ReplyDeleteI had to move the computer away from me because I was starting to salivate over those gorgeous buses. I hope one day I will get the chance to drive one of those (and yes, I can drive a bus: it's my job)
ReplyDeleteThey actually make our Manx buses look so modern and that is does not happen much with anything from across, the UK to us. Remind of the old Midland Red buses I used to frequent. Interesting choice.
ReplyDeleteI would truly love to ride on Bus # Nine. That would be such a treat!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely collection of old buses - and now I hear Stagecoach are trying to get in on the route. I miss the 400 which ran all the way from Bolton to airport via Heywood, Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton, Stockport.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a ride on those buses. Very cool and classic designs
ReplyDeleteIt's not Stagecoach that is getting in on the route, Gerald, but Speedwell, who are starting one of their pound-a-trip routes from Ashton to Oldham.
ReplyDeleteWow these photos take me back a good few years to when me mum used to work at Park Cake - If I re call this was the first time I ever say a Indian bus conductor !!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work from an old Lumb Lane lad. :-)
The good old double deckers. Used to go to school on one of those every day. Later, my bus to the school where I taught was #31. Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful old buses and very clever for "N". I've only ever been on the red dubbeldeckers that traffic London today.
ReplyDeleteErika B
O yes I meant Speedwell not Stagecoach - slip of the finger!
ReplyDeleteThis photo takes me back. I used to catch the No.9 every day to and from work. I lived in Waterloo, waited for the bus at Store Street (where Waterloo Co-op used to be) and rode to Ashton Library (where I worked) Well, not all the way as I hopped off as the bus turned into Wellington St (on the corner where IKEA is now) and walked the rest of the way. My Mum too worked at Park Cake Bakeries in the 1960s and would have used the No.9 every day going from Waterloo to Hathershaw. My dad could remember when the trams ran up Oldham Rd as he laid an old penny on the tramtrack so it would get squashed :))
ReplyDeleteYes, lovely to see all these old municipal buses and liveries, how I wish I could have been there on the day. I wonder if anyone is still around who can recall the Ashton - Rochdale route when it was the No. 7? That provided the link from 1928 until 1939 when it was withdrawn and the overlapping Rochdale - Hathershaw route 9 extended into Ashton.
ReplyDeleteIf I missed the number 5 bus to Droylsden I had to catch the number nine bus home from Brownies, and walk all along New Market Road to the brew at Daisy Nook. I lived down there at Th'Hencote cafe.
ReplyDeleteOn a Sunday though, I used to joyfully catch the number nine from NewMarket Road, to Star Inn where I changed to get a bus to visir Grandma and Grandad in Abbey Hills.
I also caught it to go to work at Park Cake Bakeries. Once I was eighteen though I did not need to catch it since I became a teacher at Waterloo Primary School, before I went to Uni in 1967 Lois Tucker
Does anyone remember my Grandad Albert Turner drove buses in ashton for over 20 years starting at APT and driving trolly buses
ReplyDelete