Green Lane
Member
Hello again!
On submitting this post, I just noticed that the title of this thread should be "East Didsbury Trip" and I've inadvertently missed a "d" out. Sorry about that - if it can be corrected, I'd be grateful! - EDIT I've now done this myself, thanks to Paul's instructions.
Anyway, I had an enjoyable day out on the Metrolink travelling to East Didsbury yesterday, which was the first time I'd done the bit beyond St Werburgh's Road. I also visited a few railway stations whilst I was at it.
After breakfast, I left the house at a leisurely 8am as I my goal was to board the first off-peak train from Huyton, so I didn't want to be too early. Even so, with hindsight I could have probably gone out half an hour or more later and still have easily made the intended train.
I casually strolled down to Birkenhead Central in the hazy morning sun whereupon a Liverpool-bound train was just about coming in to the platform. This would take me to Liverpool Central. With Liverpool Lime Street Low Level currently closed, the official advice for mainline services is to alight at Moorfields for a replacement bus service to St Geroge's Hall, but if you don't mind a short walk of around a quarter of a mile, then it's generally quicker just to get off at Liverpool Central and then simply walk around the corner to Lime Street and then in to the side-entrance of the main line station, which I duly did.
I then jumped on the first train calling at Huyton, which happened to be the 08:57 to Blackpool North taking a mere 9 minutes to get to Huyton, arriving a lot earlier than I needed, but I decided that I'd rather sit outside in the open air at Huyton platform 2 on such a nice morning than remain in Lime Street. As it happens this was quite fortunate as I'd been out all day the previous day, I'd not yet had time to properly plan this trip, so at Huyton, I was able to spend a good half an hour tracing my intended route on my Manchester A-Z.
This first part of the trip was done solely with my annual Merseytravel B1/C1 zones TRIO ticket which I normally use to get to work, but I do like to use it also on my days off to get good value for money and I'm happy that the area of validity extends out to Huyton. I've been finding it's often useful to use this ticket on days out simply because it has no peak-time restrictions.
At 09:30 or thereabouts, I strolled into the Huyton ticket office and bought my off-peak return to Eccles for £10.90, which for me is a reasonably cheap way of getting into the Manchester transport network!
Eventually, I boarded the 10:01 to Stalybridge and on alighting at Eccles, I realised it's the first time I'd used the station since it has been electrified:-
Nice shiny new OHLE kit, with no rust!
I next strolled down to Eccles tram stop, where I noticed the tram was about to go out in three minutes. I had a choice to go for a toilet break in Morrisons and probably miss that tram, or forgo that and board the tram anyway. As it was already getting on for a quarter to eleven and I had loads to fit in, I decided to get this tram. Firstly, I remembered to use a ticket machine which issues day tickets (only two out of the three at Eccles do), and I inserted a £10 note but it was rejected as an "invalid banknote" or something along those lines. With two minutes now remaining before tram departure, I flipped the banknote the other way round and to my relief it was accepted on the second attempt. So I guess that might have been user error! I bought a £7.50 tram/train combined ticket for maximum flexibility, although in the event, I only used the train part for a single journey of one stop. As it was such a nice day I eventually decided to mostly walk instead.
My first point of call was Exchange Quay:-
The goal being to photograph Salford's XQ7 building (for Wikipedia etc..), which is right next to the stop. Even though it's not Christmas, they seem to have something which looks a bit like Christmas decorations in the foyer:-
After reading on here how underused and isolated Pomona tram stop is, I strolled on down to experience this intriguing station for myself.
Firstly passing the Throstle Nest Bridge:-
And then under the tramway viaduct:-
Arriving at Pomona tram stop:-
I noticed, there was one other passenger waiting there.
Tram coming round the bend, shortly before arriving at Pomona:-
From Pomona, I travelled a mere one stop to Cornbrook whereupon arriving, I noticed the simultaneous arrival of the East Didsbury tram across the platform. I darted across the platform and to my relief there were a number of passengers boarding, which allowed me to hop on behind them in the nick of time.
Remembering the Morrisions next to Chorlton station thanks to a previous visit, I decided to alight for the toilet break which I'd missed earlier. Although unfortunately, I did not find toilet facilities in Morrisions there. It could be that I missed them, but if anyone here knows if there are toilet facilities in the Chorlton Morrisons supermarket then I'd be grateful to find out!
Whilst waiting again at Chorlton for the next tram, I noticed six ticket machines on the Manchester-bound platform, and all of them appear to sell day tickets, which seems good in comparison to just two machines of that type at Eccles.
I next arrived at the end of the line at East Didsbury tram stop:-
I was then happy to find the 24-hour Tesco supermarket in the vicinity of the station with toilet facilities, so that's quite convenient!
After exiting the supermarket, I then entered the nearby East Didsbury railway station for a few quick photos, like this one, but did not intend to board a train here:-
Next was my exploration of the delightful Didsbury itself:-
The Owl and her babies, Didsbury Park:-
Didsbury library:-
Onwards I walked and before I knew it, I was in Burnage. I always wanted to visit Burnage as I had a friend from here years ago who used to talk about the place, but I never did visit until now.:-
Eventually arriving at Burnage railway station at 14:50, I was surprised to see that the 14:28 to Manchester Piccadilly was delayed with expected arrival at 14:55. The 14:58 and 15:28 were both showing as cancelled. I'd no idea what had happened, but for me it happened to be convenient.
A few quick snaps at Burnage:-
As I'd (not knowingly) done any part of the Styal Line before, I boarded the delayed train, going just one stop to Mauldeth Road. This was the only journey I used the train part of my combined ticket on!
The rear carriage of the above train (323229) was crammed full of passengers, probably due to the delay, but arguably much less severely crowded than a peak-time tram! For my part I was very happy that I'd only had to wait for a few minutes for the train and had no problem standing up for the two minute journey up the road.
I then crossed over the road to Ladybarn Park for a late lunch, before heading off on foot towards Levenshulme and the street with no name:-
I was not aware the station had four tracks running through it, until I arrived there:-
As time was marching on (thanks mainly to me photographing just about every interesting building I could find on my walk), I didn't have any time to hang around at Levenshulme, so did not manage to see any train pass through whilst on the platform. I did however see a freight train passing through just after I'd walked back down to street level.
I plodded on through Greenbank Park and eventually to Belle Vue station, which was completely deserted. Although the area around the station was quite bustling with schoolchildren going home and lots of people walking down a path alongside the station entrance. It must have been that simply there was no train due at that time:-
A single pacer did pass through during the five minutes I was there, but alas I did not get a good in-focus picture of it.
Next I continued through the streets of Gorton, passing a "narrow street" Rylands Street:-
Gorton war memorial:-
The Little Chippy at Gorton:-
Before entering Gorton station:-
More trains passed through Gorton, again I regret I was unable to quickly dig deep in to the ISO settings on my compact camera and take a good picture in time. By now the skies had darkened considerably and exposure times had consequently increased. I like Gorton station though, seems set back and peacefully isolated from the nearby surroundings.
Again, I did not board a train here, instead walking on through a part of Openshaw, past Openshaw Market:-
Onwards to the Moravian settlement:-
We have two "model villages" in Wirral, namely Port Sunlight and Bromborough Pool. This Moravian Settlment has a similar atmosphere to Bromborough Pool - seemingly very quiet and peaceful, self-contained and a world away from the surrounding area.
Finally, I walked up Market Street towards Droylsden Metrolink stop, and jumped on a tram which was just about to depart. I had photographed this station on a previous visit, so did not do it again this time, although I took a photo or two in Droylsden itself:-
On the way back to Piccadilly, I witnessed scores of people who looked very much like they were heading toward the Robbie Williams concert at the Etihad Stadium and also the trams coming out of Picadilly towards Etihad were absolutely rammed. In contrast, my Piccadilly-bound tram had maybe a dozen people on it.
Changed at Piccadilly where the tram times on the Passenger Information Display were seeming to change a bit unpredictably. But imagine my luck as the next Eccles-bound tram suddenly out of the blue came up as being due in three minutes!
What was really great about this though was the announcement that it would be calling at MediaCity:UK (ultimately due to the usual MediaCity:UK trams being used instead towards Etihad Stadium, I think). I could not believe my luck. As discussed on a previous trip report, I had not yet travelled on that small bit of track on the triangular junction between MediaCity:UK and Broadway, so that indeed was a most welcome bonus!
After the MediaCity:UK visit, got to back to Eccles a little before 6pm where I had it mind to catch the 18:46 back to Lime Street.
Was merrily taking some photos in the vicinity of the station (e.g. footbridge across the M602, I take it there must have been some serious demolition in Eccles prior to the building of this motorway):-
I thought I had half an hour to kill until I strolled past the station and saw people waiting there. Of course the extra peak-time service, the 18:11 was due in two minutes. Can't believe I had forgotten about that. Immediately I confirmed it on the National Rail app on my phone, the train was delayed by a mere further two minutes.
One last quick snap at Eccles of a Manchester-bound train:-
Finally boarded the 18:11 back to Lime Street, followed by a completely uneventful trip back home, walking back to Liverpool Central then jumping on the West Kirby train, where I finally alighted at Birkenhead Park for a pleasant walk back home through the park, past an ongoing cricket match in the evening light (Thanks to the currently long days!).
Getting in shortly before 8pm, with lots to do, but no time to upload my photos or post a trip report until this evening!
Thanks for reading.
On submitting this post, I just noticed that the title of this thread should be "East Didsbury Trip" and I've inadvertently missed a "d" out. Sorry about that - if it can be corrected, I'd be grateful! - EDIT I've now done this myself, thanks to Paul's instructions.
Anyway, I had an enjoyable day out on the Metrolink travelling to East Didsbury yesterday, which was the first time I'd done the bit beyond St Werburgh's Road. I also visited a few railway stations whilst I was at it.
After breakfast, I left the house at a leisurely 8am as I my goal was to board the first off-peak train from Huyton, so I didn't want to be too early. Even so, with hindsight I could have probably gone out half an hour or more later and still have easily made the intended train.
I casually strolled down to Birkenhead Central in the hazy morning sun whereupon a Liverpool-bound train was just about coming in to the platform. This would take me to Liverpool Central. With Liverpool Lime Street Low Level currently closed, the official advice for mainline services is to alight at Moorfields for a replacement bus service to St Geroge's Hall, but if you don't mind a short walk of around a quarter of a mile, then it's generally quicker just to get off at Liverpool Central and then simply walk around the corner to Lime Street and then in to the side-entrance of the main line station, which I duly did.
I then jumped on the first train calling at Huyton, which happened to be the 08:57 to Blackpool North taking a mere 9 minutes to get to Huyton, arriving a lot earlier than I needed, but I decided that I'd rather sit outside in the open air at Huyton platform 2 on such a nice morning than remain in Lime Street. As it happens this was quite fortunate as I'd been out all day the previous day, I'd not yet had time to properly plan this trip, so at Huyton, I was able to spend a good half an hour tracing my intended route on my Manchester A-Z.
This first part of the trip was done solely with my annual Merseytravel B1/C1 zones TRIO ticket which I normally use to get to work, but I do like to use it also on my days off to get good value for money and I'm happy that the area of validity extends out to Huyton. I've been finding it's often useful to use this ticket on days out simply because it has no peak-time restrictions.
At 09:30 or thereabouts, I strolled into the Huyton ticket office and bought my off-peak return to Eccles for £10.90, which for me is a reasonably cheap way of getting into the Manchester transport network!
Eventually, I boarded the 10:01 to Stalybridge and on alighting at Eccles, I realised it's the first time I'd used the station since it has been electrified:-
Nice shiny new OHLE kit, with no rust!
I next strolled down to Eccles tram stop, where I noticed the tram was about to go out in three minutes. I had a choice to go for a toilet break in Morrisons and probably miss that tram, or forgo that and board the tram anyway. As it was already getting on for a quarter to eleven and I had loads to fit in, I decided to get this tram. Firstly, I remembered to use a ticket machine which issues day tickets (only two out of the three at Eccles do), and I inserted a £10 note but it was rejected as an "invalid banknote" or something along those lines. With two minutes now remaining before tram departure, I flipped the banknote the other way round and to my relief it was accepted on the second attempt. So I guess that might have been user error! I bought a £7.50 tram/train combined ticket for maximum flexibility, although in the event, I only used the train part for a single journey of one stop. As it was such a nice day I eventually decided to mostly walk instead.
My first point of call was Exchange Quay:-
The goal being to photograph Salford's XQ7 building (for Wikipedia etc..), which is right next to the stop. Even though it's not Christmas, they seem to have something which looks a bit like Christmas decorations in the foyer:-
After reading on here how underused and isolated Pomona tram stop is, I strolled on down to experience this intriguing station for myself.
Firstly passing the Throstle Nest Bridge:-
And then under the tramway viaduct:-
Arriving at Pomona tram stop:-
I noticed, there was one other passenger waiting there.
Tram coming round the bend, shortly before arriving at Pomona:-
From Pomona, I travelled a mere one stop to Cornbrook whereupon arriving, I noticed the simultaneous arrival of the East Didsbury tram across the platform. I darted across the platform and to my relief there were a number of passengers boarding, which allowed me to hop on behind them in the nick of time.
Remembering the Morrisions next to Chorlton station thanks to a previous visit, I decided to alight for the toilet break which I'd missed earlier. Although unfortunately, I did not find toilet facilities in Morrisions there. It could be that I missed them, but if anyone here knows if there are toilet facilities in the Chorlton Morrisons supermarket then I'd be grateful to find out!
Whilst waiting again at Chorlton for the next tram, I noticed six ticket machines on the Manchester-bound platform, and all of them appear to sell day tickets, which seems good in comparison to just two machines of that type at Eccles.
I next arrived at the end of the line at East Didsbury tram stop:-
I was then happy to find the 24-hour Tesco supermarket in the vicinity of the station with toilet facilities, so that's quite convenient!
After exiting the supermarket, I then entered the nearby East Didsbury railway station for a few quick photos, like this one, but did not intend to board a train here:-
Next was my exploration of the delightful Didsbury itself:-
The Owl and her babies, Didsbury Park:-
Didsbury library:-
Onwards I walked and before I knew it, I was in Burnage. I always wanted to visit Burnage as I had a friend from here years ago who used to talk about the place, but I never did visit until now.:-
Eventually arriving at Burnage railway station at 14:50, I was surprised to see that the 14:28 to Manchester Piccadilly was delayed with expected arrival at 14:55. The 14:58 and 15:28 were both showing as cancelled. I'd no idea what had happened, but for me it happened to be convenient.
A few quick snaps at Burnage:-
As I'd (not knowingly) done any part of the Styal Line before, I boarded the delayed train, going just one stop to Mauldeth Road. This was the only journey I used the train part of my combined ticket on!
The rear carriage of the above train (323229) was crammed full of passengers, probably due to the delay, but arguably much less severely crowded than a peak-time tram! For my part I was very happy that I'd only had to wait for a few minutes for the train and had no problem standing up for the two minute journey up the road.
I then crossed over the road to Ladybarn Park for a late lunch, before heading off on foot towards Levenshulme and the street with no name:-
I was not aware the station had four tracks running through it, until I arrived there:-
As time was marching on (thanks mainly to me photographing just about every interesting building I could find on my walk), I didn't have any time to hang around at Levenshulme, so did not manage to see any train pass through whilst on the platform. I did however see a freight train passing through just after I'd walked back down to street level.
I plodded on through Greenbank Park and eventually to Belle Vue station, which was completely deserted. Although the area around the station was quite bustling with schoolchildren going home and lots of people walking down a path alongside the station entrance. It must have been that simply there was no train due at that time:-
A single pacer did pass through during the five minutes I was there, but alas I did not get a good in-focus picture of it.
Next I continued through the streets of Gorton, passing a "narrow street" Rylands Street:-
Gorton war memorial:-
The Little Chippy at Gorton:-
Before entering Gorton station:-
More trains passed through Gorton, again I regret I was unable to quickly dig deep in to the ISO settings on my compact camera and take a good picture in time. By now the skies had darkened considerably and exposure times had consequently increased. I like Gorton station though, seems set back and peacefully isolated from the nearby surroundings.
Again, I did not board a train here, instead walking on through a part of Openshaw, past Openshaw Market:-
Onwards to the Moravian settlement:-
We have two "model villages" in Wirral, namely Port Sunlight and Bromborough Pool. This Moravian Settlment has a similar atmosphere to Bromborough Pool - seemingly very quiet and peaceful, self-contained and a world away from the surrounding area.
Finally, I walked up Market Street towards Droylsden Metrolink stop, and jumped on a tram which was just about to depart. I had photographed this station on a previous visit, so did not do it again this time, although I took a photo or two in Droylsden itself:-
On the way back to Piccadilly, I witnessed scores of people who looked very much like they were heading toward the Robbie Williams concert at the Etihad Stadium and also the trams coming out of Picadilly towards Etihad were absolutely rammed. In contrast, my Piccadilly-bound tram had maybe a dozen people on it.
Changed at Piccadilly where the tram times on the Passenger Information Display were seeming to change a bit unpredictably. But imagine my luck as the next Eccles-bound tram suddenly out of the blue came up as being due in three minutes!
What was really great about this though was the announcement that it would be calling at MediaCity:UK (ultimately due to the usual MediaCity:UK trams being used instead towards Etihad Stadium, I think). I could not believe my luck. As discussed on a previous trip report, I had not yet travelled on that small bit of track on the triangular junction between MediaCity:UK and Broadway, so that indeed was a most welcome bonus!
After the MediaCity:UK visit, got to back to Eccles a little before 6pm where I had it mind to catch the 18:46 back to Lime Street.
Was merrily taking some photos in the vicinity of the station (e.g. footbridge across the M602, I take it there must have been some serious demolition in Eccles prior to the building of this motorway):-
I thought I had half an hour to kill until I strolled past the station and saw people waiting there. Of course the extra peak-time service, the 18:11 was due in two minutes. Can't believe I had forgotten about that. Immediately I confirmed it on the National Rail app on my phone, the train was delayed by a mere further two minutes.
One last quick snap at Eccles of a Manchester-bound train:-
Finally boarded the 18:11 back to Lime Street, followed by a completely uneventful trip back home, walking back to Liverpool Central then jumping on the West Kirby train, where I finally alighted at Birkenhead Park for a pleasant walk back home through the park, past an ongoing cricket match in the evening light (Thanks to the currently long days!).
Getting in shortly before 8pm, with lots to do, but no time to upload my photos or post a trip report until this evening!
Thanks for reading.
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