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I was fortunate enough to visit the shed in May '68 just before closure. I remember my friend taking a photo of the black 5 hauling the Belfast Boat Express. Thank you so much for compiling and generously sharing. It brought back very happy memories. I promptly subscribed and will view all your postings. John

Did the same at Rosegrove Shed at Burnley in 1965.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise and for taking us on your adventures on the rails i am somewhat of a numbers nut i look at numbers on trains and trucks and such i see phone number and post zip codes 48151 is the post code for the area just north of me 😂😅😅 i am a new subscriber I can't wait to see all of your videos and adventures thank you and GOD-BLESS merry Christmas and happy new year brother I an in the town of romulus 12 miles west of Detroit michigan USA Great video and thank you again brother

Another lovely film, some beautiful, atmospheric stills and films of scenes that will never be seen again.

What a lovely film, some beautiful, atmospheric stills and films of scenes that will never be seen again.

Lovely story and so many happy memories of days gone by. Fantastic video. Thanks Jim

Hello Iain, just come across your channel. I'm quite young, so it's fascinating to hear the tales from someone who was actually there in the final days of steam. These days, spotting is very different. Gone are the days where seeing a 'Royal Scot' was very exciting, now replaced by the rush of thrill and adrenaline by the odd glimpse of a Class 37, or a 60. Feel free to use any of my video footage for your future videos, all the best from Joe (me)

My granddad and one of my uncle’s drove for SHMD. My granddad retired before one man service and my uncle gives it up after being punched by a passenger on the first one man service bus he took out. As you probably know SHMD 70 is in the Manchester transport museum and the 76 sometimes visit from Saint Hellen. 👍🤠

Both my Dad and Uncle were drivers at Trafford Park and London Road, I used to go with him to collect his wages. They gave me a ride in an engine, I said it’s hard to keep my balance, they said grab that shovel and start shovelling.

Linda was converted from being an 0-4-0ST to 2-4-0ST in 1970 so any images without the front pony truck are pre-1970.

Well done, you're a born story-teller

Thanks for the memories.

really good vlog i enjoyed the old pictures recognising places of day`s gone by well done.

Name from the past in mentioning Greenway. Remember him and a french master, cannot recall his name, taking a load of us on a french trip to Annecy. The beginning of my journey to liking beer!

Interesting production covering buses of my birthplace in Hyde. Also nice to see my video (Largo) used with an acknowledgement.

I used to catch a number 23 special school service bus operated by NorthWestern. The old Tiger Cub came through Broadbottom, I got on at Mottram down to Hollingworth. Many a morning queuing at the bus stop at Woods Hardware along with L.S.Lowry. He was going down to visit a friend in a Hollingworth care home.

Thanks Ian. Brilliant video brought back memories of visiting sheds in the 60 era Managed to get round Leeds holbeck late 50 ish

Great old pics of Stalybridge, enjoyed it 😃

How did we survive?

Thanks for this. I think I may have found a kindred spirit. I was based in Derby. I love all transport from the 1950s onwards, road and rail. i always loved the small fleet of Fodens and Crossleys at Derby Corporation.

Brilliant narration. Would have made a great Ripping Yarns episode.

Tameside used to be in two counties, Ashton under Lyne in Lancashire, Dukinfield and Hyde in Cheshire. The two main bus operators were Ashton corporation in blue, and SHMD (Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield) in green. So in Ashton there would also be red Manchester, North Western, Oldham, and Stockport, blue and cream Rochdale, and sometimes green Salford buses.The new GMT depot was called Tameside because it was not exactly in Ashton but across the river in Dukinfield. You could also see Yorkshire operators that went across the Pennines from Manchester to places like Barnsley and Sheffield via Hyde.

Lovely photos and excellent commentary as always.

I rarely comment on videos, but I thoroughly enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and your commentary and delivery was excellent. Born a few (but not many) years later than you, some of your anecdotes brought back the simplicity of life in those days. Great job!

Brings back happy memories 75 year old ex joint board (shmd) then selnec southern driver. On the buses not a patch on the real thing every day a laugh. Thanks a lot

That was a good trip down memory lane. Im 65 and have lived in Heyrod Stalybridge all my life. Thanks very much.

I am a 70s man 1958 when I was born the bus station is a fancy pub now it was closed down for a we while then a local construction company came along opened it up, some time later what was a bus station like I said now a fancy pub but for me catching my bus back home used to cost me a thrippeny bit one way that would be sixpence from my house into Whitehaven and back again we had double deckers Bristol's front door plus back door buses plus single buses then in the around 1980 we had a lot of layland's right from our factory just outside Whitehaven now it is only memorys

I’ve just had 10 minutes of happy memories. I lived in Ashton and my dad drove for SHMD on the number 10 or 11 route from St Michael’s square near Ashton parish church.

Trolley buses, fog, flare cans , mills - it's all there from my formative years. The blue of the Ashton buses, slightly 'exotic' , as invariably it was Manc red that got us to Ashton or Picc, As for Salford green........not in this life. The Mancunians were daily fare, if you'll pardon the pun , from '68 to '72 , Openshaw Salvation Army to Jetson street for soul-destroyng school days. Some things hit me right between the eyes , sharp memories fired from a dart gun; the rondel signs on the rear quarters of the rear-entry buses, the coin-in-slot symbol on the Mancs, Openshaw ales Pearl Assurance . . Like yesterday , how did these slip from memory? All this interwoven with creeping around where I should not have done, railway yards, factories, derelict housing , dead canals . All the good stuff. What a super dose of nostalgia this was , and much of it on my home turf .Well done again, Sir !

Thank you for an entertaining and informative video, it brought back lots of memories for me being an Ashton lad and having also lived in Stalybridge. Funny you should mention Mr. Greenway, he was my geography (and later economics) teacher at school and, as you say, a very nice man. His wife used to teach mathematics at the same school and I had the pleasure of being in her classes too. Mr. Greenway was also an aviation aficionado and I remember him taking a whole bunch of us schoolboys on a trip down to the Farnborough air show one year in the early 1970's with him driving the coach.

My parents never drove a car, so I spent interminable hours on buses. Seeing dim headlights appear through November fog, as a last bus comes into view at some terminus outpost with more than a touch of cemetery gates, is unforgettable. The blast from the heater thawing my extremities, the warm moquette and the concrete shelter left far behind.. simple pleasures.

This is a fantastic journey back in time, a story well told too. I have only ever been to Stalybridge a couple of times (excluding passing through on the train from Dewsbury to Manchester), on those occasions to Bower Fold on Mottram Road, to watch some rugby league when Oldham played some matches there (against Dewsbury for me). I see from a map that Stocks Lane is pretty close to the ground.

Cheers mate I remember moving buses from tame street to the new whitelands depot I think it was about 1980ish

Excellent Iain, thank you. 🙂

Hi Iain, Would you happen to have visited Agecroft Shed, only My Uncle Bill was a Fireman out of there in the 60's

My father worked for SHMD before doing his national service. During the 60s and 70s, I lived in Ashton, Audenshaw, and Hyde. Ashton bus station was a colourful place with liveries of many operators. Even saw a Salford bus marked 64 Peel Green there. (I have no idea what it was doing there). Spent many hours spotting there, with dinner in the Wooden Spoon cafe opposite the bus station. Many thanks for posting this video.

Great video, the coaling stage look very like the one at Stoke loco depot.

Wonderful! Thank you.

Brilliant Iain. Thankyou for putting this together.

An excellent video, thank you.

as a bolton born boy i aleays went to wigan to see duchesses on the main line london-glasgow. very impressive engines. in the late 50s my father took me to crewe and doncaster where we visited the works. i will never forget seeing my first streak.

i spent my childhood born 1953 in bolton änd used to go to victoria trainspotting. was also at newton heath shed which was huge. fond memories of steam era.

as a kid growing up in bolton i often sneaked into the sheds to view the engines in the 60s.. this brought back fond memories.

What beautiful and historical footage. I was born eight years too late so only a train set or videos where my moments of seeing steam..

Watching from Sydney Australia. Nice work and beautifully narrated.

Brilliant video - Thank you for posting!!

A wonderful video so effectively delivered. Lovely piece of industrial history from dear old Doon Valley. Thanks.

Great content, marvellous commentary. Thanks.

Remember it all well 👍

Great video! Tam Bruce was my dad! The one thing that I can remember from back then was just how much my dad loved No 24 and his job!