At Stalybridge bus depot, 1970 - a photo on Flickriver

At Stalybridge bus depot, 1970

When SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive was formed in November 1969, it's fair to say that it had a mixed heritage. On the one hand it inherited shiny new buses from several fleets including Manchester's new ultra-modern 'Mancunian' buses; but at the other end of the spectrum it gained 180 buses that were new between 1947 and 1951, hopelessly out of date and obsolete.

To combat the issue, the new SELNEC reallocated buses from town to town, shuffling the pack to get rid of the oldest and least roadworthy buses - mind you, the two were not always the same.

The scene here is Stalybridge, base of the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Transport Board - thankfully known as 'SHMD'. The undertaking had a mixed fleet of buses, some old and some new of course, and it also parked most of its bus fleet in an outside parking area overnight which accelerated wear and tear. So some of SHMD's buses needed to come off the road quickly and we see one here alongside its replacement - a bus from Stockport Corporation that was actually older, but in better condition.

Number 109 was an Atkinson 'Alpha', which had been out of production for several years so spare parts were getting hard to find; but importantly it was hopelessly uneconomic to operate, because although it was a single decker with limited seats, it needed a conductor as the entrance was in the centre of the bus and not in the usual position at the front.

So 109, built in 1956, headed to the scrapyard while Stockport 305, built in 1951, was drafted in - older, but more reliable and with more seats.

Few SHMD buses survive in preservation and the same goes for single deckers with this style of entrance - but the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester has one of each. It owns the unique SHMD Atkinson double decker number 70, built in 1955, and at the Museum you'll also find Manchester 25, a Leyland with an almost-identical body to number 109 here. You'll also find Stockport Corporation 308, identical to the Stockport bus you can see here.

If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.gmts.co.uk.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Ridge Hill (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1970

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