Help tidy up Mirrlees Fields

The Friends of Mirrlees Fields is holding a tidying-up event on Sunday 13 July from 10am to 3pm and is looking for volunteers. Details are in this PDF file.

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Saturday success?

After waiting three weeks for a reply to our email to Customer.Relations@northernrail.org, we sent a frustrated 'Tweet' to Northern Rail's Managing Director, and we have now been informed by Northern Rail that their 'Planning and Performance Team' have taken on board our feedback, and they are 'looking to add Davenport and Woodsmoor calls into the 16:23 Preston - Buxton (17:21 from Piccadilly) on Saturdays from our Autumn timetable.'

How this blunder, leaving an hour's gap in our service at a busy time, came about, and why it cannot be corrected immediately by reverting to the previous times, 'they' have yet to explain, especially since the train is currently timetabled to wait three minutes at Hazel Grove, and to arrive at Buxton at 18:24, exactly the same arrival time as when it did stop at Davenport and Woodsmoor on Saturdays until 17 May.

Also note that at weekends from 5 July, and every day from 19 July to 31 August, trains to and from our line will not serve stations beyond Bolton, as the line is closed at Chorley for works connected with electrification. Timings on our line will not change.

01 July 2014

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Flying High in the Park

There's a summer event in Cale Green Park on Sunday 29 June from 13:00 to 16:30, including refreshments, craft stalls, music, clog dancing and a birds of prey display. Admission is free. See the Friends of Cale Green Park website for full details.

26 June 2014

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Saturday annoyance

Our earlier review of the new timetable managed to miss one change which is particularly irritating to Davenport and Woodsmoor passengers. We have emailed the following to Northern Rail:


Should anyone feel able to also write regarding this to customer.relations@northernrail.org it would help to raise the profile of the matter.

10 June 2014

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'Stalybridge Flyer' re-timed

A mildly disappointing aspect of the timetable change is that the famous weekly train from Stockport to Stalybridge which runs on Fridays only has had its departure time from Stockport re-timed from 10:13 to 09:22, meaning that people will not be able to reach it so easily, and cheap day tickets and concession passes are not valid as it is before 09:30.

The train is traditionally formed by a diversion via Stalybridge an empty-stock train which actually runs every weekday from Manchester Piccadilly to Newton Heath depot, reversing at Stockport. Now, however, for some reason (lack of a path, perhaps)  the train runs empty via Styal to Wilmslow and reverses there, calling at platform 3 at Stockport where it cannot stand waiting as it previously did in bay platform 3a.

23 May 2014

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The last electric ... for now

Since 2008 the electric overhead wires, brought into use on the Stockport - Hazel Grove line in 1981, have been almost unused, with just one token Monday - Friday train worked by a Class 323 electric unit: the 19:22 Manchester Piccadilly - Hazel Grove, which then returned empty to Stockport carriage depot for overnight cleaning. Our picture shows the last run of the 20:04 Hazel Grove - Stockport empty coaching stock train, running 10 minutes early, passing Davenport. In the new timetable, the service at this time is  provided by a diesel as it runs through from Preston on the un-electrified route through Bolton.

Network Rail's current electrification programme includes the Manchester - Preston line, to be complete by December 2016: at that point we can expect that electric trains will re-appear, on the regular Hazel Grove - Preston service. It is to be hoped that the overhead equipment does not deteriorate in the meantime.

22 May 2014

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Mirrless Fields news

Jim Gilligan, of the Friends of Mirrlees Fields, writes: 'With our partners, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, we shall soon start work on improving the access pathway to the Mirrlees Fields adjacent to Fred Perry Way. The bulk of this work will take place on Wednesday 21, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 May, starting at around 9am each morning.

'We need your help to lay edging, move materials and complete the pathway.This is a community venture for the benefit of our community. If you can spare some time on all or any of these days and feel able to join in with the physical work required please contact us at Email jimgilligan@hotmail.com or visit our Facebook page "Mirrlees Fields Friends Group".'

18 May 2014

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Twittering

Use of 'Social Media' is very fashionable with train companies, including our very own Northern Rail (twitter.com/northernrailorg) and can be useful for general information, complaints, and so on, but there is a tendency to also use Twitter to issue bulletins about specific train running.

Rembember, though, that the information on the Twitter feed is manually input, and data about individual trains may well be missed. For example, the 19:52 Manchester to Buxton on 16 May ran over 40 minutes late, but this was never 'Tweeted' even though Tweeting hours are said to be '0630-2030 Mon-Fri, 0800-2000 Sat & 0900-1700 Sun.' Far better (in our opinion) to use the Railway's automatic systems if you want to check a particular service: there is an Application available for Mobile Devices or you can simply use the text service, e.g. text DVN to 84950 for the next trains at Davenport.

You can 'follow' Charlie Hulme's thoughts about Davenport (and anything else that comes to mind) at  twitter.com/altfelden.

 17 May 2014

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Crowdfunding for Cale Green Park events

The Friends of Cale Green Park is having a 'crowdfunding' campaign to raise money for events in the park.   For the past six years, the Friends have been running events in the park. It costs  £1500 per year to run these events, traditionally funded via grants. But funding for these events is drying up. Even worse, costs have almost doubled as council budget cuts mean that the Friends will have to to pay to hire park staff and buy public liability insurance

2014 events are scheduled for 29 June (summer event) and 7 December (Christmas event). They are free for everyone, but money is needed for all the entertainment - magician, generators, bands, face painter, competition prizes, tea room consumables, rides, etc. Every contribution will make a real difference.

Every pound raised in this campaign will go directly to something that you will see at the park event. The donation page is here: www.buzzbnk.org/FOCGP

7 May 2014

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Timetable change from 18 May

This year's summer timetable change, from 18 May (Download the leaflet here), sees a number of alterations to the times of trains on the Manchester to Hazel Grove and Buxton line. The underlying pattern remains the same, but there are changes to the exact timings. Below are some general comments, although there may be other changes we haven't noticed.

Towards Manchester, on Mondays to Saturdays, the general rule outside the morning peak is that trains originating is Buxton depart Davenport at 07 or 08 minutes past the hour until 22:08 then 23:36, and will run non-stop from Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly. Trains originating from Hazel Grove will depart Davenport at 39 or 40 minutes past (the last at 18:39) and call at all stations, including Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme, to Salford Crescent before proceeding to stations beyond. The current anomaly of two trains (14:05 and 16:35) leaving earlier than normal to ensure that people miss them has finally been ironed out, although why there are still variations of a minute is anyone's guess: the result of preparing timetables by computer, presumably.

Timings are still painfully slow: almost all trains, whether or not they call at Heaton Chapel or Levenshulme, are allowed 15 minutes for the 6-mile journey from Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly, an average of just 24 miles per hour.

From Manchester Piccadilly (with variations in the peaks) departures are at 21 minutes past for trains running through from Salford Crescent and beyond, and 49 minutes past (until 21:49, then 23:10) from trains starting from Manchester Piccadilly. Nearly all trains call at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme. The 19:21 (Mon-Fri only) Manchester - Hazel Grove, which currently starts from Piccadilly, will come through from Preston, meaning that it can no longer be the one 'token' electrically-powered train of the day and must be worked by a diesel. Whether another train gets this honour remains to be seen. Departures from Davenport towards Buxton are generally earlier than now at 05 minutes past.

Other inconveniences in the timetable remain, notably the lack of evening through trains from Oxford Road for visitors to the theatre, etc. which before 2008 were a useful feature, and the paucity of extra trains in the evening peak  (even though the Department of Transport want many travellers to pay higher fares to travel at that time.)

On Sundays, the barely-adequate hourly Buxton service, with slightly earlier timings,  is again augmented by two-hourly trains  between Hazel Grove and Southport, some of which, especially in the evenings, are very useful as they do offer a service from Oxford Road. However it is disappointing to see that the Transport for Greater Manchester planners persist in omitting stops at Middlewood station on several trains, leaving two-hour gaps in the services for walkers and cyclists to the pleasant countryside of the Middlewood Way. Our attempts to get this changed back to the previous hourly call have resulted in condescending and/or arrogant replies from Transport for Greater Manchester Officers and TfGM Committee councillors, but we have not given up. The purported reason is shorter journey times to/from Buxton, but a glance of the timetable shows that in practice this is factor is hardly noticeable. Until 2012 Sunday trains called at all stations, and we do not see why there was any need to change it.

01 May 2014

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Northern Rail extended

The Northern Rail franchise, due to expire this year, will continue to be held by the present Netherlands State Railway / Serco consortium for a further 22 Months until February 2016, it has been announced by the Department for Transport.

Northern has 'committed to a range of improvements as part of the agreement which includes improving ticket purchase facilities, extending the availability of advanced tickets, investing in better passenger information by, for example, installing customer information display screens at a further 100 stations, and funding new environmental initiatives.'

You can watch a video of Mr Hynes, the Managing Director (whose accent reveals that he grew up not so far from here) explaining some of what will be happening. Included is some bad news for many: there are to be 'evening peak restrictions' on the use of Cheap Day Return tickets. If implemented this will greatly reduce the attractiveness of train travel for many people.

Also announced recently is that Northern will be getting 14 more electric trains over the next couple of years for use on the lines currently in process of electrification and planned. Typically these will not be new, but hand-me-downs from the London area, built at about the same time as our present diesels, and much like the Class 150 'sprinters' in general appearance. According to the current plans, regular electric trains will come back to Hazel Grove at the end of 2016, when electrification of the Manchester - Preston line is completed and the Hazel Grove - Preston service will be run by electric trains. Since 2008, just one train per day - the 19:21 Manchester Piccadilly to Hazel Grove which then returns empty to Stockport carriage depot - makes use of the electric wiring to Hazel Grove installed at considerable expense back in 1980.

3 April 2014

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Replacement information screens being installed, 2 April. On the banking, there are signs that inroads have finally been made into the Japanese Knotweed infestation.

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Bramhall Lane 'Spar'

We emailed the Spar company about the prolonged closure of the Bramhall Lane shop. Their reply:


James Hall & Company, based near Preston, are the distributors for all the Spar stores in the North of England.

3 April 2014

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Stalybridge Flyer 'Folk Train'

The well-known, and absurd, once-weekly 'ghost' train service from Stockport to Stalybridge will be a 'Folk Train' on Good Friday 14 April. Normal train fares apply. Resident musicians Ged & Phil plus expected guest musicians, will be providing the Folk Music entertainment on the train and in the equally-famous Stalybridge Station Buffet bar. The train departs Stockport 10:13, Reddish South 10:20 and Denton 10:25. Passengers will need to return via Manchester Piccadilly as there is no direct return service. See also the Friends of Reddish South station website.

Our picture shows the train departing from Reddish South on 28 March. This looks like some remote country branch, and indeed it is very convenient for access to Reddish Vale Country Park. However, it does serve a residential area, and there is a large Morrisons store right next to the station. The long-term aim of the Friends group is the establishment of a regular service between Stockport and Manchester Victoria which could run this way.

Incidentally, although a 'Friends of Davenport Station' group was formed some time ago, it has had trouble generating interest among the Davenport Community. This site is not organised by the Friends as such, but if anyone is interested in helping to run a group we can put you in touch with the Chairman.

3 April 2014

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Woodsmoor show repeat

By popular demand, Sue Bailey and Roger Sim will be giving a repeat performance of their slide show on the history of Woodsmoor on Friday 21 March at the tennis club pavilion, Flowery Field, starting at 7.30pm.

We strongly recommend this to anyone who missed this the first time round: anyone interested in local history is sure to learn something: we certainly did, including the reason why the new house under construction in Flowery Field is called Walmsley House ... but the origin of the naming of this former peat moor after  'Woods'  still eludes researchers.

11 March 2014

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Steam change

There has been a change to the planned operation of the 'Buxton Spa Express' on 15 March. The diesel loco will now take over the train, which will have arrived at Buxton behind the steam loco via the Hope Valley line and Peak Forest, will now leave Buxton at 15:15 and run via Romiley and Denton to Stockport (Pass 17:07) and on towards London.   The steam loco and its support coach, destined for the East Lancashire Railway, will run as a separate train. departing Buxton at 16:00 and passing Davenport about 16:50.

Anyone wishing to travel on a main line steam special should note that the Railway Touring company has  some North Wales Coast Express trips planned for the summer, which will be picking up at Stockport on Sundays 3rd and 10th August and 7th September.

10 March 2014

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Two Together Railcard

A new development in the National Rail fares scheme started on 3 March with the full launch of the 'Two Together' Railcard after a trial period when it was sold only to West Midlands Residents. This card, which will cost £30 a year from Ticket Offices or £27 on-line, is for use by two named people (always the same two, photos required) travelling together by rail at off-peak times (i.e. not before 09:30 Mondays - Fridays) and offers 33% discount for both people on all the usual range of single and return tickets, both standard and first class. Both people have to be over 16. It will be possible to have more than one of these cards, or one in addition to a Senior or other card, although of course the discounts are not cumulative.

The idea seems to be to compete with the car, which two people can use as cheaply as one, although people without a car, but with a regular travelling companion will also benefit. As transport writer Simon Calder points out, it can be worth it for just one journey: 'Take a standard London-Birmingham off-peak round trip: £50.50 per person on Virgin Trains, so £101 for two. The Two Together fare, plus the cost of a new railcard, is £96.70, which saves enough for a cup of tea each en route.'

For more details, visit the Two Together Website; there are many scenarios that can be envisaged where calculations will be needed to find the cheapest fare option, but generally it seems a good idea. Perhaps one day Britain will follow Germany and offer a card, perhaps at a higher subscription, which even a single adult under retirement age can buy.

05 March 2014

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New local history feature

A Postcard from Davenport No.5: Bramhall Lane and Frewland Avenue, compares some old postcards with the present-day scene, and adds a little historical detail.

21 February 2014

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Model Railway Show in Chapel-en-le-Frith

New Mills and District Railway Modellers present their annual Exhibition at Chapel-en-le-Frith High School, Long Lane, Chapel-en-le-Frith on Saturday 22 February (10:00 - 17:00) and Sunday 23 February (10:00 - 16:30). Admission: Adults £5.00, Concessions £4.00,  Family (2+2) £12.00. Over 20 layouts, plus displays and trade stands.

We recommend travelling to the show by train: the journey is rathher scenic, and the scholl is easily reached from Chapel station by walking down the lane towars the town, about half a mile. The off-peak return fare (valid all day at weekends) is £7.70; two people travelling together can use a 'Duo' ticket for only £11.50. If you already have a Greater Manchester pass or traincard you can ask for a Middlewood - Chapel ticket which is cheaper.

19 February 2014

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Woodsmoor History Talk

The Mirrlees Fields Friends Group is offering a History Project Slide show in the Davenport Tennis Club Pavilion, Flowery Field, on Friday 28 February. Sue Bailey and Roger Sim will be showing images of old Woodsmoor and telling a few of the stories that will go into the Woodsmoor History booklet they’re hoping to publish this summer. They have a wealth of information from their researches into old archives and from peoples’ memories, photographs and drawings which have been collated over the past couple of years. Admission will be £1 on the door, the show starts at 2.00pm and is then repeated at 7.30pm - there will be tea and biscuits afterwards.

18 February 2014

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'Biomass' for Adswood Tip

A planning application now in progress involves the conversion of 18 Hectares of the landfill site (formerly part of Adswood Tip) adjacent to Tenement Lane into a 'biomass plantation'. According to the applicants (see Stockport Planning Database):

Landcare (Manchester) Ltd are seeking to import suitable materials to landscape
the site and in order create a new a biomass plantation to produce energy crops
(Short Rotational Bio-Coppice (SRC)) with the intention that these are used locally
to provide a sustainable source of energy. The SRC grows up to 4m in height in
the first season and is then cut back to encourage growth during the next season.
The SRC is harvested as chips, rods or billets depending on the end use
requirements and is harvested every 3 - 4 years. The plantation can remain viable
for up to 30 years before re-planting becomes necessary.

Very 'green and pleasant' you might think, especially as a public footpath around the plantation will be provided as a local amenity, maybe until you read that:

The waste recovery plan confirms that the material will include combined
demolition and excavation material together with soils that are suitable for
improvement purposes and which are suitable for the permanent deposit to land.
These will be placed using standard construction equipment of excavators, dozers
and dumptrucks. It is anticipated that these works will take between 3 and 5
years depending on surrounding development producing material. The material
will be brought to site by HGVs with the number of loads being approximately 50
per day (100 movements).

This looks very much like the proposal for a disposal site for building waste that has caused concern among residents in the Adswood Road area who would be affected by the additional vehicles using the entrance adjacent to the current recycling facility. It will be interesting to see how this application proceeds.

18 February 2014

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After the storm

Buxton line trains are running almost normally this morning (Thursday 13 February) after the gales of the previous evening, which blocked the line near Whaley Bridge for a while and also affected Stockport - Manchester. Rail staff did a good job in keeping some trains running on our line: the electrified lines to Macclesfield and Crewe ceased operation completely due to overhead line damage. Two trains were stranded near Congleton for four hours.

There is still overhead line damage on the slow line serving Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme stations, and trains to Manchester are unable to call there (information at 08:00).

13 February 2014

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Shopping setback

The 'Spar' supermarket on Bramhall Lane was found to be 'closed until further notice' on 11 February for reasons unexplained.

11 February 2014

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The Sutherland Picture Collection

The J.W. Sutherland Photographic collection, which includes many pictures of local railway scenes, has now been expanded to include the late Mr Sutherland's black-and-white pictures as well as his colour slides. Above: 'Black 5' locomotive 44935 on the 12.50pm (Saturdays only) Manchester - Buxton, February 1958. Steam was only used on rush-hour extras by that date; many people still had to work on Saturdays until lunchtime. Note the gas lamp and the extra platform shelter, now vanished without trace.

Our thanks again to Mrs Sutherland for permitting us to offer this marvellous collection online.

12 February 2014

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Class 70 at Davenport

A locomotive type not often seen at Davenport station: General Electric-built 70 003 in charge of a transfer of wagons from Eggborough power station in Yorkshire to Freightliner's base at Guide Bridge on 3 February.

5 February 2014

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Stockport Daily Photo

'D for Davenport station' is the 5 February feature (apparently it's 'ABC Wednesday') on the very interesting Stockport Daily Photo site, which is well worth a visit.

5 February 2014

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Yellow Line news

Pedestrians will hopefully be pleased to see that the double yellow lines on Oakfield Road, implemented back in 1991 (letter sent to residents at that time) to deter vehicle owners from blocking the red pavement installed at that time to give the garages use of the former pavement behind, have now been repainted, having vanished after years of lack of maintenance, leading to widespear disregard of the restriction.  Let us hope they are now obeyed.

30 January 2014

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On the Midland Line

On the very murky afternoon of Sunday 26 January, DB Schenker locomotive 60 007 passes under Bramhall Lane with the regular stone train from Tunstead to the chemical complex at Oakleigh Sidings near Northwich, which has been a regular sight here in various guises since the 1930s. We understand that the Winnington soda ash plant, once Brunner Mond, ICI and now, like so much of Britain's heavy industry, owned by the Tata group of India, is closing very soon due to 'rising energy costs' and this train will run no more after 2 February.  We also have a YouTube video featuring this train and others.

Looking at this single-track byway now, it is hard to recall that until the later 1960s, many London expresses, including the 'Midland Pullman' hurried under this bridge on the double-track main line opened by the Midland Railway in 1902.

26 January 2014

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New: Document Archive

Local historians may be interested in our new Document Archive which currently had downloadable directors for Stockport dated 1896, 1910 and 1914, offering an interesting picture of life in our area a century ago. Everyone is welcome to download copies of the documents: more will be added in due course.

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Bridge damage at Strines

Northern Rail report: 'Stopping train services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield [va New Mills Central are continuing to be disrupted following a vehicle hitting a bridge near Strines on Thursday afternoon 23 January. The collision caused damage to the masonry which needs to be stabilised and repaired. [From Monday 27 January, our Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly services will run as scheduled but services from Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield will be diverted via Stockport with Chinley as the first stop.

'Services from Manchester Piccadilly to New Mills Central will terminate at Marple, with alternative road transport provided between Marple and New Mills Central. Similarly, services from New Mills Central to Manchester Piccadilly will use alternative road transport from New Mills Central to Marple, with a train service from Marple into Manchester.'

Note that this will not affect the Manchester - Sheffield express service, which runs via Stockport and does not pass through Strines. The diverted stopping trains may be noticed passing through Davenport, and we can expect trains calling at New Mills Newtown to be busier than usual as people avoid using the bus replacement from New Mills Central.

26 January 2014.

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Problems on Thursday 23 January

I was a bad morning on our railway on 23 January with 'signalling problems' due to a power failure between Stockport and Manchester which began just after 08:30. The train from Alderley Edge which left Stockport at 08:35 was trapped for nearly two hours and did not reach Manchester until 10:35. Many other trains were diverted or cancelled, and services from Buxton and Chester were being turned back at Stockport. The fault appears to have been repaired about 10:30, but with continuing disruption due to trains being in the wrong places to form ther scheduled services.

26 January 2014

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Bamford Grange: a house in Adswood

There's a new feature on our History pages tracing the life and times of Bamford Grange, the house which once stood on the site in Adswood of the the present-daty care home of the same name, with its blue plaque to Edwardian starlet Gabrielle Ray. We'd be very interested to hear from anyone who can add to the story with personal memories.

19 January 2014

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Weary Blues from Waiting

Crossing the road to get to the station from the 'Convenience Shop' corner can be a wearying experience. After waiting at the Garners Lane crossing for the 'green man' to get to the triangular island, you will often find that (unless you are Usain Bolt) the Bramhall Lane crossing has already changed from green man to red just before you reach it and you have to wait all over again. Frustrating. We've made a Youtube video of a typical wait, by way of a cry for help.

7 January 201