BACK INTO CHESHIRE

Just to the west of Altrincham is Little Bollington (nowhere near big Bollington!) and we've returned to Cheshire. To the west of the village, almost back in Lymm, is the Jolly Thresher, a Hyde's Brewery tied house.

Nearby is another Hyde's pub, the Wheatsheaf.

In case you're lost, here's the map of the route. Now, we're back in Greater Manchester at the International Airport at Ringway. Remember Dan Air and BA Express?

Manchester Airport has buses for internal shuttle duties.

The airport is served by a short branch off the main line.

Back into Cheshire again. A trip across country takes us past Alderley Edge station, on the line towards Stoke-on-Trent.

Bollington is to be our next stop. There it is, as seen from White Nancy (Creative Commons License).

The Macclesfield Canal passes through Bollington. It crosses the road by this aqueduct.

Bollington was once an industrial village served by the canal.

Here's one of the unusual "turnover" bridges to enable horses to change from one bank to another without being detached.

An old view of Bollington High Street,

Bollington railway station was jointly owned by the Great Central and the North Staffordshire Railways. 

Bollington station in 1965. Closure came soon afterwards (Ben Brooksbabk - Creative Commons License).

Bollington is known for its great selection of pubs. Sadly, one of them, the Vale Inn is closed at the time of writing.

The Cock & Pheasant is a good free house.

The Holly Bush is tied to Robinsons.

A great place to complete our tour of Bollington is the Poachers Inn.

Moving swiftly on, our next stop is Macclesfield. Here's a North Staffordshire Railway express passing through the old station.

The station has since been rebuilt to this layout.

Northern 323 235 sits in the station in 2014.

Just across the road from the station is the Waters Green Tavern, a fantastic pub in which to finish this post.

Next time - a tour of the rest of Macclesfield.

ALTRINCHAM AND A BIT EXTRA

Last time, I promised you Altrincham and here it is. Let's start at the railway station, in pre-grouping times.

 Though National Rail still has a presence, Manchester's Metrolink has the majority of rail departures.

There's a convenient bus station alongside the railway/tramway establishment. Greater Manchester Buses were using this unusual "midibus" in 1989.

A more conventional minibus operating in Altrincham for GMB.

The split up of GMB saw GMS take over.

The "new" North Western was the other major operator in Altrincham.

Star Line was taken over by North Western.

By 2000, Arriva had the majority of services.

Arriva had a depot in the town.

Other operators over the years have included Bullocks of Cheadle, Goodwins, Manchester Minibus Agency and M Travel.

This old Dodge lorry was seen in Altrincham in 1983.

The old Market Place in Altrincham town centre (Creative Commons License).

Sadly, the Old Market Tavern and the Orange Tree are both closed, but may reopen.

The above also applies to this former Boddington's house, the Tatton Arms.

The Grapes is no longer a pub, but a Thai restaurant.

It's not all bad. The Malt Shovel is a Samuel Smith's house serving OBB.

Costello's is a modern bar, the tap for Dunham Massey brewery.

Pi has some great real ales, though it's now called the Beacon.

The suburb of Bowdon is known for this fine church.

Opposite is the Stamford Arms.

Just south of Altrincham, and contiguous with it, is Hale, where the level crossing was controlled by this ex CLC signal box in 1986.

Handy for the station, a fine Robinson's house, the Railway.

Right, that's it for now. Next time, we'll be heading towards Macclesfield.