TO CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY AND BEYOND

I'll start by providing you with a link to the route here. (It opens in a new tab on a computer). As you can see it's rather a convoluted journey.

We start at Wilbraham Road station in Whalley Range, a south Manchester suburb. The railway here was owned by the Great Central, hence this LNER B1 4-6-0 no 1156 passing through. (Photographer unknown - my collection).

Onwards to Chorlton-cum-Hardy and its Green (Creative Commons License).

Chorlton-cum-Hardy is served by Metrolink trams (Creative Commons License).

Here's an old photo of the Bowling Green. The pub is still open and has real ale and accommodation.

Another traditional pub, the Horse & Jockey.

The Sedge Lynn is a former billiard hall, now a Wetherspoons.

There's several little bars opened recently in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. One of them is Electrik, which has some decent beer.

The Beer House has Marble Beers from central Manchester.

The Pi Bar has since been renamed and I'm not certain of its cask beer status.

The Bar is now known as the Chorlton Tap and still has plenty of good beers.

Manchester Corporation tram no. 701 at Palatine Road terminus, West Didsbury.

Nothing remains of the Waterloo Hotel, Burton Road, West Didsbury.

Heaton Mersey is a suburb of Stockport and was served by the Midland Railway in 1905.

Heaton Mersey loco shed housed both LNER and LMS locos. LNER 5084 is seen there around 1935.

A few views of Heaton Mersey MPD towards the end of its life, circa 1967.

To help you navigate the tangle of railways around here, this map from Wikipedia may help.

Cheadle Heath was a Midland Railway station. 

Onwards to Cheadle Hulme, on the Stockport to Crewe line. On 10th of October 2006, the line was just about to reopen after a long engineering job and this "Bubble Car" DMU was undertaking a track survey.

Opposite the station was a Holt's pub called the Cheadle Hulme. It's since been rebadged as the Station House.

Westwards now to Timperley. Here, there's a Lees' tied house, the Moss Trooper.

Hyde's beers at the nearby Quarry Bank.

Time for some more Holts - at the Legh Arms in Sale Moor.

Sale station was on the former Manchester, South Junction & Altricham Railway (now part of the Metrolink tram system).

Close by, the Railway, a Robinson's house.

Southwards to Brooklands station, seen in 1962 (Ben Brooksbank - Creative Commons License).

The for station building here has been converted to a Lees' pub, the Brook.

Manchester tram 582 at Brooklands, Washway Road.

Broadheath station, ex MSJ&AR, in 1962 (Ben Brooksbank - Creative Commons License).

The future of the Railway pub in Broadheath is uncertain.

We follow the ex MSJ&AR to its penultimate station, Navigation Road. The signal box here controlled both BR trains and Metrolink trams.

We're right on the edge of Altrincham now, but you'll have to await the next post before we get there.

ALMOST BACK TO THE MIDDLE OF MANCHESTER (BUT NOT QUITE)

 So, we can now leave Warrington (Cheshire) behind and our first stop is the swing bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal at Walton. If you're already lost, you can follow the map here).

Further east along the ship canal is Latchford Lock and a high level railway bridge.

The small Cheshire town of Lymm comes next, seen in this postcard view from my collection.

In the early 2000s, there was a regular vintage commercial vehicle rally at Lymm.

Beyond Lymm is Agden Wharf, passed by the Bridgewater Canal.

It's here that we find a pub named the Barn Owl.

To the north, by a disused railway, was a pub called The Railway Hotel, seen in 1990, but it shut its doors in 2006.

Here's a nice old photo of the Boat House at Irlam. It's still open, but no cask beer.

Plenty of Holt's beers at the Roebuck in Flixton.

Moving on, we come to Urmston station, seen here in the days of the Cheshire Lines Committee.

These days, Urmston station sees services from East Midlands Trains, Northern and Trans Pennine, though not all of them stop.

The old station building has been converted into a pub, seen here as the Steamhouse. It's since been renamed the Auld Chimp.

There's also a Wetherspoons in Urmston, the Tim Bobbin.

Stagecoach buses can be found in Urmston.

Manchester Community Transport were running a route through here in 2014.

Back in 1973, this old Ashton Corporation Leyland was found near Urmston.

Another lovely Holt's Brewery owned pub, the Melville at Stretford.

The Manchester Ship Canal's railway had quite a layout of lines in the Trafford Park area, traversed by this railtour in 1965.

Trafford Park had its own rail system, shunted by the ex BR class 08.

Some LNER locos at Trafford Park shed in 1935.

43580 and other locos on shed. Old Trafford football ground behind.

76089 passes the football stadium with a local service.

The exterior of Old Trafford station, Manchester, South Junction & Altrincham Railway.

It was also possible to get to Old Trafford by Manchester Corporation Tramways.

That's it for this post. Next time, more South Manchester suburbs.