MACC

Right, it's time to take a good look at the Cheshire town of Macclesfield. It's had various bus operators over the years. Crosville took over from North Western Road Car,

 

Here's the post NBC livery applied to a minibus.

Midland Red North later made an appearance,

In 1996, Stevenson's appeared to be the principal operator, using the depot beside the bus station.

Today, Arriva seem to run the majority of services.

Other bus companies seen over the years have included Bakers of Biddulph, Bowers from Derbyshire, Centrebus/High Peak, GM Buses, Shearings, Timeline, Stagecoach Manchester and Vale Coaches.

That was quite a selection. Now for the important bit, the beer situation in the town. Tetley's are just delivering a few pints to the Bull's Head (since closed).

We'll look at a few more closed pubs. The Royal Oak served Greenall's beers.

There was once a free house called The Macc.

A Marston's pub called the Evening Star has also been closed.

The Treacle Tap is a sad loss.

That's the doom and gloom over. All the rest shown below are still serving pints. First up, the Wetherspoons, the Society Rooms.

Redwillow is a former shop showcasing Redwillow beers.

There are Holt's beers in the Three Crowns.

Down a back street, the Brewers Arms.

The Dolphin and the George & Dragon are Robinson's tied houses.

The Jolly Sailor, photographed in 1976 as a Bass pub, is now a good free house.

The Park Tavern sells beers from Bollington Brewery.

Another free house, the Prince of Wales.

We conclude, probably out of breathe after climbing a steep hill, at The Wharf, which is well worth the effort.

That's it for now. Next time...... into Derbyshire.

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.