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Opened in 1842, and using 11 million red means, electrical or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of Venture Publications Ltd, Glossop, Derbyshire. the southern boundary of that county. bricks, it was at the time the largest in the world; TPrior to local government reorganisation in 1974 it was later extended by the addition in 1887-9 of Computer Origination, Design and Layout by John A Senior it was situated in the County of Cheshire and a parallel construction immediately alongside the was the second largest town in that county to original. The resultant structure is claimed to have Birkenhead. It was situated on the northern fringe been the first four-track brick railway viaduct in of the county and the boundary of the County Europe, if not the world. In 1989 it was given a Contents Borough coincided with the county boundary and £3m restoration and facelift, being floodlit at the also part of the boundary of the City of Manchester same time so that it now dominates the valley at Acknowledgements Inside front cover which was, in those days, situated in Lancashire. night time as it does during the day. Introduction 3 It had the second largest municipal bus fleet The first recorded reference to Stockport, as Map of Tramcar and Omnibus routes as at 1932 6 in the county of Cheshire, the largest being at the ‘Stokeport’, can be traced back to 1170. But it 1 The Horse Drawn Era 8 opposite end of the county in Birkenhead. The A6 seems clear that the Romans regarded the point 2 Towards Electric Traction 13 trunk road runs through the centre of the town where a ford crossed the River Mersey as worthy 3 Stockport Corporation Tramways 14 and in earlier times this had brought transport 4 The First Motor Buses – 1908 23 to the fore as merchants and others travelled to One of a series of photographs taken from this spot, 5 The Trackless Trolleybuses 1913-1920 26 Birmingham and London from Manchester and this one was apparently chosen by George Cardwell to 6 The ‘British’ Buses of the BAT Company 32 further afield. Remaining mill chimneys visible hang in his office, reminding him, and his successors, 7 Other Events between 1910 and the 1920s 36 on the skyline give reminders of the town’s more of how the battle to gain entry into Stockport was 8 Stockport’s own first Motor Buses now arrive 40 recent industrial past, while some of the mills eventually won. He would also remember that Stockport had tried to persuade him to take over the 9 Development during the Busy 1920s 42 remain standing, but in use for new purposes. operation of the trackless Offerton route, the wiring for 10 Inter-urban Express Bus Services 54 Without question, however, the dominating whose trolley buses can be seen suspended from the 11 Greater Emphasis on the Buses Now 58 features of the town are the huge sandstone cliffs poles in the centre of this view. It provides a wonderful 12 Wartime 77 alongside the motorway (and before that the panorama with Manchester-bound trains crossing the 13 Post War Developments 86 east-west railway line), containing a labyrinth high level viaduct, the A6 climbing away to the left 14 Decision time for The Trams 101 of tunnels used as air raid shelters and capable towards Hazel Grove and an Edgeley-bound tram about to pass in front of the single-decker bus. British 15 Events in the 1950s 118 of housing 5,000 souls, and towering above that became North Western Road Car Co Ltd soon after 16 1960s: The Final Years 132 same motorway as it crosses it, the 111ft high vast this picture was taken. (Courtesy Walter Womar) 17 Going down, but going down fighting 146 Appendices 1 Tramcar Fleet List 148 2 Bus Fleet List 1913-1969 149 3 Commencement Dates for Bus Services 1913-1951 151 4 Schedule of Tram and Bus Services as at 1938 152 5 Schedule of Bus Services as at 1963 153 6 Joint Operation 154 7 Memories of Mersey Square 155 8 Tickets 160 9 Buses in Service 162 10 List of Preserved vehicles 168 Front cover illustration: Rear cover illustration: One of Stockport’s Leyland-bodied Leyland Titans Garter and Coats of Arms as carried on vehicles. in the Square outside the fire station. (RGR) (Garter courtesy Cliff Marsh; All photography JAS) 2 3 of some fortification to protect this facility, and it is right up to today Stockport’s market is a major The 1835 Municipal Corporations Act made North, Heaton Norris, from 1920 and whose fuel remarkable that this crossing, where the A6 trunk attraction for shoppers. In the late Victorian period Stockport a municipal borough, its status being pumps graced the external bulkhead of thousands road crosses this river, is still the centre of modern- a Jewish refugee from Belarus ran a market stall raised to that of County Borough of Stockport of buses, often providing the ideal spot to apply day Stockport nearly two millennia later. It is this in Stockport, before linking up with one Thomas in 1889, as a result of the Local Government Act the fleet number. long established highway, for many centuries the Spencer and opening a store in Manchester. passed the previous year. Generally to achieve At Woodford, Avro’s factory provided a vital main route from Manchester to London, which Marks’ Christian name was the impetus for his County Borough status a town’s population had to contribution to the war effort, with many of the sustained the existence of Stockport. By 1834 son to introduce the ‘St Michael’ brand name. exceed 50,000. In 1901, Reddish was incorporated famous Lancaster bombers being built there and there were some 15 stage coach owners regularly From the 17th century Stockport became a into the borough, having itself become an Urban later the equally-famous range of V bombers. providing dependable and reliable – if perhaps centre for the hatting industry and rapid expansion District in 1894. The Stockport Branch canal A more pleasant transport link with Germany uncomfortable – connections for those wishing took place during the Industrial Revolution. At passed through Reddish. can be found with the twinning of the town with or needing to travel to Manchester (five owners its height during the 19th century there were Reddish was historically part of Lancashire and Heilbronn, an attractive town in southern Germany offering 40 return journeys every weekday), 100 hat factories and businesses, employing developed rapidly during the Industrial Revolution situated between Stuttgart and Heidelberg. In the Birmingham and Nottingham (another five to some 10,000 men, women and children. The use and still retains landmarks from that period, such pavement in front of the Rathous (town hall) each) whilst more locally Macclesfield, Derby and of silk, produced in nearby Macclesfield, was a as Houldsworth Mill, a former textile manufactory. amongst the names and flags in the mosaic pattern Buxton were served. Five London-bound coaches particular speciality. As a result the town boasts The transfer of the district into Cheshire was not that of Stockport can be seen proudly upholding departed from Stockport each day and night with the UK’s only hat museum, the ‘Hat Works’ universally popular, but Stockport was delighted, the town’s link. Quietly passing this mosaic at a journey time of over 18 hours. based in Wellington Mill, once one of the thriving gaining tax income and building land, in return for frequent intervals are the smart articulated air- In later times the A6 brought its own problems Victorian hat factories and replacing the earlier which Reddish received various civic amenities, conditioned LRVs, modern-day trams which in regard to severe traffic congestion. The M60 museum in the former famous Battersby’s ‘Hat including a combined fire station, free library and connect Heilbronn via the national railway orbital motorway, which runs under the railway Factory’ in Hempshaw Lane. baths, not forgetting of course a new tramway. network with Karlsruhe, used as tram-trains so viaduct and along the trackbed of a line which was The town had been connected to the national One of the most interesting buildings in the perfectly suited to a modern transport system. much used for the transport of coal from Yorkshire canal network by the five miles of the Stockport borough is the Town Hall, designed by Sir Alfred With its big city neighbour just up the road, to Lancashire Power Stations, has more-recently branch of the Ashton Canal which was opened in Brunwell Thomas and opened in 1908 in the and Manchester Airport little more than a stone’s helped relieve much of this congestion.