A mix of the present and the past of travel in Manchester city centre.
I spotted this double decker bus in a SELNEC Central livery in Manchester city centre today. It was interesting to see it being passed by a Metrolink tram.
SELNEC was the Passenger Transport Executive in the area from 1969 until it was renamed Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) in 1974.
The SELNEC Central area covered Manchester and Salford. There were also SELNEC Northern and Southern.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) itself ended in 2011 when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
Visiting an infamous scene location in British soap history.
I was recently in Manchester city centre and was starstruck when I spotted Sue Nicholls and Mark Eden who played Audrey Roberts and Alan Bradley in Coronation Street.
This bit of celeb spotting got me chatting about the classic and infamous scene where the soap's baddie Alan Bradley got his comeuppance by getting killed by a tram in Blackpool.
My mate Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley and I jokingly wondered whether there was a plaque on the spot he was hit. After a little research I found out that there actually is a plaque to 'commemorate' the incident! It's on the entrance of The Strand Hotel.
We regularly visit the seaside resort so on my latest day out there I had a look to see where the scene was filmed.
The scene of telly soap baddie Alan Bradley's Coronation Street Death by Tram outside The Strand Hotel in Blackpool
A view from outside The Strand Hotel
A closer look at the tracks
A view of The Strand Hotel
A view of the street
I was able to avoid the same fate that befell one of soap's most notorious bad guys when I filmed this tram passing by the spot.
Emily knows me so well and brought me back this great snap of some trams in Warsaw, Poland following her recent trip to the country.
The older of the two trams could well be the Polish tram equivalent of the dreaded Pacer Railbuses we have here.
You can see how efficiently the trams and traffic operates in Warsaw in the video below.
We haven't got any trams in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport yet, but we're surrounded by areas of Greater Manchester that do have tram lines. Some stations share both heavy and light rail operations.
We've seen quite a few trams on our travels over the years.
.jpg "Metrolink tram stop at Manchester Piccadilly railway station")
.jpg "Metrolink tram stop at Manchester Piccadilly railway station")
.jpg "Metrolink tram stop at Manchester Piccadilly railway station")
.jpg "Metrolink tram stop at Manchester Piccadilly railway station")
.jpg "Metrolink tram stop at Manchester Piccadilly railway station")
