Do you remember your first bus ride in Congleton? Did it look like any of these?

For our first article of the year, we're taking a look back, at the history of buses in our town.

Even if you own a car, a bus ride out on a sunny day is a very pleasant experience.

No stress of driving, buses these days are very easy to get on an off, and it's nice to be able to take in the countryside views instead of starting at the car in front.

But if you're sitting on a bus, do you know who runs it?

Bus companies (and bus routes) seem to chop and change all time, but that wasn't always the case.

Buses in our area go back to 1913, when a London company called 'British' opened a 'Macclesfield' branch running rickety buses on solid tyres to Stockport and Buxton.

After the Great War traffic expanded, and it was decided that the Macclesfield branch should be split off into a separate company.

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As a result, the North Western Road Car Company was formed. North Western ran most of the area's buses for the next fifty years.

North Western buses were known as friendly buses, and the driver and conductor got to know their regular passengers well.

Their buses were red and cream, and within a year or two of the company's formation it was the main bus company in Congleton.

North Western buses would pop up in the most unlikely places such as Gillow Heath or Timbersbrook - neither of which now have seen a bus in years.

North Western didn't have a depot in Congleton – instead opting for Biddulph.

Instead it shared a garage on Biddulph's Walley Street, with neighbours Potteries Motor Traction.

But North Western buses would congregate around Congleton's Fair Ground, using it as the town's main bus terminus.

(Which of course, is still in use to this day).

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It was possible to travel to Crewe on the number 24 bus every hour.

Furthermore, three times a day, the 52A would take you all the way to Wilmslow and Manchester – in just under two hours.

As an interesting side fact, in North Western's days, timetables would also feature the old spelling of Padgbury Lane, which was a stop.

North Western's buses lasted fifty years across Cheshire, north Derbyshire and much of Greater Manchester.

But in the city there was a new, brash, orange neighbour called 'SELNEC' – South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire.

It had taken over all the old Corporation Transport departments in Manchester and was troubled by all the North Western routes in its area – so in 1972 it made a generous offer to buy them.

What was left was just the countryside routes that didn't pay, so the rest of the company was split up between its neighbours and Congleton's buses were taken over by the buses of Crosville.

Red buses were replaced with green, and a new operator in town.

But that was comparatively speaking, just a brief episode because in 1986 the government swept all that away with privatisation of the bus companies and 'deregulation' of bus services.

And in practice that meant anything goes, chasing a dwindling number of passengers and all the changes just driving even more away.

In the twenty-first century there's a bit of a revival for buses – government and operators have realised that cooperation rather than competition is more helpful for the passenger.

Additionally, environmental considerations mean that more and more people are starting to consider the bus.

And buses are far easier to get on and off these days, and often have wifi and USB charging for your phone.

It's all a far cry from the North Western buses of fifty years ago but anyone who was around at the time will tell you, they'd love a ride on a comfy North Western bus from Congleton to Holmes Chapel on the 39 again.

Fortunately the dedicated staff and volunteers at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester keep old buses alive in their museum which houses 80 old-time buses including several North Western ones that would once have pounded the streets of Congleton on the 298 to Mow Cop, or the 173 to Lower Withington (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only).

So from time to time, you can still see a red bus in our region with 'North Western' on the side, and if you fancy a trip back in time you can find the museum in Boyle Street, Cheetham, Manchester.

The museum first opened in 1979, and includes beautifully preserved vehicles such as the old 298 to Mow Cop Bus.

It is located 28 miles north of our town, and open three days a week.

It's open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and the museum's website can be found here.

You can follow the museum on Facebook and Twitter.

Nub News recently reported on average, a resident in Cheshire East makes just 13 trips per year by bus.

That places our borough in the lowest 10 local authorities in the country.

You can read more about bus rates in our town here.

Congleton Bus Station is located at 18 Market Street.

This article was nubbed to Congleton Nub News.

You too can write for our Congleton Nub News, by clicking the little black 'Nub It' button on our homepage.

Congleton Nub News thanks Paul Williams of the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester, for nubbing this article.

You can learn about the current bus provision in Congleton here.

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