Route 356 …. if you ever plan to travel east ……

Well, if you ever plan to travel east, take my way, it's the highway that's the best and get your kicks on route 356.

Route 356, 2025

It runs from Oldham, up to Denshaw, down to Delph and all the way to Ashton.

The Angel Hotel, Ashton, 2022

Taking in stunning landscapes, and heaps of places from Dobcross, to Diggle, to Upper Mill, Greenfield, Grasscroft, Miclehurst, Mossley, always heading south, until it twists west from Stalybridge to end 80 minutes later after 14 major stops at Ashton Under-Lyne.

Now, I think there is a book to be written which tells the story of this part of Greater Manchester by bus, with tales from all 14 stops, with pictures, maps and some original paintings by Peter Topping.

So, I am throwing down the challenge. “Peter meet me in Oldham on a day and time of your choosing and we’ll motor south, stopping off as we choose and like Toad of Toad Hall discover adventures along the way”.

The White House, Ashton, 2022

Market Place and Town Hall, 1950s

And because we can we will do it for free, courtesy of that nifty little concessionary bus pass.  

Other bus tickets are available, but none will cost more that £3.

Leaving me just to say that other seats will be vacant but we will have nabbed two at the front on the top deck.

And … dear reader you have been present at the dawn of another great Simpson Topping idea.

Pictures; Route 365, courtesy of Google Maps, The Angel Hotel and The White Horse, Ashton-Under-Lyne, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Market Place and Town Hall from the series Ashton-U-Lyne, issued by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of TuckDB,  http://tuckdb.org/history