Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester

A former North Western Road Car, two Manchester Corporation buses and one Salford Corporation all inside the Museum of Transport, Manchester and in their original liveries.

The Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester aims to preserve and promote the public transport heritage of Greater Manchester in North West England. Owned by Transport for Greater Manchester, it is in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester.

Background

The museum holds a sizeable collection, one of the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom. Due to the size of the building, some vehicles have to be kept off-site, with exhibits changed around every so often. In addition, vehicles often attend events around the country in the summer months.

The museum, owned by Transport for Greater Manchester, was established at Boyle Street, Cheetham Hill, in 1977. It opened to the public on 27 May 1979. The day-to-day running of the museum is carried out by volunteers from the Greater Manchester Transport Society.

The museum building consist of two distinct halves, created from a former Manchester Corporation Transport bus garage. The upper hall and entrance area was completed in 1928 as a dedicated bus garage at a time when the main Queens Road garage was a tramcar facility; and the lower hall was created in 1935 by the construction of a roof over what had been the open space between the 1928 building and the main depot now occupied by First Greater Manchester.[1]

The museum collection is constantly developing and restoration work can be often be seen by visitors.

The museum became a Registered Museum in May 2003, with the museum having become a Registered Charity in 1980.[2]

Collection

The museum is home to around 80 buses,[3] of which 70 or so are kept on the site. The remaining vehicles are kept elsewhere to allow for restoration work to be carried out and so other vehicles can be exhibited.

Also in the collection are two trolleybuses from Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyne corporations, the prototype Manchester Metrolink tram, and a Manchester Corporation Tramways tram from 1901. There is also a host of other related exhibits, from old signs to uniforms, and several items used by Warner Bros. during filming of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

There is also an extensive archive collection[4] featuring old timetables, maps, books, posters, manuals and plans. These are available for research purposes by appointment. Part of the museum's archive photograph collection is available online.[5]

Events

The museum holds a number of regular events throughout the year.

  • March: Spring Transport Festival - Market day for specialist retailers and booksellers.
  • April: London Bus Day - Preserved London buses on display.
  • May: Themed event.
  • September: Trans-Lancs transport Show - held at Heaton Park, north Manchester. The event is staged on the first Sunday in September.
  • October: Themed event.
  • December: The Christmas Cracker - Market day for specialist retailers and booksellers.

For most of these events, a heritage bus service from Manchester Victoria station to the museum runs every 20 minutes between 09:50 and 17:00.

Location

The Museum of Transport is approximately two miles north of Manchester city centre, close to the junction of the A665 (Cheetham Hill Road) and A6010 (Queens Road). It is at the north end of Boyle Street, adjoining the First Greater Manchester bus garage. The Queens Road tram stop on the Manchester Metrolink is 200m away. Bus services 42, 88, 135 and 151 stop nearby. The museum is signposted from the Manchester Fort shopping centre.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays (except at Christmas and New Year), and every day in August.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us - Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester". gmts.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  2. ↑ "Charity overview". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  3. ↑ "Vehicle Collection - Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester". gmts.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  4. ↑ "Collections - Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester". gmts.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  5. ↑ "Museum of Transport Greater Manchester archive". Flickr. Retrieved 2017-08-02.

Coordinates: 53°30′10″N 2°14′00″W / 53.5029°N 2.2332°W / 53.5029; -2.2332

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