WEDNESDAY. Castlefields, Manchester
The 2008 trip thus far: 366Locks; 718 Miles; 71 Swing\Lift Bridges. Bus pass journeys 35
Hold the front page! Phone the editor at home! We awoke this morning, wait for it, it was not raining AND there was a cloudless blue sky. Convinced that we were dreaming, we turned over and dozed off. A short while later, awakening for the second time, it was a clear blue sky!
We had breakfast and caught the tram from GMex to Bury for a wander around the town and a look at the market. Soon after we arrived, it began to rain. The blue sky did not fool us; we had taken our waterproof coats and with the canopies above the market stalls we managed to keep dry.
Bury was busy (oops!), all of the shops that we went inside had people buying things, only one or two shops boarded up. We had to get used to the style of manners, or rather the complete lack thereof. You do not wait for anyone at shop doorways, and do not say thanks for waiting. Once the concept is embedded in your head, moving around is easy!
The return journey was enlivened by the a stop at the short platform for the tram depot. The doors opened and six ticket inspectors boarded the tram. Most were large, they went right through the tram quickly; herded a few youngsters without tickets off onto the platform and then the tram pulled away, but not before a couple of the lads had jumped over the fence and legged it!
Weather – Mainly dry, showers in the morning.
