Up North part 1: Bury

bury_27oct07_4
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I nearly didn't get to the autumn steam gala at the East Lancs Railway in Bury. The train from London Road was 8 minutes late, which meant I missed the fast train to Victoria and got to Euston with only 2 minutes to spare. Luckily the ticket man took pity on me and only charged me an extra fiver for the next train. The ticket to Manchester only cost £8.25. Compare that with four quid for the tube ride across London (must charge up that Oyster!) and £3.20 for the tram ride to Bury! On Saturday I got the bus into Bury, went on the market to buy some V-Pud vegetarian black puddings from Chadwick's, some black peas, and a hot butter pie from Stone's in Hornby Buildings, The Rock, which is due to be demolished soon, along with the Odeon next door, to make way for a new Debenhams and yuppy flats. The old slice of Bury opposite the Odeon (including Thompson's chippy) has already been flattened so there will be little left of the town soon! So, down to the trains, passing a couple of vintage buses (a red Rawtenstall and a green Salford) outside Bolton Street Station. LMS 5690 Leander was pulling freight, so I hopped on the train to Heywood pulled by the gorgeous LNER V2 4771 Green Arrow in apple green livery. Back at Bury the loco was changed to BR standard class 4 2-6-0 76079 which took us to Rawtenstall and back, via Ramsbottom. I had a nice bottle of Moorehouse's Black Cat on the train. Also running was a GWR double header of 2-8-0 3802 and 4936 Kinlet Hall. I also spotted an LMS tank pottering about, which I assume was Jinty 47324. There's a complete list of locos at the ELR here. So to the Trackside bar (which always has a fine selection of real ales) for a pint of Knocker Up and to watch the engines shunt in the twilight. Then it was back to my sister's for black peas, parkin and a firework display.