First Manchester 1136 (N636 CDB) in Rochdale – 4 Mar 2000 (433-14A)

Saturday 4 March 2000 (approx. 1615) – First Manchester 1136 (N636 CDB), a Northern Counties bodied Dennis Dart new in May 1996, seen just after leaving Rochdale bus station on local service 438 to Daniel Fold, a service numbered 12A in the days of Rochdale Corporation Transport whose buses were garaged in Mellor Street.

Facing the need to reduce operating losses GM Buses had closed the Mellor Street garage after operations on 29 November 1991. Services were then covered from garages in neighbouring towns - in this case, Bury. Such short trips like a Daniel Fold and return slotted in between trips arriving from and returning back to Bury.

Note the Greater Manchester ghost lettering on the front panel replaced by just ‘First’ both of which featured the company logo.