First Manchester 701 (J461 OVU) in Rochdale – 4 Mar 2000 (433-14A)

Saturday 4 March 2000 (approx. 1615) – I believe First Manchester 701 (J461 OVU) was a one off Northern Counties Paladin bodied Volvo B10M-50 new in November 1991 to GM Buses that had been exhibited at the 1991 Commercial Motor Show at the N.E.C., Birmingham.

It was seen in Rochdale town centre arriving back from Daniel Fold on local service 438 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.