| Greenfield Paper Mill was owned by Robert Fletcher’s and was a dominant presence in the village. The location of the mill, in an otherwise very rural corner, and the large amount of other land owned allowed the company to develop private housing and leisure facilities. These latter included tennis courts and a bowling green and as the facilities were grouped around the private road leading to the mill from the Clarence Hotel, a very pleasant environment was created.
The Paper Mill was served by peak hour journeys on the 154 (Ashton to Uppermill), but its more interesting service was a contract working that served Mossley, Grotton, Lees and Oldham. This worked in accordance with shift changes at 0600, 1400 and 2200 hours and must have been unique for a contract working as it was worked by three operators! SHMD did the 0600 shift (or at least I believe so, never being up in time to see it). Oldham did the 1400 shift and North Western did the 2200 one. This service was allocated the number 860 from 2nd December 1973, although not always carried. The service lasted until the 1990s when Checkmate Mini Coaches worked the service, which they did until the closure of the mill around 2002. In later years a journey on the 180 was extended from Greenfield Clarence to the Paper Mill and this also continued until the closure. It didn’t make the trip every day and I suspect (from observation) that it did not often have many, or any, passengers. The fare for the journey appears in the fare tables from 1983 but it was not until 1989 that it appeared in public timetables. To show the full extent of workings to the mill, I have duplicated some photographs which appear in other collections. |
Checkmate's Iveco E184 CNE loads passengers for Greenfield Paper Mill at Mossley station. 799x533 GPM005_14438.jpg |
This former Bury Corporation PD2 was working from the old SHMD garage on this tea-time journey from the paper mill, which worked as a 154 to Mossley station and then continued to Stalybridge on the 4 route through Millbrook. 799x533 GPM010_1810.jpg |
Oldham 471 started life as Bolton Corporation 426 and was hired by Oldham to help out during a severe vehicle crisis in 1965. At that time it and the other ex-Bolton vehicles could be seen in Saddleworth as they were the preferred choice for peak hour workings on the 10. By the end of 1965 Oldham had bought this bus which continued in service into the SELNEC era and was only repainted from crimson and white to the pommard and cream livery shown here just after the formation of SELNEC. It survived until a few months after this photo, even managing to be rebuilt following an accident only a few months earlier. Most surprisingly, it was then sold for further service to Paton's of Renfrew and along with another more modern Oldham bus which went to the same operator about the same time, were the only postwar Oldham buses to see further service until quite a few years later. 471 is passing through Dacres with the 1400hrs shift change bus, a working that brought older Oldham buses into Saddleworth. 799x533 GPM015_12755.jpg |
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5341 was one of the 1958 Roe-bodied PD2s which to my eyes were some of the finest buses Oldham ever had. When built they were festooned with a huge amount of lining out and were a real credit to the town. Even in 1972 this bus was in good condition as it speeds through Dacres on the early afternoon special from Oldham. 799x533 GPM020_1664.jpg |
5334 heads through Dacres with workers at the end of their shift. 799x533 GPM022_1312.jpg |
5334 has a correct display of "Industrial Journey" as it heads along Manchester Road in Greenfield towards Bokin. 799x533 GPM025_2241.jpg |
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5610 was originally 10 in the SHMD fleet. These were some of the first SHMD buses in orange as their overhaul was due soon after the formation of SELNEC. To put this picture in historical context, that evening I travelled to Bradford to see the last public workings of a trolleybus in the UK. 799x533 GPM030_1517.jpg |
A not-quite-sharp photo of Metrobus 5301 on the way back to Greenfield Clarence on the road from the Paper Mill. 534x800 GPM075_12432.jpg |
Latterly smaller buses were used to serve the mill, as evidenced by this wintery view of Dodge S56 1863 in Little Gem livery. 799x533 GPM080_12590.jpg |
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Another of the secondhand buses bought by Oldham during the crisis in the mid-sixties was this batch of four Leyland PD2/10s with Leyland's own bodywork. These looked very smart and must have been in good condition as they lasted well into the SELNEC era. This one is 475 which was the very last of all the secondhand acquisitions in service, being withdrawn in August 1971. This batch were the only buses delivered new to Sheffield in the short-lived all over green livery and it was this vehicle, as Sheffield 656, which was used for the manufacturer's photo of the batch. 800x533 GPM082_8594.jpg |
5284 makes its way up the road to the mill on a pleasant spring day with daffodils in bloom. 800x533 GPM090_8624.jpg |
Preserved North Western PD2 224 recreates the late shift journey. Due to the fact that ran in the hours of darkness I don't believe the North Western operation was ever photographed. 799x533 GPM095_12258.jpg |
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5186 approaches Greenfield Paper Mill.This one journey a day on the 180 was an extension from the normal terminus to serve an eight o'clock start at the mill. 799x533 GPM100_12418.jpg |
Metrobus 5186 had been rebuilt with a modified destination blind when this and the other shots were taken. 799x533 GPM101_12419.jpg |
224 in very autumnal conditions just outside the Paper Mill. 533x799 GPM105_12261.jpg |
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5201 leaves the sylvan setting of Greenfield Paper Mill. 799x533 GPM110_12428.jpg |
5186 also leaves the Paper Mill. 799x533 GPM115_12420.jpg |
