GMT 5014 was a Marshall-bodied Leyland Tiger Cub new to Oldham Corporation as their 114. These were the first Marshall bodies bought by Oldham and with the exception of two Tiger Cubs with locally-built Pennine bodies, Marshall were to become the coachbuilder of choice for Oldham Corporation's single-deck fleet. 5014 is climbing up to Scouthead and has just passed the top of Wall Hill Road.

Leyland National 151 passes through Waterhead on the 825. This may have been a service from Compoflex in Delph.

G602 KTX approaches Lydgate on its way to Robert Scott's in Greenfield for the lunchtime journeys on what is Saddleworth's only remaining works bus service. This Alexander-bodied Scania was one of several owned by Stott's that were new to Cardiff. Photo courtesy Peter Crichton.

Stott's M74 WYG is an unusual (at least for Saddleworth) MAN with Optare Vecta body, which came from Black Prince in Leeds. It is on Oldham Road, Grasscroft.

A closer view of Stott's Optare Vecta. This was a chance encounter, so I am not quite certain what it was doing. Whilst it could be a working back to depot after a trip from Robert Scott's, it was a bit later than that would be expected to run.

I photographed Stott’s former Southdown PD3 in Grasscroft in 1983 when it was returning to Oldham having worked the lunchtime trips to Scott’s in Greenfield. The driver was friendly, we had a chat and I had a short ride on the bus. Since launching this gallery he has been in touch so I now know his name is Paul Wreghitt and he has made a significant contribution to this gallery. I think this bus looked very smart in Stott’s livery.

Of course, even if the snow is falling people at work want to get home, so Stott’s PD3 is venturing out in difficult conditions to take workers home at Scott’s. It is just below the Farrar’s Arms in Grasscroft.

Stott's 12 had been bought from South Yorkshire PTE but was new to Reliance of Armthorpe (R. Store), one of the many independent operators for which Doncaster was renowned. It has just dropped off the afternoon shift at Scott’s Oak View Mill in Geenfield (which is visible above the rear of the bus). The mill operated morning and afternoon shifts and many of the staff only worked a half day.

Also returning to the depot after the lunchtime runs was this East Lancs-bodied Volvo Olympian. It has stopped briefly by the Conservative Club on Chew Valley Road in Greenfield. This was the point where the Micklehurst Loop line from Stalybridge to Diggle once crossed the road.

R356 XVX passes the site of Greenfield Service Station, another of the village's institutions to have disappeared in recent years.

R357 XVX is another East Lancs Olympian. These were new to Harris Bus but had more recently been in the infamous UK North fleet until their operator's licence was revoked. This bus had only just entered service with Stott's, as can be seen from the paintwork, and the destination blind still gives a clue to its former operator. The cards in the windscreen show typical services operated by Stott's at the time - the 122 being one from Hulme Grammar School to Greenfield which it had just worked (see the School workings collection).

Arriva is the one out of the big three bus operating groups that is not normally seen in Saddleworth, although the aquamarine and stone livery characteristic of that group was visible for a few years on some class 142 Pacer units that served Greenfield station, ironically only after they ceased to be operated by Arriva. Hence the interest caused by the appearance of some Metrobuses from Merseyside in this livery. Stott's must have needed them urgently as they didn't normally operate buses in their previous operator's colours. F819 YLV was new as Merseyside PTE 819.

One of a series of Metrobuses re-registered by Stott's, LUI 5801 gives away its origin due to the four-track number blind, a feature of the West Midlands PTE fleet. Harder to determine is that it was 2704 (A704 UOE) in that fleet. It is on Manchester Road, near the Royal George cross roads and had just followed a similar bus once in the Glasgow fleet working on the 355 (see that collection).

F819 YLV, seen earlier in this collection, soon received fleet livery. It is on the lunchtime working from Scott's taking back the staff who work in the mornings and was caught between Mossley and Grotton.

Having turned using the turning circle at Grotton, F819 YLV returns towards Mossley taking staff for the afternoon shift.

YNA 284M, which had been 7329 in the SELNEC and GMT fleets, is on Stockport Road in Lydgate before traffic-calming measures were introduced. I believe that this and the following two shots are on a diversion of the works service to Robert Scott's caused by one of the regular closures of the road between Mossley and Grotton. Photo courtesy Eric Ogden.

Similar bus WWH 58L is turning from Oldham Road into Stockport Road at Lydgate. This was once GMT 7293. The registration dates from the early SELNEC era when each of the three divisions of SELNEC (Central, Southern and Northern) registered their buses in the tax office relating to the divisional headquarters. This bus has a Bolton registration showing that it was new to SELNEC Northern. This practice ceased in SELNEC days but would have become less apparent anyway as elimination of local registration offices meant the loss of local marks as we had known them. Photo courtesy Eric Ogden.

Stott's 12 (TET 747S) has been seen already in this collection. Here it is picked out in the early morning sun at Lydgate. Photo courtesy Eric Ogden.

W. H. Shaw in Diggle ran their own buses transporting staff to and from their pallet works which was the old Dobcross Loom Works. They had been operating a Bristol Lodekka which I set out to photograph in Grasscroft, only to find instead this newly-acquired Leyland Titan PD3 from Southdown. It was still in that fleet’s livery and remained so for the years it worked from Diggle.

Shaw’s ex-Southdown PD3 gradually got shabbier and shabbier over the years and finished up in quite deplorable condition. However, in this wintery scene of it at Lydgate it has still retained some respectability.