One of the few surviving Dennis Arrows, 31933, is seen here on a 350 diverted through Heyrod. It has just passed under Black Rock arch, where nowadays nothing other than minibuses are seen.

Also passing under Black Rock arch is Dart 40368, this time heading for Oldham.

22117 at the Royal George. The destination display used on this service always looks wrong, as to me Clayton West is a place between Huddersfield and Wakefield. These Alexander-bodied MANs have never been seen much in Saddleworth, I only recall them appearing on the Sunday tendered workings on the 353/183 for a short while.

With the Royal George hotel behind, Speedwell's MX06 BPU heads for Hey Farm estate, which is in fact a short distance up the road behind the pub, on a circuitous route through bottom Mossley.

Stagecoach Manchester 22117 turns right at the crossroads at the Royal George. The road with the parked cars in the background is the original A635 road, but the sharp bend was eliminated when the Micklehurst Loop line was closed and the bridge over it could be removed.

Speedwell's Solos used to be seen regularly in Saddleworth on the 354 but not for a while now. The diversion brings in one in the form of MX06 BOV, dropping down into Well-i-hole from the Royal George.

JPT's 306 (VT09 JPT) makes for an unusual sight on Well-i-hole on a diverted 343.

A closer view of JPT 306 passing Well-i-hole farm and the entrance to the caravan site. The entrance here was once just a gate in the wall which ran close to the road. The present arrangement allows vehicles towing caravans to stop off the road while they open the gate.

JPT 305 (ST09 JPT) is another Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 with a carefully selected registration.

A more distant view of JPT 305 on Well-i-hole. The blue and yellow livery makes a refreshing change in Saddleworth.

Speedwell R513 YWC is not far off its normal route here on Well-i-hole. Whilst this diversion is in operation a trip on the 353 can be somewhat tortuous as it involves a lot of backtracking.

Well-i-hole had been served by the 355 and later the 354 but until this diversion it was only served by school journeys on the 828. Whilst the diversion was in place it saw a very intensive service indeed. Here Mayne’s Trident V125 DJA has just breasted the hump-back bridge over the River Tame.

This photograph was taken at the time of the original slip and shows a Stagecoach Olympian with a rather generous 87-seat capacity working a diverted 353. This bus went directly to Uppermill and I’m not sure how the Uppermill to Mossley section of the route was served on this occasion.

Heading the other way along Well-i-hole is another Trident 28 (V128 DJA), this time crossing the newly re-opened canal bridge.

Stagecoach 760 returns from Uppermill along Shaw Hall Bank Road, the “no waiting” cones attempting to ensure reasonably smooth traffic flow during the diversion.

Scania 8 is another of Mayne’s vehicles, this time in the earlier livery of just red and cream. It is passing the Saddleworth Rangers rugby ground on Shaw Hall Bank Road and a lot of cars belonging to shopping commuters using Greenfield station.

On Shaw Hall Bank Road approaching Greenfield station is Speedwell's V994 DNB on another trip on the S50. This bus spent some years in the Mistral Rentals fleet and surprisingly first operated for Yorkshire Rider.

Speedwell MX06 BPU is also on Shaw Hall Bank Road. It would seem (from observation) that the electronic displays have only been programmed for the full S500 route to Manchester and cannot show the current workings to Ashton, hence the pices of paper in the windscreens.

Stagecoach 22121 negotiates the multi-cambered junction of Shaw Hall Bank Road and Chew Valley Road.

The Stagecoach MAN had been immediately preceded by First's 40370 on a 350 to Hey Farm estate.

Speedwell's Optare Excel N608 JLY passes the site of the former coal drops at Greenfield station.

Speedwell N608 JLY again, with First's 40360 very close on its tail working the 343.

Speedwell's MX06 BOV descends the hill past Greenfield station, the refurbishment of which is now complete. One of the last items added was the new sign visible to the right of the bus.

Single-deckers appeared irregularly on the 232 to 235 group of services. Mayne's 43 climbs past Greenfield station on a sunny winter day. Photo courtesy Mark Amis.

Passengers shiver whilst waiting on Greenfield station platform for their train to Manchester whilst Scania 8 is seen again, this time in a later version of the livery. Photo courtesy Mark Amis.

This Wright-bodied Volvo B10 would appear to be on an even longer diversion as it is branded for a route in Falkirk, complete with logos for the Falkirk Wheel. In fact it had just been transferred from Midland Bluebird and is descending the hill at Greenfield station. Photo courtesy Mark Amis.

Metrobus 30310 climbs the hill at Greenfield station in the course of the diversion. Photo courtesy Mark Amis.

40384 in almost exactly the same spot six years later, with changes to the station behind visible. It has just passed a bus stop and this must be a very rare case of a bus on a diversion going past a bus stop for that service!

Plaxton Pointer Darts were fairly ubiquitous on the 350 at the time of this photo. 40282 was one that was new to Greater Manchester North and is making the turn at the top of the hill at Greenfield station.

With this, their second batch of low floor double-deckers, Mayne's changed from East Lancs to Plaxton as body builder with a rather impressive end product immortalised in a Creative Master model. Having crossed the railway it is descending the hill to return to its route in bottom Mossley.

Whilst First’s 40271 looked like many other Dennis Darts in the fleet, it was different as it started life as a Plaxton demonstrator, hence the Hull registration. It is at the top of the hill at Greenfield station in the middle of the long detour between bottom and top Mossley.

Not readily distinguished from the buses diverted on the 350 at the same time is 40280. It has worked from bottom Mossley and is headed for top Mossley, only to turn round and return to this point on the way to Uppermill!

40282 is seen again. Only a couple of months later the 350 was extended from Hey Farm to Oldham and used Chew Valley Road which is just visible at the left of the photo.

40366 takes the left turn at the top of the hill. These buses haven't got very good lock and sometimes come to grief on the hairpin bend part way down the hill here. They don't normally make this left turn and it is clear the drivers were taking no chances by swinging well out before turning.

Mayne’s 20 was an East Lancs-bodied Scania N113DR new to Brighton Hove and District and at the time was one of the oldest double-deckers in the fleet. Most of the bus was painted in a livery advertising easyetrader.com. It says they are only a click away, but it seems that was a click away from bankruptcy as they ceased trading around the time of this photograph.

These six-wheel Leyland Olympians were an unusual sight in Saddleworth and even more surprising to find on a Sunday working of the 343. 3004 had come via First PMT but had been new to China Motor Bus in Hong Kong. The six-wheel chassis configuration caused problems at this location as the change in gradient at the top of the hill at Greenfield station caused the driven rear axle to unload and when the driver tried to pull away nothing much happened apart from spinning wheels and a smell of burning rubber! The livery is also of note - First were in the process of introducing their “Barbie 2” livery, a corporate livery for inherited vehicles as opposed to new ones. The vinyls for this were not ready and the bus had to run in this interim livery for a short while.

40371 makes the turn at the top of the hill with apparent ease!

Mayne's 9 is about to turn down the hill. Photo courtesy Mark Amis.

A head-on view of Mayne’s 20 (seen earlier) gives more of an impression of a bus in fleet livery.

Carrying a light load - not surprisingly since it was the third 350 to pass this way in four minutes - 40366 crosses the railway at Greenfield station.

Former Centrewest Dart 40299 leads Optare Prisma 60443 (that was new to Grampian) across the railway at Greenfield station. Both are in the “Barbie 2” livery but there are many differences in the application of the livery. One that is just an illusion is the white roof on 40299. Only the front is white as on 60443, reflections create an illusion for the rest which is also blue.

Mayne’s 31 (MX03 KZP) is seen from Ladcastle Road as it approaches Greenfield station.

Making an interesting comparison with a picture in the 235 collection is this shot some fourteen years later of a different Mayne’s 235 service in a similar location on Oldham Road. Scania 19 is caught in pleasant autumn sunshine.

These Darts are some of the few high floor buses in the First fleet now seen in Saddleworth. 40283 (N651 CDB) is on Oldham Road approaching Greenfield station.

The first diversion of the 343 occurred when the landslip took place in 2000. Olympian 3048 is on Oldham Road near Greenfield station. I don’t know what the passengers made of their rather extended journey!

Heading towards Ashton at the Farrar's Arms is Speedwell's MPD V256 BNV. New to Pete's Travel in Birmingham it has led a nomadic life and even worked for First for a while on the Wirral as cover for some failing experimental buses.

Heading in the opposite direction, Speedwell's V994 DNB joins Oldham Road at the Farrar's Arms in Grasscroft. The S50 is a fairly recent introduction which has been plagued by road works. Currently it runs from Ashton to Hey Farm estate.

From Mossley Road in Grasscroft there is a sweeping panorama of the Tame Valley and Greenfield village nestling under the hills. As a backdrop there is Wharmton with its television relay station. All this makes an atypical setting for Mayne’s Scania 12 heading back to Manchester on a fine summer’s evening.

Autumn colours surround First's 40370 at the same location.

40283, seen earlier, returns from Hyde is somewhat better lighting than before. It is on the long "racing stretch" (with a 30 mile/h limit) that links Grasscroft to Mossley and crossed the old Lancashire/Yorkshire "border".

40283 again on Stockport Road in Mossley.

Stagecoach 22234 is also on Stockport Road in Mossley and is approaching the Rising Sun at Haddens, once the limit of North Western operation in the very early days.

Passing the Church Inn on Stockport Road in Mossley (once an OB house but now owned by Thwaites) is Speedwell's MX06 BPU.

Slightly nearer to Mossley is First's 40371. The car wash here was once a filling station.