Museum appeals so it can secure part of Ashton’s history

A MUSEUM is appealing to people to help it buy a piece of Tameside history – a six-wheeled bus.

When the vehicle was made in 1928, the very name of the borough was unheard of, it was made for Ashton Corporation.

Now after an astonishing 50 years of restoration from a wreck to showroom condition by a bus enthusiast in Yorkshire, it will be put on display to the public permanently.

But Greater Manchester’s Museum of Transport has launched an urgent appeal to buy it and bring it back to the region.

“It’s an amazing thing to look at, and no-one has seen it in decades until now,” said Dennis Talbot, chairman of the museum based in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester.

“There’s literally nothing like it anywhere, it’s totally unique so we’re determined to raise the funds so we can buy it and keep it here, in Greater Manchester and accessible to the public.

“We think it’s important that it’s not sold abroad to be used as a novelty in a themed restaurant somewhere.”

The museum says it will dip into its own financial reserves to pay as much of the asking price as it can.

However, it is appealing for £20,000 to keep it in Greater Manchester for good.

Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton, welcomed the appeal: “Tameside has a proud industrial heritage, and looking at this incredible old bus it’s easy to imagine workers and shoppers from almost a century ago taking trips over the cobbles to the mills or shopping in Ashton.