![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-10-at-164909-2jpeg.jpg\")
(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\nIt’s one of 148 areas in Greater Manchester without a daytime Bee Network bus – and some include major neighbourhoods like Whalley Range, Rusholme, and Prestwich(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n
Trees in full bloom provide some welcome shade around the 13th century St Werbergh\u2019s church on a hot July day.<\/p>\n
The sun is beating down on fields next to the graveyard. It\u2019s quiet, with only the seldom noise of a car whizzing past disturbing a quintessentially English countryside scene.<\/p>\n
But Warburton is actually inside the second-largest city-region in the country, falling within Trafford<\/a> and Greater Manchester\u2019s boundaries.<\/p>\n Here, crimes are investigated by GMP, residents can vote for Andy Burnham<\/a>, and buses should be provided by the Bee Network.<\/p>\n Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n However, a quick glance at one of Warburton\u2019s half-dozen bus stops will tell you different. The village\u2019s only bus is the number 5 and it runs roughly every 90 minutes \u2014 but it\u2019s put on by Warrington\u2019s Own Buses, not the Bee Network.<\/p>\n It means Warburton is one of the 148 areas within Greater Manchester to lack a daytime Bee Network service within 400 metres of someone\u2019s front door. Some 51,309 people live in a Greater Manchester \u2018bus desert\u2019, and 388,525 aren\u2019t close to a daytime bus that runs at least every 30 minutes \u2014 more than the population of Wigan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Warburton is in an even smaller club, too, as you have to pay to drive one of the main routes to the 342-person village. The Warburton Toll Bridge, traversing the Manchester Ship Canal, is currently free to use while improvements are being made, but used to charge just 12p for a crossing. Once it reopens later this year, the toll will be \u00a31, with a discount for residents.<\/p>\n It means residents can feel \u2018a bit isolated\u2019, according to Jean Crook, 75, who moved in four years ago from Culcheth in Warrington.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family lives over the bridge [in Caddishead, Salford<\/a>],\u201d she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. \u201cIt would be handy to have a bus going out that way.<\/p>\n \u201cFor everybody else it would be ideal to have a bus going anywhere else. We are a bit isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n Ana Goel, 66, has been in Warburton for 19 years and says she\u2019s \u2018not happy\u2019 about the buses: \u201cWhen we first moved in, there were three services. We could always rely on getting to the stop and being able to go to Altrincham<\/a> or Partington. My son would get that to school.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seemed there was accessibility to nothing. There is no point to use the bus, so we use the car.<\/p>\n “I definitely would use them to feel more frequent. I go to Altrincham almost every day. I have got an old age pensioners pass, so it would be free. That would be ideal if it was regular.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a shame. The government is trying to get people out of their cars, if you had a good bus service I am sure a lot of people would use that.\u201d<\/p>\n Husband-and-wife Dave and Barbara Botterill have called Warburton home even longer, moving in in 1999.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Dave said in explaining it\u2019s not just the frequency of the number 5 that makes it unattractive for nights out in Altrincham.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI would not use it because it goes around the world. It goes through Carrington<\/a> and Sale<\/a>. I know you have to look at the cost, but they need to run later.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would cost me more to come back from Altrincham in a taxi than it would to buy the beer out there. The \u00a32 charge is a good thing. You cannot criticise that.\u201d<\/p>\n Although some villagers are unhappy, others have adapted to life here. Michael Jones, 29, is one of them: \u201cWe were aware that there was no public transport [when we moved], so we made sure we had a car.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be convenient for beers out and family meals. We will not use it every day, but we would use it to get to Altrincham, definitely. It\u2019s great because it\u2019s a transport hub to everywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n While a rural village on the fringe of the borough may be an obvious candidate for Bee Network bus desertion, some of the other 148 are very much urban zones.<\/p>\n Transport for Greater Manchester, which compiled the list, said areas more than 400m from a stop include Rusholme<\/a>, Whalley Range<\/a>, and Beswick in Manchester.<\/p>\n Another one is Sheepfoot Lane in Prestwich<\/a>, next to Heaton Park<\/a> and a large interwar housing estate, although it has one thing Warburton doesn\u2019t: the Bowker Vale tram station, that\u2019s been there for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n \u201cI use the tram. It\u2019s really convenient and quick \u2014 better than taking a car, especially to town. I usually go to Altrincham on it, \u201c said Lorraine, who moved in 30 years ago.<\/p>\n Justin McDonnell is another tram user for his nights out: \u201cI never use the bus. The tram is eight minutes\u2019 walk. I only get the tram for a drink in Prestwich or Whitefield<\/a>. I can get to Besses o’ th’ Barn for \u00a31.90 return.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a Sunday I go to the Coach and Horses, for \u00a31.90, it\u2019s \u00a32 for a bus one way and \u00a36 for a taxi one way.\u201d<\/p>\n Others just use cars to get around, including Lisa Clarke, who said she \u2018doesn\u2019t really like public transport\u2019, and neighbour Julie, who \u2018tends to use the car\u2019.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI was going into Manchester so I debated using the tram but I paid extra for parking. I\u2019d go to Trafford Centre if I wanted to look around the shops.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-10-at-164908jpeg.jpg\")
(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-10-at-164909-1jpeg.jpg\")
(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-10-at-164909-3jpeg.jpg\")
(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n