{"id":372892,"date":"2025-08-25T17:51:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/372892\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T17:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:51:13","slug":"the-town-with-an-sk-postcode-thats-a-nightmare-to-get-to-from-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/372892\/","title":{"rendered":"The town with an SK postcode that’s a nightmare to get to from Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘A joke’Buxton is famous as a spa town – but it feels much more cut-off than the 20 mile distance from Manchester(Image: Buxton Crescent Health Spa Hotel)<\/p>\n

Tourists and locals are glancing at the \u2018rare\u2019, 18-year-old Nissan Micra for sale on a Peak District high street – yours for just \u00a31,795.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the type of cheap family hatchback many rely on, especially in Peak District towns like this which can feel cut-off from the outside world due to poor trains and buses.<\/p>\n

Buxton, the town in question, feels more cut-off from Greater Manchester than somewhere that\u2019s just 20 miles as-the-crow-flies from Manchester city centre<\/a>. It has a Stockport<\/a> postcode and it\u2019s only 15 miles from the Underbanks in the town centre.<\/p>\n

To see planning applications; traffic and road diversions and layout changes; and more, visit the Public Notices Portal HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A quick glance at railway notices illustrates why that may be – the replacement of the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport has disrupted trains, so the \u2018Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton\u2019 line \u2018ran to a reduced timetable in both directions\u2019 until August 22, Northern said.<\/p>\n

Engineering work meant that over August, it took rail passengers from Piccadilly at least 83 minutes to reach Buxton. The \u2018quick\u2019 journey required two changes: Passengers boarding at Piccadilly, had to get off at New Mills Central, then walk 19 minutes to New Mills Newtown station, then board a train to Buxton.<\/p>\n

(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

The slower journey is simpler, but takes 116 minutes – board at Piccadilly, change at Hazel Grove<\/a>, alight at Buxton.<\/p>\n

Even now trains are returning to normal, it\u2019s more than an hour\u2019s journey between the city and the spa town. The drive from Manchester city centre is 65 minutes, covering 23 miles – an average speed of 21.2mph.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s small wonder Jordy Webb calls the situation \u2018a joke\u2019. Originally from Gorton<\/a>, he moved for a chef\u2019s job in a Buxton hotel \u2018four or five years ago\u2019. He still tries to go to Manchester once a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Manchester trains always get cancelled,\u201d he said. \u201cEven before the engineering work they were cancelled. No one gets the train so it does not improve. It\u2019s a vicious circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others take issue with the cost of a train ticket, like Dan, who moved to Buxton a decade ago. He said: \u201cIt\u2019s too expensive. Sometimes it will be \u00a37 or \u00a311. That\u2019s half my spending money gone just on a train ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be more affordable, then you would have more money to spend on other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trains are rubbish. They\u2019re only two carriages so people have to catch the bus, or use the train when it\u2019s jam-packed full. It\u2019s really really annoying to get to appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

Some were less critical, but they don\u2019t use the trains too often. Merry Miller, a retiree who moved to SK17 three years ago, is one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use the train and it\u2019s alright,\u201d she said. \u201cIt takes an hour. We are retired, but if I was a commuter, I would not be happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only use it about three times a year for a day out. But if it was quicker, maybe I would do it more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Mather was another, visiting Buxton from Offerton on Tuesday (August 19). He liked it; he said he\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long bus ride. It was only \u00a33 for a single and I enjoy a long bus ride so it\u2019s okay,\u201d he said. \u201cI do not get the train because it\u2019s more expensive. I can settle for a cheaper but longer journey on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was sat outside Buxton\u2019s famous sandstone Crescent Hotel, where hours earlier three mayors, including Andy Burnham<\/a>, formally launched the \u2018Peaks Partnership\u2019, a new forum to solve transport woes across the Peak District.<\/p>\n

(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

They kicked off by announcing \u00a37.6m to improve Snake Pass, one of the two routes to directly connect Manchester and Sheffield.<\/p>\n

More is coming. Within two years, Bee Network trains will be in Buxton, and other Peak District towns like Glossop.<\/p>\n

Before the big overhaul, the town\u2019s connection to Manchester remains the 199 bus, and Northern trains.<\/p>\n

A Northern spokesperson pointed out fewer than 3pc of trains were cancelled between Piccadilly and Buxton, and 89pc arrived within three minutes of their scheduled time, in the month leading up to the engineering work.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cWe remain focused on providing a reliable service for customers travelling between Manchester Piccadilly and Buxton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been some disruption while the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport is being replaced as part of an essential engineering project, but normal services will resume once this work has been completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of reasonably priced tickets available on this route. Customers who book in advance can buy Advanced Single tickets for a journey from Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton for \u00a33.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘A joke’Buxton is famous as a spa town – but it feels much more cut-off than the 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[8916,15333,748,393,4884,2465,55865,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-372892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-bee-network","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-peak-district","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115090678888659760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}