A 'mad' way people used to travel around Manchester was lost forever just over 70-years ago. Before buses, and long before Metrolink became the dominant forms of public transport in Manchester, trams were how most people got around the city.
But within 30 years of its life, motor buses started the slow process of taking over as the area’s main method of transportation. Tracks were tarmacked over and as traditional tram routes were taken over by buses the fate of the extraordinary transport system was sealed. Recalling the old 53 tram route, readers wrote into the Manchester Evening News newspaper in 1976 to share their memories. Tony McGregor from Bredbury remembered: "In 1917 I became a trolly boy on the 53 tram route. The thrill of swinging round from the rear platform, when the tram was travelling at about 40 miles an hour, was never to be forgotten, especially if the 'Mad Mullah' was at the controls.
Writing for the M.E.N. in June 1974, Margaret Hughes, also felt something was missing after the trams went. After revisiting the old 53 tram route she used to take but this time by bus, she concluded: "Somehow the romance has disappeared."Another fond memory of the old 53 route was printed in the M.E.N. in 1976, when Mr WH Berry wrote in to say he also remembered another well known driver "who used to sing at the top of his voice while travelling along Dickenson Road.