The fascinating transport museum with free heritage bus rides in Manchester

Based at the far end of an historic transport depot in Manchester you will find an incredible "hidden gem" museum that families love for a day out. Children go free inside the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, which has the biggest range of heritage buses on display in the north west.

On certain weekends and bank holidays you can also head out on a FREE ride aboard one of the heritage buses, on their hugely popular trips out to Manchester and Heaton Park.

The museum itself is based on Boyle Street in Cheetham, in a huge old warehouse at the back of the historic Queens Road Tram Depot. The front of the depot is still used for modern-day buses that head out across Manchester.

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But heading into the museum is a real step back in time - showcasing the earliest form of "bus" used in Manchester - a horse-drawn carriage - to a range of double deckers used across Greater Manchester over the past 100 years.

There's two huge halls to explore, with a number of buses available to jump aboard and experience the old interiors, while there's also an old Metrolink tram from 1992 which you can walk inside too. There is also a vintage tea shop on the site - with a range of affordable treats including sandwiches and pies for just £2 and tea or coffee for £1.20.

The museum first opened here in 1979, as a partnership between the charitable Greater Manchester Transport Society and Transport for Greater Manchester, who own the building. The museum is run almost entirely by volunteers and part-time staff who are enthusiastic about the heritage of all the exhibits here.

Chris Lonergan, 78, is one of the directors of the museum and has been involved from the very first day it