STAMPS Bus Trip to Aquatic Outlets Around Manchester

Text by Paul Barrow, who did no go
Images by Ken Scott

This is the second bus trip sponsored by the club as a thank you to its members. The club is grateful to Anthony King who arranged the bus, and did the driving on the day.
STAMPS' BUS Trip the Manchester Area.
On a cold, bright morning in early March, a motley group of aquarist met up to travel south to the Manchester area to sample its aquatic outlets. Anthony arrived on time with the minibus, with his dad, Albert and daughter Bethany in the best seats. Then the rest of bleary-eyed, early risers came on board, John, Bede, Derek, Henry, Nick and Ken took their seats, they were quickly followed by Tina & Darren. The back of the bus being left to house the poly boxes, essential for such a perilous expedition.

Moving South
After an hour and a half's journey they reached Ferrybridge, just outside of Leeds. Some members complained of the hot and humid atmospheres so far south, but they soldiered on into the first shop Ferrybridge Aquatics.
Ferrybridge Aquatics, 11-13 High Street, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, WF11 8NQ, West Yorkshire
Tel: 01977 678016, Website: www.ferrybridge-aquatics.co.uk/index.html
The fist stop on our journey. This shop has been voted The Best Small Shop in the UK, and the Best Aquatic Shop in the North. There was an interesting selection of fish, and a wall covered with award cards and trophies won by the shop's show team. After a look round, a few purchases and a chat to the owner it was time to move on to our next destination - MANCHESTER!

Westward Ho - travelling to The outskirts of Manchester
The Abyss Aquatic Warehouse, Brookside Industrial Estate, Waterloo Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK1 3BD, Tel: 0161 476 4439, Website: www.abyssaquatics.co.uk/livestock.htm
This must be one of the biggest shops in the UK, it has over 400 tanks housing tropical freshwater & marine fish. Six large tanks house marine invertebrates and 3.5-meter tank is dedicated to aquatic plants. Rare and unusual fish abounded, prices ranged fro £1 to £3600 for a Clarion Angel. One very expensive fish was rumoured to have been bought by a footballer, can't name him because he has a super injunction to stop his wife finding out.

Big City Lights, Manchester
Oasis Aquarium 8/8a Great Clowes Street, Salford, Manchester M7 1RE, 
General Enquiries: 0161 832 5836, 0161 832 5836. Internet Sales: 01656 663 427, 01656 663 427
Website: www.oasisaquarium.co.uk/onlinestore.asp
This shops boasts the biggest collection of marine specimens in the North of England, with over 150 species of marine fish.

Out of Town, Wigan
Pier Aquatics, Great George St, Wigan, Greater Manchester
Tel: 01942 236 661, Website: www.pieraquatics.org/home.htm
Set out in five, themed, rooms, this shop has a large selection of fish and accessories. The three Tropical fish rooms have tanks in a three-tier system; the fourth is for dry goods. An impressive number of large, floor mounted tanks for coldwater fish greet you in their room. Prices varied but one species of Corydoras was on sale for £90 each.

Homeward Bound - to Preston
Aqaulife, Leyland nr. Preston, 338 Southport Road, Leyland, Lancashire PR26 8LQ
Tel: 01772 601 777, Fax: 01772 601 777, Web; www.aqualifeonline.co.uk
The Club found this a well-stocked shop with about 100 tanks. On sale were a good selection of unusual tropical freshwater fish, tropical marine & Coldwater fish. There was also some amphibians & shrimps for sale.
From Aqualife we started our long journey home, discussing our new fish.
Darren had added some more seahorses to his collection, he is one of the few people to breed these fish regularly. Also in his poly box was a nice Mandarin Goby. Ken had taken pity on a one-eyed Regal Angel for his marine tank. The price was too good to miss; John bought some boesmanni & lacustris Rainbows along with two rare Leporinus friderici. Bede added to his growing collection of Corydoras and loaches with some Corydoras arcuatus & a strikingly marked Serpenticobitis octozona. Anthony was lucky enough to find some rarely imported Corydoras rabauti for his aquarium.