For those of us less familiar with the British rail network: why would Denton to Manchester Piccadilly be a challenge to book a ticket for?
(Denton is mildly famous amongst British rail enthusiasts as it has a 'parliamentary'[1] service of one train a week each way. Useless for actual travel, but (partly because of an unusually pleasant station buffet with good beer at Stalybridge) the regular site of meetups for rail geeks).