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“What a variety are pictured here! Double deck ‘balloon’ cars, single deckers including open topped cars and various illuminated cars, a specialty of the town.” —York Model Engineers newsletter In the early 1930s the tramcar in Blackpool was at a crossroads; the system needed investment in both new track and new trams while there was a serious threat that the “town” routes might be converted to bus operation. The appointment of Walter Luff as the new general manager was, however, to prove a turning point. Working closely with English Electric, based in nearby Preston, Luff developed a series of streamlined trams—both single-deck and double-deck—that were to revolutionize the town’s tramway. By the end of 1930s, the corporation had acquired more than 100 new trams—the majority built by English Electric but with twenty coming from Brush—that ensured the survival not only of the key route along the Promenade to Fleetwood but also of the bulk of the “town” routes. Over the next seventy years these trams were to form the cornerstone of the Blackpool system. It was only with the modernization of the system in the first decade of the 20th century that, finally, they became largely obsolete but still, as part of the heritage fleet, they remain very much part of the contemporary Blackpool scene. This book examines the history of Blackpool’s streamlined trams of the 1930s from development through to preservation. “An important addition to the more straightforward business and picture book histories of the Blackpool tram network which local historians and industrial archaeologists will find of great value aiding future studies of this subject.” —Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
There have been passenger tramways in Britain for 150 years, but it is a rollercoaster story of rise, decline and a steady return. Trams have come and gone, been loved and hated, popular and derided, considered both wildly futuristic and hopelessly outdated by politicians, planners and the public alike. Horse trams, introduced from the USA in the 1860s, were the first cheap form of public transport on city streets. Electric systems were developed in nearly every urban area from the 1890s and revolutionised town travel in the Edwardian era.A century ago, trams were at their peak, used by everyone all over the country and a mark of civic pride in towns and cities from Dover to Dublin. But by the 1930s they were in decline and giving way to cheaper and more flexible buses and trolleybuses. By the 1950s all the major systems were being replaced. Londons last tram ran in 1952 and ten years later Glasgow, the city most firmly linked with trams, closed its network down. Only Blackpool, famous for its decorated cars, kept a public service running and trams seemed destined only for scrapyards and museums.A gradual renaissance took place from the 1980s, with growing interest in what are now described as light rail systems in Europe and North America. In the UK and Ireland modern trams were on the streets of Manchester from 1992, followed successively by Sheffield, Croydon, the West Midlands, Nottingham, Dublin and Edinburgh (2014). Trams are now set to be a familiar and significant feature of twenty-first century urban life, with more development on the way.
A photographic celebration of the famous Blackpool trams. This book features a wide cross-section of trams which have operated at the seaside resort over the past forty years.
This book endeavors to capture the very essence of the railways in the northern UK, exploring in photographs their imprint upon the landscape. Railways are illustrated as they traverse the bleak fells, pass by traditional cotton mills and industrial heritage, stride over iconic viaducts crossing vast windswept valleys and coastal estuaries, and as they share the grandeur of iconic cathedrals of both religious and railway station designs, whilst not forgetting the intricate network of canals intertwining with the rails that eventually carried the very traffic that kept these waterways in use. Here is a personal selection which I trust helps explore all that characterizes and reveals the moods and atmosphere which conjure the heart and “Spirit” of railways traversing our northern climes. Locomotives, train designs and liveries past and present will help recall the rails of the 1980’s and 90’s and offer an interesting contrast to the more modern images of the present millennium. With a mix of traction and train fleets, both in use on passenger and freight consists, this selection of images reveals their participation in capturing the heart of railways in the north. Readers are invited to share this fascinating adventure and indeed the inherent “Northern Spirit” which permeates throughout such a journey.
The seaside has always held a special position in British history as a place of rest, relaxation and recuperation. Over the last 200 years many have made their way to the coast, attracted by the long sunshine hours, the clean ozone-charged air and the opportunities for bathing in and even drinking sea-water. Although the early health resort ideal began to give way to more pleasure orientated themes in the nineteenth century, the seaside holiday was still regarded by many as a wholesome and invigorating break from inland urban life well into the twentieth century. Yet with ever increasing numbers of visitors and rising levels of coastal pollution, this was by no means a forgone conclusion. The Seaside, Health and the Environment in England and Wales since 1800 explores the ways in which English seaside resorts continually reinvented themselves to take account of contemporary trends in popular leisure and maintain their hold on the public's imagination. Particular account is paid to the interwar years when new obsessions with outdoor activities such as sunbathing and tanning were purposefully adopted by the industry to define the modern image of the resort holiday. For these and other reasons the seaside holiday reached new peaks of popularity in the 1930s and 1950s, yet, this very success placed enormous pressures on the environmental amenities that people came to enjoy. As this work shows, environmental stresses were manifold, particularly pollution of the resorts' prime assets, their beaches. As such, serious questions are raised concerning why it took such a long time for a determined effort to be made to reverse beach pollution, and the lessons to be learned regarding the impact of negative images of the coast as a zone of danger and infection.
It is almost 100 years since the first tram was preserved in Britain, in the century since then a great variety of trams have been saved from tramway systems small and large. Some trams were purchased directly out of service and others were acquired after many years alternative usage, some being summer houses or homes, while others were used on farms or allotments where they served as sheds and out buildings, before being lovingly restored over many years. The story of tram preservation is not wholly positive, in the early days many trams suffered from being stored in the open at unsafe sites, where the historic vehicles were often subjected to acts of vandalism and suffered badly from the weather. This changed to a large extent in 1959, with the acquisition of the site of the future National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire,, where a comprehensive collection of trams from all over Britain and also foreign tram networks has been assembled, to secure a collection of tramcars for future generations. There is also today fine collections of trams in other museums in Britain and Ireland, which cover much of the rich history of this once common form of public transport. This book looks at almost 200 of these trams when they were in service, through historic photographs, prior to their withdrawal and eventual preservation.
A celebration of Blackpool’s rich heritage and identity – its special events, achievements, people, industry and landmarks.
The first of two volumes covering the history of tramcar operation in Glasgow. The book narrates the story of the city's impressive network from its origins as a horse tramway in the 1870s, through the early years of electrification and expansion during the first decades of the 20th century through to World War II. The book also focuses on locations in the southern half of the city, including Mosspark, South of the Clyde, Glenfield, Burnside, Admiral Street and Paisley District.
Colin Alexander looks at the interwar period, a high-water mark in industrial design as the benefits of streamlining were realised.
Beautiful postcards capturing old Blackpool in all its glory.