LOST TRAMWAYS OF BRITAIN 2018/19 ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND

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1 ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Dundee, Llandudno, Merthyr, Mumbles, Newport, Nottingham, Southampton, Wrexham BOOKS FOR 2018/19

2 ENGLAND WALES SCOTLAND Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Dundee, Llandudno, Merthyr, Mumbles, Newport, Nottingham, Southampton, Wrexham BOOKS FOR 2018/19 Lost Tramways of Wales, England and Scotland books are on sale at bookshops, heritage attractions, tourism centres and online. Check publication dates here or online. LOST LINES Lost Lines of Wales and England books are on sale at bookshops, heritage attractions, tourism centres and online. Check publication dates here or online. Front cover image: Castle Street, Swansea, No 68 and No 6 route 1 to Morriston. Published by Graffeg Limited Tel: all photographs copyright J. Joyce Collection/ Online Transport Archive: front. 15 Barry Cross Collection/Online Transport Archive: inside top left. Ian L. Wright/Online Transport Archive: inside top middle. Phil Tatt/Online Transport Archive: inside left bottom, inside middle bottom & back. INTRODUCTION Although there had been street tramways in Britain from the early 1860s in places like Birkenhead and London, it was not until the 1870 Tramways Act that a legislative framework was established for their construction and operation. This empowered local authorities to grant licences to companies to operate tramways for a 21-year period. Initially, it was expected that private companies would always operate the tramways built; however, in 1883, Huddersfield Corporation in the West Riding of Yorkshire, having constructed a new steam tramway to serve the town, was unable to find a licensee and so became the first municipal operator of trams within the British Isles. The 1870 Act imposed a number of restrictions upon the tramway builder and operator, which undoubtedly represented one factor in the demise of the tramcar from the 1920s onwards. One of these clauses required the builder and operator of the tramway to maintain the public highway to a distance of 18 inches outside each Edinburgh, 227 route 14 running line; this effectively made the tramway owner responsible for the upkeep of the road surface where trams operated. The second weakness within the 1870 Act was the scrap iron clause, permitting the licensor to take over the assets (such as the trams) owned by the licensee at asset value, rather than reflecting the value of the business. As a result, tramway licensees became increasingly unwilling to invest in their business as the licence period came towards its end. The Act permitted the termination of the licence after 21 years and every 7 years thereafter. For company-owned operations this meant that the threat of municipalisation was ever present and was sufficient to ensure that modernisation might never take place.

3 ABOUT THE SERIES BY PETER WALLER Each volume in the Lost Tramways series provides an overview of the system from its origins through to its final closure whilst the illustrations offer the reader a portrait, through photographs, of the trams and the routes they served. SWANSEA AND MUMBLES 6in gauge electric tramway in mainland Britain. The Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway was a popular attraction for some 50 years until its final demise in Home now to the world s oldest surviving electric railway Volk s Electric Railway which operates along the seashore, Brighton also possessed an urban tramway system that operated through until 1939 when it was replaced by trolleybuses. Another fascinating line was the Brighton & Rottingdean which ran through the sea and required its drivers to be registered sea captains. ABERDEEN The Granite City now the home of Britain s oil and gas industry was once host to one of the tramway systems that seemed destined to have a long career after World War 2. The acquisition of new trams suggested a long-term future but even here the tide turned against the tram and the system closed in prevented the operation of modern trams and, by its closure in 1956, all of the trams were at least 25 years old with some stretching back to the system s opening. Cardiff, 1949, No 4 inbound from Whitchurch Road. OF BRITAIN CALENDAR 2019 NEW BOOK SERIES OUT NOW Lost Tramways of Wales: Cardiff ISBN Swansea was to play host to two electric tramways: the town system and the much-mourned Swansea & Mumbles. The latter the last electric tramway to close in Wales was the successor to the first passenger railway in the world and closed in NORTH WALES Home to Wales s only surviving tramway the line from Llandudno up to the summit of Great Orme this region possessed that last 3ft North Wales, No 13 on Rhos-on-Sea Promenade towards Colwyn Bay. COVENTRY One of a handful of systems that were to cease operation as a result of enemy action during 1940, Coventry s surviving trams were destined to become victims of the disastrous blitz of November 1940 that wrought so much damage to the city. Aberdeen, No 1 Bridge of Don DUNDEE The small system in Dundee with its fleet of some 50 trams was perhaps the last traditional tramway to close in Britain. Although it had tried to modernise, its narrow streets Once an everyday sight on the streets of Britain s towns and cities, this wall calendar offers a glimpse into a by-gone era of tram travel and the fascinating social history of the communities they served. Features 12 monochrome photographs of the trams across Britain s city centres. 200 x 200mm, 24pp Price 6.99 ISBN Lost Tramways of Wales: Swansea and Mumbles ISBN

4 Lost Tramways of Wales: North Wales ISBN Lost Tramways of Wales: South Wales and Valleys ISBN Lost Tramways of England: Nottingham ISBN Lost Tramways of England: Coventry ISBN Lost Tramways of England: Bristol ISBN Lost Tramways of England: Southampton ISBN

5 Lost Tramways of England: Bradford ISBN Lost Tramways of England: Brighton ISBN Lost Tramways of England: North Birmingham ISBN Lost Tramways of England: South Birmingham ISBN Lost Tramways of Scotland: Aberdeen ISBN BOOKS FOR PUBLICATION 2018/19 Lost Tramways of Scotland: Dundee ISBN