Sheffield Trams in 1960 The last days.

[Music] [Music] scholars from the rollinson technical school three-quarters of a mile away aboard their triumph meadowhead terminus [Music] no danger in boarding a moving tram [Music] proceeding down meadow head toward abilene [Music] near copner road a new atlantean bus comes into view this type of bus now operates on the water the bridge wood seat route traveling down chesterfield road towards miss brook park road and soon we reach healey railway bridge where the trolley of the tram is pressed down to roof level [Music] emerging from under the bridge we run along healy bottom [Music] passengers board at the shelter opposite low field school as we approach highfields library a tram enters aberdale road on its journey from city to mill houses the next and last route to be changed over to bus [Music] operation the traffic island at mary's gate through which only tram cars being track bound are perforced to ignore the keep left signs [Music] in high street we note considerable structural alterations at chapel walk on our right [Music] here's a fine view of telegraph buildings known as kempley house until the recent change of newspaper ownership [Music] one of the few remaining places in the city center where intending passengers form a queue in the roadway to board a tram car [Music] just ahead of us work proceed on a new suite of offices and the shops on the final stages of the markets building erected on the site of the blitzed cooperative stores the wicker archers a fine stone built bridge little admired by local inhabitants nevertheless a fine construction with an enormous span one of the disadvantages of tramwell operation a passenger shelter in the middle of the highway [Music] elsmere road with all saints church in the distance built by sir john brown of the famous perth brown steel works [Music] burnley road [Music] the old pittsmore toolbar [Music] bonsley road a busy arterial road approaching for rail and now we're approaching page hall road one of the city's early tram terminal from the east end [Music] approaching firth park to water on the large suburban shopping centers another traffic island through which tram cars must pass [Music] and now we come to the end of the line where we see an enthusiastic photographer photographing one of the last trams on the route destinations changed and so we return to wood seats [Music] came to bright side two photographs were taken showing number 15 as the past and a new sheffield built electric car as the present these are the only illustrations known of the car during the first 27 years of its life soon after it started its second career as a breakdown car number 166 taking its special place among the busy traffic of those days not long before the second world war it was again renumbered becoming 375. here it is outside queens road works suitably arrayed for war service in 1946 it had a week of glory during the sheffield transport jubilee celebrations as horse car number one drawn by horses loaned by a local brewery company carrying passengers shilling a time between moorhead and leopold street then for some years it went into obscurity in tinsel tram depot it was robbed of its electrical car truck which was given to the british transport commission museum in 1959 the body of rule number 15 was given to the tramways museum society at croatian derbyshire and one october saturday it was loaded onto a laureate chinese depot for the journey to its new home there were mixed feelings at tinsler that morning as photographers took control of the scene h malian was the last manager for the sheffield tramways company the museum society's representative signs their base note accepting the car from the corporation before it leaves tinsley depot for the museum in derbyshire in 1961 it returned to sheffield for the christmas illuminations there it is waiting to return to queens road to prepare for the event now after nearly 90 years the car is still ready for service a way back in 1874 her victorian builders built well and old number 15 has outlived them all 1898 now in 1961 it is being repainted in these colors and the prussian blue of 1901 and the later standard shekel colors are being rubbed off the original red paint was a lovely bright color it's a pleasure to be using it though it's been difficult to mix the color accurately now that transfers are usual it is strange to be writing the letters by hand but this is how they were done 60 years ago one coat of varnish has to suffice these days compared with two or three coats when number 15 was originally painted as all the old details are rewritten we feel sure our ancestors would view with great pride this delight for little tram which is being preserved to remind us of passenger transport in those bygone days thanks to the craftsman of our day the intricacies involved with the coat of arms and other pieces of equipment have been faithfully reproduced weighing 2900 weights complete it presented no difficulty for six men to produce one horsepower though the points were awkward no general manager in the victorian era ever dreamed of losing his penny in the box in full view of a television camera mr humpage pays the penalty for his appearance on tv by losing the penny this is not the type of horse that used to pull number 15 if a horse can look surprised this one did when he discovered it was harnessed to a tram car however it soon got used to the idea 60 years ago the horse did not need leading but our horse is only a few hours to practice before the great day when he will be pulling the car full of passengers up and down sheffield more the city engineers men prepare to load the valuable cargo onto a trailer care being taken to see that no part of the cradle damages the new varnish or the car early on a cold december morning the car was moved to the mall it was over a year since track had been used and it needed cleaning out the transport department chairman alderman s dyson the lord mayor and lady maris the general manager and their guests were taken for a ride from which they returned safely after a few miles of photographic film had been expended old number 15 then took her place on a standing high street where she remained among sheffield's first christmas illuminations during an inclement christmas period before returning once again to crouch in spring sunshine the entrance to crouch is not very convenient for long loads but number 15 did not hold up the local bus service like one trump did when it reached the museum some time ago a new entrance is planned for the museum and soon the wall will not need rebuilding after each new arrival is received the little tram has its own shed near the entrance and the trailer was soon in the right position for rolling it onto the rails the rear wheels are rolled away from the trailer and the platform is lowered so the car can be moved to terra firma although the front wheels of the car engage with the rails at once the angle of approach was poor and strong arm methods were needed before the car was resting safely with all four wheels on its own track the society horse was out to grass not even the standard eight men the french railway equivalent of one horse were needed to push old number 15 into her final resting place after its return to crouch the car had a period when it was once again used for carrying visitors along the length of track then available but in the old days tram horses were trained by men skilled in their craft and we seem to have lost the secret now that the line is extended and the overhead equipment is used the tram is once more out to grass a valued exhibit not to be risked too often in the hurley burley of holiday passenger service there are a number of old sheffield electric cars at crouch some of these being in regular use during the summer weekends cars of all colors and types can be seen at crouch number 49 came from blackpool where it first ran in 1904 number 510 sheffield's last car is a baby among the exhibits it was built in 1950 the illustrations on the sides show sheffield trams from 1873. number 46 started life as a walking single decker with five side windows but it was cut in two and made into a snow plow and finally done up for the last chamfer session in 1960 in 1967 after number 46 had been repainted it was decided to have a little ceremony to record the completion of the work the lord and lady marissa sheffield kindly consented to be present and were greeted on arrival by mr hampage president of the tramway museum society and incidentally sheffield's transport manager the official party then travelled in number 46 along the museum tramway lane number 46 had been specially decorated for the occasion sheffield tram number 189 was built in the body shop at queen's road during 1934 to design first introduced in 1927. the car was one of the first to be given to the tramway museum society here we see shepherd's lord mayor driving number 46 at the end of the trip when the journey was completed the lady maris alderman mrs graham was presented with okay by sheamus the small son of a society member who received a kiss by way of acknowledgement the chairman of crouch parish council mrs flinders was also present to say a few friendly words before the president closed the formal part of a very happy occasion [Music] uh so [Music] so [Music] well here we are at beechev it's the last time by trump for bill and me bill's my mate he's been conducting 31 years and i've been driving 35 so we've both been up and down these tracks a few times we won't be changing these again these are some of the places where trams used to run there aren't many towns left now where you have to do this at the end of the route of course it's easy to turn a tram around just alter the seats and the trolley and there you are we've often wondered how we'd feel when the time came for us to finish our last tram duty i'd seen the notice about the changeover in the shelter previously so i showed it to bill it's brief but to the point well last trip or not must keep the time [Music] off we go [Music] carefully does it through the reverser two notches of power the handbrake on keeps it nice and steady it's a pity we didn't have more truck like this this private truck is where the trump belongs mind you i was traveling up to bishop one night and met a motor car coming towards me down the track the driver got mixed up at bc terminus and left the road i don't know who was more scared him and me when we met on a bend [Music] not many passengers at mill houses today i've been on duty during the summer when it seemed that all sheffield were here some watching the kids having fun in the park and others watching the cricket match milhouse's park must be one of the most popular in sheffield [Music] [Music] off again we're not on reserve track now so must watch both sides of the tram springfield road this used to be the old milhouse's terminus before sheffield spread out of it in fact trump went out to here as early as 1902 but it was extended to the wagon horses in 1926 and then up to beach if in 1927 this is bannerdale road quiet just now but you should see when the schools turn out the trumps are going out with a splash aren't they just look at that it looks nice they're all lit up at night hold tight sorry track's not as good as it used to be [Music] [Applause] good [Music] here we come to high fields the middle head route used to branch off here down to the right that was the last but one route to be changed over in the abandonment [Music] programme [Music] federal soul road junction you should have seen it a few years ago especially when coming down the moor this banks replaced the old one on the corner of cemetery road and this island wasn't here then of course trams used to run up century road a long time ago look at these old photographs i've got this one's a horse drum another each terminus and this is the pub where they kept extra horses to pull the trams up the hill we go on we go past the new shops on the moor they look really modern don't they [Music] they use all the latest advertising gimmicks look at this one make sure that doesn't it [Music] [Music] [Music] well coming up to the moorhead now there used to be an inquiry office here but it was transferred to pond street bus station a few years ago podden street must be one of the best bus stations in the country [Music] that's the town hall it was opened in 1897 by queen victoria so they've seen a few changes on the right is the only stretch of track left in shekel that has a passing loop the center track was very handy when charms run on the exhale on full wood roofs foggy it's not too busy today but it gets hectic at christmas time with all the extra shoppers about i wonder how a long way traffic system would work here i've heard they've got it in mind when trams go there are a few passengers waiting to get on here i suppose that one of the snakes with trams is having people queuing in the road it's a bit dicey for the people queuing there with cars and buses on one side of them and chumps on the other well they won't have to do it much longer only till the buses take over [Applause] [Applause] this is the new market building as you might expect it's a lot better than the old one mind you it should be shouldn't it [Music] [Applause] [Music] the wiki looks pretty quiet today i remember the air raid on sheffield when it wasn't so peaceful let's hope we don't have that again nice straight piece of track here could open out a bit [Music] we're coming up to norfolk bridge now and soon we get to the busy part of at a [Music] cliff [Music] so here's one of the decorator cars it has different types of chumps painted on its sides one of them is an old steam tram i remember hearing about the fun and games on this hill when the steam tram was first tried out apparently somebody didn't like the idea of progress so to stop the steam tramps climbing the hill they put grease on the track of course that's before my time we've got sun there to help us climb hills or stop quickly whenever the rails are greasy [Music] hey this is at a cliff common it's a busy stretch of road and right in the industrial part of sheffield there's the graveyard i suppose this old girl will soon be in there they don't off make a mess of them when they start this is tinsley depot and the end of the line for us right here we go [Music] the following day i reported for bus driving instruction the driving instructor showed me the various controls in one of the special buses that are used for training it felt strange at first having to steer the bus and operate controls with my feet i stole the engine at first but after a while i got the hang of driving and then it was just a matter of practicing [Music] [Music] [Music] eventually i was passed off and then i was ready to go back on the road bill had already been working on buses but after i passed our team together again well there's still this job to do whether you're on buses or trams these buses are nice to work on and of course i'll see more of the passengers than i used to do before maybe i'll be seeing you on the road so until i do [Music] cheerio this tour embraces some of the higher lands in sheffield and north derbyshire giving exhilarating and bracing views of developing sheffield and the beauties of the adjoining peak district the tour starts from the central bus station in palm street within a few minutes we approach the new norfolk park estate with its varied tar blocks of dwellings dotted here and there pleasing to the eye are they footbridges spanning the main road through the estate these bridges provide safe crossings for pedestrian traffic on leaving their state we soon reach elm tree and turn right along ridgeway road to well-kept recreation ground at gleedlers the landscaping and planning of this estate in the gleedless valley has won the admiration of architects and town planners throughout the world this is the waterworks tower at norton it's 100 feet high continuing through this rural area we arrive at norton church a 12th century building in a beautiful setting nearby is a memorial to francis chantry who was born at norton in 1781 we leave the ring road at norton and for a short distance travel along the main road towards chesterfield and then proceed to low edges a feature of the low edges estate are the delightful gardens the well-kept lawns and the colorful flower beds horse riding is popular at broadway particularly amongst the young folk from tranfield woodhouse we go to homesfield with his church on the hill its prominent landmark for miles around the scenery now changes as we enter the peak national park at ola barre soon after passing the old coaching in at fox house we get a glimpse of an ancient fort carl walk at all soon we approach heather sage and to travel through some of the finest scenery in the peak district a halt is made at hatha sage giving an opportunity for passengers to take refreshment and have a stroll through this interesting village with its numerous footpaths much used by ramblers moreland house a delightful and well-known home for the elderly on leaving hathersage we pass the millstone inn and the charming cottage at the junction of ringing low road store marks the site of an old toolbar demolished in 1884 just before reaching wallow we turn left up what is believed to be a roman road to ringing low set amidst the moors from ringing low we continue along the main road with fine panoramic views of the pleasant suburbs of lodge more full wood and run more more max maxfield school the staff of which you're doing an excellent work for deaf children vince green at high stores we turn left and run through graystones from which we get exciting views of sheffield built on its many hills so we're descending steeply now toward echo saw road and soon we arrive at endless park a favorite spot for young and old and this can be one of the starting points for an attractive parkland walk around the southern part of the city at sandygate we descend to the rivlin valley with glimpses of roscoe bank on the hillside one of the city's latest developments when we arrive at riverland post office we turn into a tree-lined road through the rivlin valley this is the starting point of an interesting nature trail continuing along the valley we soon approach a very popular playground attracting children from a wide area now we re-enter the urban area at malin bridge and soon pass another a local park which the city can be proud leaving hillsborough park we climb to sharklife and then descend through the developing burn grief area with its modern flats and views of the central area and now we've almost completed our journey where we began at the central bus station in palm street so you

Channel: Andrew Cox

Views: 15,796

Keywords: sheffield, sheffield trams, transport, old trams, SYT, 1960'S TRANSPORT

Id: Kw3k1r9eb8c

Length: 54min 16sec (3256 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 14 2018