Bristol's modern-day on-off tram system looks as if it might get back on the rails after all. But it won't ever compete with the system that Bristol once had - and scrapped.
In the years following the Great War, Bristol a pioneer of the electric tram - had the largest fleet of open-topped trains in the world.
That wasn't such a blessing as it might seems -open-topped trains were just that, and passengers and drivers had no protection against rain or extreme temperatures. So why did Bristol carry on using these old fashioned tramcars when other places had public transport with roofs and windows ?
That was due to one of those curious agreements under which the corporation was happy to let Bristol Tramways run the system but kept the option to consider buying the entire undertaking every seven years. With that threat hanging over the company, no wonder it was unwilling to update its cars.
The churches were also strongly opposed to public transport on the grounds that it would encourage workers to seek sinful pleasures, while local shopkeepers were equally unhappy that trains would enable people to shop in the city centre instead of with them.
But the Tramways company forged ahead, and the first horse drawn tram ran from King David's Hotel in Perry Road to St John's church, Redland, on August 9 1875. It attracted the biggest crowds seen in Bristol since the opening of the Suspension Bridge, and 115,000 passengers were carried in the first month.
By the end of the year, the line reached St Augustine's Parade which became known as the Tramway Centre, a name still used by older Bristolians. More lines followed to east Bristol and beyond, and out to Horfield and Brislington. Bristol Tramways experimented with steam hauled trains but they were so smelly and smoky that they were soon withdrawn.
Then, in 1895, Bristol became one of the first cities to adopt electric trains, on the line between Old Market and Kingswood. There were huge celebrations including a mighty free meal for 1,200 -elderly and deserving poor. They were a huge success and on one August Bank Holiday alone, some 30,000 passengers were carried.
By 1908, the network of 31 miles within Bristol and South Gloucestershire was complete.
It was one of the best public transport systems in Britain. It was flexible too - in 1913 the Royal Show was held on The Downs and 225 trains were diverted to take 1 .5 million people to it.
Women were first used as conductors, or 'clippies' as they were nicknamed, during the Great War which led to a sex battle when the men returned. The clippies refused to give up their jobs and new freedom, and in April 1920 there was a near riot on the Centre where a crowd of 2,000 gathered to support 13 unemployed ex-soldiers. Around 30 trains were damaged and the Tramway Company caved in.
The clippies were all sacked, offered £5 to go away and their jobs were given back to the men.
A express tramway was planned down the new Portway to Avonmouth and space was reserved alongside the road. But buses were already taking over from trains and the idea was dropped. Then in 1937, the Corporation finally took up its option to buy the Tramway Company, and paid £1.5 million.
By then trains were being blamed for adding to road congestion, and the new owners pledged to replace all trains with motor buses within two years.
Some were so vandalised they had to be towed home, and most were burned at the Kingswood depot in Hill Street.
The few remaining lines won a reprieve in 1939 when war broke out although there were real feats that they were a magnet for bombers because of the very visible electric sparks given off by the overhead connectors.
The service was severely handicapped by bombing raids that brought down wires and poles, and the Bedminster and Ashton services were halted forever in January 1941 when Bedminster depot was hit.
Then the terrible Good Friday raid of 1941, which set central Bristol on fire, ended 46 years of Bristol trains. A bomb hit Counterslip bridge, St Philips, next to the generating centre, and severed the tram power supply. A final tram from Old Market to Kingswood was given a push by passers-by and freewheeled its way into the depot.
All of Bristol's trains were scrapped and not one has been preserved for future generations.
Apart from the odd fitment still surviving, the main memorial to an unrivalled public transport system is a length of tram track still embedded in St Mary Redcliffe churchyard where it was blown by a bomb...
2006 Bristol's plan for new tram system - From the centre of Bristol the line will be a newly constructed "on street" tramway to a junction with the existing railway near Temple Meads station.
Between Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood (7km) the route will share Railtrack infrastructure using either existing or reinstated double track. It was intended that a new segregated track will carry the tramway to Almondsbury where it will terminate at a park & ride site adjacent to the motorway.
The route length was to be 16.7km with 16 stops. The full journey time was planned to be 30 minutes with a service interval of 6 minutes weekdays & 15 minutes on Sundays. The cost was estimated as being £105m. Current plans have the line truncated to Bristol Parkway station with a diversion via the University of Western England (UWE). The current estimated cost is nearer £200m.
Please feel free to add your own comments to the Guestbook or Forum
Memories of Bristol over the past 100 years including 3000 photographs on-line
This non commercial 'hobby' site, has been evolving and expanding on line since 2001 and is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only.
