National Tramway Museum

Coordinates: 53°05′21″N 1°29′11″W / 53.08930°N 1.48632°W / 53.08930; -1.48632
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National Tramway Museum
Crich Tramway Village
The museum features working trams in a traditional street setting. This 1931 Leeds tram is about to pass under the historic Bowes-Lyon Bridge.
Map
Established1963 (1963)
LocationCrich, Derbyshire, UK
Coordinates53°05′21″N 1°29′11″W / 53.08930°N 1.48632°W / 53.08930; -1.48632
TypeTransport museum
OwnerTramway Museum Society
Websitetramway.co.uk
A line up of trams at Town End terminus at National Tramway Museum, Crich, Derbyshire

The National Tramway Museum (trading as Crich Tramway Village) is a tram museum located at Crich (listen), Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 80 (mainly British) trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period village containing a working pub, cafe, old-style sweetshop and tram depots. The museum's collection of trams runs through the village-setting with visitors transported out into the local countryside and back and is operated by the Tramway Museum Society, a registered charity.[1][2][3][4]

The Crich Tramway Village remains an independent charity, which receives no funding from the state or local government and relies on the voluntary contribution made by members of the Tramway Museum Society and its visitors.[5]

History of the museum[edit]

A 1925 Leeds tram at Victoria Park, at the entrance to the Village

History of the site[edit]

A 1936 Liverpool streamlined tram outside the reconstructed Derby Assembly Rooms at Crich Town End

George Stephenson, the great railway pioneer, had a close connection with Crich and the present (2008) tramway follows part of the mineral railway he built to link the quarry with Ambergate.[6][7]

While building the North Midland Railway from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds, Stephenson had found rich coal seams in the Clay Cross area and he saw a new business opportunity. Crich was already well known for the quality of the limestone and Stephenson recognised that he could use the local coal and limestone to produce burnt lime for agricultural purposes, and then utilise the new railway to distribute it. Cliff Quarry, where the museum is now located, was acquired by Stephenson's company and to link the quarry with limekilns he had built at Ambergate, Stephenson constructed a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) gauge line - apparently the first metre gauge railway in the world. Stephenson lived the last 10 years of his life in Chesterfield, often bringing visitors to Crich to see the mineral railway. He died in 1848 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield.[6][8]

Tramway Museum Society[edit]

In the period after the Second World War, when most of the remaining British tramways were in decline or actually closing, the first event in the history of the National Tramway Museum took place. A group of enthusiasts on a farewell tour of Southampton Tramways in August 1948 decided to purchase one of the open top trams on which they had ridden. For the sum of £10 they purchased number 45 – now included in collection at the museum. From this purchase grew the idea of a working museum devoted to operating tramcars. From the original group developed the Tramway Museum Society, established in 1955, incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1962, and recognised as an educational charity in 1963.[9]

Acquisition of the site[edit]

After a sustained search across the country, in 1959 the society's attention was drawn to the then derelict limestone quarry at Crich in Derbyshire, from which members of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society were recovering track from Stephenson's mineral railway for their pioneering preservation project in Wales. After a tour of the quarry, members of the society agreed to lease – and later purchase – part of the site and buildings. Over the years, by the efforts of the society members, a representative collection of tramcars was brought together and restored, tramway equipment was acquired, a working tramway was constructed and depots and workshops were built. Recognising that tramcars did not operate in limestone quarries, the society agreed in 1967 to create around the tramway the kind of streetscape through which the trams had run and thus the concept of the Crich Tramway Village was born. Members then turned their attention to collecting items of street furniture and even complete buildings, which were then adapted to house the Museum's collections of books, photographs and archives.[9]

Timeline[edit]

  • 1963 - First horse tram service[9][10]
  • 1964 - First electric tram service[9]
  • 1968 - The line was extended to Wakebridge, and the first Grand Transport Extravaganza held, in what was to become an annual event[7][11]
  • 1969 - Opening of purpose built workshops[9]
  • 1975 - The Duke of Gloucester become Patron of the Society[9]
  • 1978 - Opening of scenic tramway to Glory Mine[7]
  • 1982 - First phase of museum library opened[9]
  • 1985 - Museum loans trams to Blackpool for Electric Tram Centenary[9]
  • 1988 - Museum loans trams for Glasgow Garden Festival[9][12]
  • 1990 - Museum loans trams for Gateshead Garden Festival[13]
  • 1991 - Exhibition Hall inaugurated[9]
  • 1997 - First AccessTram for visitors with disabilities[9]
  • 2002 - Opening of Workshop Viewing Gallery[citation needed]
  • 2003 - Library Reading Room and Archives Store opened by the Duke of Gloucester[citation needed]
  • 2004 - Woodland Walk and Sculpture Trail inaugurated by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire[9]
  • 2010 - Opening of new "Century of Trams" exhibition in main Exhibition Hall[9]
  • 2011 - Opening of refurbished George Stephenson Workshop, which now contains an education suite on the ground floor and a brand new exhibition on the upper floor which connects over a bridge to the Workshop Gallery[9]
  • 2014 - Passengers able to alight at Glory Mine for the first time[9]

The museum's tramcar fleet[edit]

Southampton 45 was the first acquisition for the museum
Sheffield 15 was the first tram to operate at the museum

The museum has over some 80 tramcars in its collection. The majority of these are electric double-decker trams built between 1900 and 1930 for use in a large selection of British towns and cities, but the collection also includes earlier horse and steam hauled trams, more modern trams, and trams built for a number of cities across the world.[1][14]

Many of the cars are in operable condition, and are used on the museum's running line, whilst others are restored in static condition and are displayed in the museum's display hall or elsewhere on the site. A few are stored in unrestored condition, some of these being at the museum's off-site store at Clay Cross.

Amongst this fleet are:

  • Southampton 45, built in 1903, was the very first tramcar to be preserved by the Tramway Museum Society, purchased for just £10 in 1949, after the closing ceremony of the Southampton Corporation.[15][16]
  • Sheffield 15, a horse-drawn tram dating from 1874, was the first tram to operate at the museum, before the electric overhead was erected, and still operates on a few 'horse tram' days a year.[17]
  • Blackpool 4, the oldest electric tram in the collection, built in 1885 for the opening of Britain’s first electric street tramway. Stored, and then preserved, by Blackpool tramways, it has been in the care of the museum since 1973.[18]
  • Chesterfield 7, an early electric tram built in 1904, survived a depot fire which destroyed many other trams and was also used as a house after withdrawal. The museum found the tram and restored it.[19]
  • Sheffield 510, which entered service in 1950 and was withdrawn, still almost brand-new, when the city's tram system closed in 1960. Car 510 was specially decorated for the occasion as Sheffield's last tram, and still retains this decoration.[19]
  • Leeds 602, an experimental tramcar built in 1952 that incorporated technology that could have been, but never was, used in a new generation of British tramcars.[20]
  • Prague 180, built in 1908, was gifted to the museum during the Prague Spring and transported to Crich days before the subsequent Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. It became a symbol of the plight of the country.[19]

The museum's tramway[edit]

Crich Tramway Village Running Line
1.37
End of Laid Track
1.34
End of Running Line
1.33
public footpath crossing
1.32
Glory Mine Stub
1.29
Glory Mine Terminus
1.28
End of Single Line Working
Token Pole
Single Line Working
Token Pole
0.89
Start of Single Line Working
0.85
Wakebridge
0.82
End of Single Line Working
Token Pole
0.65
Cabin Crossing
Token Pole
0.52
Start of Single Line Working
0.37
Victoria Park
0.32
Level Crossing to Bandstand
0.30
0.28
Bowes-Lyon Bridge
horse-tram track
0.27
interlaced section
0.24
Depot Yard Stub
0.20
Depot Yard Entrance
0.13
Depot Yard
0.06
Stephenson Place
(finish)
0.03
0.00
Crich Town End Terminus
(start)

Approximate distance in kilometres from Town End.

Running line[edit]

The running line of the tramway is approximately 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) long. The line starts from a stub terminus at Town End where outbound trams board passengers, having first disembarked inbound passengers at Stephenson Place. From Town End, about the first 500 metres (1,600 ft) of line is double track, laid in a setted street, flanked by the buildings of the recreated period village, and including the inbound-only Stephenson Place tram stop. The street scene is closed off by the Bowes-Lyon Bridge, which the line crosses under on interlaced track. Just before the bridge, a junction gives access to the depot and yard.[7]

On the far side of the bridge the line returns to double track and calls at the Victoria Park tram stop, which serves both the recreated Victorian-era public park of the same name, and the main entrance to the site from the car park. The double track continues for another 240 metres (790 ft) before converging into single track that continues as far as the Wakebridge tram stop and passing loop, which is located some 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Town End.[7]

Beyond the passing loop, the track returns to single track as far as the Glory Mine tram stop and terminus, where there is a further passing loop and a headshunt, together with a siding.[7]

Methods of current collection[edit]

The museum's overhead wire system has been built so that trams with any type of current collection can be used. The museum currently houses trams with trolley poles, bow collectors and pantographs. The current is supplied at 600 volts DC.[7][21][22]

Other forms of current collection are displayed, but not used:

  • Conductors set in steel troughs under the roadway, as used in Blackpool, and represented in Crich with Number 4.[citation needed]
  • The stud contact system, as demonstrated with a dummy stud between the rails in the yard. This is the only known example of this form remaining, and is from Wolverhampton.[citation needed]

Passenger services[edit]

The tramway is generally operated whenever the museum is open. Depending on the time of year and level of demand, a two or three car service is normally provided. If a two car service is operated, trams pass on the double-track section in the street. If three trams are in service, trams pass both in the loop at Wakebridge and in the street.[7]

On special occasions, up to 18 tramcars can be operated, with trams operating in convoys of two or three through the single track sections. The convoys pass each other on the in the street, at Wakebridge, and at Glory Mine terminus.[7]

The tramway has a 1969 tram from Berlin, which has been converted to allows visitors with disabilities to travel the line, with the provision of a wheelchair lift and wider doors.

Access to the museum[edit]

The museum is open from early March to early November on every day of the week except Fridays, and also on Fridays during bank and school holidays. The museum opens at 10:00 and closes at 16:30 on weekdays or 17:30 on weekends and bank holidays.[23]

The museum is some 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Derby, 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Sheffield, 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-east of Manchester, and 200 kilometres (120 mi) north-west of London. There is a large on-site car park.[23]

The nearest railway station is Whatstandwell, on the Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock, from which there is a steep uphill walk of about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the museum. The museum is also directly served by roughly hourly bus services from Matlock and Alfreton, and less frequent services from Belper and Ripley. There is no bus service on Sundays.[23]

In the media[edit]

The museum features in the opening of the 1969 film Women in Love, and as one of the locations in the 2012 film Sightseers.[24][25]

The museum, under its old name of Crich Tramway Museum, also features in the lyrics of the John Shuttleworth song "Dandelion and Burdock".[26]

See also[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Tramcar Collection". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Village Scene". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Ride the Trams". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  4. ^ "The Tramway Museum Society". Charity Commission. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Make a Donation". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Crich Heritage Report". Amber Valley Borough Council. pp. 24–25. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hollis, EJ (14 March 2006). "A survey of UK tram and light railway systems relating to the wheel/rail interface". Health & Safety Laboratory. pp. 147–161. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  8. ^ "George Stephenson". Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Our Story". The Tramway Museum Society. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Derbyshire tram museum at Crich celebrates 50 years". BBC News. 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  11. ^ Brooks, Donald (August 2019). "Quarry Railway with a Difference". Narrow Gauge World. Warners Group Publications Plc. pp. 23–25.
  12. ^ Prior, Gareth (17 October 2019). "Picture in Time: Glasgow 22". Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  13. ^ Prior, Gareth (17 June 2022). "Picture in Time: Gateshead Garden Festival – Sunderland 100". Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Crich Tramway Village". British Trams Online. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Official Fleetlist". Archived from the original on 1 April 2009.
  16. ^ "Southampton 45 Profile". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Sheffield Corporation Tramways No. 15". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Blackpool Electric Tramway Company Ltd. No. 4". Crich Tramway Village. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Crich Tramway Village Guidebook, 2003-2008 Edition. National Tramway Museum. 2003–2008.
  20. ^ "British Trams Online 602 Profile". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012.
  21. ^ "Methods of Current Collection". Archived from the original on 29 April 2007.
  22. ^ David Tudor. The tram driver. p. 10.
  23. ^ a b c "How To Find Us". Crich Tramway Village. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Women in Love". The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Sightseers". British Railway Movie Database. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  26. ^ "John Shuttleworth - Dandelion & Burdock Lyrics". SongLyrics. Retrieved 23 February 2024.

External links[edit]