0:00:21 > 0:00:24ALAN BENNETT: 'There was a point during the Second World War
0:00:24 > 0:00:28'when my father took up the double bass.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30'To recall the trams of my boyhood is to be reminded
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'particularly of that time.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:39Trams were so evocative of Alan Bennett's childhood,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42that he's recorded his warmth and affection for them
0:00:42 > 0:00:46in a short story called Leeds Trams.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51'We live over the shop, so I sleep and wake to the sound of the trams.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54'The trams getting up speed for the hill before Weetwood Lane,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57'trams spinning down from West Park,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01'trams shunted around in the sheds in the middle of the night.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'The scraping of wheels, the clanging of the bell.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:10For a century, from the 1860s to 1960,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13trams were a familiar feature of Britain's roads.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16They opened up new places to live,
0:01:16 > 0:01:21new possibilities for work and opportunities for leisure.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24And they became synonymous with seaside holidays.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32For many, they were also a wonderful and comforting part of their childhoods.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37They are so typical of the age from which they came.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41When I think about them, I think about good times in my boyhood.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43And I suspect a lot of other people think the same.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Oh, this takes me back to when I was definitely a Diddy Man.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57When I was a Diddy Man, we used to travel everywhere, my brother and sister, my father and mother,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59we used to travel - everybody did - by tram.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05They clank, don't they? Clonk, clonk. Clonk, clonk.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09And it's a lovely noise. And then they go round a corner and scream,
0:02:09 > 0:02:15and you get this business on a point, and everybody sort of goes from one side to the other.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19There's nothing else on the roads like a tram car.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27'It's not just the passage of time that makes me invest the trams of those days with such pleasure.
0:02:27 > 0:02:33'To be on a tram, sailing down Headingley Lane on a fine evening,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36'lifted the heart at the time just as it does in memory.'
0:02:49 > 0:02:55200 years ago, the only form of passenger transport was horsepower.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58But it wasn't a smooth ride.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01In the days of unmade, uneven roads,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04a horse bus was a far from comfortable experience.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09The horse buses often had a problem
0:03:09 > 0:03:13actually going down some of the roads because of the potholes,
0:03:13 > 0:03:14because of the mud.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18You would need sometimes four to six horses to pull a horse bus,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20which didn't actually carry that many people.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24The clue to the way forward
0:03:24 > 0:03:28lay in a system of rails and horsepower, first used to move
0:03:28 > 0:03:31limestone between Swansea and the Mumbles.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34If you were to lay a rail down -
0:03:34 > 0:03:37which was the original idea with tramways,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40that you would lay a hard surface in a soft road -
0:03:40 > 0:03:43you could actually use fewer horses and carry more people.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47This same technology was adapted to carry tourists
0:03:47 > 0:03:49on horse-drawn carriages.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51The system was ingenious,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55and the world's first tramway opened in South Wales in 1807.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01But with Welsh modesty, it went almost unnoticed.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03It took a bold and brash American,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07the appropriately named George Francis Train,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10to get the whole of Britain on the right tracks.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13He's what we might call a transport mogul now -
0:04:13 > 0:04:18he built a railway across America, a shipping line to Australia...
0:04:18 > 0:04:23He's the person that Jules Verne based his character Phileas Fogg on,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Around The World In 80 Days.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Train had witnessed various forms of tramway being tried
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and tested in the US, from the 1830s onwards.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38While working for a shipping company in Liverpool,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41he crossed the Mersey to neighbouring Birkenhead.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46It was here that Train did his bit for Britain.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49He launched the first horse-drawn regular tramway service,
0:04:49 > 0:04:54setting in motion the beginnings of an urban public transport network,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and the birth of the commuter.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01And Train never did anything in a low-key way.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Well, we're on the site of the inaugural picture, in 1860,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10when George Francis Train recorded this event,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and all the people carefully posed, packing the tram.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17One of the persons is pointing outwards up the street there.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21That's George Francis Train himself.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27Next, Train headed for London, where things didn't run so smoothly.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30His early tramways ran on raised rails -
0:05:30 > 0:05:34not a problem in semi-rural Birkenhead, but in the capital,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38chock-a-block with horse-drawn carriages, it was a nightmare.
0:05:38 > 0:05:39He was arrested in 1861,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43after his raised rails caused chaos to other traffic.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48'The enquiry into the summons taken out against Mr Train
0:05:48 > 0:05:50'for breaking and injuring a certain road,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53'called Uxbridge Road, was resumed yesterday...
0:05:53 > 0:05:55'Thomas Clark, a cab proprietor of Mile End,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59'said he drove over the tramway in his own horse and cab,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01'and it caused his horse to fall down.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03'He had a fare going to Hyde Park.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06'When asked, "Where was your horse when it fell?"
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'he replied, "On his backside."'
0:06:10 > 0:06:15The problem was overcome by dropping the rails to the level of the street,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19and by 1870 Train's tram was back in business.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Other towns and cities began following his lead,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and horse-drawn tramways started to be seen
0:06:29 > 0:06:31on high streets and promenades.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38These trams were posh. They were little front parlours on wheels.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42The original horse trams were sumptuous.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Utrecht velvet is on the specification,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and beautiful wood - you can see the tram we're in,
0:06:48 > 0:06:52there's lovely figured oak, and bird's eye maple.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Three and eightpence a foot that cost, by the way.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Early trams had a complex way of turning round
0:06:58 > 0:07:00at the end of the line.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Being long and cumbersome, this clogged up the middle
0:07:03 > 0:07:07of the busy, bustling urban centres.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Dual-ended trams that didn't need to turn around
0:07:12 > 0:07:16eventually solved the problem, and were quickly pressed into service.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23They were lightweight construction,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25so they could travel a bit faster than horse buses.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28And they had a number of interesting features -
0:07:28 > 0:07:31they had bells to alert the driver when to stop,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34they had uniformed staff, strap hanging -
0:07:34 > 0:07:37we can see in the tram that we're in now, some straps -
0:07:37 > 0:07:41efficient braking, and features that we would really call modern,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44to make this modern streetcar.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48# Won't you ride in my little red wagon?
0:07:48 > 0:07:53# I'd love to pull you down the street
0:07:53 > 0:07:57# I'll bet all the kids will be jealous
0:07:57 > 0:08:00# When they see my playmate so sweet... #
0:08:01 > 0:08:04At first, it was only the well-to-do who could afford
0:08:04 > 0:08:06the threepenny fare.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10The open top deck was the place to see from and be seen in,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12as the ladies and gentlemen of Victorian Britain
0:08:12 > 0:08:14looked down on the riff-raff below.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24It would be many years before tram travel would be available to all.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Especially to those who lived and worked
0:08:29 > 0:08:32in the teeming towns and cities of mid 19th-century Britain.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Overcrowding was particularly hard on the poorest, in slums,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41which heaved under the stench of filth and vermin.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Sickness was rife. For them, there was no way out.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50The working poor hardly moved from area to area at all.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51All they could do was walk.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54There was no real capacity for walking or incentive to walk -
0:08:54 > 0:08:57there was nowhere to go except the local public house -
0:08:57 > 0:09:01so people remained very, very set in their own locations.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Pressure would only start to be relieved by the exodus
0:09:07 > 0:09:11of the middle classes, who were first to escape.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14They began moving to new houses on the outskirts of towns.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17To serve THEIR transport needs, a city-wide,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21integrated transport system was needed, and it would take
0:09:21 > 0:09:24a young Bristolian, George White, to help make that happen.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31My great-grandfather, Sir George White, was a self-made man.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35He was the son of a painter and decorator and a lady's maid,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and he was born in Bristol in 1854.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47George White was one of the most influential figures in Britain's tram history.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48He left school at 14,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52joined a local law firm as a lowly office clerk,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and learnt all he could by reading the law library.
0:09:57 > 0:10:03In 1874, his firm took over the reins of the fledgling Bristol Tramway Company,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07and White, still only 20, was made company secretary.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11He teamed up with James Clifton Robinson, who had been
0:10:11 > 0:10:14George Francis Train's office boy back in Birkenhead,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18and who had squeezed onto that first British tram ride
0:10:18 > 0:10:19some 14 years earlier.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25It was really James Clifton Robinson who provided the engineering skills,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and George White who provided the inspiration,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30the direction and the finance.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35And between them, they changed the face of tramways in Great Britain.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40In Bristol, they would show how a tram system could transform
0:10:40 > 0:10:43a city and the lives of its residents.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46It would become a model copied throughout the country.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50One of the things that trams did in the big cities
0:10:50 > 0:10:53was to allow the suburbs to be built.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56It made it possible to join neighbouring villages.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00By running the trams out in the direction of these villages,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02building followed - building of houses in particular.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07And it was in this way that those living in the cramped inner cities
0:11:07 > 0:11:10were able to move out to the suburbs.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Trams played an important part in the physical expansion of towns
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and cities, which finally had room to breathe.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The trams were first introduced to relieve this massive overcrowding
0:11:34 > 0:11:37in the centre of towns and cities.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42But it was the middle and upper classes who took advantage of them,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46because they were the people who could actually afford to buy the houses on the outskirts of town
0:11:46 > 0:11:50and could afford to actually ride backwards and forwards on the tram.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57By the 1880s, trams were becoming increasingly popular,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and new routes were springing up.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Lifelong tram enthusiast Peter Davey
0:12:07 > 0:12:10has his own bijou museum in his up and over garage.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14It's filled with artefacts
0:12:14 > 0:12:16charting Bristol trams over the years,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20and includes route signs for many of the local districts.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24These are the boards that go along on the side of the tram
0:12:24 > 0:12:26so you know what route you're on,
0:12:26 > 0:12:27and the lovely gold hands
0:12:27 > 0:12:29on the end.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33I've got quite a good set here. Dad bought these, a penny each,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35when they were scrapping the trams.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39They've all got two routes - this is Westbury and Tramway Centre,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43and of course on the other side you've got Zetland Road to Old Market.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48So that could be used on any two routes, but a different colour.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54For Alan Bennett, there is a greater significance in the link
0:12:54 > 0:12:57between suburbs and route numbers.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03'The route numbers had a certain mystique -
0:13:03 > 0:13:06'the even numbers slightly superior to the odd,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10'which tended to belong to trams going to Gipton, Harehills or Belle Isle,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14'parts of Leeds where I'd never ventured.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18'And Kirkstall will always be 4 - just as Lawnswood is 1.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29'Odd details about trams come back to me now,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32'like the slatted platforms, brown with dust,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36'that were slung underneath either end like some urban cowcatcher.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41'And how convivial trams were - the seats reversible,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45'so that if you chose you could make up a four whenever you wanted.'
0:13:48 > 0:13:52If we look over here, I've got one of the seats on the top deck.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Top deck seats, they were all open-top decks in Bristol.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Trams do this all day - they don't turn round at the end -
0:13:58 > 0:14:01so when you get to the terminus you've got to change the seat
0:14:01 > 0:14:03so now they're ready to go back the other way.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07But Bristol had a rather clever thing. Imagine this on a wet day.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10You get up the stairs, and you see all this and it's all wet.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Are you going to sit on it? No, but look.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16We have a flap here, and you pick it up,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and there's a dry bit of wood that's coming up,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and you can sit on that quite happily,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23and when you get off, it goes back,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25all by itself.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31As new tram routes emerged,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35the number of horse trams on Britain's streets
0:14:35 > 0:14:37multiplied at a galloping pace.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41And more horse trams meant more horses.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Horses and other animals became almost as common
0:14:44 > 0:14:46on the streets as people.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48And the smell in the cities often resembled a farmyard.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The horse deposits 30 pounds of poo per day.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57It also wees out two gallons of urine.
0:14:57 > 0:15:03In Liverpool they had 400 horse trams, and for every tram,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05they had 14 horses.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08You can just imagine the vast piles of poo, basically,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10that built up in towns and cities.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16And there have been some academic papers written which directly linked
0:15:16 > 0:15:20the horrible conditions and the amount of dung on the road
0:15:20 > 0:15:25to infant mortality in inner cities, and so it was a massive problem.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31It wasn't just a poo problem. Horses were expensive.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34For every three horses pulling a tram,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36another nine had to be fed and stabled,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38as they were used in shifts.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Tram technology needed a more efficient source of power.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Steam was the next choice.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Steam-powered ships and locomotives
0:15:57 > 0:16:00were commonplace in Victorian Britain,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04with over 10,000 miles of rail track running between major cities.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09But when steam-run trams huffed and puffed into the urban centres,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11they caused a lot of hot air.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18People believed that if they're running through the streets,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21they were terrified of the noise, they didn't like the fire,
0:16:21 > 0:16:22they really did blow up,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25they'd frighten horses, and they'd kill people.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30The public didn't like it very much, because they all got on white
0:16:30 > 0:16:33and they all got off black, and it wasn't the best of moments!
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Steam had its uses in Britain.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40But steam trams never took off.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Richard Tangye, who made steam engines, actually said,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50"Thus was the trade in quick-speed locomotives
0:16:50 > 0:16:51"strangled in its cradle,"
0:16:51 > 0:16:53which is a marvellous turn of phrase.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58But a new power was available, electricity.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Electricity was a phenomenon that few people had experience of
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and even less understood.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09At the start of 1881,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13the first electricity generator was installed in Britain.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14Within just four years,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17the first electrically-powered trams would be running.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But, as with horse and steam power before,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27the transition to electric trams wasn't going to be problem-free.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43The introduction of electric power
0:17:43 > 0:17:48coincided with the explosion in another industry - tourism.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53It was time to pack a bucket and spade and head for the seaside.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56And it was in Blackpool that the first electric street tram
0:17:56 > 0:17:59was launched in Britain.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02She proudly paraded along the prom, lauded like a royal visitor.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05But unlike passing dignitaries, she was here to stay.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12The tramway was actually first opened on 29th September 1885,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and we'd always looked at trams a long time before that,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17because Blackpool Council wanted one,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19but they didn't want to do something old-fashioned.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22They looked at horse trams, they looked at steam trams and thought,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24"We don't want anything noisy or smelly,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26"we want something clean and fresh."
0:18:27 > 0:18:30From that point on, trams were as much a part of Blackpool
0:18:30 > 0:18:33as Kiss Me Quick hats and seaside donkeys.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35By the turn of the century,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Blackpool had become Britain's busiest resort,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41attracting more than 2 million holidaymakers a year.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44For thousands of factory workers from the north,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47there was the annual trek to the town.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49They worked hard for 51 weeks a year,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52and for their single week's holiday, their wakes week,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54they wanted to be treated.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57A ride on a tram was far removed from the humdrum of daily life,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and it was a taste of things to come.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04They were beautifully done. The leather seats would be upholstered.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07For working people, it was all part of their holiday,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09their wakes week or their day by the seaside,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14and of course often they'd be decorated. Blackpool, really,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16a lot of the prosperity of Blackpool all seems to me
0:19:16 > 0:19:19to rely on the trams, the trams going
0:19:19 > 0:19:22up and down the prom to look at the illuminations.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Mill workers, and not only mill workers, but many other people
0:19:27 > 0:19:31going to Blackpool who wanted to do all the spectacular things,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33"Noted for fresh air and fun,"
0:19:33 > 0:19:37wear the comic hats and eat the stick of rock.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Being on a tram, they were an ideal vehicle for doing just that.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42But it wasn't all plain sailing.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Blackpool's trams were initially powered
0:19:48 > 0:19:50by an underground conduit system,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54which meant the electricity was run through channels
0:19:54 > 0:19:56under the road surface.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59This quickly became an issue.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Because the line was directly on the seafront road,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06and basically married up with the beach, every time the tide came in
0:20:06 > 0:20:10it flooded, and seawater is a wonderful conductor of electricity,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and it used to blow all the trips in the substation,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14everything would come to a halt,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16and similarly on dry days when the wind blew,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18the sand came off the beach and filled the slot up.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22So we had to hire horses to pull the trams.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Sparks flew as transport engineers researched and experimented
0:20:25 > 0:20:29to find the most workable system of running power to the trams.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32One imaginative solution was found in the Midlands.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36This is a surface contact stud,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and this system was used in Wolverhampton,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and what happened was there was a large magnetic skid under the tram,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46which would be in contact with two of these studs at any one time,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48so you wouldn't get a surge of electricity
0:20:48 > 0:20:49each time you went over a stud.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53And the magnet would draw up the contact inside the stud,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and so the surface of the stud would then become live.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58When the magnet passed away,
0:20:58 > 0:21:03the contact would drop down and then in theory the stud would be dead.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Now, we know that in Lincoln there was a different method
0:21:06 > 0:21:09of surface contact used to this one,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12but in Lincoln we know that horses were killed,
0:21:12 > 0:21:17and we also know that street urchins with bare feet were paid
0:21:17 > 0:21:19in order to put their foot on this
0:21:19 > 0:21:22just to test whether the thing was alive or dead.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Apart from the danger to street urchins,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33this wasn't the long-term answer.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38One after another, transport chiefs all came to the same conclusion.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Overhead cables.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Electricity would be supplied by wires suspended above the road
0:21:46 > 0:21:49through a swinging arm to the motor of the tram car,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51then back via the wheels to the rails
0:21:51 > 0:21:54with no risk of electrical shock to pedestrians.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59At last there was a technology which was safe and reliable.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01But still there were hurdles to overcome.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07On the whole, householders reckoned that it would
0:22:07 > 0:22:09increase the value of their houses,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and shopkeepers certainly felt that it would increase their trade.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16But of course there were those who thought they were ugly, noisy
0:22:16 > 0:22:20and disagreeable, and they certainly didn't want them in their district.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25The public liked the convenience of tram travel,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28but didn't like the disruption that came with it.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Sites had to be cleared, roads dug up.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Every time a new scheme was proposed,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35there were huge debates in pubs and Parliament.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39People wanted them, but not crossing THEIR backyards.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Even if you don't mind the noise and dirt and dust of trams,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47actually laying the lines
0:22:47 > 0:22:50is a very expensive and a very inconvenient business.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Other forms of transport just run on the ordinary road.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Trams have to have roads of their own,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and the simple process of laying those means the town
0:22:58 > 0:23:01is disrupted or streets are disrupted wherever it happens.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04George White and James Clifton Robinson in Bristol
0:23:04 > 0:23:08spearheaded the push to get electrified trams established
0:23:08 > 0:23:10in early 20th-century Britain.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13In order to persuade the locals,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16they published newspapers in every parish and district
0:23:16 > 0:23:18where the trams were going to run.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21They supported pro-tramway councillors,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24they campaigned at elections, and of course to achieve all this
0:23:24 > 0:23:27they also had to straighten streets, widen them,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29rebuild them, strengthen bridges.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33That set off a second sort of tramway bonanza.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42As White and Robinson extended their empire all over Britain,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46new corporations and entrepreneurs also saw transport
0:23:46 > 0:23:50as a way to capitalise on this spirit of inventiveness.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Britain really was a fairly entrepreneurial society.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01This was the time of people investing in the new Britain,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05making money by developing things that a growing population
0:24:05 > 0:24:10with slightly higher wages and urban living patterns wanted and needed.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16There were electric trams coming in, the motor cars coming in,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19people sometimes saw an aeroplane flying in the sky.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21This is the technological beginnings of new Britain.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27More and more people took to trams,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31and they started to become the recognised system of mass transit.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34In just four years from 1900,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39102 tramway systems were introduced in towns and cities around Britain.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45The opening day was regarded as a day en fete.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48In London, the Prince of Wales presided over
0:24:48 > 0:24:52an extension of the tram system by standing with his hand on the lever.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55It was said in the newspapers he didn't drive the tram -
0:24:55 > 0:24:57he wouldn't have condescended to drive it -
0:24:57 > 0:25:01but he stood there with his hand on the lever while he was photographed.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05The tram company produced penny tickets,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09which were called the Prince of Wales tickets, for the inaugural day,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11with the Prince of Wales' feathers on the ticket.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Trams became fashionable.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Trams became things which were desired
0:25:15 > 0:25:18by all the citizens throughout Britain.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24The British loved their new trams,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27not least because they provided ideal vantage points
0:25:27 > 0:25:29for any public event.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38This is a very typical British tram of the era.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41You can see on the backs of the steps, they have this pattern.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45There's absolutely no need for that sort of thing,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49it was just the pride in the vehicle and the corporate and civic pride,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52because it must have taken quite a lot of time
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and quite a lot of money to actually decorate the vehicle in this way.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And you find that all over the vehicle as well.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01There's a coat of arms etched into the glass of the door,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05there's the gold leaf painted along the side panels
0:26:05 > 0:26:08and the coat of arms on the side of the tram.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10A lot of, basically,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15unnecessary embellishment just for the sheer joy and civic pride of it.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21For the working man, something major had changed - the price.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23As fares were slashed,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25trams became the transport of the working classes.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30The penny ticket on the horse-run tram became a penny for travelling
0:26:30 > 0:26:34two or three miles longer than had been the case when it was the horse.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36And because these journeys were cheaper,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38the journey became more frequent.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40In Manchester, in the days of the horse-drawn tram,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44the average working man made about 50 journeys a year.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Once electric trams came in, half the cost,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49he made 150 journeys a year.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51It just made it possible because it was cheap.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Tram cars started to be held dear to the hearts of those
0:26:56 > 0:26:57who relied on them every day.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04In 1905, musical star of the day George Lashwood
0:27:04 > 0:27:06even sang about them.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09# Then we'd go, go
0:27:09 > 0:27:15# Go for a ride on the car, car, car
0:27:15 > 0:27:24# For we know how cosy the top of the tram cars are
0:27:24 > 0:27:28# And the steam car's so small and there's not much to pay
0:27:28 > 0:27:33# You sit close together and fool all the way
0:27:33 > 0:27:37# Maybe a Miss will be Mrs some day
0:27:37 > 0:27:40# Through riding on top of the car! #
0:27:41 > 0:27:44On a sunny day, there was no better place to be
0:27:44 > 0:27:47than riding on the top deck of a tram car.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52In the wind and rain it wasn't so much fun,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55but at least the passengers could huddle inside.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57There was no such comfort for the driver, however.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The poor old driver would stand here in all weathers,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04and there's no protection at all from the weather.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07He'd very often have big leather gauntlets
0:28:07 > 0:28:09so that he possibly wouldn't get frostbite.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12And he'd have a big overcoat.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16But it was a pretty grim way of earning a living.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20If you can imagine, you're stood up all day throughout the winter,
0:28:20 > 0:28:26come rain, snow, and just standing driving here for hour after hour.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Other more user-friendly models managed to give the driver
0:28:31 > 0:28:33at least a little shelter.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39But space was at a premium, as tram companies wanted to make money,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41and that meant getting bottoms on seats.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Various designs of stairways were tried,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49to leave as much space as possible for seating,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51though the best solution created problems of its own.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57The staircase spirals down this way
0:28:57 > 0:29:01and takes up less space than the one which would spiral the other way.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04But the big disadvantage with this is that you can't see,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07if you're a driver, over this shoulder.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11So a pierced step was put in so that you could see through and ensure
0:29:11 > 0:29:16that nothing was coming past the vehicle on the left-hand side.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20Now, that's fine, but a tram is the same at both ends
0:29:20 > 0:29:23and doesn't turn around, so the conductor,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26on the return journey, would have to stand on this platform.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28The pierced step would then mean
0:29:28 > 0:29:30he could catch a glimpse of a lady's ankle.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32So...
0:29:32 > 0:29:38there's this to protect the modesty of the ladies - the decency flap.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41If the conductor didn't have that down
0:29:41 > 0:29:43when a lady was going up the stairs,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47he could probably be dismissed if the inspector saw him.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Yet times were changing,
0:29:54 > 0:29:58and attitudes were about to be challenged.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05During the First World War, five million men were conscripted
0:30:05 > 0:30:07or volunteered to fight in the trenches.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12And almost overnight, the role of women changed.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17Women were needed everywhere to keep Britain running,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20including on the trams.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26The female tram conductor, or conductress,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29a clippie, as she was called in London, was regarded
0:30:29 > 0:30:34with some doubt and disquiet at the beginning of the First World War.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39It was thought rather inappropriate that ladies,
0:30:39 > 0:30:40or women who aspired to be ladies,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43should climb the stairs, should shout out
0:30:43 > 0:30:46"Any more fares, please? No more room inside. Pass right down the car."
0:30:46 > 0:30:49This wasn't the sort of thing the female sex should do.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52At the start of the First World War,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55there were something like 18,000 women
0:30:55 > 0:30:58employed in various forms of transport across the country.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02By the end of the First World War, it was something like 117,000.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04So it had increased hugely.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13When the war ended, men came back from the trenches
0:31:13 > 0:31:16and wanted to return to their jobs.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19They wanted their jobs back on the trams.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22But of course, the girls were rather fond of their freedom
0:31:22 > 0:31:24once they'd started to work,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and there were one or two nasty moments, evidently.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Feelings ran so high that in a number of cities
0:31:30 > 0:31:36such as Bristol and Manchester, hostilities escalated into riots.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41The men said, "They're pushing us out. We have families to keep.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44"They should be at home looking after the children while we earn the money.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46"And they undercut us."
0:31:49 > 0:31:52It was an argument that spread not just in transport,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54but in many industries,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57and continued throughout the slow demob process.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00There was a very concerted government campaign,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04largely to do with the morale of men and also for economic reasons,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07to get women out of the workplace. And sometimes,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11even for jobs that hadn't existed before the First World War,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13women were dismissed from them.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20For the tram passenger, at least, there was some constancy.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25From 1918 for the next 20 years,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28trams continued to be the transport of the people.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39They began to have a more uniform look.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43The open balcony backs and fronts were now enclosed
0:32:43 > 0:32:47so people could be packed on board, whatever the weather.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52They were solid, reliable and dependable in a changing world,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56which included a depression and another war on the horizon.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59The face of Britain was being modernised
0:32:59 > 0:33:01and the tram was witness to it all.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12The continuity provided by trams during this period helped
0:33:12 > 0:33:15cement them into the hearts of many.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Trams were part of the photograph album of numerous childhoods.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Comedian Ken Dodd was born in the 1920s,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and trams were a part of his everyday life.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41Oh, this takes me back to when I was definitely a Diddy Man.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44When I was a Diddy Man, we used to travel everywhere,
0:33:44 > 0:33:48my brother, sister, father and mother - everybody went by tram.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52He's been tickling audiences for more than 60 years.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Tonight, ladies and gentlemen,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I feel absolutely tattyfleurious and full of plumptiousness.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00It makes me absolutely discomnicorated
0:34:00 > 0:34:04to see that so many of you have turned up for the free soup.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08"Move along the car, please. Right down the car, please. Thank you."
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Not surprisingly, he sees the funny side of trams.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13A little old lady said to the driver,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17"Will I get a shock if I put my leg on the tram line?"
0:34:17 > 0:34:22He said "You will if you put your other leg on the overhead wires."
0:34:23 > 0:34:25As a child in the 1930s,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Ken would travel with his family from his home in Knotty Ash
0:34:28 > 0:34:32to see friends and relations in various districts of Liverpool.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36This particular tram, the number 40,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40has a very special place in my heart, because when we were kids,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45we travelled to the Pier Head or into the city on the 10B or the 10C.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49But one day, they said, "We're going to put a tram track
0:34:49 > 0:34:53"and run trams past your house in Knotty Ash." Whoopee!
0:34:53 > 0:34:56And they did, the number 40. It was like when they went to the moon.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59It opened up a new universe for us,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01because from Knotty Ash,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03you could go to foreign parts like Garston, Bootle.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08We could even come to Birkenhead, yes.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11It was very reasonable. Adults paid tuppence or threepence.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13But when you were a small boy,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16you could get away with a scholar's. A scholar's was a penny.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20So needless to say, we were scholars until quite a ripe old age.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24For Ken and other comedians,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27tram travel was always a source for their material.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31At the back, there was the conductor. He was the comedian.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35That's where Arthur Askey got his catchphrase "Ay-thank-yew".
0:35:35 > 0:35:38With his little ticket machine, taking the money. "Ay-thank-yew."
0:35:38 > 0:35:42"Right along the car, please." He had a joke for everybody.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45"Does this tram stop at the Pier Head?"
0:35:45 > 0:35:49He said "If it doesn't, madam, there'll be a hell of a splash."
0:35:49 > 0:35:51When Ken Dodd was 14, he became interested in show business
0:35:51 > 0:35:55and started performing at local community halls
0:35:55 > 0:35:57with a ventriloquist's dummy.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01His career gradually grew, and it was the tram that allowed him
0:36:01 > 0:36:03to spread his theatrical wings,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06performing in Merseyside clubs and theatres
0:36:06 > 0:36:08and linking through to other transport,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10which opened up the country to him.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15We used to get the tram down to the Pier Head,
0:36:15 > 0:36:16come across on the ferry.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Here, you'd pick up a bus
0:36:20 > 0:36:24and take it - oh, miles away, to Ellesmere Port.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27That was my first job, Ellesmere Port.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31And then you might even travel to Wales.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40AIR RAID SIREN WAILS
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Ken launched his amateur career
0:36:42 > 0:36:45at the outbreak of the Second World War.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51It was a time when people needed something to laugh about.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57It was also a time when the trams helped keep Britain running
0:36:57 > 0:37:00and became etched in the memories of many, including Alan Bennett.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03War might have been going on around him,
0:37:03 > 0:37:08but for a small boy, trams had just as big an impact on his daily life.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17"Daddy's a smoker, so we troop upstairs, rather than going inside,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21"the word a reminder of the time when upstairs was also outside.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27"On some trams in 1942, it still is,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29"because in these early years of the war,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33"a few open-ended trams have been brought back into service.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35"We wedge ourselves in the front corner,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39"to be exposed to the wind and weather an unexpected treat,
0:37:39 > 0:37:41"and also an antidote to the travel sickness
0:37:41 > 0:37:43"from which my brother and I suffer,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45"though I realise now that this must have been due
0:37:45 > 0:37:48"as much to all the smoking that went on
0:37:48 > 0:37:52"as to the motion of the tram itself.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54"I went to school by tram,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58"the fare a ha'penny from St Chad's to the ring road.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01"A group of us at the modern schools scorned school dinners
0:38:01 > 0:38:03"and came home for lunch,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06"catching the tram from another terminus at West Park."
0:38:12 > 0:38:16For Roy Hattersley, born in 1932,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20thoughts of trams take him back to his wartime boyhood in Yorkshire.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24There was a great movement at 7.30 in the morning
0:38:24 > 0:38:28of boys and girls going to different schools.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30And what we all wanted to do is sit in the bay,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33which was a circular set of seats
0:38:33 > 0:38:35in which eight or ten people could sit.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38So there was a great scramble in the morning to get upstairs
0:38:38 > 0:38:40and get into the bay.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49These were rather efficient, smooth looking vehicles.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51They were flat-topped.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55They were in the civic colours of cream and navy blue,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57and they looked really rather smart.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59They also had this sort of galleon capacity,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01because they almost floated along.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05They didn't make the same sort of noise that motor cars made.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08They made a clanging noise which was somehow detached from their movement.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12So you felt that they had certain ethereal qualities as they came past.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24While some areas like Hattersley's Sheffield brought in more modern,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27stream-lined trams, other places, like Bristol,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30hardly changed their fleet at all,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32and that was part of their appeal.
0:39:32 > 0:39:38Peter Davey inherited his life-long passion for trams from his father.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40When they spotted a new tram,
0:39:40 > 0:39:44the design was the same as it had been nearly 40 years earlier.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49He used to say, "Come on, my boy, there's a new tram around.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52"Do you want to come with me?" So I would go.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55One or two made a different noise and he'd say,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58"Quite right, because that was made by a different company to that one.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01"It was an experimental one", and things like this.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02So then I got interested,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05and I used to write the numbers down.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11Bristol was unusual in that its tramcars remained open-topped -
0:40:11 > 0:40:16a standardised fleet, unaltered from its original 1900 design.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Peter has a collection of the city's tram memorabilia
0:40:26 > 0:40:29in his personal garage museum.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Actually, these are very rare,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34but these are Bristol's tram tickets.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37You've got a child ticket and a penny,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39and you've got another child ticket
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and there's a tuppenny ha'penny one there.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44There's a threepenny one,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48and then you've got the workmen's return with the red stripe.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52That meant that when you got on the tram,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57you would see this sign hanging above the driver's head.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Why doesn't it open when you want it to? Over the driver's head.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04And the tram would come down the road
0:41:04 > 0:41:06and you'd say, "Oh, there's a workmen's car.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09"That means I can go back with the same ticket,
0:41:09 > 0:41:11"because they will issue me one with a red stripe."
0:41:11 > 0:41:14So you put it in your pocket and kept it.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17On the other hand, if he didn't like the look of you,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19he could turn it over, couldn't he?
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Yes, here, you've got the punch.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26The punch won't work without a ticket in it.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30So you have to put a ticket in it. And then, there we go.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32But there's a hole here now.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35There isn't a ticket here, as far as the punch is concerned,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37so it won't punch it.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39So it's one punch per ticket.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44I rather like this, a lovely enamel sign.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48These signs would be on the top deck of the tram cars, you see?
0:41:48 > 0:41:50And it says,
0:41:50 > 0:41:52"Passengers should remain seated
0:41:52 > 0:41:54"when the car is passing under railway bridges."
0:41:54 > 0:41:56I think that's rather good, don't you?
0:41:56 > 0:42:00Don't you think most people would do that anyhow? Perhaps not.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05"..And are warned it is dangerous to touch the overhead electric wires."
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Trams were tall, thin vehicles,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14often squashed full with up to 70 people.
0:42:14 > 0:42:20With no other method of transporting possessions during these war years,
0:42:20 > 0:42:22the trams' limitations started to be seen.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27For much of the summer,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29I was accompanied by a very large cricket bag,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33because I was playing cricket every evening and playing all the time.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Therefore, there was a problem about what to do with the cricket bag.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40You put it under the stairs, but this in itself provided a dilemma.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43Did you then go upstairs, which you wanted to do,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47which meant leaving my cricket bag under the stairs and risking it being pinched?
0:42:47 > 0:42:53Roy Hattersley needn't have worried. His cricket bag stayed safe.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57But he wasn't the only one with bulky luggage issues.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00In Alan Bennett's Leeds Trams short story, he recalls a time
0:43:00 > 0:43:04when a musical instrument wasn't welcomed on the tram.
0:43:04 > 0:43:10"Around 1942, we come into the double bass period,
0:43:10 > 0:43:13"when some of our tram journeys become fraught with embarrassment.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17"The niche that protects the conductor from the passengers
0:43:17 > 0:43:21"is also just about big enough to protect the double bass.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23"But when Dad suggests this,
0:43:23 > 0:43:27"there's invariably an argument which he never wins,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30"the clincher generally coming when the conductor points out
0:43:30 > 0:43:36"that, strictly speaking, that thing isn't allowed on the tram at all.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40"So while we sit inside and pretend he isn't with us,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43"Dad stands on the platform grasping the bass by the neck
0:43:43 > 0:43:45"as if he's about to give a solo.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48"He gets in the way of the conductor,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51"he gets in the way of people getting on and off,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53"and, always a mild man,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57"it must have been more embarrassing for him than it ever is for us."
0:44:01 > 0:44:05There were more pressing troubles preoccupying Britain.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08The war still had no end in sight.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13Everyone had to be prepared, and even trams were used for training.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15In this film from 1944,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Home Guard troops practised how they would tackle
0:44:18 > 0:44:20an incendiary hit on a tram.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26As bombs rained down at night, trams kept running through the streets,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29their rigid routes enabling them to travel in darkness -
0:44:29 > 0:44:31but not without danger.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35During the war, trams were a very popular form of transport,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37but they also could be a lethal one,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41because with the blackout, you often couldn't see a tram coming.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43They were known as the silent killers,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47because at least if a lorry or a horse and cart or something came,
0:44:47 > 0:44:48people got warning of it.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50And in the first six months of the war,
0:44:50 > 0:44:54the death rate of pedestrians doubled.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56It was 100% more than it had been in 1938,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00and trams were some of the culprits of this rise.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Yet trams played a vital role during the war,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11far exceeding their danger.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13Some even went beyond the call.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Tram enthusiast Richard Wiseman is visiting the actual tram
0:45:17 > 0:45:19that saved his life during the Blitz.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Way back when the doodlebugs and the V2s were falling into London,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27I was stationed there in the Royal Navy.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Any spare time, I used to ride around on the trams.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32And I was on a tram going towards Kennington
0:45:32 > 0:45:35when I saw a number 1 coming in the opposite direction.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39I'd been looking out for a number 1 for goodness knows how long,
0:45:39 > 0:45:41because they didn't run very often.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45And so I got off the tram I was on, hoping to catch this.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Unfortunately, I didn't catch number 1,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49but the tram I got off
0:45:49 > 0:45:53was blown up about five or ten minutes after I got off it.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58- So number 1 is very important.- Let's give it a stroke!- Give it a hug.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00There you are.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Trams have always been an integral part of Mr Wiseman's life.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09He even worked on them in Glasgow while a student.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Your life varied immensely and was full of good humour.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19The very early tram was about half past five in the morning.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Your only passengers would be postmen going up into the city.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26If there was a football match at the Celtic ground,
0:46:26 > 0:46:30you would speed up to try and get past it before the crowds came out.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35- Ooh! Naughty boy!- So you took your chances on that sort of thing.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39The only difficult times, possibly, would be late at night,
0:46:39 > 0:46:43when one or two inebriated Glaswegians would get on
0:46:43 > 0:46:46and you had to cope with them.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48On one occasion, we got to Mosspark terminus
0:46:48 > 0:46:50and the gentleman was completely flat out,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54so we took him off the tram, laid him on a seat.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58He wasn't there the next morning, so presumably he got back home again.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04Glasgow, of course, was the greatest system, probably, in my opinion.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Richard Wiseman's a bit of an old romantic.
0:47:08 > 0:47:09He proposed to his wife, Anne,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12within a month of meeting her 55 years ago.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16But she's the first to admit there's always been a third presence
0:47:16 > 0:47:18in their marriage - the tram,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20and she's had to share his affections.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23When they went to Scotland for their honeymoon,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25it wasn't just for the scenery.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30I thought it was strange we were going to stay in Glasgow overnight.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33It's not the first place you think of when you think of a honeymoon.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40As soon as you get into Glasgow, you were aware of the trams.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45They were everywhere! A huge system. And he was in dreamland.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48And so we spent the day going round Glasgow.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52And he was very naughty - he asked me to go to this dreadful terminus,
0:47:52 > 0:47:54and then we hopped on another one.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Can you imagine? We just went round the tramway places!
0:47:59 > 0:48:03- It was pouring with rain, wasn't it? - Was it? I can't remember.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05I was too busy looking at you!
0:48:05 > 0:48:07And the tram, of course.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09Charmer(!)
0:48:15 > 0:48:16By the end of the war,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19trams and tramways had been left battle-scarred.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Bombs aimed at Britain's city centres
0:48:22 > 0:48:26had torn many rails apart, closing lines and destroying depots.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33It made economic sense to dig the tracks up
0:48:33 > 0:48:35rather than to replace them.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Even those trams which had survived
0:48:39 > 0:48:41were now seen as outmoded
0:48:41 > 0:48:45and not conducive to the "brave new world"
0:48:45 > 0:48:47that was being planned for the future.
0:48:47 > 0:48:48Towns were changing.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51What was happening is the sort of ribbon development
0:48:51 > 0:48:53and the growth of the suburbs,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55which extended far into the countryside,
0:48:55 > 0:48:57not only in London
0:48:57 > 0:49:01but in Manchester and Bristol and Leeds and all these places,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05and of course the trams weren't so good for such long distances.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08So you've got the great growth of the suburban railways
0:49:08 > 0:49:10and in places like London and Glasgow
0:49:10 > 0:49:13you've got the extension of the underground.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16So even though trams were very popular with the people,
0:49:16 > 0:49:20they weren't necessarily quite so popular with the planners.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24Buses were available, and they could be much more flexible,
0:49:24 > 0:49:26when you think about it.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31If they had to close a road, a bus can go round, whereas a tram can't.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33Motorcars were coming in,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37and people were getting their own selfish ways of transport.
0:49:37 > 0:49:43These spanking, shiny buses and cars were now overtaking trams.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47They heralded the start of a large vehicle manufacturing industry
0:49:47 > 0:49:52which would employ thousands in Britain.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54And they were symbols of a new prosperity,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56and with it new social status.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59HOOTER BLARES
0:50:01 > 0:50:05ROY HATTERSLEY: Trams were what the working classes travelled in.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07As we became middle class, people began to turn
0:50:07 > 0:50:10instinctively, perhaps subconsciously,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14against what seemed to them to be a working-class phenomenon.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Roy Hattersley has long been an observer
0:50:17 > 0:50:19of the landscape of social class.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23He wears his own humble Sheffield roots with pride.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27While he and fellow journalist Keith Waterhouse were both columnists for Punch,
0:50:27 > 0:50:32Waterhouse gave them each their own northern, working-class emblems.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Keith said, "Let's come to an agreement.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37"You can have trams and I'll have cloth caps."
0:50:37 > 0:50:41And this was because he was implying, I think quite rightly,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45that the tram, like the cloth cap, is resonant in people's minds
0:50:45 > 0:50:48of industrial north of England.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51The late author never lost his affections
0:50:51 > 0:50:54for the working-class transport of his boyhood
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and fulfilled an ambition when he got to drive one.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00- So, this one forward? - Yeah, at the same time.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03- Do I have to press it down? - No, just pull it towards you.
0:51:03 > 0:51:04I can do that, can't I?
0:51:04 > 0:51:06- HORN TOOTS - You can do that.- I can do that.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Toad of Toad Hall!
0:51:08 > 0:51:11- Right, that way.- And one, and two,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14- and three, and four.- Four. And...
0:51:14 > 0:51:15HORN TOOTS
0:51:15 > 0:51:17- That's it. - HORN TOOTS
0:51:24 > 0:51:27New double-decker buses were modelled on trams
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and began replacing them almost by stealth.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35Over the years, trams had become more utilitarian and less plush.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37But the new buses were cushioned
0:51:37 > 0:51:39to compensate for the harder, non-rail ride.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42They seemed luxurious by comparison.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47"Buses have never inspired the same affection,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51"too comfortable and cushioned to have a moral dimension.
0:51:51 > 0:51:57"Trams were bare and bony, transport reduced to its basic elements,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00"and they had a song to sing, which buses never did.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05"I was away at university when they started to phase them out -
0:52:05 > 0:52:09"Leeds, as always, in too much of a hurry to get to the future
0:52:09 > 0:52:12"and so doing the wrong thing.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16"I knew at the time it was a mistake, just as Beeching was a mistake,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20"and that life was starting to get nastier."
0:52:23 > 0:52:27Tram by tram, town by town, they were phased out.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Bristol, Liverpool...
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Sheffield, Manchester...
0:52:34 > 0:52:38and finally Glasgow - they all bade farewell.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44London's last tram bowed out in 1952,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48and thousands turned out to say goodbye and thank you.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53CROWD SINGS "Auld Lang Syne"
0:52:53 > 0:52:58And so, in the name of Londoners and London Transport,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I say, "Goodbye, old tram."
0:53:08 > 0:53:11The public had mixed feelings about trams,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15because a lot of people's childhood memories were days out on the trams.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18And for workmen, that's the way they had been to work.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21They were not uncomfortable, were quite reliable, all these things,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24so when it was the last day of the trams, people would turn out
0:53:24 > 0:53:28and there'd be bunting put up and there'd be a genuine sadness
0:53:28 > 0:53:30that the trams were going
0:53:30 > 0:53:32and something had passed, something was lost
0:53:32 > 0:53:36in the organisation of towns and of people's lives.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38CHEERING
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Every urban tramway closed in Britain,
0:53:47 > 0:53:53except Blackpool, home of the first electric tram back in 1885.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10The town's link between the trams and joyful holidays
0:54:10 > 0:54:12had been enough to keep it going
0:54:12 > 0:54:15when everyone else was digging up the rails.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19The tramway has always been extremely important to Blackpool.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23It's played a very key role in tourism
0:54:23 > 0:54:27and moving all our visitors along the seafront.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31There was an enormous amount of pressure for the tramway to close,
0:54:31 > 0:54:32but Blackpool kept faith,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36and there have always been a large number of people within Blackpool,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39both within the council over the years and in the local populace,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42that have demanded that we retain our trams.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44And we're very pleased that we have,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47because they still maintain that wonderful seafront link.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54People come who came to Blackpool when they were children in the 1930s,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57and their amazement to see the same vehicles running
0:54:57 > 0:54:59is clearly plain to see.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02And people want to experience their youth again,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05and they want the rest of their family to experience it.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07And you very often hear people telling them,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09"I rode on this tram during the war years,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12"when I was stationed here as a WAF" or "a WREN!"
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Of course, as long as people perpetuate that history,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18the tramcar will always have a role to play.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24SIREN WAILS
0:55:25 > 0:55:28In fact, with today's choked traffic
0:55:28 > 0:55:31and rush-hour chaos the worst it's ever been,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35trams have been making something of a comeback.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40I think more recently, planners have begun to realise
0:55:40 > 0:55:42how disastrous cars are in cities,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46how in fact the traffic jams have become insupportable,
0:55:46 > 0:55:50not only extremely irritating, but they are economically disastrous
0:55:50 > 0:55:53when you get these complete gridlocks.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And so I think people are beginning, planners are beginning
0:55:56 > 0:56:01to think maybe the idea of trams as sort of designated routes
0:56:01 > 0:56:03and all this thing isn't a bad idea.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10A new generation of planners is looking to the tram.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13Manchester, one of the first cities to scrap them,
0:56:13 > 0:56:17was the first to re-introduce them, and others have followed.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21It seems the old spark is still there, in a new guise.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26There is this apparent effect, known as the spark effect,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29credited to electric railed vehicles,
0:56:29 > 0:56:34that if you electrify a train line, apparently people use it more than previously,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38and if you put a tramway in, people ride on the trams
0:56:38 > 0:56:40more than they did on the buses.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43And I think that's been borne out by the new tramways
0:56:43 > 0:56:46which have started to crop up around the country.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50200 years after their first appearance on our roads,
0:56:50 > 0:56:57new-look, hi-tech trams are once again carrying high hopes.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00They're being seen as the solution to urban congestion
0:57:00 > 0:57:02and the way forward to the future,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06and this time around, they could be here to stay.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11ALAN BENNETT: "If trams ever come back, though, they should come back
0:57:11 > 0:57:17"not as curiosities, nor, God help us, as part of the heritage,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20"but as a cheap and sensible way of getting from point A to point B
0:57:20 > 0:57:24"and with a bit of poetry thrown in."
0:57:27 > 0:57:30# We get to the end of the journey all right
0:57:30 > 0:57:32# Or at least to the end of the track
0:57:32 > 0:57:36# But while all the others prepare to alight
0:57:36 > 0:57:39# We remain on the car and go back
0:57:39 > 0:57:41# And when we get married
0:57:41 > 0:57:44# Now, boys, here's a tip That ought to be useful to you
0:57:45 > 0:57:49# We shan't spend too much on the honeymoon trip
0:57:49 > 0:57:54# For we've made up our minds what to do
0:57:55 > 0:57:59# We shall go, go, go for a ride
0:57:59 > 0:58:04# On the car, car, car
0:58:04 > 0:58:11# For we know how cosy the tops of the tramcars are
0:58:11 > 0:58:15# The seats are so small and there's not much to pay
0:58:15 > 0:58:18# You sit close together and spoon all the way
0:58:18 > 0:58:22# And many a Miss will be Mrs someday
0:58:22 > 0:58:28# Through riding on top of the car! #