PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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1894 - 1899 Once Plymouth Corporation had taken over the tramway system it set about doubling the track. From Sherwell Congregational Chapel to the foot of Townsend Hill was in the process of being doubled in January 1894 and was complete along Mutley Plain by August that year. The service on the West Hoe section was reduced to every 15 minutes during the winter of 1894-95. At this time the Corporation owned 17 tramcars. Of the newer vehicles, number 13 was quoted by the Corporation as seating 20 outside; numbers 14 and 15 sat 32 outside; while numbers 16 and 17 were double-deck and sat 16 inside and 18 outside. In October 1894 the timetable for the service from the Market to Compton started with a single car leaving Compton at 7.45am and returning from the Market at 8am. This did another return working at 8.25 and 8.40am. A second car started from Compton at 8.50am and from then until 11.30am there was a 10-minute service. From 11.30am at Compton and 11.43am at the Market trams ran every 8 minutes until 1pm and then every 6 minutes until the last car at 10.40am from Compton and 11pm from the Market. On the section through Houndiscombe Road, the first car left the junction with Belgrave Road at 8.50am and returned from the Market at 9.04. It then ran every 35 minutes until 9.20pm from Mutley and 10pm from the Market. On Saturdays there was a late car at 11pm from the Market. A fifteen-minute service was operated in the mornings on the General Post Office to West Hoe section, starting at 9am. From 12.30pm until 10pm it was every 10 minutes. The last cars left West Hoe at 9.45 and the GPO at 10pm, probably running only as far as the depot in Millbay Road. It was reported in June 1896 that during the winter of 1895-96 the patronage on the West Hoe route had been so poor that the service made a loss of £580. Did Mr Baskerville, who ran horse bus services to Mannamead and Salisbury Road, see 'the writing on the wall'? On June 20th 1896 he offered the whole of his undertaking, which comprised 8 horse buses and 38 horses, to the Corporation. He had tried this in March 1895 but they had declined his offer. The first major development in Plymouth's tramway system during this period was the linking up of the southern section to the northern part, which had been severed when the Plymouth, Devonport and District Tramways Company were refused permission to run their steam cars in Richmond Road. The estimated cost of the new line was £3,100. Royal Assent was given to the necessary legislation on May 20th 1896. A new line was laid in during the winter of 1895/96 and on the evening g of Tuesday August 25th 1896 the Board of Trade's inspector, Major Marindin, carried out his official inspection. He walked the line from Westwell Street to the Market Place through Basket Street and Old Town Street and returned by tramcar. The new line had been laid using rails of 90lbs per yard, paved with Jarrow wood blocks. He duly gave his approval. Thus it was that at long last, on Friday August 28th 1896, a new through service was started from West Hoe Pier to Mutley Plain at its junction with Belgrave Road. The first car left Belgrave Road at 8.45am and ran every half-hour until 10.15am when the service was augmented to run every 15 minutes. Because Mutley Plain was also used by the service from Compton to Market Place, it was decided that cars bound for West Hoe should carry a red flag by day and a red light by night. The fares from Mutley to the Theatre were 1d and likewise from Westwell Street to West Hoe Pier. Next a junction was laid in where Old Town Street met Ebrington Street and new track was then laid through Beaumont Road, past St Jude's Church, along Tothill Road where it crossed the London & South Western Railway, eastwards along the Embankment Road until it reached the junction with Elliott Road. The estimated cost was £8,500. This new route was opened on Thursday December 10th 1896. Although the service on that first morning had started at 10am, the following day the first car left the Theatre Royal at 6.45am. This was followed by cars at 7.20, 8, 8.40, 9, 9.20 and 9.35am. From 10am until 10pm there was then a 15-minute service. The last cars left the Theatre at 10.30 and 10.45pm. The first car left Prince Rock at 7am with others at 7.40, 8.20, 9, 9.15, and 9.55am. From 10.22am until 10.22pm there was a 15-minute service, with the last cars from Prince Rock at 10.45 and 11pm. The fare for the whole journey was one penny. On the Friday morning the Western Daily Mercury recorded that: 'The weather yesterday was bad, with heavy squalls of rain making roof-seats impossible during the greater part of the day, but, in spite of this drawback, the traffic turned out fairly well.' There was a major change in the livery of the tramcars during 1897. On April 23rd the Council resolved to repaint the tramcars according to the route they were allocated to. Cars going to Compton would be green; those for Hyde Park via Houndiscombe Road would yellow, and those for Prince Rock were to be painted red. This would be carried out when the cars needed renovating. It is not clear if this decision was actually carried out. In June 1897 the service through Houndiscombe Road appears to have been cut-back slightly to terminate at Mutley Baptist Chapel and would run every 15-minutes from the Market. This did not last long though, as from Monday September 6th 1897 the frequency was reduced to every 30 minutes. An interesting diversion was a Council decision dated September 19th 1898: 'That a notice be exhibited on the tramcars requesting passengers to destroy their tickets upon leaving the car'. During December 1898 a proposal was made to close the line through Cobourg Street, North Road and Houndiscombe Road and this decision was confirmed by the full Council on January 9th 1899. It was not long before Prince Rock was the scene of more excitement on the tramways system. Plymouth Corporation had decided to adopt the new power of electricity and erected a power station on the banks of the Cattewater. This was officially opened on Friday September 22nd 1899 and after performing that duty, the Mayor of Plymouth proceeded to the newly built tramway depot, where the chairman of the Tramways Committee, Mr Bray, invited his Worship to start the first electric tramcar on its way into Plymouth. Suitably bedecked with flowers and red, white and blue draperies, the first car was driven by Mr J H Rider, the Corporation's electrical engineer. The second car was in the charge of Mr Charles R Everson, the tramways manager, while the third was driven by Mr Rider's assistant, Mr O'Kell. There were five tramcars in all. The cars went right through to the Theatre and were then returned as far as the Guildhall, where the official party withdrew for the official luncheon. Ordinary fare-paying passengers were then allowed to make the journey out to Prince Rock. Mr Everson had the distinction of creating what the press called 'the incident of the morning', when, upon taking the curve approaching Friary Bridge at too high a speed, 'everyone in his charge had a good shaking up.' From 1pm until well after 11pm all the Corporation's electric cars were in use and packed to capacity and still many people who wanted a ride were unable to do so. Each car could carry 42 passengers, which was six more than the old horse cars. The average speed apparently was 8mph, including time for stoppages. Talking on the occasion of the withdrawal of Plymouth's last tram in 1945, Mr William Alfred Smith, who was one of the drivers of the first electric trams in Plymouth, recalled that one gentleman asked him: 'Are you the man that drives than thing that goes with naught?' Horses you could see but not electricity. He also recalled that the journey went without problems until they reached Basket Street, where it was found that 'the corner was too narrow for the trolley head to sit into the wire'. Interestingly, this is the first occasion on which there is a reference to the drivers and conductors being supplied with uniforms, each bearing the number of the tramcar to which he was attached. In those days staff were allocated a vehicle and went wherever that vehicle was wanted, a practice which largely lasted in Plymouth until the 1960s. An announcement in the Western Morning News on Saturday September 23rd drew attention to the fact that: 'It is important that the stopping places should be borne in mind, because the cars will not be pulled up for passengers in the intervening distances, neither will people be able to alight or mount whilst they are in motion'. The authorised stopping places on the Prince Rock route were:
It was recorded that at the end of 1899 the Plymouth Corporation tram fleet consisted of horse cars numbers 1 to 29 and electric cars 1 to 6. The working life of a tramway horse was stated to be 4½ years. RETURN TO PCTD
1892-93 |
