PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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1916 - THROUGH RUNNING Until the amalgamation of the Three Towns in 1914, the boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport and the Urban District of East Stonehouse had been three separate entities. The people from Devonport shopped in Devonport and were employed there, probably in the Dockyard, while the people of Plymouth likewise shopped in their Town. Quite what the people of Stonehouse did is a little uncertain. They had plenty of shops spread along the length of Union Street but nothing to compare with the departmental stores of the other two towns. Following the amalgamation, there was a strong desire not only by Plymouth Corporation but also by the Devonport and District Tramways Company, for the whole tramway system to be linked up so that through running could take place. Two links were required, one at Peverell Corner and the other at Pennycomequick. A link at Peverell, between Peverell Park Road and Tavistock Road was agreed by the Council at a special meeting of the Tramways Committee on April 10th 1916. At another special meeting on April 27th it was agreed to have a universal one penny fare on all the routes when the linkage was finished. A new terminus was also laid in at the top of Catherine Street, close by the Guildhall, for use by the trams from Albert Road and Pennycomequick. And so on Friday October 20th 1916 the Mayor, Alderman T Baker JP, and members of the Council went for a joy-ride around the new joined-up system in four gaily beflagged tramcars. They left the new terminus at the top of Catherine Street just before Noon and ran via Peverell, Milehouse Road and St Levan Road to St Budeaux. They returned by way of Albert Road, Stuart Road and Cobourg Street and arrived back at Catherine Street 1½ hours later. On the outward journey there a halt at the top of Peverell, when the Devonport Company's line was reached, where the Deputy Mayor, Alderman W Blackall, welcomed the through running and praised the new innovation of the universal penny fare that would start the following Monday October 23rd when the following announcement appeared in the local press:
The lengths of the new unified routes was stated to be: Route 1, Theatre Royal to Compton, 1 mile 65
chains; For some reason the route from the Theatre Royal to Radford Road, West Hoe, over which the fare was only a half-penny, was regarded as a poor relation and given no number nor any mileage recognition, although it appeared in the Council's financial returns as route 9. The whole event was a huge success and the new penny fares actually resulted in an increase of 25% on the amount taken on the corresponding day in 1915. The cars on the Peverell section were particularly popular, with the cars being full to capacity for a large part of the day. Some 60,463 passengers were carried over the whole system on the first day and the receipts amounted to £250 14s 11½d. It was felt that the abolition of the dead-ends at Peverell and Pennycomequick enabled the cars to save an enormous amount of time and to complete a greater number of journeys. In September 1917 the Tramways Committee caused some consternation by adding some lines at the Theatre Royal terminus and by placing a ramp or platform between the tram lines and the roadway, in line with the public conveniences. The Press presumed this had been done to separate the pedestrians using the trams from the other road traffic. If the platform was intended for tram users it was rendered pointless by the fact that the trams never stopped at it but either further down nearer the Athenaeum or on the track nearest the Theatre. Thus passengers waiting there had to leap off into the roadway anyway to catch their tram. But the most serious problem was the fact that it was apparently unlit and unmarked and pedestrians were falling over it in increasing numbers and sustaining injuries and cabs and other vehicles were crashing into it. The objections clearly fell on deaf ears as the platform was still there some 50 years later. It was only left for the links to be made with the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Tramway, which would not take place until the expirey of their agreements with the Corporations of Devonport and Plymouth in 1922.
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