the rise and rise of the working class holiday team
[Blackpool history]
trams
Blackpool trams, 1885
The turn of the century saw a transformation in the town's transport system. In September 1892, the trams -- which had continued to be restricted to the Promenade -- were taken over by the Corporation and, three years later, were extended along Lytham Road and, later still, were connected to the system operated by the Blackpool, St Anne's & Lytham Tramway Company Ltd. The first illuminated trams were part of Blackpool's celebrations for Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897. The private Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad -- running eight miles between Talbot Road station and the Fleetwood ferry - was opened in July 1898 and soon showed the advantage of the overhead system of power collection. Within a year, this type was adopted on the existing Corporation routes and then on the extensions to the Gynn (1900), around Marton (Church Street, Whitegate Drive and Waterloo Road; 1901) and to Layton (1902).
The Corporation took over the Fleetwood Tramroad in 1920 and, six years later, built the extension to Starr Gate. In 1961, the route along Lytham Road was replaced by bus services, as was the route around Marton the following year, and the link between North station and the Gynn along Dickson Road was closed in 1963. This meant that, for three decades, the Promenade route was the only commercial electric tramway in the country - until it was joined by the trams in Manchester in 1993.
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