SOUTHPORT in the age of the tram

Southport’s first horse tramway opened in 1873, and in 1899 authority was given for Southport Corporation to commence electrification of the system and to construct new routes. In 1900 Corporation tramcars ran for the first time, and by the end of the year a total of seven routes had been opened. The fleet initially consisted of nine open-top double-deckers, liveried in maroon and cream.

The fleet subsequently grew and in 1919 a programme of top-covering all the open-toppers was started. All the trams underwent re-conditioning and re-building to some extent, which kept them running throughout the 1920s.

In 1924 Southport Corporation purchased its first bus. This was effectively the writing on the wall for the tramway system, which was isolated and had never connected with any other system, unlike the majority of neighbouring tramways. From March 1931 the former Southport Tramways routes were gradually abandoned and replaced by buses, until, on 31 December 1934, the last tram ran in Southport, bringing to an end more than 50 years of tramway operations in the borough.

The late James Dean had committed to paper his vivid first-hand memories of Southport’s trams, and Cedric Greenwood has supplemented these evocative memories with a full history of the system, supported by more than 60 illustrations and a selection of Mr Dean’s delightful drawings of the trams and detailed track plans.

As well as a history of Southport Tramways, appendices examine interurban tramway schemes that were authorised but never materialised.

Cedric Greenwood is the author of Silver Link’s recently published two-volume work Merseyside: The Indian Summer. Having spent his early years in the North West he is now retired and lives in Norfolk.