Hardback | 64 pages | 150 x 200mm
Publication October 2018 | ISBN 9781912654369
During the late 19th century the port and city of Southampton expanded rapidly and, to cater for the growing population, a network of trams – horse initially but latterly electric – grew up. Expanding through until the late 1920s, the next decade saw the system begin to decline but, given a reprieve by the onset of World War II, the remaining trams – many of which were open-top – soldiered on into the years of post-war austerity. It was only in December 1949 that the city finally bade farewell to its last trams but, through the preservation of No 45, Southampton was to play a pivotal role in the development of the tramcar preservation movement. Now, little remains to remind people of this once important form of transport other than historic photographs.
The Lost Tramways of England series documents the tram networks which were at the heart of many of Britain's growing towns and cities from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. An informative, accessible and portable resource for the tram enthusiast as well as the general reader, and a superb souvenir or gift for visitors past and present.
Books in the Lost Tramways of England series:
- Birmingham North
- Birmingham South
- Bradford
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Coventry
- Leeds West
- Leeds East
- Nottingham
- Southampton
- London North East
- London North West
- London South East
- London South West
- Bolton, SLT, Wigan and St Helens
- Manchester North and Salford
- Manchester South
Reviews:
'Peter Waller is a knowledgeable writer on tramway matters and packs a lot of detail into each of these little books. They will be of interest both to tram enthusiasts and anyone interested in the transport history of the cities in question.' Review, the Journal of the Friends of the National Railway Museum
'These modest little books, of a size to fit comfortably inside a tram-conductor's pouch, are based principally on the photographic collections of the Online Transport Archive. The core of each is a pictorial journey down each route and they are therefore likely to be of almost as much interest to those who know the cities as to tram enthusiasts; given that none of these systems lasted into the 1950s, much of the surroundings pictured here will have changed radically.' Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society, July 2019