| National Tramway Museum | |
| Native Name: | Crich Tramway Village |
| Native Name Lang: | en |
| Location: | Crich, Derbyshire, England |
| Type: | Transport museum |
| Owner: | Tramway Museum Society |
The National Tramway Museum (trading as Crich Tramway Village) is a tram museum located at Crich, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 80 (mainly British) trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period village containing a working pub, café, old-style sweetshop and tram depots. The museum's collection of trams runs through the village-setting with visitors transported out into the local countryside and back and is operated by the Tramway Museum Society, a registered charity.[1] [2] [3] [4]
The Crich Tramway Village remains an independent charity, which receives no funding from the state or local government and relies on the voluntary contribution made by members of the Tramway Museum Society and its visitors.[5]
George Stephenson, the great railway pioneer, had a close connection with Crich and the present (2008) tramway follows part of the mineral railway he built to link the quarry with Ambergate.[6] [7]
While building the North Midland Railway from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds, Stephenson had found rich coal seams in the Clay Cross area and he saw a new business opportunity. Crich was already well known for the quality of the limestone and Stephenson recognised that he could use the local coal and limestone to produce burnt lime for agricultural purposes, and then use the new railway to distribute it. Cliff Quarry, where the museum is now located, was acquired by Stephenson's company and to link the quarry with limekilns he had built at Ambergate, Stephenson constructed a gauge line – apparently the first metre gauge railway in the world. Stephenson lived the last 10 years of his life in Chesterfield, often bringing visitors to Crich to see the mineral railway. He died in 1848 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield.[6] [8]
Cliff Quarry remained in use until it closed in 1957/8, and shortly afterwards part of it was acquired for use by the museum. Other parts of the quarry, now known as Crich Quarry, reopened in the 1960s and was then operated by RMC and Tarmac. In 2000 ownership of the active quarry site was transferred to Bardon Aggregates, who closed the quarry in 2010. It remains closed.[9]
In the period after the Second World War, when most of the remaining British tramways were in decline or actually closing, the first event in the history of the National Tramway Museum took place. A group of enthusiasts on a farewell tour of Southampton Tramways in August 1948 decided to purchase one of the open top trams on which they had ridden. For the sum of £10 they purchased number 45 – now included in collection at the museum. From this purchase grew the idea of a working museum devoted to operating tramcars. From the original group developed the Tramway Museum Society, established in 1955, incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1962, and recognised as an educational charity in 1963.[10]
After a sustained search across the country, in 1959 the society's attention was drawn to the then derelict limestone quarry at Crich in Derbyshire, from which members of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society were recovering track from Stephenson's mineral railway for their pioneering preservation project in Wales. After a tour of the quarry, members of the society agreed to lease – and later purchase – part of the site and buildings. Over the years, by the efforts of the society members, a representative collection of tramcars was brought together and restored, tramway equipment was acquired, a working tramway was constructed and depots and workshops were built. Recognising that tramcars did not operate in limestone quarries, the society agreed in 1967 to create around the tramway the kind of streetscape through which the trams had run and thus the concept of the Crich Tramway Village was born. Members then turned their attention to collecting items of street furniture and even complete buildings, which were then adapted to house the Museum's collections of books, photographs and archives.[10]
The museum site in made up of a number of different areas, with the museum's tramway passing either through or adjacent to all of them. The museum's main entrance delivers visitors to the Victoria Park area, but the trams start their journey at Town End, a walk or short tram ride under the Bowes Lyon Bridge and down Period Street.[18]
The running line of the tramway starts from a stub terminus at Town End where outbound trams board passengers, having first disembarked inbound passengers at Stephenson Place. The first of line is double track, laid in a setted street, and this is known as the Period Street. It has broad footpaths on both sides and is flanked by a number of old buildings and street furniture elements. The street scene is closed off by the Bowes-Lyon Bridge, which the tramway passes under.[7] [19]
Amongst the buildings and furniture in the street are:
One of the few buildings on the site that predate the creation of the museum and are in their original place, the Stephenson Workshop was built in the 19th century and was used as a smithy and wagon works for George Stephenson's metre gauge mineral railway. Originally known as the Stone Workshop, the building has been fully restored and is now home to a state of the art learning facility on the ground floor and the Stephenson Discovery Centre on the first floor.[20] [26]
The Stephenson Discovery Centre explains the early history of the museum site, including the story of George Stephenson and his acquisition of Cliff Quarry and construction of the mineral railway. It also describes how overcrowding in expanding towns and cities paved the way for in the introductions of trams to Britain in the 19th century. A modern glass bridge from the upper floor provides access to the viewing gallery of the tram workshop (see below).[20] [26]
The tram depot is situated at the further end of the museum's Period Street, just before it passes under the Bowes-Lyon Bridge. The tram depot houses most of the museum's fleet of trams, including the running fleet when not in operation, other than those displayed in the exhibition hall, which faces the depot across the depot yard. The depot has 18 tracks, with each track able to accommodate several trams. The first 10 tracks are directly accessible from the depot yard, while tracks 11 to 18 are accessed via a traverser, which also provides rail access to the exhibition hall.[18] [27]
The tram depot includes a workshop, on tracks 1 to 3, used for the maintenance of the tram fleet. This has a viewing gallery, accessed by a glass bridge from the upper floor of the Stephenson Discovery Centre, which allows visitors to watch the work going on below and displays small exhibits relating to this work.[20]
The exhibition hall presents the ‘Century of Trams’ exhibition, telling the story of a hundred years of tramway development, from 1860 – 1960, taking in horse trams, steam trams and electric trams. The story is told through the display of number of the museum's tram cars, together with interpretive panels, audio sounds to represent each decade of the timeline, and interactive displays.[20]
The Bowes-Lyon Bridge spans the end of the museum's period street, and provides both a vantage point and a visual closure to the recreated urban part of the museum. The bridge deck is constructed in cast iron and dates from 1844, when it was installed at the Bowes-Lyon Estate in St Paul's Walden, Hertfordshire. The bridge was donated to the museum in 1971, and subsequently re-erected at its present site. Embedded in the deck of the Bowes-Lyon Bridge is a stretch of horse-tram track, demonstrating the lightweight nature of such track when compared to that used by the electric trams on the lower level.[18] [28]
Immediately to the north and west of the bridge is Victoria Park, a recreated Victorian era public park. This has, as its centrepiece, a bandstand that was erected here in 1978 but was previously at Longford Park in Stretford, Greater Manchester. From the park, a path leads to the museum's Woodland Walk and Sculpture Trail. Alongside the park is a tram stop, served by both inbound and outbound trams and named after the park. To the east of the park, on the opposite side of the tramway, is the museum entrance.[18] [29]
Just past the Victoria Park tram stop, the museum's running track transitions from grooved tram track set in a road surface to sleeper track and becomes single track. The line passes between woodland to the west and the now disused Cliff Quarry to the east, before arriving at the Wakebridge passing loop and tram stop.[18]
The stop has a selection of shelters and simple buildings, including the Birmingham Tram Shelter, the Bradford Cabmans Shelter, and the Octogon, together with the line's electrical sub-station. A path leads to the museum's Woodland Walk and Sculpture Trail. Adjacent to the stop, the Peak District Mines Historical Society has created an exhibition of mining equipment, including the mouth of a drift mine with a battery powered locomotive coming out of it, and a shop selling mineral samples, books and gemstones.[18] [30] [31] [32]
Beyond Wakebridge, the line runs along an exposed hillside with vistas across the valley of the River Derwent, which is here part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. While now largely rural, this valley was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution, where the modern factory system was introduced during the 18th century to take advantage of Richard Arkwright's invention of the water frame for spinning cotton.[33]
At the end of the line is the Glory Mine tram stop and passing loop. A public footpath crosses the line, giving access to Crich Stand.[7] [18] [34]
The Woodland Walk and Sculpture trail connects the tram stops at Victoria Park and Wakebridge, passing through the mixed woodland that is native to the limestone geology of the Crich area. Tree cover is mostly ash, but also includes sycamore, alder and silver birch, with a shrub layer of hazel, wych elm, wild rose, elder and hawthorn. The combination of the ash canopy and limestone results in a range of ground-cover plants including primrose, early purple orchid, cowslip, marjoram, garlic and strawberries.[35]
Most of the sculptures along the trail were carved by the sculptor, Andrew Frost, using a chainsaw and carving a basic shape from a tree trunk before working on the detail. Such sculptures do not last forever, with wood splitting, fungi and the claws of badgers all contributing to their deterioration. The sculpture trail is therefore always evolving, as old sculptures are removed and new ones added.[35]
Also to be spotted in the Woodland Walk is a stretch of the original narrow-gauge track as used in the old quarry, and a labyrinth made from old stones left in the quarry. There are views down into the valley of the River Derwent and up to Crich Stand.[35]
See main article: List of tramcars of the National Tramway Museum. The museum has over 80 tramcars in its collection. The majority of these are electric double-decker trams built between 1900 and 1930 for use in a large selection of British towns and cities, but the collection also includes earlier horse and steam hauled trams, more modern trams, and trams built for a number of cities across the world.[1] [36]
Many of the cars are in operable condition, and are used on the museum's running line, whilst others are restored in static condition and are displayed in the museum's display hall or elsewhere on the site. A few are stored in unrestored condition, some of these being at the museum's off-site store at Clay Cross.
Among this fleet are:
The running line of the tramway is approximately long. The line starts from a stub terminus at Town End where outbound trams board passengers, having first disembarked inbound passengers at Stephenson Place. From Town End, about the first of line is double track, laid in a setted street, flanked by the buildings of the recreated period village, and including the inbound-only Stephenson Place tram stop. The street scene is closed off by the Bowes-Lyon Bridge, which the line crosses under on interlaced track. Just before the bridge, a junction gives access to the depot and yard.[7]
On the far side of the bridge the line returns to double track and calls at the Victoria Park tram stop, which serves both the recreated Victorian-era public park of the same name, and the main entrance to the site from the car park. The double track continues for another before converging into single track that continues as far as the Wakebridge tram stop and passing loop, which is located some from Town End. Beyond the passing loop, the track returns to single track as far as the Glory Mine tram stop and terminus, where there is a further passing loop and a headshunt, together with a siding.[7]
The tramway is generally operated whenever the museum is open. Depending on the time of year and level of demand, a two or three car service is normally provided. If a two car service is operated, trams pass on the double-track section in the street. If three trams are in service, trams pass both in the loop at Wakebridge and in the street.[7]
On special occasions, up to 18 tramcars can be operated, with trams operating in convoys of two or three through the single track sections. The convoys pass each other on the in the street, at Wakebridge, and at Glory Mine terminus.[7]
The tramway has a 1969 tram from Berlin, which has been converted to allows visitors with disabilities to travel the line, with the provision of a wheelchair lift and wider doors.
Most of the museum's trams are electric trams which were designed to be powered by an overhead wire system using one of, or a combination of, trolley poles, bow collectors or pantographs. The museum's overhead wire system has been built so that trams with any of those types of current collection can be used. The current is supplied at 600 volts DC.[7] [47] [48]
Other forms of current collection were used by electric trams, especially in the early days of such tramways, and the museum has non-operational displays of several of them:
The museum is open from early March to early November on every day of the week except Fridays, and also on Fridays during bank and school holidays. The museum opens at 10:00 and closes at 16:30 on weekdays or 17:30 on weekends and bank holidays.[50]
The museum is some north of Derby, south of Sheffield, south-east of Manchester, and north-west of London. There is a large on-site car park.[50]
The nearest railway station is Whatstandwell, on the Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock, from which there is a steep uphill walk of about to the museum. The museum is also directly served by roughly hourly bus services from Matlock and Alfreton, and less frequent services from Belper and Ripley. There is no bus service on Sundays.[50]
The museum features in the opening of the 1969 film Women in Love, and as one of the locations in the 2012 film Sightseers.[51] [52]
The museum, under its old name of Crich Tramway Museum, also features in the lyrics of the John Shuttleworth song "Dandelion and Burdock".[53]