May 2003 Back to the future: The 1900s tram traveller |
|
|
|
Nottingham tram ticket from the
1900s |
|
|
John Meredith, from
Southwell, has come across some tram tickets that date back to the
early 1900s. Here John tells his story... |
|
|
|
The electric tram route to
Sherwood opened in January 1901.
In Sherwood a depot was constructed to house the tramcars overnight.
The route was later extended to Arnold in 1915.
At first the journey from Sherwood to Arnold was either by foot or,
if you could afford the 1d fare, by the horse drawn bus.
I am sure the tickets date back to some time in this period.
|
Tram tickets from the 1900s |
The tram traveller...
When living with my grandparents in Arnold and working in Nottingham
in the early 1900s my great aunt Gertrude travelled first on the bus
to Sherwood and then by tramcar, a No9, into the town centre.
How did I come by the tram tickets...
My grandfather died in 1967. When my grandmother went to live with
my parents we had the job of clearing out the house in Arnold.
Whilst clearing it out, we came across many treasures. Amongst the
treasures was a small purse belonging to my great aunt Gertrude.
Tucked away in a back pocket was the set of tramcar tickets, plus
the 1d single fare bus ticket, for a journey from Daybrook to Sherwood.
It states motor car, so I take it the journey was made after the horse
bus had been withdrawn, but before 1915.
The tickets...
The tramcar tickets are in two colours, white and grey.
The white ones have a fare of 1d and the grey ones 2d, so the white
ones appear to be of an earlier date.
Three are for the Sherwood to Trent Bridge route and three for the
Nottingham Station Street to Sherwood, the odd one being the Mapperly
route, which opened in May 1902.
The tickets could possibly date from the period, 1902 to 1915. But
as the bus ticket is for the motor car and I found them all together,
it seems likely that they date to some time between 1910 and 1915.
What a find! |
|
|
|
|
|