Books and appeal for tram centenary (From Bournemouth Echo)

Books and appeal for tram centenary

THEY may be long gone from Poole's streets but they are not forgotten and are getting a new lease of life in many cities as an environmentally-friendly way of solving town centre traffic chaos.

Poole has no plans to return to rails and overhead wires, but is right on track with a celebration of the centenary of the town's trams.

Two books, an £80,000 appeal to restore the borough's last tram and a double-decker bus painted the Cambridge blue-and-cream of the Poole and District cars have been launched.

"Nostalgia has become of interest these days," said Chris Harris, Wilts and Dorset buses marketing officer and author of one of the books packed with old photographs.

"It's nice to remember our heritage and our past," said the author of Exploring Wilts and Dorset Country, which covers the routes, places and vehicles through the 1900s.

Poole had two routes, one from the station through Lower Parkstone to Branksome and the other along North Road and through Upper Parkstone, with 17 trams, with a top speed of 16mph. The service operated from 1901 until 1935 when the routes were taken over by motor buses operated by Hants and Dorset.

"It's as much a social hist-ory," said Brian Jackson, co-author with Chris Roberts of Trams and Buses of Poole, which gives a detailed account of public transport over the past 100 years.

"If it hadn't been for the buses and trams Poole and Bournemouth wouldn't have been what they are today," he said. "Buses to Sandbanks started when it was being developed because they wanted to get the workers there," said Chris Roberts.

One of the town's trams, No 1, saw service in Llandudno until 1956, and another, No 6, is currently in a poor state of repair in storage in Poole.

Bournemouth Passenger Transport Association has launched an £80,000 appeal to restore it and put it on public display. "I don't think we will get round to having tracks back in Poole to run it on, but you never know," said BPTA director Jeff Allen.

In the meantime the blue-liveried Wilts and Dorset bus can be seen on routes throughout the town and beyond.

Exploring Wilts and Dorset Country from The Nostalgia Collection at £14.99 and Trams and Buses of Poole from The Oakwood Press at £13.95 are available in local bookshops and from the bus station.

Donations payable to the Car No 6 Appeal can be sent to Bournemouth Passenger Transport Association, West Quay Road, Poole.