PETER Sykes of Swanage said Brenda Mitchell's postcard showing Bournemouth Square with the tram loop around the roundabout printed on March 6 was installed in 1906 and allowed BCT's conduit fitted trams in Gervis Place to access Old Christchurch Road or Richmond Hill. Another tram can be seen in Old Christchurch Road, waiting near the Mansion Family Hotel, to start the journey eastwards.

In the foreground on the right is a 1907 built BCT bogie tram no.72 waiting to depart for Poole. It was built by Brush as part of the last batch fitted for conduit working as well as overhead wire. This batch was longer than the previous versions allowing for 30 passengers inside and 32 upstairs. From 1920 they were altered with glazing at each end, giving the driver much needed protection in winter, and upstairs seating was increased to 36.

The two storey building on the left of the picture is Hankinson's estate agents with the tall steeple of the Punshon Memorial Methodist Church behind it. The church, opened in 1886, was named after the Rev Dr William Morley Punshon who had died five years earlier.

To the right of the church is the Central Hotel, built in 1886 it was reconstructed in 1910 with central heating, electric lift and lighting being added. The hotel was destroyed during a bombing raid in May 1943.

At the bottom of Richmond Hill is the Mansion Family Hotel, built in 1888, became the Empress Hotel around 1906. Ground floor shops underneath the hotel included Louis Wolff & Co. Ltd which had headquarters at Tottenham Court Road, London. They were manufactures of picture frames, carvers and gilders; publishers of engravings, etchings and colour prints, as well as dealers in oil paintings and water colour drawings.