Roll of Honour

Claude Willington Lane (1908-1971) was a tramway enthusiast all his life. In 1930 he founded the Lancaster Electrcial Company, in Barnet, North London. The company specialised in the design and construction of battery electric vehicles, including vans and milk floats. However, once the company was established, he indulged his first love by working summer seasons as a tram driver, first at Llandudno & Colwyn Bay and then Blackpool. He was also an acomplished ice skater and won medals at several national competitions between the 1930s and early 1950s.

His tram driving duties gave him the idea of building his own tram and in 1949, using his company's workshop facilities, he built his first tram, an enclosed 15-inch gauge double decker which stood just 7ft 6in tall! The tram was initially run on a short track at Lancaster Electrcial Co, but he soon began accepting invitations to run it at garden fetes, which he did by using portable track and even a portable overhead electrcial supply. After two sucessful years as a portable system, he then operated a one-off season at St Leonards near Hastings in 1951, followed by the first of 6 years at Rhyl in 1952.

By the end of 1952, Claude decided that it would be more lucrative and enjoyable to run a narrow gauge tramway full time, and in May 1953 he founded Modern Electric Tramways, just as he was preparing to sign the lease with the local council to establish the 2ft gauge Eastbourne Tramway.

For the remainder of the 1950s, Claude Lane and his assistant Allan Gardner established a successful operation at Eastbourne. Several cars were built during this period, which are still in use at Seaton.

By the mid-1960s, it became clear that there would be major redevelopment around and across the tramway's route at Eastbourne, and so the search began for an alternative freehold site to which the tramway could re-locate and develop freely. Following the closure of the Seaton branch in 1966, Claude began negotations to buy the line from British Railways, and the deal was completed in 1969.

Trams ran for the last time at Eastbourne in September 1969, and then it fell to just Claude and Allan to move everything over to Seaton in the winter of 1969/70. They converted two bus chasis to lorries, and undertook some 36 return journeys from Eastbourne to Seaton. Miraculously, by August 1970, they had not only completed the move from Eastbourne, but had laid the first mile of track, from Riverside to Bobsworth Bridge, named after the inaugural fare of one shilling. The Tramway closed again at the end of September 1970 to allow further construction to take place, and by early 1971 the track had been extended to Colyford.

As they eagerly awaited the start of the new season, the strain of the past few years finally told as Claude suffered a heart attack. Initally he was stabilised and it was thought that he would recover, but sadly after three weeks in hospital he died on 2nd April 1971.

It was a cruel blow that the Tramway's founder was unable to see his new line through to completion, but fortunately his vision and determination were shared by both his assistant Allan Gardner and nephew Roger Lane, and they quickly took on the massive task of trying to see the project through to completion.

Allan James Victor Gardner (b. 1937) was involved right from the beginning of the Tramway; Claude Lane's first tram car 23 was still being completed in 1949 when a 12-year old Allan spotted it on his way to school. He was caught red-handed by Claude Lane as he sneaked in to get a closer look!

Once Claude was satisfied that Allan had a genuine interest, he was asked to assist with the earliest operations at garden fetes etc, and the start of the Eastbourne Tramway coincided with Allan leaving school, so from that point on the Tramway became his full time job, apart from a period of national service in 1957/58.

Claude gave Allan an excellent training in all aspects of tramway design, building, engineering and maintenance, and he assisted Claude in the creation of all the trams from the mid-1950s onwards. The two of them were able to undertake just about any engineering task, rarely needing outside contractors.

During the relocation of the Tramway from Eastbourne to Seaton, Claude and Allan adapted two bus chassis into flatbed lorries, and made some 35 return journeys during the winter of 1969/70 as they moved the entire tramway and all its equipment. Incredibly, they not only achieved this, but by August 1970 had also laid about a mile of track at Seaton, making it possible for the first passengers to be carried.

During 1970/71, Claude and Allan continued to extend the track to Colyford, but sadly the strain of the previous year caught up with Claude, and in April 1971 he died as the result of a sudden heart attack. The whole project was plunged into uncertainty, but thankfully Claude's nephew Roger Lane stepped in and persuaded the Lane family to keep their money in the project, and Allan was appointed as Managing Director, with the daunting task of seeing the Tramway through to completion.

The Tramway's plight prompted several transport enthusiasts to come forward and offer their help to Allan, and the warm welcome that Allan offered persuaded many more to join the cause. It wasn't long before working parties would converge on Seaton to help with the labour-intensive work of restoring embankments and bridges, laying track and erecting the overhead wire system.

In 1972 Allan met his wife Susan, and following their marriage the following year, Sue's father Cyril, brother David and mother Beryl all joined the company to bolster the full-time staff and to assist with engineering, administration and expansion of the commercial operations.

Allan drove through an amazing amount of progress in the 1970s; by 1973 the overhead power system was in place; by 1975, an extension from Riverside to Seaton had been built and level crossing tracks had been put in place at Colyford; by 1978 the line between Colyford and Colyton was almost complete, but then flooding delayed the final opening until 1980.

As well as completing the line, Allan also made significant additions to the fleet, including the conversion of car 12 from single deck to double deck. As time went on, he also finished the conversion of ex-London car 94 into car 14, built a brand-new open toast rack (car 17), and finished to conversion of ex-Bournemouth 106 into car 16. Later on, in 1994, he obtained the body of Exeter car 19, and in four years transformed it into an enclosed single deck saloon car.

By the 1990s, the success of the tramway was exceeding the capacity of its infrastructure, and with the help of a newly expanded board including Brian Horner and Trevor Shears, Allan was able to plan for a new terminus building at Seaton, expanded station facilities at Colyton and an extension to Riverside Depot.

Allan had always envisaged that additional open top trams would be needed at Seaton, and his last big project was to design cars 9, 10 and 11. Finance and logistics meant that the project took longer than envisaged, and so the trams were eventually launched after Allan's retirement, between 2004 and 2007.

Allan stepped down as Managing Director in 2002, after 31 years as Managing Director and over 50 years of involvement, and retired from the Board in 2008.

In 1998, Allan was awarded the MBE for services to tourism, deserving recognition of the skill, energy and total commitment that enabled the Tramway to survive after Claude Lane's shock death. His ability to inspire and enthuse encouraged many people to get involved, ensured the Tramway’s survival and expansion, and fulfilled the vision he shared with friend and mentor Claude Lane.

Lionel Jack Boylett (1912-2002) was born in Cricklewood, North West London on 7th October 1912. Cricklewood was right at the heart of the territory of the Western Section of the MET trams, where he developed a great love for these vehicles. In 1942 he moved to the northern extremity of the MET system at Whetstone, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Lionel first became part of the tramway fraternity when he took part on the famous tram tour of 15th May 1938, when members of the Light Railway Transport League chartered the most modern London tramcar (No1) and rode the extremities of the system from Waltham Cross to Purley. As a result of this tour, Lionel became an active member on the committee of the LRTL until being called up for military service in 1942. Whilst stationed in Greece, he met future wife Lita, whom he eventually married in 1971.

On his return to civilian life, Lionel continued his great tramway interest, and in 1949 met fellow enthusiast and businessman Claude Lane, whose Lancaster Electrical Company was situated just a short distance from Lionel at Barnet, and had just completed building his first 15-inch gauge tram, car 23.

They struck up an immediate friendship, and travelled many thousands of miles together, trying to find a suitable site to run the tram. Several locations were tried for short periods, until a more permanent site was found at Eastbourne, and when Claude set up Modern Electric Tramways Ltd, Lionel joined the Board.

He played a very active part in the running of the company throughout its time at Eastbourne, was a regular volunteer driver, and also wrote one of the company’s first guidebooks.

Sadly, the distance from London to Seaton caused Lionel to relinquish his position on the Board and cease playing an active role when the Tramway moved in 1970, although he never lost his keen interest in what was going on, and visited on many occasions.

This biography is based on an obituary written in 2002 by Lionel’s friend John Barrie.

George Clark was from Rhos-on-Sea and met Claude Lane when Claude was driving trams for the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway Co.

In 1951, after it became clear that Claude wouldn’t be granted another summer season at St Leonards, George Clark knew of the Voryd Amusement Park in Rhyl, and he introduced Claude to the Twigdon family that owned it. An agreement was reached, and Car 23 operated in Rhyl from 1952 until 1957, with cars 225, 3 and 6 (in its original single deck toastrack form) also spending limited time there up until 1954, when they were required for service at Eastbourne.

George Clark helped with the constriction of the line at Rhyl, and helped to operate it along with Claude and Allan Gardner. He became a director of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd on its inception in May 1953.

Claude and Allan’s time eventually became focused on Eastbourne, but George Clark continued to oversee Rhyl, although latterly the Twigdon family were responsible for the day-to-day operation.

Once MET ceased operation in Rhyl at the end of the 1957 season, the line was dismantled and most of the equipment transfered to Eastbourne. Car 23 was sold shortly afterwards and remains in private ownership.

George Clark’s involvement in MET ceased around this time. Although he visited Eastbourne on many occasions, he was never actively involved there, and he died in 1968.

He is pictured here at the controls of car 225 at St Leonards in 1951.

Herbert George Huntley became the first Company Secretary of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd on its inception in May 1953, and remained in that role until 1964, when he resigned and was suceeded as Company Secretary by Brian Pocock.

Jay William Fowler (1896-1970) became a director of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd at the end of 1953, just six months after its formation, and he also volunteered regularly at Eastbourne Tramway during the 1950s and 60s.

He is perhaps best known as the founding chairman of the Light Railway Transport League (now Light Rail Transit Association) in 1938, and as such played a leading role in the attempt to reverse the trend towards closure of tramways in the UK, and then as an advocate for the re-introduction of modern tramways.

Roger Lane is the nephew of founder Claude Lane, and enjoyed helped out his uncle at Eastbourne Tramway during student holidays. He then pursued a career as a project manager in the petrochemical industry.

However, he became a key figure in Seaton Tramway following the sudden death of Claude Lane in April 1971. The Tramway had only moved to Seaton the year before and was still in the early phase of its development. Furthermore, Claude had died without a will in place, which put the Tramway in a perilous finacial position. Roger stepped forward and persuaded his relatives to keep the family money invested in the Tramway, making them see that the completion of the Tramway would be the best possible tribute to Claude's memory.

Roger joined the board soon after Claude's death, and became a great support to Allan Gardner, who had taken over as Managing Director. Roger's help consisted of both spreadsheets and shovels, as he undertook both business planning and participated in some of the hard work such as track laying.

His project management experience and advice was invaluable as the Tramway expanded via a series of major deveopments, and his support to successive managment teams helped to smooth the way through several transitions down the years. Roger retired as a director in December 2017 but continues to take a keen interest in the Tramway's progress.

Brian Ivo Pocock (1923-2011) was a director of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd from 1964 until 1970. He acted as Company Secretary and Accountant, providing financial and legal advice.

He played a particularly important role once the Tramway began to consider a move away from Eastbourne, and took part in the negotiations to purchase the site of the Seaton Branch, and subsequently advised on the legislation and enquiries necessary to secure the permission to operate at Seaton.

Once the move was complete, he resigned from the board, choosing instead to continue his professional life in Eastbourne.

Susan Gardner (née Chaplyn) was born in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire and moved with her family to Seaton at the age of 11.

Sue met Allan in 1972, and they were married in September 1973. It was inevitable that she would work with Allan on the Tramway, and initally helped to bring order to the administrative aspects of the operation and took on the management of the shop, the sole outlet at the time being mobile Tram Shop 01. She joined the Board of Directors in 1986 as Commercial Director and expanded the Tramway's marketing and commercial activity, notably by adding a main shop and refreshment facilities at Colyton. Sue researched and bought in many products which remain popular in the shops today.

Cyril Chaplyn (1918-1994) joined the Tramway’s full-time staff in 1974, following the marriage of his daughter Sue to Allan Gardner. He assisted with track work and other maintenance tasks, and soon joined to Board of Directors, and was an important figure in the consolidation and completion of the Tramway in the 1970s.

Following his retirement as a Director and full-time member of staff in 1984, Cyril, along with his wife Beryl, worked in the shop at Colyton until his passing in 1994.

He and Beryl provided much-needed support to Allan Gardner after the sudden death of Claude Lane, and they provided endless roast dinners to all the volunteers who came down on working parties to help lay track, overhead and other large tasks. They also provided accommodation to many of them in their guest house, Jasmine Cottage, in Seaton town centre, which was said to be haunted!

Brian Horner (1935-2015) spent most of his career in the bus industry. He was Assistant Traffic Manager at Southern Vectis (Isle of Wight), Traffic Manager at South Wales Transport and United Counties, General Manager at East Yorkshire Motor Services and West Yorkshire Road Car Company. He then went on to be Deputy Traffic Commissioner in the North East Region until his retirement in 2002.

Brian had a lifelong interest in transport, and was also Chairman of North Yorkshire Moors Railway PLC. He first became involved at Seaton as a volunteer driver, and became a board member in 1991 and chairman in 2004, providing important advice and support which lead to a prolonged period of growth in the 1990s and 2000s.

Trevor Shears (1945-2014) was a transport professional and lifelong enthusiast. After working as an accountant with Peat Marwick Mitchell, he entered the bus industry in 1974 as Assistant Company Secretary/Accountant at Northern General Transport Company (Newcastle). After 3 years at East Yorkshire Motor Services, he returned to Northern General in 1979 as Company Secretary. He became Finance Director and part of the managmement buy-out team when Northern General was de-regulated in 1987. As Go-Ahead, it was floated on the stock market in 1994 and became one of the UK's most sucessful transport concerns. Having overseen this transformation, Trevor retired from Go-Ahead in 1996.

Together with his wife Lyn, he set up The Shears Foundation in 1996, in order to put back into the community some of the wealth generated by the Go-Ahead floatation. He became heavily involved in philanthropy in the North East, and was on the board of the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear. He was awarded the OBE in 2009 for services to charities in the North East.

His involvement with Seaton Tramway dates back to 1977, when he became a volunteer driver. He gradually started offering his knowledge and experience in order to help the tramway develop, and was invited on to the Board of Directors in 1991, eventaully becoming chairman in 2007. He was a key figure in the transformational developments from the 1990s onwards, including the new terminus at Seaton in 1995, the improved and expanded station facilities at Colyton Station in 1996, and the extension of Riverside Depot in 1998.

Sadly Trevor unknowingly suffered with Haemochromotosis, a rare condition which led to liver cancer which was diagnosed too late. He chose to make one last journey to the Tramway in April 2014, just 2 weeks before his death, and took much pleasure in seeing the reinstated track bed following the "St Valentines Day Flood" that February.

He left behind an impressive legacy of developments, and also a great one for the future; his widow Lyn was proud to make a very substantial donation in his memory towards the costs of the new Seaton Station, completed in June 2018.

I first met Allan Gardner about 50 years ago. He came up from Norrington’s agricultural engineers in Axminster where I was working to swap over some oxyacetaline cylinders.

In the course of the conversation, he learned that I had served my apprenticeship with R.A. Listers+Co of Dursley, Gloucestershire.

This was of great interest and revelation to him, as they had Lister generating sets at the Tramway that charged the batteries to power the trams.

He invited me to come to Seaton and have a look at them. This was the start of my involvement with Seaton Tramway. Roy Hubble was the man who took me under his wing and taught me to drive trams. There were many other drivers also involved.

Daphne, Sue Gardner and other ladies operated the mobile ticket office in what is now the Underfleet car park. This ticket office was towed down to Seaton in the mornings and towed back again in the evenings.

Seaton was very thriving in those days with Warner’s holiday camp in full swing. Today, the tram track still follows the same route around the edge of the holiday camp, albeit now a large housing estate.

I remember the extension from Riverside to Seaton being built.

The workshop was not as long as it is now and roads 3 and 4 were still dirt floors. The inspection pit used to flood on a regular basis. As did the offices from time to time. The welding set we had at the time was a very large engine driven unit (DC) that was mounted on a trolley but was a treat to use.

Claude Lane’s lathe in the workshop was powered by the same 110 volt system that powered the trams, hence when a tram came along from Seaton to Riverside, the tram would take most of the power and the lathe would come to a grinding holt. Tricky if you were halfway through a cut in a piece of metal!

I remember Mr Chaplyn was one of the engineers. Allan Gardner the MD was an excellent tradesman in his own right and his painting of trams was second to none. He knew trams inside out, having built a lot of them.

Stan Letts is another name that comes to mind, in that he used to come and line out the trams and transfers, a marvellous craftsman and a gentleman.

Many, many people came bringing their various skills over the years, I just wish I could remember all their names!

Alan Pearce installed and maintained the lineside telephone system we had back then, long before radios, and he was later assisted by Mick Bulman. This system to me had real character.

Allan’s wife Sue had her little office in the top left hand corner of the Tram shed, and it is still there to this day.

In the depot there was an engine driven generator which made a dreadful noise but provided the necessary power for the tramway, especially when it got busy. A sound to behold when trying to work or on the telephone; a hell of a row!

Eric Thornton, a director of the Tramway, took me under his wing. He was another very clever engineer who taught me a lot regarding tramcar engineering. He and I visited many other Tramway systems throughout the UK to see behind the scenes. I was privileged to be asked by the Thornton family to give a eulogy at his funeral.

I remember I purchased what is now the bucket wagon which we removed from a scrapped SWEB lorry. Eric designed and made up the truck on which it sits still to this very day.

I also well remember Brian Horner, Mark's father, and Roger Lane, both of whom were directors of the Tramway and both real gentleman. I do miss that generation of folks.

Time moves on in life and I started my own agricultural engineering business in Axminster, hence not so much spare time for the Tramway. I was also serving on the Axminster Town Council (for 30 years) also an East Devon District Councillor for 16 years, along with many other community involvements. Carnivals being a great love of mine, we even had a tram displayed on a float one year.

Semi-retirement gave me the opportunity to apply for the Engineering Manager job, which I was fortunate enough to be given. Working under the remit of Jenny Nunn and Colin Brown, again from whom I learnt a great deal. One of my achievements was to reorganise and tool up the engineering and woodwork workshops with relatively new equipment.

I well remember the launch of the pink tram, and Sue Bowman had me dressed as the pink panther to drive it wearing pink overalls which I still have!

I also had the good fortune to travel around giving talks and publicising the Tramway to many organisations far and wide, which I enjoyed doing. I also used to give Tram Driving Lessons; I even taught Mark Horner to drive. With Sue Bowman and other members of staff we organised car shows and evening tribute bands at Colyton station and Mr Bob Collier’s fields in Colyton. Abba and Neil Diamond are names that come to mind. We also back then had Mrs Voysey, a farmers wife who used to meet the trams at Colyton with her horse and cart. She would give trips into Colyton and back, quite a rare sight!

I also remember Jackie Goode who used to run the Tramstop Restaurant before Abi took over.

Time again moves on, and I had realised the potential in young Lee Taylor who had joined the Tramway from school. As an older man, it was only right for me to step back and make way for new blood. He has not disappointed and has fulfilled the potential I saw in him. So, I stood aside and he took on the role of Engineering Manager.

I carried on as what was then called the Project Manager, this coinciding with the development of the old Warner holiday camp site. The new development which we see today sits upon many many thousands tonnes of sand. Which was shipped in into a mile off-shore in Lyme Bay and then pumped under sea and then overhead into the site to raise it to the level we see today above the flood plain.

Interestingly, this operation brought me into contact with many contractors as a liaison between them and the Tramway in the redevelopment of the site. I well remember the talks with Sainsburys who were also in contention with this site, and in their plans there was provision to build a Tram stop within the store complex. That would have been quite a unique thing. Alas this didn’t happen, and Tesco won the day.

Other projects came and went on a day to day basis, but after a while I decided to retire from full time employment from the Tramway but would help out as and when required.

With more time now to carry on with my community involvement, Axminster Care service, RDE Wonford Hospital voluntary service, and some of my own restoration projects on cars and tractors, I kept busy.

However, I vividly remember a phone call from Lee in 2014 telling me that large sections of the tram track had been washed away following torrential rain and floods and asking who I could suggest to assist with this problem. I put him in touch with Axminster Excavators who were then appointed as the contractors to reinstate the line. A costly and very lengthy operation. I remember also being involved with SW crane hire to lift Trams 6 and 8 onto a low loader in Seaton, transport them to Colyton and lift them back onto the rails to enable a service to run between Colyton and Colyford. This kept the Tramway open and provided a few pennies, albeit a skeleton service.

Moving on yet again, things come full circle in life. I am now back involved 2 days a week, helping to train the two apprentices the Tramway have taken on. After all, they are the future and they will be very involved with the restoration of Tram No7 which has been stored for a long time.

When desperate I am called to drive trams. 50 years ago, I passed my driving test on Tram No8 and there are no doubt many many other memories that are tucked away in the far corners of my brain, but I trust this is a small flavour of my involvement with Seaton Tramway.

On a personal note, in 2019, I was honoured to receive a British Empire Medal in recognition to my service to the community service. At the investiture the Lord Lieutenant of Devon said among other things to me, "I understand you drive trams. Tell me more”…

Eric Thornton (1918-2007) was a well-known tramway modeller, engineer and enthusiast in his native Yorkshire.

He was appointed as a director in 1981, and provided valuable engineering and management support to Allan Gardner over many years while resident near Seaton. He latterly moved to Welshpool, but continued to visit Seaton long after his formal retirement from the board in 1994.

The video clip shows Eric operating his magnificant model tramway, which he built from scratch.

Fred Wallace (1931-2022) was the brother-in-law of Roger Lane, and was invited on to the Board of Directors in 1981 to represent that side of the Lane family. Fred provided invaluable advice, and was instrumental in establishing the first portable tea bar at Colyton Station, which operated for several years prior to a larger cafe being opened in the station building.

Transport has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, as my father Brian was a manager with the National Bus Company and an enthusiast of all forms of transport. Some of my earliest memories are of family days out, punctuated by “unexpected” visits to bus depots and heritage railways.

When we took a family holiday in Devon in 1976, it was all but inevitable that we would visit Seaton Tramway. I have vivid memories of my first ride at the age of eight; my parents put my sister and I on the tram at Seaton, and I assumed that the ride would just go round the corner and then come straight back. I can still feel the excitement as I realised that the traction poles stretched away from the town and right up the Axe Valley to an unknown destination; it seemed like a real adventure!

My father quickly became involved as a volunteer driver, and I would often ride with him, pretending to be his conductor. When I was old enough, I began to get more involved, and my first real duty was to act as trolley turner on the day of Car 14’s launch in 1984. As a student, I spent several of my long summer holidays as a seasonal tram driver, with Allan & Sue Gardner so kindly letting me stay with them at Station House, Colyton Station.

In 1992 I was thrilled to be offered a chance to join the permanent staff. For the first few years my time was split between driving and assisting with maintenance tasks, the most notable of which was painting most of the traction poles along the line, the same ones that had caught my imagination as a boy.

Although I was a competent driver, I don’t have any real skills in engineering, and so it was with a mixture of relief and excitement that I was asked to devise and organise a celebration of the Tramway’s 25^th anniversary in 1995. This was the first time the Tramway had attempted a season-long programme of events, including the first Bus & Vintage Vehicle rally, organised with Nigel Harper and which became an annual event for nearly 20 years, and Tram Driving Lessons, which remain a popular attraction to this day.

In 1996 I was appointed Marketing & Operations Manager (joining the Board as a director in 1997), in charge of overseeing the promotion of the Tramway, along with operational issues such as timetabling, rosters, driver recruitment and training. The Tramway was experiencing a big increase in visitors and this, together with more stringent health and safety legislation, meant that the Tramway had to adapt the way it organised itself.

In 2002, I was given the huge privilege of succeeding Allan Gardner as Managing Director on his retirement, a daunting task given everything that Allan had achieved by bringing the Tramway through the crisis after Claude Lane’s death, and ensuring that it survived and grew in line with Claude’s vision.

Looking back, I see my time as MD as an interregnum period, as by 2005 I felt that I had become a little stale in the job and needed to prove myself with a new challenge elsewhere. Probably the best decision we took during my time as MD was to appoint Jenny Nunn, initially as Commercial Director, but who later took over from me and she has been tremendous for the Tramway; she manages to be both a great administrator and an innovater, having introduced many great ideas such as Polar Express, which have made the Tramway ever more professional and finacially secure.

I spent nearly 10 years as Tourism Development Officer at Pembrokeshire County Council, which was a great experience, but once the Seaton Tramway bug has bitten, it never really leaves you. When my stepfather Trevor Shears suddenly died in 2014, the Board were looking for someone to join in his place, and I was delighted to be invited back as a non-executive director. Since then, I have tried to make myself useful in a number of ways, not least by volunteering as a driver once again. Who knows, I may even get back to painting those traction poles again one of these days!

They say you should never go back but, when it comes to something as unique as Seaton Tramway, it’s very hard to resist the temptation. So many of us share a great love for it, and many have given huge amounts of their life to it over the years. There is something so special about this place that makes us want to give of our best, which hopefully helps it to pass to the next generations in the best possible state.

If the staff and volunteers of the future get anything like the same sense of fun and satisfaction that I have felt over the years, then Seaton Tramway will surely continue to thrive and grow in the coming decades.

Seaton Tramway has played a huge part in my life from an early age, not only from a career point of view, but through the everlasting friendships and memories made over the last 30 years and more.

From the welcoming of an inquisitive 10-year-old boy, by the likes of Allan and Sue Gardner (who became like a second Mum and Dad to me through my teens), John Barrie, Motorman Higgins, Daphne Brewer, and many more who never tired of the endless questions I would pose, I was welcomed into the tramway world well and truly. I could fill pages of the stories from my early years and the number of characters met over the years.

From being allowed to turn the seats on the trams to turning the trolley poles (on those I could reach) I was always welcomed to get as involved as much as I could given my young age. Spending any of my spare time at the Tramway and getting to know, all the staff volunteers and Directors, not only was my education on trams, engineering, and customer service, continuing to grow, but life-long friendships were very much formed and some mentors that would help shape my career and give me sage advice that I still rely on today.

Upon leaving school in 1995, I started my 4-year Electrical Engineering and service maintenance apprenticeship with the tramway, with the first major project of the Victorian station build at Seaton Terminus, little did I know what lay ahead for the future of that site and the part I would play, but I will come to that later.

As the Tramway’s popularity continued to grow and the positioning of the new Seaton Terminus gave a much more focal point, we hit a real run of major projects over the coming years.  Following on from the Seaton Terminus project, was the extension and revamp of Colyton Station, the depot upgrade and extension, No19’s rebuild and launch, No12’s rebuild, it was a run of projects year after year.

However, it wasn’t always fun filled fulfilment working on these great projects.  There were some lows amongst those highlights.  Having done okay at school I headed off on day release to Exeter college, where I found I was the ‘baby’ of the class as the only school leaver and realisation soon dawned on me that all those on the course were working with people who could mentor them on all things electrical. I had been put on the electrical engineering course as the Tramway at the time didn’t have any full-time staff with electrical engineering experience and relied heavily on a few volunteers who had that knowledge. To say my first year a college was a struggle was an understatement! However, thanks to the support of stalwart volunteers like Keith Marlow, Alan Pearce and Mike Bulman, plus a very supportive team of lecturers including Keith Cleeve, Jeremy Norcombe and Derek Debenham, I started to get my head around the electronics side of engineering and the mathematics, the DC Motor’s, Switching and, Heavy Duty Distribution networks came easily as this was what I had been educated on over the years in the depot workshop. On the mechanical engineering and servicing side of learning, this was no issue as Allan’s wealth of experience along with the rest of the engineering team meant I always had people on hand to draw on. College after year 1 actually started to click, and despite the age gap to my peers, I still made longstanding friendships too.

The Tramway at the time had been running over 20 years at Seaton and a lot of the original Eastbourne trams and equipment were getting well-worn and the infrastructure tired, whilst this use to play havoc with services and delays, it became an excellent way to learn diagnostics fault finding.

Having always been keen to drive the trams as well as fix and maintain them, at every milestone that we thought we would have to reach, a hurdle presented itself! Firstly, we were advised I would have to be 17, the age to hold a motorcar license to drive trams in passenger service, then as I approached 17, we were advised the insurance company took a different stance and the age of 18 was stipulated. Having finally got over the disappointment of waiting another year as I readied myself to make my passenger service debut, we were dealt the news that any passenger service driver on a Light Rail Systems (as the Tramway runs under a Light Railway order), would have to be 21 at least.  So once again I was playing a waiting game. So, eventually after reaching the milestone of 21, one year after successfully completing my apprenticeship and being able to sign off trams as fit for service, I finally made my first passenger service shift, driving No12 (always one of my favourites).

It was also during these years that Mark Horner started introducing events like the Bus Rally and Gala days, the original Tramathon and more.  For the first time ever, we had all the trams out all day on a special roster pattern for the inaugural bus rally, with short workings to Colyford from both Seaton and Colyton, all before the days of the two-way radio system and mobile phones. Relying solely on the timecards and line-side telephone system, I was station at Colyford to ensure all movements and departures were correct.  All was running like clockwork, despite some doubters it would work, until around lunchtime, when I look up to see the ‘wrong tram’ approaching me from Colyton, thanks to a driver misreading his timecard – alas a rude welcoming to the world of timetables and operations. Without time to try and call the depot to speak to Mark, I had to think fast and a quick shuffle of trams around the station soon had the order correct again without upsetting any passengers, driver rosters, running order or timetable! A taste of Op’s that I liked and enjoyed.

So back to the memorable projects, obviously one of the big projects that had always been the ‘dream’ and in the pipeline even from Claude Lane’s time, were trams 9, 10 & 11. To be charged with overseeing the build of the frames by Bolton Trams Ltd and be the first to drive No9 under its own power, having completed the wiring (our first 4 motored venture).

My involvement in this latest project led to me attending Board meetings to update on developments, witnessing and getting that first taste of a Boardroom was invaluable experience so early in my working career, Chaired by the late Brian Horner at the time, his style and manner left a lasting impression to this day.

The support I had received by the Board throughout those early years had been fantastic, but as with all things change was inevitable, when Allan Gardner retired and I stepped up to Chief Engineer and Mark Horner took over as Managing Director.  What had become a career dream did not work quite how I had envisaged. One of the lessons of life I hadn’t learnt by that time, was that some people don’t like change. Something I struggled to get my head around at the time. Allied to the pressures of needing to earn a solid living to get on the property market and the Tramway still working towards its goal of being competitive in the marketplace, I made one of the hardest career decisions I have ever made. As much as I loved the Tramway and so many of the people involved there, I took the decision to head off to pursue other opportunities in the field of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, BUT of course whilst I left from being a full-time staff member, I couldn’t just walk away! So, I remained on the part-time driving team and Tramcar Supervising team under the Op’s Manager Colin Brown.

One of the success stories from my time as Chief Engineer was employing a young apprentice called Lee Taylor.  Lee was at school with my now wife Jacqui and was dating her best friend, he was desperate for some work experience in an engineering environment so asked if he could do his at the tramway. Not only did he make a strong impression work wise, we hit it off famously and we are still best of friends today, I think he did alright, the rest they say is history.

Having successfully adapting to a new field in Engineering in my career change, the confidence to try something new or different was less daunting, suddenly change yet again offered me a new opportunity. Colin Brown was due to retire and having enjoyed my time supporting on the Tramcar Operations side and having gained more experience in logistics and staff management, plus remember the Bus Rally story earlier! I found myself back at the Tramway full time as Operations Manager.

Despite my time away from the day to day, a few key players were still on the Board of Directors, now Chaired by Trevor Shears after Brian had retired. The one clear thing was the vision for the tramway was still the same. One of the saddest moments was saying goodbye to Trevor the last time we met, knowing he wouldn’t live to see the next part of the dream that we shared realised.

Those who know me would hopefully agree that I am very much a people person, so, as Op’s Manager dealing with all the driving staff and volunteers led to even more friendships and memories, whilst wider dealings with other tramways around the country would lead me to my next crossroads.

With the country in recession all the pipeline of projects put on hold at the tramway, I was approached to head up the reformation of UKTram Ltd. to be the Trade Body for Light Rail (as set out in the Government White Paper – Green Light for Light Rail) in the UK and British Isles, alongside supporting the Integration of the new City Centre Extension to the Midland Metro.

An opportunity I could not let pass and one to benefit the wider industry and not just Seaton Tramway.  So, while I moved on, it is far from the end of the story. Leaving on good terms and providing assistance to the Tramway along with all our other members has been very satisfying. My send off from the team on my last official day was one I will hold dear forever.

My time at UKTram and working for Centro (now Transport for the West Midlands) led to the opportunity of setting up my own business SMARTTRAMS Ltd. which specialises in Light Rail Consultancy.  So, you can imagine my delight when I was invited to act as the Independent Competent Person (I.C.P.) for the new Seaton Station Project, some 20+ years after Allan Gardner and I mixed the concrete foundations for the “Edwardian” station that was now being replaced. The planned projects at Seaton were now being realised and I have still been able to be involved. There is plenty more to add to this in the coming years.

So a final thanks you has to go to all those listed below and many more, for if it wasn’t for Seaton Tramway not only would I not be where I am today career wise, which I am forever indebted to those who have supported me along the way, but the whole Light Rail industry would be in a different place too.

In no particular order my gratitude to all the following (sadly a few no longer with us): Allan and Sue Gardner, Mark Horner, Trevor & Linda Shears, Brian Horner, Roger Lane, Jenny Nunn, Bruce Warnes and all those friends past and present.

Here is to the next 30+ years.

Colin Brown (b. 1944) writes;

My first involvement with the Tramway was in 1996 when I took a day’s Tram Driving Lesson in Car 14 with instructor Denis Higgins.

I applied to become a volunteer driver in 1998, started training with Bob Addington that Easter, and got my license in June 1998, after which I averaged about 40 shifts per year.

I was appointed as the seasonal Operations Manager in 2002, going full time from 2005-2008, and Operations Director from 2006-2008.

I acted as Engineering Manager 2006 -2008 and Management Team leader in the absence of a Managing Director.

Retired from employment in December 2008 at age 64, but continued as a volunteer driver from 2009-2018. I’m currently medically unfit but hoping to continue as volunteer driver once I am recovered.

Memorable moments and achievements include;

• Organising galas from 2005-2008
• Attending Heritage Railway Association meetings and awards ceremonies on behalf of the Tramway
• Appearing in several publicity films, particularly “Escape to the Country” and the BBC Holiday programme.
• Instigating the resurrection of the Colyford and Colyton sidings
• Instigating the Section 1 staff and light control system
• Instigating frog lights at most loops
• Incorporating The 2006 ROGS act into operation.
• Incorporating the Tramway into the fixed Track Committee of the Confederation of  Passenger Transport and attending the meetings in central London.
• School facilitator to the business studies department at Woodruff School in Lyme Regis in conjunction with Axminster Carpets and HSBC Bank.
• Attending meetings with the Seaton Development Committee and the Wetland Development.
• Attending Board Meetings in my time on the Board of Directors.
• Attending meetings at the Houses of Parliament with the All Party Select Committee for Light Railways and Tramways.

I was General Manager at Cantabrica Coaches until 2011 when it went in to liquidation, I then set up my Business PSV services, helping small coach companies with anything from driving, Insurance claims, tachograph analysis, dispute mediation etc.

I joined the HRA as a private member in 2010 and worked with David Woodhouse and John Crane at the many travel trade exhibitions. The highlight of this was getting stand space at the Excel "World Travel Fair" and selling Heritage Railways to biggest agents on the planet, including giving Seaton a plug.

In 2009 Roger Wright sold Blue Triangle buses to the Go-Ahead group and bought the Epping Ongar Railway. He was looking for a General Manager to move the project forward, which was too big a job for a 65 year old but we kept in touch and I joined as a volunteer in 2012, first driving the connecting vintage bus service and later as second man on the diesel railcar.

I also joined the London Transport Museum Friends, as courier on Friends outings and have written several items for the magazine and website. So, all in all, I am still very much involved and interested in transport.

Gareth was born in Cardiff in 1958. Married with four children, he is an Electrical Engineer by trade. He was Managing Director of his own Company for 25 years, which although started out as an IT based company then developed into designing and manufacturing Specialist Imaging Equipment.

A lifelong Astronomer and Meteorologist, he was elected a Fellow of The Royal Astronomical Society in 1991 for his work in Astronomy in Education, and elected a Fellow of The Royal Meteorological Society in 1998.

He was Chair of Governors of a large Primary School in Cardiff for 16 years.

He has always had a keen interest in historic transport, both steam and electrical, and first became involved with Seaton Tramway in 2000 as a volunteer driver whilst still living in Cardiff. He moved to Seaton with his wife and youngest son in 2010 to retire and take things easier. He was then asked to take on a part time role as an Inspector, and then returned to full time work in 2018 when he was appointed Operations Manager at the Tramway.

Lee Taylor (b. 1983) joined the Seaton Tramway team in 2002, straight from secondary school. He started as an apprentice studying for an HNC in mechanical engineering. Upon completion of the HNC, Lee undertook further studies in the engineering field working towards a foundation degree in mechanical engineering (FdSc) and then became a Bachelor of science (B.Sc.) in 2009, with a focus on manufacturing design.

During his time as apprentice at Seaton Tramway Lee introduced a new preventative maintenance schedule, which encompassed a complete overhaul of standards and methodology. This new maintenance regime saw an extraordinary increase in reliability of the fleet of trams, going from several break downs a week to just 2 over the whole operating season. These standards have been maintained ever since.

In 2008, Lee was promoted to Engineering Manager, a post which he has held to this date, and has overseen many key projects including repairs to the permanent way following storm damage, the conversion of tram 17 into tram 15 and the new build of Seaton Station.

Outside of the Tramway, Lee lives locally with his wife and three children, and his hobbies include sea & carp fishing, supporting Southampton football club, rock music and is also a committee member of a local carnival group primarily responsible for road closures and crowd control and a Local Governing Board member for a local Primary School.

Having worked most of my career in the tourism and marketing business and travelling extensively putting together holidays for Scandinavian Seaways, Bridge Travel Group and Deutsches Reiseburo in London, you would think it was a big leap to move to Devon and start work with Seaton Tramway, one of the county’s best-loved tourist attractions. Not so, because it’s all about making your product appeal to a wide audience and their families & friends, and for them to want come and visit and take in the delights of this unique attraction…and to enjoy it so much they will come back time and time again.

I started at the Tramway as Commercial Manager when Mark Horner was MD in February 2004. After Mark left there was a period when three of us as managers ran the show with Ray Chalkley, Colin Brown and myself in the leadership team. Trevor Shears was chairman of the board at this time and after some intense accountancy training with CIMA, I took over as MD in 2006 and later became CEO when the company achieved charity status in 2015. I always thought of myself as a marketeer first and foremost but actually thoroughly enjoy the accountancy side of the work and realised a long time ago that no heritage railway can operate or sustain itself long-term in today’s world without these fundamental business skills.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the job is to see the Tramway grow into a sustainable business attracting 90,000+ visitors each year with continued growth in revenue. Along the way, we have had to be bold to make us stand out from the rest of the competition in the day visits market and I am particularly proud of our ‘Pink Tram’ campaign raising awareness for Breast Cancer and still to this day it remains the most popular tram of the whole fleet. Another huge success has been the construction of the new station at Seaton which took many years in the planning and plenty of blood, sweat and tears overcoming the various hurdles en route. Seeing the new award-winning station today, I think you’ll agree that it is a most outstanding achievement for the Tramway and for the heritage railway world.

Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our dedicated staff and volunteer teams who bring with them heaps of enthusiasm and skill in what is a most professional, safe and sustainable tourism business. Thanks to the great work of our staff and volunteers, the Tramway was awarded Visit England’s highest accolade in 2019 for customer service.

The Tramway was due to celebrate 50 years of operation at Seaton in 2020, however, the Covid-19 crisis has meant that we shall have to delay the packed programme of events until 2021.  This crisis has indeed challenged people and businesses the world over and in spite of enforced month-long closures at the start of the operating season in 2020, the Tramway will be open and ready to welcome visitors again once this dreadful event has passed. That is something, I am very much looking forward to as we have a great team of hard-working people who are full of passion for this fabulous attraction and who come together to make it something special for all to enjoy.

Ray was Seaton Tramway's Engineering Manager between 2004 and 2006.

I was born and attended school in Wiltshire, and commenced my first job with Midland Bank in 1974. I married Richard Bowman in December 1977. After 12 years left the Bank in 1986 to have my son.  I set up my own party plan business (1987 – 1989), whereby I purchased and sold clothes for the whole family, together with some household items. The majority of the parties were held in the client’s house. From 1989 to June 2004 I was employed by Cheltenham & Gloucester plc. 

After spending several family holidays in Devon, Rich and myself always had the dream of living by the sea. Our dream came true when we moved to Seaton in June 2004. My first job in Devon was working as a receptionist for the Seaton Heights Hotel, however this was going to be sold therefore I needed to find another job. Just by chance I read the local paper and noticed that there was a vacancy for a Marketing & Office Assistant at Seaton Tramway. I knew that the Tramway was a very respected business within Seaton and was excited to apply for this vacancy. My application was successful and I joined the Tramway in February 2005, this was a very exciting time.

During my time at Seaton Tramway I saw many changes in the business. Assisting Jenny Nunn, Chief Executive and along with colleagues we introduced evening events, children’s activities, initially the controversial Pink tram, charity events plus much more, including the magical experience of The Polar Express Tram ride. Not forgetting The Tramway obtaining Charity status.

I was pleased to be involved with the changes to Colyton station, with the building of the Garden Room which proved to be a great addition and a very versatile space used for events and group bookings. Also, pleased that I saw the existing Seaton ticket office replaced with a fantastic new station in 2018. My time spent at the Tramway was very exciting and never dull. The Tramway was my life for 15 years and I enjoyed working with all my colleagues and Directors. Seaton Tramway will forever have a place in my heart, I am proud to have been associated with such a forward thinking and successful Company.

My connection with Seaton Tramway started back in the early 1990s when I first visited with Louise Horner, my future wife and the daughter of the then chair, Brian Horner. At the time, Louise’s brother, Mark, was also working at the tramway and the seeds for my future involvement were sown. I certainly wasn’t immune to the magical charm of the tramway - like so many before me I caught the tramway bug and it’s stayed with me ever since.

I was invited to join the Seaton Tramway board back in July 2007, becoming Chair in 2014.

The strong family links with the tramway – through two previous chairs and the ex-managing director, Mark Horner mean that my association is very much a personal one as well as a business one.

I have a background in travel and tourism. Early in my career I worked as the Assistant Manager of a tourist attraction in North Yorkshire - Mother Shipton’s Cave which at the time was dubbed “The Most Magical Place in Yorkshire” and owned by TV magician Paul Daniels. It was here that I developed a range of skills which I have brought to my role at Seaton. Above all, I learned that the paying visitor should always be at the very centre of what we do. It is their experience that determines whether we succeed or fail in business. I have also worked for Cumbria Tourist Board for three years in which time I was responsible for supporting attractions and accommodation providers with business development, marketing, etc.

I hold a degree in Tourism Management from Sheffield Hallam University and also the prestigious Tom Randall memorial Prize for the most outstanding tourism student. Academic understanding of tourism is layered into my personal philosophy of how our unique tramway should be operated managed, and continuously developed.

In recent years I have extensive experience of running my own successful small business with my wife Louise. For around 20 years we have owned and run a children’s day nursery near to our home in North Yorkshire. This means that I bring to the board both my background in tourism and some very practical current business skills and insight.

In addition to being the chair of Seaton Tramway and running my own business, I keep myself busy by running a grant making charitable foundation; chairing a charity in Darlington that supports people getting back into work and, last but not least, chairing a not for profit nursery in one of the most deprived wards in the North East. When I get a minute to myself, I am hugely into live music and try to squeeze in the odd trip to Manchester to watch the mighty Manchester City play.

I took over the chair in 2014 following the sad death of the previous chair, my mentor and stepfather in law, Trevor Shears. Trevor played a pivotal role in the transformation of the tramway into what we see today. He successfully built on the achievements of those that had gone before him to create the modern, sustainable and customer facing business we have today. I very much see it as my role to proudly play a leading part in carrying forward this unique legacy to which so many have given so much over the years.

In my very first message to staff and volunteers as chair, I said:

“Our sole aim is to run a professional, successful and profitable tramway in the memory of Claude Lane, our founder. We want to provide the maximum job opportunities possible and the best facilities for visitors and staff alike within the financial resources available to us. I want to assure everyone that your board remains 100% committed to this fundamental principle now, and for the future.”

And that is still very much my philosophy going forward.

One of the first things I put in motion when I become chair was to convert the tramway into a registered charity. We had always run as a “for profit business” but had never paid out dividends to shareholders. We have always played a key role in our community. It seemed the logical step to turn the business into a charity, with all the advantages that brings. With the unanimous support of shareholders, we achieved charitable status in 2015. This conversion has brought untold benefit to the tramway and has unlocked significant private and public funding to enable us to grow the business and secure its future. 

To me, being a charitable business doesn’t equate to having to survive on charity. At our core we remain a sharply focussed commercial organisation which is committed to making a surplus to reinvest in our work at the tramway. Charitable status is the icing on the cake which allows us to be so much more than just a business.

After the charity conversion, the next major project during my time as chair has been the construction and successful opening of our new, award winning Seaton Station. On 28th June 2018 after over 10 years of negotiation, planning, developing capacity and ultimately a challenging build we proudly opened our new Seaton Station. This £3m investment for the charity has given us an elegant, visitor focussed and innovative facility which meets the needs of the modern visitor. This type of investment in a brand-new station is almost unique in the heritage rail sector and provides a wonderful and flexible space for us to continue to grow our success and keep on putting smiles on the faces of our visitors. 

And the work continues, in business you can never stand still. I’ve learnt this over the years, and it was also the mantra of my mentor, Trevor Shears. Since the new station opened, we have successfully gained Heritage Lottery funding and further developed our visitor offer and links with the community. I passionately believe we will go from strength to strength.

Lyn became a major shareholder of Seaton Tramway following the death of her late husband Trevor in 2014. Although she is not a board member, she takes a keen interest in the Tramways's progress, and made a very significant donation in Trevor's memory towards the new Seaton Station in 2017-18.

David joined the Board of Seaton Tramway as a non-executive director in 2017, and continues to have interests in railways and tramways around the world as part of a distinguished career in rail engineering.

Josh joined Seaton Tramway full-time in August 2017 as Marketing Manager & Project Officer. Having been associated with the Tramway since Christmas 2015, coming on board for the new Polar Express Tram Ride, which he would go on to direct and produce every year since he also rewrote and produced the current version of The Dinosaur Tram Adventure which runs as a family event during the year.

With a background in Theatre, Production, Events, and Marketing, Josh was brought on full-time in 2017 and has seen the introduction of new events and fundraising initiatives like Tramathon Live, as well as bring the Tramway fully into the digital space of online social media and web content. Growing the Tramways online audience by 400% In 2021,

Josh was also voted unanimously as Devon’s Association of Tourist Attractions Vice Chairman, which operates Devon’s Top Attractions. Devon’s Top Attractions represents the very best quality assured visitor attractions in Devon, of which Seaton Tramway has been a member for over 15 years.

You can find Josh answering comments on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok and occasionally in front of the camera talking all things Tramway!

I first got involved with the Tramway in 2018 as a consultant working on the Round 2 Heritage Lottery Fund bid. I was then invited to join the Board of Directors in early 2019 and I didn’t have to think twice about accepting the position, having very quickly recognised that the Tramway was an exceptional, forward-thinking and dynamic organisation.

It is a privilege to sit on the Board and I’ve already learned a great deal from it. I am now managing the learning and activity elements of the ‘Travels Through Heritage and the Axe Valley’ project, implementing the activity plan and working with new audiences including schools and colleges, people with dementia and autism, people with mental health problems and young carers. I am also leading on accessibility, diversity and inclusion at the Tramway and am the director responsible for safeguarding.

In addition to my work at the Tramway I am also a freelance Heritage Consultant and work primarily with organisations looking to secure funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Prior to setting up my consultancy company, I was a primary school teacher for seventeen years and I also worked for Dorset County Museum as the Education Manager.

Steve has lived in Seaton with his family since the age of six, and has spent the majority of his working life in the town.  With extensive experience of management within retail he was delighted to join the Seaton Tramway team as Manager of the new Seaton Tram Station from May 2018.  One of his most treasured work memories will forever be opening the doors of the new Station for the first time on 28^th June.

In January 2020, Steve became the Commercial Manager, replacing Sue Bowman who had been in position for fifteen. Steve’s first year didn’t quite go as expected however with Covid-19 impacting this 2020 season in such a dramatic way, but it ensured he had to get to grips will all aspects of his new job in the most hands on way! 

When he’s not working for Seaton Tramway, he can usually be found down the Seaton Wetlands or along the Axe Estuary, as he has been watching, monitoring and photographing the wildlife of the Axe Valley since the early 2000s.  He enjoys passing this knowledge on, and continues to take time out of his busy job to lead some of the Bird watching special trams.

I first visited Seaton Tramway when I was on holiday as a 4 year old in 1970, when my Dad decided to have a look at "the Tramway that they had brought over". I’ve always treasured the memory of arriving, travelling on 2 different trams and turning round in what felt like the edge of a field.    For the next few years we holidayed in Seaton and a trip on the trams was the highlight of the week, each year with a little more track.

I returned to Seaton in my 20s and to my delight not only were the trams there, but they now went to the beautiful station in Colyton, and my Dad was even more excited than I was. From the mid 90s I brought my family here, and for my daughters the Tramway was always part of the week, with evening trams being a special treat. I’ve continued to visit Seaton, spending more and more time here, and always going to the Tramway within an hour of arriving, and always trying to catch Number 8 or Number 2. I didn’t know why I loved them so much until I found some childhood photos of my first visit and discovered that they were the trams I first travelled on. I’m really looking forward to bringing my granddaughter here – the fourth generation of our family to be part of the Tramway’s history.

I decided to volunteer at the Tramway, and applied to be a Tram Driver in 2019, and was encouraged and supported to believe that I could learn to drive a tram. I was in the first group of 3 to be trained after the pandemic in October 2021, with our training tram arranged for 2 weeks during a very busy live service instead of the usual winter closed period. The first time that I drove Number 8 was particularly special.

I love the great team that I have joined, the support that we get, the lovely customers, the trams and the beautiful Wetlands and countryside. I’m just starting a PhD exploring the impact of the Branch Line and Tramway on Seaton and have recently joined the board and am learning more about the Tramway all the time.

I look to meeting you when you visit!

John Baxter Barrie (1921-2007).

The following text is taken from an article that John wrote for Issue 12 of Seaton Tramway’s “Tramway Tribune” newsletter in December 1999, entitled “My 50 Years With Modern Electric Tramways Ltd”.

It was at the first ever convention of the Light Railway Transport league that I was first introduced to Claude Lane. I had just heard about his new miniature tramcar, built at his Barnet works, close to where I lived. Myself and my friend Lionel Boylett accepted an invitation to visit Mr Lane’s works in April 1949.

We were amazed to see a large model of ex-Darwen car 24 (Llandudno 23) running on a short section of 15-inch gauge track. Its construction was Claude’s response to the imminent closure of the London tram system. Like ourselves, Claude was an ardent tramway buff and has spent many of his early years riding on Metropolitan Electric Tramways, a system that has fostered our mutual love of tramways.

Our visits to Barnet works became quite frequent, and our curiosity was shared by a number of others, including local schoolboy Allan Gardner, who spent much of his spare time at the works and to whom Claude Lane became something of a mentor.

The interest shown in the car led to the fabrication of a portable track and overhead wire system, to allow the car to be operated at fetes in the Hertfordshire area. Although these functions were considered successful, a tramway in this form had no long term future due to all the hard work involved in carting the gear around.

It was decided that a more permanent site had to be found and. After much searching, Claude Lane found St Leonards, near Hastings in 1951. The line was 400 yards long and proved very popular with visitors, but Claude considered it too short a run to be viable in the long term and the line closed after one season. Another site was found within a fairground at Rhyl but, once again, this was to be a stop gap solution.

Finally in 1953, the ideal site turned up at Eastbourne. This 2/3 mile line would run from Princes Park to the Crumbles, and in May 1953 a new company, Modern Electric Tramways Ltd, was formed to operate the line. Over the next few years, the Lancaster Electrical Company was wound up and merged into the new operation, Eastbourne Tramway.

Much could be written about those early days and the countless journeys in the lorry, transporting trams and equipment, laying track and all of the other numerous jobs. The Eastbourne Tramway was an instant hit and the cars were pretty full all the time. The whole thing was kept running with the minimum of staff. Allan Gardner now spent a lot of his spare time at Eastbourne, and he and Claude devoted every possible moment to the Tramway. I did not get involved in the really heavy work of track laying etc, but instead helped out with driving and conducting.

Despite the Tramway’s popularity, Claude Lane was never really happy with the situation. He was only permitted to operate on a yearly lease, and so could never invest for the long term. A percentage of the takings had to be handed over to the Council, and he always felt that he was working for them rather than himself! There were one of two councillors who were against the Tramway and made life rather awkward for Claude, although Claude himself was a most independent character who could be just as awkward in return; I never knew anybody who could get the better of him.

Allan Gardner did his national service in the RAF between 1955 and 1957, and Claude struggled on alone in his absence, not letting anyone other than Allan help, such was his independence.

Allan Gardner finally became a full-time employee of the company in 1957 on concluding his national service. The next ten years saw a large expansion in the fleet, and much of today’s Seaton fleet dates from this period. From 1965, there were ominous rumblings from the Council about redevelopment plans in the vicinity of the Tramway, and it became obvious that another site would have to be found. Countless journeys were made around the country looking for such a site, and the number of disappointments was heart breaking, but Claude refused to give in.

Even after the Seaton Branch was identified as the preferred option, the subsequent negotiations and delays were frustrating. It was only Claude Lane’s obstinacy and the marvellous support of his right-hand man Allan Gardner that finally obtained the all clear to proceed.

The story of the move from Eastbourne to Seaton has been well documented. Suffice to say that Claude and Allan routinely worked an eighteen-hour day, seven days a week in the 1969-1971 period. They were happy to do this in order to realise their dream of establishing the new Seaton Tramway.

Sadly, Claude never saw the dream fulfilled. Claude, who we had all regarded as being indestructible, fell victim to angina and had to go into hospital. He appeared to be making a good recovery, and it seemed he would be back on his feet in time for the 1971 season. I remember receiving an urgent call from Allan on the first weekend in April, asking me to come down at once, as Claude had taken a turn for the worse. I arrived on the train, but was too late; Allan met me with the awful news of Claude’s death.

Allan was now completely on his own, with the exception of two part time employees. We sat in the car on Seaton sea front, trying to determine if the Tramway could carry on. Allan decided that there was no way he could let Claude down and that, come what may, he would carry on where Claude had left off. We both made a vow to do our utmost to keep the dream alive.

Over the subsequent years, I spent as much time as possible at Seaton, helping to driver and conduct, along with many other enthusiasts. Their efforts were absolutely phenomenal, and made the difference between survival and going under. Whilst it is perhaps unfair to single out individuals, a special mention must be made of Ken Thorpe. He was the brains behind the volunteer working parties that undertook many major tasks, such as installing Colyford level crossing and helping to build the extension to Harbour Road Car Park.

Allan was very fortunate to meet Susan Chaplyn, who became his wife in 1973. This completely changed Allan’s life, as he once again became part of a family. Sue also developed the commercial side, including the gift shops that have been such a great asset. The Tramway owes a great debt to the Chaplyn family, who all rallied around Allan and helped to get the Tramway back on its feet.

In the late 1970s, the Tramway came to the attention of two high-ranking figures from the bus industry, who also happened to be great transport enthusiasts, Brian Horner and Trevor Shears. They joined the ranks of the volunteers, going on to become directors in 1991. With their help and guidance, the Tramway has been able to provide vastly improved terminal facilities at both Seaton and Colyton. Brian’s son Mark took up full time employment in 1992, and has since relived Allan of much of the administrative chores, leaving Allan free to concentrate on his first love, engineering, and to train and encourage James Hammett, who has recently completed an Electrical Engineering apprenticeship.

The Tramway is now in a very healthy situation and can look forward to the future with great confidence. Traffic is rising continually, and it will become necessary to increase the size of the fleet again in the near future. The Tramway is now very popular in the town and in great favour with the local authorities, who realise that it is the biggest attraction in the area, and they have supported the idea of an extension to the Esplanade. My own view is that we should leave things as they are, and impr0ve what we have got; we had enough fighting red tape in the 1960s! However, this is just my personal view, and does not represent the views of the company.

Above all, let us hope that the Tramway will continue to flourish into the 21^st century. It now represents a form of transport staging a most remarkable recovery in this country, which seems remarkable when I think back to that day 50 years ago when I first met Claude Lane.

 

The following text is taken from the eulogy given at John’s funeral:

With thousands of passengers a year passing through the gates to ride on the trams, it would not be hyperbole to say that most people who met John would remember him when he was on duty at the ticket office in Seaton. It would also not be hyperbole to say that he remembered all of them, too.

For all of us at Seaton Tramway, it is rare to meet such a character as “JB” or “Lord Ashfield” as he was known affectionately to everyone. Such a passion, commitment and zeal for all things “tram” which he had throughout his long life, is indeed unusual.

John was born in Harringay, North London in 1921, where he was able to indulge his love for transport at an early age. When he returned to London after World War II, having served in the Royal Army Service Corps, he became a London Transport conductor, based at the Holloway Depot. After the 1958 bus strike, he transferred to London Underground as a booking clerk until he retired aged 65.

It doesn’t end there though, as John couldn’t get enough transport. At the tender age of 15, he was a founder member of the Light Rail Transport League, latterly the Light Rail Transit Association. As a garden fete in Hadley Wood in June 1949, he met Claude Lane, founder of the Lancaster Electrical Company in Barnet and Eastbourne Tramway. They shared a passion for trams and John became a volunteer driver/conductor and general factotum at Eastbourne from 1953.

By the mid-1960s the Tramway’s success had outgrown the less than one mile line, so together with Allan Gardner, they got involved in, some would say, a fanciful project to transport this 2ft narrow gauge tramway, rail by rail, from Eastbourne to its present site at Seaton, which previously formed the Seaton Branch before the Beeching cuts in 1966.

Claude purchased the Seaton to Colyton section in late 1969 from British Rail and after a mammoth relocation, the first section of Seaton Tramway opened in August 1970. Tragically, Claude Lane died in 1971 before completion of the final section to Colyton, but John was instrumental in keeping the ultimate project on track to what exists today. John was involved at Seaton as a volunteer driver/ticket collector/group organiser and yes, general factotum, not that he ever minded. He just cherished being close to his beloved trams.

After his retirement, John decided to move from London to a flat in Homebaye House, where he could keep an eye on the Tramway. He was a very popular resident and his flat was full of books and videos of tramways from all over the world. He had also written several articles on, yes – you’ve guessed, trams. His tram passion took him all around the world, most recently to Australia and Vienna, but most of all he loved his coach holidays to Scotland.

Last but not least, John had a wonderful, dry sense of humour which he shared with his friends and colleagues right up to his death. He wouldn’t forgive us if we didn’t make clear the absolute distinction between trams and trolleybuses; he loved to former and loathed the latter!

John died peacefully in Exeter Hospital on 4^th March 2007 aged 85. His legacy will always survive at Seaton Tramway as he was ardently concerned that everyone had the best time on their tram ride. He will be very sadly missed by all at Seaton Tramway, and a big, big thank you JB for your passion for trams.

Additional note:

John was part of the group of volunteers who discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 in a garden at Waltham Cross in 1962. They obtained it from its owner and transported it to Eastbourne, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. This turned out to be impossible, and Claude Lane took ownership of the body, and made plans to turn it into a narrow-gauge single deck saloon. This was eventually achieved when the car was relaunched as Seaton Car 14 in 1984.

John’s favourite trams were 14 and 2, because of their London connection, but he had a great love for all aspects of the Tramway, and gave a huge amount of time throughout his life to ensure that it survived and prospered.

Jack Norris (c1920-2008) was one of the early volunteers at Eastbourne, and continued to drive at Seaton until the 1980s. He was Best Man at Allan & Sue Gardner's wedding in 1973.

Tom Bater BEM (c1899-c1974) was an ex-Southern Railway permanent way inspector, and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his role in helping to re-open Waterloo station after heavy bombing in 1941.

He became Track Engineer at Eastbourne Tramway in 1956, and remained with the company until closure in 1969. When the Tramway relocated to Seaton in 1969/70, he decided to retire and remain in Eastbourne.

Volunteer Driver/Conductor 1957-2017

David Rivers (b. 1943) remains the Tramway’s longest-served volunteer, clocking up 60 years of service by the time he retired in 2017.

Born and brought up in Kent, Dave spent much of his career in the printing industry, and was responsible for producing some of the early publicity material for Eastbourne Tramway. He later went on to drive trams for Croydon Tramlink as well as at Seaton.

He first volunteered for the Tramway at the age of 14, and worked as a conductor during his school holidays, going on to be a regular driver for many years.

Ted Lilley was a retired tram driver from Croydon, and together with his wife Ivy, they would spend their summers working at Eastbourne Tramway, staying in a caravan next to the depot. After the Tramway moved from Eastbourne to Seaton, Ted and Ivy retired to Peacehaven.

Thanks to the "Eastbourne Trams Remembered" Facebook group for this information.

Ivy Lilley was from Croydon, and together with her husband Ted, they would spend their summers working at Eastbourne Tramway, staying in a caravan next to the depot. After the Tramway moved from Eastbourne to Seaton, Ivy and Ted retired to Peacehaven.

Thanks to the "Eastbourne Trams Remembered" Facebook group for this information.

John Wills (1917-2007) was part of the group of volunteers who discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 in a garden at Waltham Cross in 1962. They obtained it from its owner and transported it to Eastbourne, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. This turned out to be impossible, and Claude Lane took ownership of the body, and made plans to turn it into a narrow-gauge single deck saloon. This was eventually achieved when the car was relaunched as Seaton Car 14 in 1984.

John moved to Seaton to be close to the Tramway after its move from Eastbourne, and was a key figure in helping to get the tramway established at its new site.

John also put in a huge amount of work in the restoration of Car 94/14 through to its completion in 1984, and to Bournemouth 106, which became Seaton Car 16 in 1992. He also did a lot of work on Car 7’s rebuild in the mid-1980s, and contributed to numerous other projects

Along with his wife Irene, John also hosted volunteers at their home during their working stints on the Tramway, and John’s collection of tramway memorabilia and his tram models  are still remembered fondly by those who saw them.

Ill-health prevented John from being actively involved in his last years, but he maintained a keen interest until the end of his life, and would often be seen photographing special events and occasionally having a drive with one of the drivers.

Gordon Langford (1930–2017) was a composer, arranger and pianist. He was well known for his brass band compositions and arrangements and was also a composer of choral and orchestral music winning an Ivor Novello award for best light composition for his March From The Colour Suite in 1971.

Beyond music, Gordon was an avid transport enthusiast, but especially interested in trams and steam trains. In 1962 he discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 being used as a chicken shed in a field in Waltham Cross, and the owner agreed to it being removed and transported to Eastbourne Tramway. The intention was to restore it to its original condition, and a group known as the 94 Group would spend their free time in Eastbourne working with this aim in mind. Ultimately the task proved too complicated and required skills beyond mere enthusiasm.

When the Tramway relocated from Eastbourne to Seaton the restoration was completed by those with the requisite skills, and now runs in service as Car 14. The tram now bears two plaques in Gordon’s memory and is affectionately known as “Gordon’s Tram”.

Gordon stayed in touch with the Tramway beyond the Car 94 project at both Eastbourne and Seaton, but his career in music limited the amount of time he could spend on the Tramway, although he needed no encouragement to volunteer as a driver when such time allowed. He was not afraid to get his hands dirty and helped on the overnight laying of tracks at the road crossing in Colyford in 1975, and helped with other track works and maintenance. His first property in Seaton overlooked the Tramway and with binoculars he could see what was going on at the depot and watch the trams from the car park all the way to Swans Nest loop. He would sit writing music at his desk with this wonderful view, and when his daughter Joanna drove the trams he would signal to her as she went from the car park by flashing his desk lamp in the window, so that she could wave back. Spending more and more time in Seaton, he ultimately moved there permanently and would commute to London for recordings and concerts. Train journeys often gave him musical inspiration, and he always carried a manuscript book and pencil to jot down ideas. The move from his flat to a bungalow in 1985 gave him the much needed space for his ex-BBC studio grand piano, but this property also had glimpses of his beloved Tramway and he remained there for 32 years until his death.

There were occasions in the 1980s when the Tramway service was a wholly family affair, with Gordon driving plus daughter Joanna and son Philip making up the three car service. Both children had been introduced to the Tramway in Eastbourne and grew up well versed in all things trams and steam trains. Philip is even seen on archive film aged about six helping out on Car 94, stripping wood from its interior.

Gordon’s career in music
Gordon Langford was born in Edgware, Middlesex in May 1930 as Gordon Maris Colman. His father was a precision toolmaker. He was a prodigious child beginning piano lessons aged five having been discovered by a teacher at his Infant School. She had played a piece of music to the class and asked if any child would like to have a try. Gordon raised his hand and went on to play note for note what she had just played. Astounded, she asked how he did that to which he replied, “I just watched you”.

Realising she had found a special talent and child prodigy, she organised piano lessons as, although the family had a piano and Gordon had taught himself to play, they could not afford piano lessons for him. It became apparent early on that he had perfect pitch and during the war, with his finely attuned ear, he would tell from the pitch of the buzz bombs whether they were close enough to need to take cover under the table, or whether the family could carry on with what they were doing.

Gordon wrote a number of early compositions but the earliest to receive a public performance was one he wrote in 1939 aged 9 called Andante Funebre, and around this time he featured as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No23 in A major. He attended Bedford Modern School as a boarder, his fees being paid for by influential musicians of the day who, recognising his talent, wanted to keep him safe and away from the risks of wartime London.

National Service was deferred as he was treated as a “special case” so that he could take up his Middlesex Scholarship at The Royal Academy of Music. There he studied piano and composition with Norman Demuth, and it was he who suggested that Gordon should use his name for “serious” music and have a pseudonym for light music. This is how he came to change his name to Langford, the name chosen quite simply by pointing a pen at a phone book with eyes closed!

In 1951 during his army service with the Royal Artillery Band at Woolwich, he made his first BBC broadcast as a solo pianist. Along with playing the piano and trombone he also played the Vibraphone, and after leaving the army worked with seaside orchestras, a touring opera company (D’Oly Carte) and as a ship’s musician but it was during the 1960s that he came to prominence as a pianist, arranger and composer on BBC programmes such as Music In The Air, Melody Around The World, Ronnie Barker’s Lines From My Grandfather’s Forehead, Music While You Work and among his very many BBC commissions was his Grand Fantasia on La Boheme for the centenary celebrations of the Proms in 1994.

He is, perhaps, best known as a brass band composer and arranger with a string of CDs to his name. In particular the test pieces Facets Of Glass and Rhapsody For Trombone are well known, the Rhapsody having been written for his friend and colleague, Don Lusher. His Sinfonietta For Brass Band was used as the theme tune to the television series Best Of Brass. He also worked on numerous film scores, arranging the works of Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams on films such as Return of the Jedi, Superman 11, The First Great Train Robbery, Clash of the Titans, Goodbye Mr Chips, Return to Oz, Raiders of the Lost Ark to name but a few. He was a composer who could turn his hand to any genre.

His association with the Kings Singers goes back to their very early days when they were first starting out. Gordon had heard them on the radio and was impressed with their unique blend of voices and decided to write Blow Away The Morning Dew for them. The piece was delivered to one of their houses for a rehearsal, just on the off chance it would be something they’d like. They immediately sang it through and in that instant Gordon had created what was to become the “sound” of the Kings Singers as we now know it. Brian Kay, one of the founder members, says “Gordon was a genius – let’s not beat about the bush”. Gordon’s association with the group was to be a long and happy relationship, and today’s line up are still singing his arrangements. Over fifty years on those early arrangements sound as fresh and relevant today as they did then; over 100 of them.

Gordon’s career had a notable relationship with the BBC. Some of his compositions and arrangements were used as Test Card music in the 1960s and 70s with such titles as Hebridean Hoedown, The Lark In The Clear Air and Royal Daffodil being remembered by Test Card aficionados. He also wrote and arranged music for Friday Night Is Music Night, and played on the programme frequently as well as numerous other BBC programmes.

Daughter Joanna recalls being at A Friday Night Is Music Night rehearsal when the producers found themselves short of 10 minutes of music for the live show that evening. With only a couple of hours until the live transmission there was no time for the librarian to find more orchestral music and for it to be rehearsed, so they asked if Gordon could fill in the time. He duly jotted down a few titles and set about playing, without music, an ad hoc arrangement to fill in the required time. At the concert that evening, Joanna sat in the stalls and after Gordon had played his hastily put together arrangement, the gentleman sitting next to her turned to his wife and said “now that’s what I call a real piano player”. He didn’t know that Gordon’s daughter was sitting next to him and that Gordon had cobbled this piece together at the last minute, but of course The Concert Orchestra did know and gave him a rousing cheer and applause at the end of his impromptu solo, with the Producers no doubt highly relieved that he had saved the day.

Among the plaudits Gordon received was an Ivor Novello award for best light music composition for his March From the Colour Suite in 1971, he twice won the European Broadcasting Union’s competition for new music for brass, a Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 1994 and nomination for a Fellowship of the Royal Academy Of Music (FRAM) in 2011. However Gordon never sought the limelight. Music was just what he did, what he was good at and what he enjoyed.

A fellow musician reports that Gordon said he didn’t want to be famous, just to be respected in the profession as the best arranger. An incredibly modest man, he struck colleagues as being a shy genius and a musician’s musician who made everything he did just that little bit special.

Gordon continued to compose, including works for local groups and orchestras, the Axminster Overture being one example. His love for the Tramway never waned and until near his death he could be found on occasion riding a tram, with a huge smile from ear to ear. It brought him so much joy.

Alec Durndell (c1921-c1998) was one of the Tramway's early volunteers. His career was spent in revenue protection and as an inspector with London Transport.

Alec was part of the group of volunteers who discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 in a garden at Waltham Cross in 1962. They obtained it from its owner and transported it to Eastbourne, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. This turned out to be impossible, and Claude Lane took ownership of the body, and made plans to turn it into a narrow-gauge single deck saloon. This was eventually achieved when the car was relaunched as Seaton Car 14 in 1984.

Norman Rayfield (c1921-c2009) was part of the group of volunteers who discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 in a garden at Waltham Cross in 1962. They obtained it from its owner and transported it to Eastbourne, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. This turned out to be impossible, and Claude Lane took ownership of the body, and made plans to turn it into a narrow-gauge single deck saloon. This was eventually achieved when the car was relaunched as Seaton Car 14 in 1984.

Norman was great friends with John Wills, and continued his interest in the Tramway after its move to Seaton, visiting regularly.

Bill Deamer was part of the group of volunteers who discovered the body of ex-Metropolitan Tramways Car 94 in a garden at Waltham Cross in 1962. They obtained it from its owner and transported it to Eastbourne, with the intention of restoring it to its original condition. This turned out to be impossible, and Claude Lane took ownership of the body, and made plans to turn it into a narrow-gauge single deck saloon. This was eventually achieved when the car was relaunched as Seaton Car 14 in 1984.

Bill's main contributiuon to the project was made while the Tramway was still at Eastbourne, but he was present for Car 14's eventual relaunch at Seaton in 1984.

EARLY INFLUENCES
Trams got to me almost before I could walk or talk. Although we lived in Manchester, where my father came from, we often used to visit my mother’s parents and her other relatives in London.

My maternal grandparents lived in the area bounded by Camberwell New Road and Brixton Road, and had a hardware shop at Kennington Cross, on Cleaver Street. Between house and shop were some of the busiest tramways in the world, with trams passing constantly in all directions. Those pervasive trams made a very deep impression on me, either riding on them or admiring them as they went past.

Somehow their unrivalled clamour and abundance were a comforting sign that all was well in the bleak post-war world of bomb sites, austerity and rationing, and that may be the real substance of their appeal to me, echoing the reassurance they gave to Londoners during the Blitz.

We travelled all over London by public transport, but it was the trams which stuck most forcibly in my memory because of the spirited way in which they were driven, flung full-tilt at facing points and at death-defyingly sharp curves with glorious panache because of the gaps in the conductor rails. Oddly enough, I don’t particularly approve of today’s wire-free “solutions”, though when I didn’t know any better it was the conduit which made London’s trams so exciting for me, as did proceeding through thick fogs with sonorous gongs sounding constantly. 

TRAINSPOTTING DAYS
Later I became obsessed with railways and was a dedicated railway modeller and trainspotter like legions of other young lads at the time. Peter Noone, aka Herman of the Hermits, was one of my trainspotting chums and I especially recall a trip to Doncaster with him to see Gresley Pacifics in all their glory. Wigan and Warrington were good places to see Stanier Pacifics storming through on Scottish expresses, and Crewe amongst many other places was great for illicit shed-bashing.

Reading, near to my grandparents’ country retreat in Wokingham, was wonderful for Kings and Castles powering smart chocolate-and-cream expresses, plus the occasional Great Western railcar, and I always liked the rather trammy Southern Electric trains especially on the approaches to Waterloo intermingled with Bulleid Pacifics, everything turned out immaculately in co-ordinating green livery. I still remember with fondness the lovely sound of the slow-running air compressors and trammy motors of the number 28 trains to Reading via Wokingham, with their melodious air whistles tooting for rustic foot-crossings in the sleepy Surrey woods.

During this time a couple of articles in railway modelling magazines nourished my dormant interest in tramways. One was about CL Fry’s Irish International Railway and Tramway System, with pictures of the best model tram track that I’ve ever seen before or since, and the other was about the wonderfully quaint Wantage Tram, complete with poem:

A curious race has come to pass
Between an engine and an ass
The Wantage Tram, all steam and smoke
Was beat by Arthur Hitchcock’s moke

I also acquired a copy of The British Tram by Frank E Wilson, which is how I learnt about the intricacies of the London conduit system.

TRAINS TO TRAMS
At Stretford Grammar School I helped set up a railway club, and we were accompanied on outings to railway depots and workshops by our music master Mr Hardwick. In spring 1962 we visited the Gorton works of Beyer Peacock Ltd to see diesel hydraulic locos being built for the Western Region. We also saw the Tasmanian Garratt, currently operating at Statfold Barn, and another loco which really captivated me – none other than John Bull, the Beyer Peacock steam tram loco which had been its makers’ works shunter for many years. When I enquired about it, I was told that it was soon going to be transferred to the tramway museum at Crich, which until then I hadn’t heard of. Shortly afterwards, at the model shop on Bootle Street in Manchester, I bought the March 1962 edition of the Tramway Museum Society “Journal”, with John Bull resplendent on the front cover. That did it, the perfect transition from trains to trams courtesy of a steam tram loco.

I lost no time in joining the Tramway Museum Society and making my way to Crich by public transport. I was quickly made welcome in the very friendly, easy-going and undemanding atmosphere which prevailed in those days, and after that my visits became once weekly, at first by public transport – on steam-hauled trains and the E2 bus – but later as one of Dennis Gill’s merry crew of minibus passengers. A history master at our school, Harold Lievesley, was also a tram enthusiast and I can remember when we “chased” Glasgow 101 in his car on its journey to Crich.

When I found out that Glasgow trams would be finishing that September I was determined to pay them a last-chance visit. The final day was due to be one week after I went back to school, when I wouldn’t have been allowed by my parents to make the trip, so I set off the week before on the midnight steam train, alone at the age of 14 from Manchester Exchange station, arriving in Glasgow at daybreak.

That dawn arrival was the last time I did any trainspotting. After a day’s solid tram-riding on those wonderful Coronations and Cunarders it was trams forever for me, and I returned home that night laden with destination blinds, controller keys and air brake handles bought at Coplawhill Works. Later in Blackpool, I was just able to savour the Marton and North Station routes before they closed, and I had my first drive of an electric tram during one of Bradford 104’s regular outings at Thornbury works round about that time.

For my weekly Crich visits I didn’t have to rely on public transport for long. Lifts were kindly provided by Vic Chatburn, Booksales Officer, and John Senior, Journal Editor, as well as by Dennis Gill, Publicity Officer, in his legendary Dormobile. It was probably through John, who with his wife Caroline became involved in organising the horse tram when it was used to inaugurate the carriage of the first fare-paying passengers at the Museum in 1963, that I became part of the rookie team of equine tram crew. I was 15 at the time.

THE HORSE TRAM ERA AT CRICH
Howard Parkinson was also from Manchester and was a fellow partaker of lifts to and from the museum. More confident with horses than I was to start with, he’s credited with being the first passenger carrying tram driver – of Sheffield 15 - at the Museum. The motive power was Bonny, a mare hired from a local farmer – Mr Gregory - for ten shillings a day. Howard and I used to catch her in whatever field she was in at the time and ride her bareback, like something out of “The Miller’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer, through the lanes to and from the Museum. On the steep uphill sections the rear rider (usually me) would slide steadily back until he was sitting on Bonny’s tail, and then have to shuffle forward to avoid tumbling off backwards into the road.

Although Howard was the first tram driver at Crich, of Sheffield 15, on the reins with Merlyn Bacon on the brakes, in a way I was rather illicitly the first “driver” with paying members of the public on board, but in a most makeshift - and by today’s rigorous standards, improper - way. Before entrusting Sheffield 15 to Bonny, we harnessed her to the Leeds flat truck on which a number of turnover seats had been loosely placed, and made a number of trips with full wobbly loads of passengers. Howard led Bonny by the bridle while I worked the brakes, which were operated by a handwheel located low down in the middle of each side. The only way for me to get at the brake wheel from on board was to sit on the side of the flat truck and work them with my heels. Engagement of the pawl was impossible without falling off.

That arrangement worked well until somebody parked a car too close to the track, and I had to leap off to avoid getting my legs mangled. Now with no brakes but still very much in motion, the equipage rolled forward towards the end of the track at Town End terminus. Bonny wisely leaped up onto the earth bank, which the flat truck solidly rammed. Fortunately there were no dire consequences, or incident report forms in those days, and later on the same day the fleeting flat truck era was airbrushed forever out of the Museum’s history (until now that is!), superseded by tamer procedures.

EASTBOURNE BOY TRAM CONDUCTOR
Back in Manchester at one of the LRTA/TMS meetings, a short film of Eastbourne trams was shown and Howard and I decided it would be great to work on them in the summer. Howard wrote to Claude Lane and we were taken on as Boy Conductors for our 6 weeks summer holidays Also taken on at Eastbourne were John Edwards who went to the same school as I did, and Ray Hobson, a friend of Howard’s, both of whom had also crewed the horse tram at Crich. Thus the four of us repeated history by graduating from horse trams to electric trams. We B&B’d at first, at Mrs Stoner’s on Channel View Road, not far from Royal Parade tram terminus. Later we camped out in the Works, and were taken by Claude and Allan for weekly baths to the house in Pevensey Bay where they lived.

I’ll try to record what turned out to be my formative experiences at Eastbourne in as readable a way as possible, perhaps drifting from topic to topic in a random sort of way which I hope makes sense all these years later. Hopefully my reminiscences will complement rather than repeat anything previously published.

THE CONDUCTOR’S DUTIES AT EASTBOURNE TRAMWAY
Our induction as Boy Conductors didn’t take long. After a brief medical check, mainly it seemed to make sure that we didn’t have hernias, we were supplied with our green uniforms, which we had to wear at all times when on duty regardless of the hot sunny weather in Eastbourne. Each new conductor was given a short piece of round mild steel with which to make his own crank handle for turning the destination blinds, which always had to be correctly set. After being shown the ropes out on the line we were let loose on the trams as soon as Claude considered us competent. Reporting for duty was done at the top of the stairs in the Works building, where there was a small hatch communicating with Claude’s office, hallowed territory strictly out of bounds unless you were invited in. Surrounding the signing-on point were shelves containing spare parts for the Lancaster Electrical Company (LEC) vehicles which were then still in service, for example Price’s Bakery delivery vans in North Manchester. Some of those parts were generic Bradford Jowett, and the motors, by Crompton Parkinson, were identical with the tram motors.

Through the hatch we were each issued with a TIM ticket issuing machine in its own brown fibre case which also contained spare ticket rolls, and a “float” consisting of perhaps half-a-crown’s (30p’s) worth of small change, a waybill and a leather cash bag for which a uniform jacket pocket was a substitute on quiet days or for one-man working. The “start” numbers displayed on the ticket machine had to be entered on the waybill. The ticket machine case doubled as a conductor’s seat on the back platform. An alternative conductor’s perch was the rear curved seat at the top of the stairs. Our tram for the day was usually extracted from the rather cramped Little Depot, unless it was No 4 - or, later, numbers 2, 8 and 12 - which lived in the Works.

The adult return fare was 10d (ten old pence). I can’t remember the child return fares, or any others for that matter. There were no all-day tickets. A quiet day’s takings would perhaps be £5 or £6, or £10-£15 or so on a really busy Sunday or bank holiday. With all the “shrapnel” the cash bag got really heavy and the plentiful copper coins made sweaty hands quite dirty – embarrassing if one had to help passengers on and off. Saturday, known on the tramway as “changeover day”, was the quietest in the week because that’s when the clientele were either starting or finishing their holidays.

One of the conductor’s duties was to turn the trolley pole at the Crumbles terminus, and at Royal Parade if the trolley reverser wasn’t used. On the double-deck open-toppers this was done hands-on amongst the passengers. One of my “stupid boy” moments happened at the Crumbles when we had a full tram in drizzling rain. I got a mild tingle from the trolley pole, and shouted to Claude, who was my driver that day “I got a shock”. Later, and in no uncertain terms, he took me on one side and told me never ever to say anything like that in the hearing of the public, because you never knew who might happen to be within earshot.

At the time he was at a difficult negotiating stage with the Council, and could no doubt imagine the repercussions of any overheard loose-tongued revelation like mine. Like other things I learnt at Eastbourne, I’ve never forgotten that lesson, which sits nicely with Claude’s professionalism in never telling any of us off in public – a principle often ignored elsewhere.

Another “stupid boy” moment occurred at Royal Parade when I was turning No4’s trolley. The “Boat” had a swivel trolley head, from a Sheffield tram I think, with a ring underneath it for the trolley retriever pole, which was carried on board for the purpose. It had been made from electrical conduit and unbeknown to me had a screwed joint part way along its length. In my efforts to rotate the trolley head to line it up with the wire, I rotated the conduit, not realising that I was unscrewing the joint. Sure enough the trolley retriever split in two, and up flew No 4’s trolley pole with half a length of conduit dangling from it, leaving me forlornly holding the other half. I can’t remember how the problem was solved.

Paying-in at the end of a shift was done at the hatch at the top of the stairs in the Works. The amount paid in had to match the value of the tickets sold, calculated on the waybill by subtracting the previously-entered “start” numbers from the newly-entered “finish” numbers as read from the TIM machine. School arithmetic in action! Any shortages had to be made up from the conductor’s own pocket. It was expected that any “overs” would be paid in.

THE EASTBOURNE TRAMWAY
The tramway was very much run jointly by Claude Lane and Allan Gardner, perfectly matched in the balance of their skills, spheres of interest and attributes. Engineers are born, not made, and Claude was very much a sublime blend of engineer and businessman of a calibre rarely equalled, and in his management of the tramway there was a constant interplay between the businessman and the engineer in him. Apart from dealing with all the administrative affairs of the tramway - and of the residue LEC undertaking - from a practical point of view he concentrated on the electrical and mechanical aspects, whereas Allan, another born engineer and a great craftsman, tended to focus on such things as bodywork and coach-painting. Both got stuck in with the infrastructure of the tramway, the track and overhead. Having completed a course with Murex, Allan did most of the welding using a formidable petrol- driven apparatus, although it wasn’t unknown for arc welding of rails to be done by Claude – also a properly- trained welder - or Allan directly from the 120v DC overhead wire via a jumper cable dangling from a hook on the end of a bamboo pole. Such a technique was also used on city tramways, via a suitable resistance or motor- generator set.

The tramway’s power station at the Works was a classic expression of Claude’s finesse as a businessman and engineer. The concept was of a showpiece installation starring the Company’s fine pair of Blackstone oil engines, Claude’s pride and joy, recalling the mechanical engineering apprenticeship he’d served with their manufacturer many years previously. With their big flywheels, single cylinders and exposed parts, they were the closest possible cousins of stationary steam engines, and to casual observers that’s just what they looked like, set off by belt-driven generators, with everything finished in immaculate green paintwork neatly lined-out. Those prime-movers, a joy to behold in action, shared the space with traction batteries floated across the tramway supply, plus an impressive polished slate switch panel. It could all be admired by the public through plate-glass windows, more instructively than in any museum for these engines were actually working under load not just idling.

The tramway at Eastbourne never had a landline or any other telephone, or mains electricity supply, reflecting Claude’s dislike of nationalised industries. This meant that everything in the Works, including the machine tools and all the lighting and heating, was powered by the Blackstones, backed by the batteries. On one occasion when there was a problem with the supply, I saw Claude disappear behind the slate panel in search of a fault. All of a sudden there was an almighty bang, an angry fizzing noise, a flash and a cloud of smoke followed by a stream of invective which I’ve never heard the like of before or since. To say that the air was blue was an understatement – it was every colour of the rainbow. Claude emerged startled but unharmed. I also remember seeing Claude rest a (wooden) ladder against the live 120v overhead wire, mid-span, to remove an obstruction.

There was never enough security of tenure at Eastbourne to justify finishing the display with ornate tiling or panelling, and so Claude’s vision sadly went unrealised. The power equipment remained purely functional and was no doubt a very economical way of energising the tramway, using agricultural diesel oil. It was possible for a tram to operate from the batteries alone, but normally at quiet times the “little engine” would be run. Busy days with a few trams running required the “big engine”. I can’t remember both engines being run at once, but I may be wrong. The engines could be started electrically by using their dynamos as motors, and either of them could be started manually in theory, although I think that was only done with the little engine.

As an aside, an example of Claude’s ingenuity – and foreknowledge - occurred during the 1930s when he needed publicity for a new electric vehicle. Legend has it that he drove it up and down flat-out, in hot pursuit of the publicity which would come with being caught speeding in an electric road vehicle. But no such luck, Murphy’s Law swung into action and his efforts attracted no attention whatever from the boys in blue.

Another, and unrecorded (until now) example of Claude’s initiative occurred at Crich in, I think, Autumn 1963 when he borrowed a set of traction batteries from DP Batteries at Bakewell, with whom he did business. He and Allan installed them temporarily in Blackpool Box 40, and as far as I know that was the first tram to move under power at Crich.

Claude’s car, and the tramway runabout, was a grey Hillman Minx which was also used to tow a small trailer or the welding set. There was a Morris J-type van beautifully coach-painted in rich plum and black by Allan, matching the immaculate finish he’d applied to his pride and joy, a tiny 1930s Austin 7 Ruby saloon referred to as “Chummy”. Allan never used a spray-gun; everything was done with brushes in the traditional way, including all the lining-out. He once told me that he never used a new brush for the best work, but “broke brushes in” by painting brickwork or other rough surfaces with them until they were suitably “feathered”. That was just one of the gems of true craftsmanship which I learnt at Eastbourne.

Another tramway vehicle was a replica B-type bus, built for promotional purposes on a Swift car chassis, and another was a genuine Lancaster Electric Company product in the form of an ex-milk float which I was allowed to have a drive of long before I passed a driving test. For personal transport Allan ran a beautifully-kept green Mini which Claude jokingly referred to as The Roller Skate. Claude had pet names for many other things. Any spider was an Adolf, vinegar was Nanny Goat Sweat, a Mole wrench was an Elmo, mustard was Mouse Turd, speeding was Bashing, groceries were Grockeries, my home town Manchester was, rhymingly and somewhat disparagingly, “sh---y city”, and there were many other examples. When Claude lent you something, he’d say “and remember, it’s got a back to it!” If anyone broke wind he’d say “Speak up Brown, you’re through!” He had a characteristic non-verbal way of dismissing you from his presence to get on with something he’d given you to do, which I can still demonstrate but which is hard to describe in words. Then there was the Bestminster _ank (guess the rest!).

Claude also had private nicknames for many of the tramway enthusiasts who turned up, perhaps best not repeated even at this distance in time, except to say that he sometimes addressed Allan, always ready for a good-natured chat with anyone, as “Mrs G” – “Come on, Mrs G, it’s yak yak yaketty yak all the time”. In many other respects Claude’s sometimes impish sense of humour was apparent. There was no better evidence than the trilingual notices in the trams exhorting passengers to “Minden diesen kopf” “Baissez la tête en descendant” and “Mind yer flippin’ ‘ead when yer git orf”. The name of Seaton Tramway’s Bobsworth Bridge is another example of Claude’s wry sense of humour. I remember him being reduced to helpless laughter by a story told him by the lady attendant in the Golf House pay-booth, the punch line of which I do recall but daren’t repeat here. Amongst the tram crews Claude was referred to as The Guvnor or The Old Man, which I suspect he didn’t mind. It was a couple of years before he gave me permission to address him as Claude.

Few if any of the people immersed in the tramway in those pre camera-phone days seem to have found time for photography or movie-making, and most of the surviving images will have been the work of visiting enthusiasts. Good recordings of Eastbourne trams are, though, featured on a BBC LP produced in 1972 featuring a recording made inside an unidentified car, and one of No 6 passing at speed near Golf House, presumably on the double track (of the tramway, not of the LP).

When the tramway was extended from the depot to what turned out to be its final terminus at Crumbles, the track had been expertly laid parallel to Wartling Road by a retired LSWR/SR permanent way man affectionately referred to as Old Tom. When he finished it he declared in his rich Sussex accent “Look at that, straight, straight as a *~$#!” Readers are free to decide what the unrepeatable bleeped-out four-letter word might have been.

Old Tom became a driver at Eastbourne, his favourite car being 238 (“238! 238!”). Claude and Allan noticed burnt first-notch fingers in any controllers handled by Tom, and spoke to him about it. “Half a notch, only half a notch!” was his defence. After it was explained to him that fizzing the fingers like that was not best tram driving practice, the trouble ceased.

Another driver was Jack Norris, from Burgess Hill, a Sunday volunteer. His preferred tram was No 4. All drivers were under strict instructions never to use the parallel notches, because that might bash the track and would expose the 60v motors to the full 120v line voltage, and never to use the electric brake except in an initial daily check or in the direst emergencies, because of the danger of flashovers – but Jack was a driver in the finest London tradition and was oblivious to both instructions. Whenever he felt unobserved he would wind No 4 up into full parallel on the Extension or the double track and do some melodious electric braking here and there. Claude, however, had a pair of binoculars for surveillance from his elevated office window. He always reprimanded “bashing” drivers.

As far as I know, Jack was one of the LRTL (now LRTA) members who during the war took road-width measurements on various South London tramway streets in connection with the promotion of tramway modernisation initiatives featuring loading islands and subway ramps, declaring to suspicious police officers when challenged “ARP!”, upon which they were left alone to get on with it. Others were Alec Durndell, Wally Ackerman and Bill Deemer, three names associated with the preservation of MET “A” Class tram No 94, the body of which was sheeted over alongside the Works at Eastbourne courtesy of Claude, and worked on at weekends. Eventually No 94 was taken into the Works and sliced in half longitudinally to become MET No 14.

Other London friends of the tramway were Lionel Boylett and John Barrie, who with J W (Jay) Fowler formed a trio of active LRTL members. Eastbourne tramway folklore had it that one day they had to make a journey across North London, and were in a quandary, because one of them refused to go on a diesel bus, another refused to go on a trolleybus, and the third wouldn’t go in a taxi. Perhaps they proceeded separately, or walked. Another friend of the tramway was Ken Farrell, who used to go around in a tiny Messerschmitt bubble car with his mother ensconced in the back seat, where she was usually left waiting patiently while Ken made his social calls. Maybe it was too much trouble to get her out and back in again. Allegedly a huge Westinghouse T10 tram controller was once manoeuvred into the back of the car instead of mother, for which purpose the “bubble” canopy-cum-door was propped in the open position. Unfortunately, when Ken let in the clutch, the car reared up into a vertical attitude and sat down on its tailpipe much in the manner of a circus horse.

Claude and Allan used to say how much they were entertained by the antics of the local Civil Defence volunteers in the 1950s. They used to practice their drills near the tramway, and watching them going through their scenarios must have been a bit like watching Dad’s Army. We were all amused when the Artisans Sailing club, located adjacent to the tramway near Royal Parade terminus, was snobbishly re-designated The Sovereign Sailing Club.

There was a frequent exchange of letters between Claude and myself when I was back home in Manchester, exchanging news of Crich and Eastbourne. After conducting at Eastbourne throughout the 6 weeks school holidays in 1963, I did the same again in 1964. I remember on one occasion having some time to spare at Waterloo station on the way back home, and going into the News Theatre there to watch the continuously-run topical films. I was astonished to suddenly see myself on the massive screen driving the horse tram at Crich in a newsreel about trams.

I was only one of many paid staff and volunteers who crewed the trams at Eastbourne, or volunteered in other ways. A long-standing tram driver/conductor who lived locally was Colin – I can’t remember his surname. Also there was a locally-based conductor, called Malcolm (or was it Martin?) Clere. I remember Claude concluding an admonishment to him with “Clear, Clere?” I never knew of any female crew members. Another conductor was Peter somebody.

The tramway’s own Darby and Joan couple were Ted and Ivy Lilley. They were from Croydon, and when working on the tramway they lived in a small old boxy caravan alongside the little depot with, parked next to it, their ancient upright Ford van, immaculately turned out in pale green. I remember once when Ivy – known to us as Auntie Ivy - got her fingers trapped in the door of the van when Ted closed it. As she screamed “Ted! Ted!” in pain, her hubby calmly took his pipe out and uttered the calm response “What’s the matter with you woman?” The caravan ended its days outside the front of the Works at Seaton as the first overnight accommodation.

Ted, who identified himself as a Retired Muffin Man, always with pipe in mouth, seemed to be a permanent fixture at the controls of No 7, his favourite tram, for which he had his own special soft seat. Tramway enthusiasts were referred to by Ted as “thooosiasts”, and the First World War was “The First World’s Woe-er”. Ivy was a fixture in the tramway shop at Royal Parade terminus, originally housed in one end of the waiting shelter until the mobile Tram Shop was created from Works Car 01. The Tram Shop was driven to Royal Parade every morning, parked all day on the stub, and driven back at night. Memorabilia and souvenirs of the tramway were sold, including postcards and blue Devon pottery items. At quiet times tram crews used to chat to Ivy at her shop window during layovers.

The annual visits of a travelling fair to Princes Park were dreaded by Claude and Allan for fear, based on bitter experience, of subsequent thefts of anything which could be spirited away and weighed-in at a scrapyard, particularly overhead copper wire which did indeed go missing at Eastbourne. Years later, Community Payback characters lunching alongside the depot at Heaton Park and asking questions about the metallic content of various tramway items caused similar collywobbles when I was volunteering there. Trolley wire was stolen from there too.

The pebbles of which the whole Crumbles area was composed were referred to collectively as “beach”. Beach was both a problem and a free resource, a paradox perfectly expressed in the method of planting poles. The instability of beach meant that traction standards couldn’t be planted straight into it, so every pole was planted in a concrete- filled oil drum. Beach from the pole hole was shovelled straight into the concrete mixer as aggregate. Loose beach wasn’t the best of track ballast materials because it had little grip on the sleepers, unlike conventional angular ballast which binds together to resist movement. Combined with lightweight rail inherited from previous Modern Electric Tramways ventures, this made track maintenance a constant battle. Derailments were frequent whoever the driver was, usually with mild outcomes thanks to the safety bars fitted on the ends of all the trucks. Often the derailed tram could be clandestinely driven back on, or otherwise re-railed with minimum fuss. Dealing with such problems certainly turned Eastbourne tram drivers into more rounded and resourceful tramwaymen than their brethren elsewhere. Short leases didn’t justify substantial investment, though as clear evidence of good intentions, there were sections of track with heavier rail and even a length outbound on the double track laid with grooved tram rail which gave an exceptionally stable ride.

People used to tramp over the tramway and up the sloping shingle towards the sea, causing slow landslides especially at Beach Corner where the seaward rail sometimes disappeared under the stones, especially when someone tried to drive a vehicle up the slope. Then the pebbly deluge had to be shovelled away, only for it to happen again before long. The Council really ought to have paid the tramway an allowance for helpfully intercepting the beach to stop it invading their car park access road.

The ready supply of pebbles meant that as well as being mischievously thrown were often placed on the rails by children, only to be knocked off by the safety bars. Alternatively they might jam under the safety bar and be dragged squeakily along until being ground away. Smaller ones might find their way under the wheels and be crushed. More deadly were stones placed in the points, which could and did cause derailments, especially at Golf House. Tram drivers were exhorted to always “watch your points”, something which I never forgot. I once saw Claude intercept a troublesome youth on a bike by stepping in front of him and grabbing the handlebars to give him a good telling off.

EASTBOURNE TRAM DRIVER
Interlacing the track at Golf House in April 1965 enabled two sets of point switches to be eliminated, thwarting the mischief to a useful extent. That was quite a month for me personally at Eastbourne. Claude and Allan gave me a few tram-driving lessons, and when on April 21st Claude suddenly disappeared and went back to the Works I realised that I’d passed, and so became an Eastbourne tram driver. At that time I was unpaid, and glad to immerse myself in whatever else needed doing, which included working with Allan in a small way on the construction of No 12’s bodywork and helping with the Golf House interlacing. I’d also been given a project by Claude, to build a pair of trucks for a 31⁄2” gauge London E3 tram body which he had. Claude told me that the model would come in useful if there was ever a court case in which it was necessary to explain the features of a tram. Perhaps, though, he just liked having it on display in his office. After all, he’d tried to preserve a real London E3 tram in 1952-3, only to be thwarted by the lack of anywhere to keep it. Anyway, the body of the model tram needed trucks, and I’d been sent the necessary castings so that I could do the job in the well-equipped metalworking shop at school.

Preferring more creative ways of expending time and energy, I’d always hated games periods, so I’d progressed from having hard balls thrown towards me in the cricket nets or standing around during football games admiring trammy DC Altrincham electrics and Liverpool-bound push-and-pull trains, with sidelong glances at the surviving tram track alongside Old Trafford cricket ground on Warwick Road - which many years later I was to help install at Heaton Park - to hiding half-way round the cross-country course and tagging along as the rest of the runners came past on the way back, to the sheer bliss of being given the run of the lathes and drilling machines at the school. That’s how, before I acquired such equipment at home, I was able to work on the E3 trucks, and it’s also when I first dabbled in metal-casting techniques, something which I’ve resumed latterly. I also made lifeguards for the tram, and completed the whole job in the Works at Eastbourne. Claude was pleased with the result I’m glad to say.

That project formed an essential part of my transition from raw schoolkid to making myself useful in the world. With a relevant background of woodwork, metalwork and engineering drawing at school, I was able to “hit the ground running” at Eastbourne where my further development was encouraged by much more diverse, and much closer, tramway mentorship than was ever available anywhere else. In some ways it was like a traditional apprenticeship in everything to do with trams and tramways, and I appreciated it enormously. The skills I gained, and my gratitude for them, are with me still. Having reached the dizzy heights of being passed out as a public- service tram driver, I now sought more scope as a more rounded tramway person.

Even if I’d fancied combining my job with my hobby, which even then I didn’t think wholly advisable, a permanent job on the tramway was pie-in-the-sky at the time, and being due to leave school shortly I had to find myself a career back in Manchester, having had enough of academia. There was plenty of choice in those days, and I was keen to be involved in anything to do with engineering, though the subject content of the 9 GCE “O” levels which I ended up with pointed elsewhere. Claude kindly furnished references for me, which coming from a tramway manager must have lent them a certain odd distinction in those UK tramway wilderness years. I was offered a student electrical engineering post with the National Coal Board conditional on passing GCE “O” level physics, which - mercifully - I failed to do. And so, thankfully, I didn’t find myself in a job with a ticking clock counting down towards early redundancy, surely a strange example of benefiting from exam failure. Instead I accepted the offer of a “Youth-in-Training” telephone engineering apprenticeship with the GPO (General Post Office), having been fascinated by the whirring and clicking of the electro-mechanical equipment and the spotless abundance of neat cables and wires during a visit to an automatic telephone exchange. My start date was postponed to 27th September so that I could work on the trams at Eastbourne for the 3 months intervening after leaving school in June.

MY FIRST PAID JOB – TRAM DRIVING AT EASTBOURNE
Friday 18th June 1965 was my last day at school. The disrupted nature of my school departure meant that I missed any celebrations, and partly as a consequence didn’t stay in touch with anyone, apart from Alan Etheridge and Keith Chadbourne, who I hadn’t actually known at school but who, like me, gravitated to Crich. Keith later became a driver at Seaton. Anyway, during my last week at school I’d been summoned to Agecroft Colliery to undertake an underground tour there on Wednesday 23rd June in connection with my National Coal Board job application. Afterwards I had to write an essay and submit it as part of the selection process. The next day, Thursday 24th June, I handed in the last of my books at school and set off for Eastbourne to start my first paid employment as a professional tram driver, getting to grips with the handles in earnest on my own that Saturday 26th June on No 6.

Howard Parkinson and Ray Hobson were also crewing at Eastbourne at that time, and we stayed either in the caravan next to the Little Depot at the tramway, in the Works, or with Claude and Allan in the Cottage, as it was called, in Pevensey Bay – actually a modern detached house, No 94 Eastbourne Road. I think that Ted and Ivy stayed in the cottage when we didn’t. Supper was frequently a “fry-up”, not at all good for the arteries. Late-night must-sees on the television were all-in wrestling and “On The Braden Beat”, featuring Peter Cook as The Misty Mr Wisty. Lunches were habitually taken either at the Works or at the Blue Moon café on Seaside, the main inland road near the tramway. The elderly couple running the café were the Greek chef, called George, and the waitress (Marie?), his wife. A favourite meal was “Roast and Two, All On” (beef & veg) sometimes abbreviated to “All On?”. In those days the roads in Eastbourne were very steeply cambered, and it was strange to see the buses leaning precariously towards you as they went past.

The diary which I kept at the time provides a daily record. Turns of duty might involve either driving or conducting, relieved by the occasional day off. There were at the time many visits from town councillors in connection with the tramway’s current expansion plans, piling further pressure onto the daily slog and stress for Claude and Allan of keeping the tramway running, and dealing with all the urgent matters which cropped up relentlessly. One such crisis occurred while I was driving No 4 one day. Just after passing the Works points going inbound with a full load of passengers, there was a brick lying in the “2 foot”. I really ought to have stopped and removed it, but it looked too low down to be a threat and I’d been over it already with no trouble, as had the other trams out on that day. However, perhaps because this time the tram was heavily loaded and down on its springs, the brick knocked the drain cock off the under-slung brake reservoir and with a great blast of escaping air from underneath I suddenly had no mechanical brakes, because No 4 had no handbrake – there just wasn’t room for one.

Fortunately the track was level there and it wasn’t windy, so I chocked the wheels with pebbles and trudged to the nearby Works to asked Claude for instructions. Needless to say he wasn’t at all impressed with me, to put it mildly, and told me to get the tram to Royal Parade, unload, and then run it in empty to the Works. It astonishes me all these years later that he trusted me to do that, but somehow I brought it off by relying on the rheostatic brakes for service stops, plus pebble parking brakes.

We were taught to treat the controller key as the “Tram Driver’s Bible”. If you were at the controller but not using it, the controller key had to be put in the neutral position and the handbrake or air brakes had to be applied. If you were not actually at the controls, even if you were still on the tram, you removed the controller key, and might put it in your uniform jacket pocket. At Crich I’ve been horrified at seeing passengers descending the stairs towards an unlocked and unattended controller while pedestrians passed obliviously through the narrow gap between the bumpers of their tram and the one in front.

Patronage declined when the schools re-opened in early September and the holidaymakers disappeared. Nevertheless the trams continued relentlessly in operation. Single-manning was the order of the day during the quiet times, and even when there was no-one about a half-hourly service had to be maintained, almost exclusively with No 6. Trundling to and fro with nobody on board became extremely monotonous, and the experience “cured” me of tram driving for ever. Paradoxically it came as quite a relief when the time came for me to start my career in telecommunications back in Manchester on Monday 27th September 1965.

During this time Claude kept me up to date with goings-on at Eastbourne including preparations for the transfer to Seaton, and that led to the episode recounted in the March 2021 edition of “Tramway Review” magazine, explaining how I came very close indeed to being employed at Seaton permanently. Here’s that article for the sake of continuity:

Claude Lane, the founder and prime mover behind Modern Electric Tramways Ltd (MET) parent company of the Seaton & District Electric Tramway, died in hospital from heart trouble 50 years ago on 2nd April 1971 at the tragically early age of 63. Many people have dedicated the best parts of their lives to tramways, but surely none can have actually given their life for a tramway in quite the same way that Claude did. The tramway stands as a fitting memorial to him and to the way in which he threw all he had into its creation in partnership with his friend and collaborator Allan Gardner.

My own involvement with Modern Electric Tramways started at Eastbourne in 1963 as a Boy Conductor. Two years later my first paid job after leaving school was as an Eastbourne tram driver, before starting a non-tramway career as a telephone engineer back home in Manchester.

I continued to work at Eastbourne as a volunteer whenever I could, helping with maintenance and construction work in preference to crewing, although it wasn’t unknown for Claude to thrust a uniform at me when I turned up and tell me to take a tram out pronto to shift the queues.

Throughout that time the tramway’s relationship with Eastbourne Council was worsening, and although Claude did his best to achieve extensions and proper security of tenure, a parting of the ways became inevitable. Flatteringly, the Council feared that if they supported the development of the tramway it might one day compete with their buses, a suspicion perhaps encouraged by the creation of 40-seat winter saloon No12 in 1966, and by the "back-burner" plan to one day extend to the Redoubt and to Langney Point and even as far as Pevensey Bay. Seaton was finally identified as the way forward, and so began a transfer process which became so gruelling that it was literally to cost Claude his life.

Claude and Allan always drove themselves hard. They maintained, operated and developed their self-contained tramway seven days a week, rarely taking a break. Genuine engineers, they confronted adversities head-on and worked wonders to surmount problems. True products of their times, they came from a mould which I fear may have been broken. I consider it a great privilege to have known them, especially during my own transitional time between schoolboy and young adult, echoing Allan Gardner’s own experience at a similar age. In a way I underwent at their hands an apprenticeship in tramways and the world of engineering generally. In fact I ought to have the words “Made in Eastbourne” marked indelibly on me.

Claude was a powerhouse, strong both physically and mentally, and along with Allan he threw himself wholeheartedly into the transfer project with its huge challenges. The Seaton line had to be purchased from British Railways and BR had to obtain a Light Railway Order, then a Light Railway Transfer Order had to be obtained by the tramway company after the resolution of objections, planning permissions had to be obtained, friendly relations had to be cultivated with locals including those who’d opposed the tramway, a headquarters building had to be bought and erected, overnight accommodation sorted out, re-gauging from 2ft to 2ft 9ins accomplished, rails, sleepers, power generation equipment, batteries and overhead line equipment had to be sourced and installed, problematically as far as rails were concerned, and finally all the trams and all the infrastructure and workshop equipment of a self-sufficient electric tramway had to be cleared from Eastbourne and transferred the 180 or so miles on ordinary roads to Seaton, while – as if all that wasn’t enough - continuing to operate a popular tramway and suffering the stress of it all and the worry about what might be happening at either end while they were away. All by two men.

The relentless slog of the whole process was punishing in the extreme, and as we look back from this distance in time, it’s clear what a destructive effect it had particularly on Claude, as I hope to illustrate with a few examples hitherto-untold.

When the time came to transfer the first tram to Seaton, “Blackpool Boat” No 4 was chosen because it was potentially the least difficult. A Bedford TK flatbed lorry had been acquired for the move, and a single-deck half-cab Leyland PS1 bus had been converted rearward of its front entrance to a flatbed lorry. A heavily-built six-wheeled trailer with mixed-gauge track on it was specially constructed by Allan for towing by the bus.

Recycling was a way of life for Claude and Allan long before it became fashionable, and the trailer was duly fitted with air brakes actuated by a cylinder from a Leeds Horsfield tram, and controlled from the Leyland cab by a self-lapping motorman’s valve from a Blackpool tram - surely the only bus ever so fitted. The trailer had coupling pockets front and rear so that it could be towed by the Leyland, and pushed up hills by the Bedford.

I helped in a small way to prepare this formidable equippage, and I can particularly remember lying under the trailer with a terrifying “gut-buster” drill to bore large-diameter holes in the steelwork for the coupling-pocket bolts. Finally the tram was loaded onto the trailer via a ramp, and a quantity of tram seats, controllers and other stores were loaded onto the Bedford and the bus, with more being put onto No 4 for good measure, and we were ready for the off.

The journey was done overnight to avoid traffic, and we set off on a Friday evening. Claude drove the Leyland and Allan the Bedford, with me beside him. Three particular episodes stand out. When we reached the steepest part of Lewes High Street the Leyland couldn’t manage it unassisted and Claude had to stop so that the Bedford could be coupled up for a push, invoking echoes of London conduit trams being pushed off dead sections.

I unshipped the tow-bar, connected it to the front of the Bedford and was locating it in the coupling pocket on the back of the trailer when bus and trailer started to roll back towards me. It seems that a bored beat bobby had wandered over to ask Claude what was going on, and they got chatting. Unfortunately the air brakes leaked off and the bus and trailer rolled back, bending the tow-bar with me trapped in the closing gap. It was around midnight and my terrified shouts must have wakened half of Lewes.

Onwards through the might progress must have been slower than expected because we hit Chideock hill on the Saturday morning just as the homeward-bound holiday traffic was jamming the carriageway in the other direction. The road was so narrow that before ascending it, Claude folded back the mirrors on the Leyland and asked me to ride postilion on the front entrance step to keep an eye on the walls on the way up. Then it was foot hard down for the climb. The spare width was reduced almost to nothing by coaches and, I seem to remember, a wide load coming the other way, but stopping was out of the question because we would both have been trapped in the bus, we wouldn't have been able to get going again, and there would have been utter mayhem. I can remember my horror as I watched rough stone walls skimming past with only a few millimetres clearance. To make matters worse, the bus boiled and enveloped everything in clouds of steam. Claude slogged on through the thick fog though, and we finally pulled into a lay-by at the top of the hill for a rest and a cool down following that truly stupendous feat of driving.

What goes up must come down, and our descent into Axminster caused quite a stir because the trailer brakes overheated and started squealing loudly and emitting horrible black smoke. There was nothing Claude could do but wrestle with the air brake valve while shoppers tried in vain to cover their ears, noses and mouths at the same time as the cavalcade brushed dramatically and only just in control past them. Welcome to Devon, Modern Electric Tramways!

During the frequent trips to Seaton the Eastbourne works cat, Mr Muggins, “minded the shop”. He’d earned his name by eating his own tail as a kitten, giving him the profile of a tail- less Manx cat. Claude used to sign his letters to me “From we 3, C, A & Mugs”. Mr Mugs was about nine years old when the transfer was under way, and when Claude and Allan were absent a local chap fed him. On one occasion when they returned from Seaton there was no sign of him, and they were told that a policewoman had assumed that he was a stray and had taken him to the RSPCA at Hailsham, where he had been summarily put down. Anyone who has cherished a pet cat as part of the family will understand how devastated and upset Claude and Allan were at the cruel loss of their furry and beloved member of staff.

As the transfer momentum built up, discussions had started about a permanent job for me at Seaton. It wouldn’t be an easy decision – I would be giving up a well paid and secure job which I liked, and more importantly I’d be combining my job with my hobby. That was a choice which Allan had once faced, and it was a matter of real concern for me, for Claude, for Allan and – according to Claude – for Mr Mugs too. Ultimately we agreed that I should “dip my toe in the water” for a trial period. My employer granted me special leave without pay for 9 weeks in March- April 1971, after which a mutual decision would be made about permanent employment.

At Seaton I stayed with Claude and Allan in the large caravan which they’d installed behind the Works, and was employed on pole preparation and erection and other jobs. I found pole hole digging far easier at Seaton than it had been at Crich, because the ground consisted of pure clay easily augured. The poles were ex-Eastbourne fluted street lighting standards, including one with holes in it made by a strafing Messerchmidt during the war. Erecting the poles was done manually, and I remember on one occasion finding myself with a fluted pole balanced precariously on my shoulder when the bottom of it flipped out of the hole.

A genial volunteer at the tramway was David Massey. A retired schoolteacher, he lived at Thorverton, a tiny village near Exeter on the former Great Western Exe Valley branch line. He’d installed an impossibly tiny circle of track round the clothes post in his small garden, 2ft gauge I think, and equipped with overhead wire, on which he operated a home-made version of a Vicinal four-wheeler, earning himself the nickname “Vicinal Thorvertois”. I got on really well with David and enjoyed a memorable visit to his tramway with Claude and Allan.

Another outing with Claude and Allan was a visit to Dawkins, an old-fashioned department store in Axminster, to see their wonderful Lamson rapid wire cash-carrying system. Five or six closely-spaced wires ran straight out from the cash desk into a narrow arch. In the apex of the archway was a dense cluster of curves from which the wires radiated to the various counters. Another route went vertically up from the cash desk to an upstairs department, which it entered through a ragged hole in the carpet. That implanted in me a lifelong fascination with all things Lamson, rapid wires, pneumatic tubes, and cash ball railways – another debt which I owe to Claude and Allan.

We also visited a flour mill in Axminster which had a Blackstone oil engine similar to the Eastbourne ones. One of the tasks I was given at Seaton was to commission a small petrol engine, a Lister I think, for use in a lineside power boosting facility housed in one of the tramway’s former Southern Region concrete PWay huts. The engine had a flywheel, which I rotated a few degrees to get access through the spokes. To my horror the engine started, but fortunately I wasn’t injured, only a bit embarrassed.

Sadly all the stress and overwork of the move caught up with Claude, and he was admitted to Axminster Hospital with a suspected heart attack. The real problems had started the previous Christmas. Claude and Allan lived in a detached house on Eastbourne Road in Pevensey Bay, which was the planned ultimate destination for the trams. As usual, Allan spent that 1970 Christmas with his family, and Claude quite happily stayed on his own at the Cottage, as the house was known. What happened next is best described by quoting from a letter which Claude wrote to me shortly afterwards;

“Allan’s Mini is here at Seaton, so I lent him my 1800 to go to Barnet with and I said I would be quite O.K. with the Bedford. Well, I got home O.K. on Xmas eve, but then we had a wee bit of snow which effectively prevented me from getting the Bedford out of the front garden, and as there were no buses running on the 25th or the 26th I was imprisoned in the house till Sunday 27th, when I got the 99 bus to Eastbourne, and this is where the real trouble started. I got to Beach Road alright and walked up the seafront – all ankle deep in snow – and when I turned Eastward to walk to the works I was faced with a VERY strong bitter east wind, and by the time I managed to reach the works I was completely exhausted. Anyway, I rested and regained my puff, and eventually went to catch the LAST bus home, but in true bus style it was cancelled – the crew had not turned up! And NO taxis. After about an hour or more in the freezing cold I managed to scrounge a lift home, but not before I had developed considerable pain in the chest, which went off when I thawed out. Allan returned on the Tuesday (I did not venture out on the Monday) and on the Wednesday we went to Macclesfield as there were some ex L.C.B.E.R. bulkhead fittings and odds and sods which I had bought some 18 months ago which I wanted to collect, also we wanted to go to Bradford to see about a new Diesel engine, and on to Blackpool for a couple of days. The rest (!) seemed to effect some improvement but as I was not 100% so went to see the Doc. And at once he said it was angina, and therefore I must switch off and do no lifting or heavy work, eat no fried stuff, no sugar, no cakes or pastry in fact I am absolutely starving! So I have bought a bloody great whip and now go around with that to make sure everyone else gets on with it. Actually I have been taking it as easy as I can and (touch wood) I have had no repetition of the symptoms, so I am hoping it will mend in time.”

Three months later he was dead. Circumstances had not been in favour of easing off in compliance with the doctor’s orders. There was tremendous pressure to capitalise on some good free publicity which the new tramway had received on television and in the press. Before the erection of overhead wires, battery operation was the order of the day and there was an urgent need for double track at Swan's Nest passing loop so that more than one tram could be operated to bring in much-needed revenue.

Two railway permanent way staff had been taken on to lay track, and a clash of cultures soon reared its head. The railwaymen didn’t conceal the disdain with which they regarded the tramway’s doings, showing scorn for the pragmatic approach to tramway engineering which had been necessary for the time being to get the trams running. Upgrading would have been done as soon as resources permitted, but they would have none of that. For example, when Bobsworth Bridge’s deck timbers had to be replaced with rolled steel joists one and a half inches deeper, they insisted on a long “main line” slope either side to absorb the small difference in level.

Matters came to a head when Claude was lying seriously ill in hospital, although it has to be said that no-one knew he was so near the end. I can remember one dark night hearing the phone ringing at some unearthly hour and feeling my perilous way through the dark, unavoidably cluttered Works to the office at the other end of the building, fearing the worst, only for it to be a wrong number.

The intention had been to use re-gauged ex-Eastbourne points temporarily for Swan’s Nest loop, but the railwaymen insisted on long heavyweight custom-made points with planed switch- blades at a cost which was prohibitive under the circumstances. I witnessed first-hand the way in which their intransigence tormented Claude on what turned out to be his deathbed. It haunts me still, and gave me a jaundiced impression of that rare species of tram-sceptic railwaymen whose brethren, years later, were to summarily reject anyone who mentioned the word “tram” when applying for a job on the Manchester Metrolink tramway. Steam locomotive whistles and screeching railway horns were defiantly inflicted by the railwaymen on city- goers, and the city centre was defaced by their typhoon-proof overhead line equipment. Only when I worked for Network Rail did I realise how few railwaymen are like that, although they are still out there involved in tramways yet failing to embrace tramway concepts.

And so Claude died a worried man, and in the aftershock my tramway job dreams vanished. None of us had known what was about to happen, which made the blow even more shattering when it did fall. After attending the funeral I had to return to my life in Manchester, and I still regard the Christmas no-show of that bus crew in Eastbourne as a personal “sliding doors” moment. If the scheduled bus service that Claude so clearly deserved had been provided, he would doubtless have lived far longer, and life thereafter would have been totally different for me and for the tramway.

It’s difficult to imagine that things could have turned out any better at Seaton than they actually did, except to think how splendid it would have been for Claude to have been there to bask in the success of the tramway which he and Allan had given birth to, and to enjoy the fruits of his handiwork in a long happy retirement. I think we can be sure that he would have been delighted with his flourishing and immensely popular tramway today.

In the seismic aftershock of Claude’s sudden death, I remember going with Allan in his Mini to a remote spot in the countryside which he knew about, and just sitting with him in the car listening to an intense silence more profound than anything I’ve experienced since. It seemed entirely appropriate to contemplate the devastating loss in that way.

For me Eastbourne and Seaton had been warm and friendly comfort zones where it made me proud to feel like a valued part of a small but extremely effective team. During my protracted absences when I was back home in Manchester and volunteering at Crich, Claude and occasionally Allan had corresponded with me regularly so that I never felt cut off from Modern Electric Tramways and all its doings. That changed in the aftershock of Claude’s death, when the termination of any plans for a job at Seaton meant that I had to go back to my telecoms career in Manchester. After that I lost touch partly because the distance seemed prohibitive and partly because communication was severed by the upheaval.

Life after Seaton consisted of four main threads for me - raising a family, tramway preservation, tramway promotion and work. In 1976 I married my beautiful and multi-talented wife Nicolette, and we have a daughter and son, Alex and Greg, who between them have (so far) given us four wonderful granddaughters.

My lifelong career was with HM Diplomatic Service for 40 years, serving in posts in North Central and South America, south east Africa, Portugal, Malaysia and finally as Deputy High Commissioner in Mumbai, India and then High Commissioner to Mozambique. I retired in 2007 and now split time between homes near London and Lisbon in Portugal. I speak Portuguese and Spanish, sometimes even English...

Tram history
I spent some of my early childhood summers in Blackpool in the mid to late 1950s with my grandparents, and regularly used the Marton route from Devonshire Square to South Shore and No1 from North Station to Bispham and Cleveleys on shopping trips and to see family. I was hooked, as they say. The difference between the “ultra modern” Vambacs and “old” Pantograph cars fascinated me - such a contrast.

Other family trips were to New Brighton, which involved a tram from Liverpool Lime St to Pier Head for the Mersey ferry. Also Yorkshire, where as a youngster I spotted “trams with sheds on the front” - Felthams - in Leeds, and also visited Sheffield a couple of times, including on the last day. Two trips to Glasgow in 1962, including riding in the final procession on a Coronation car, bringing the street tramway era in the UK to a close.

I started to attend the LRTL monthly meetings in Manchester in 1962, meeting like-minded people and joined what became the Manchester group with Victor Chatburn, travelling to Crich most weekend Sundays. In 1963 I was part of the horse car team and regularly manhandled Bonny the horse and drove Sheffield 15. Crich credit me with being the first passenger carrying tram driver at the museum (to be be honest I don’t particularly remember) and invited me back 50 years later to celebrate.

Eastbourne
At an LRTL meeting in Manchester in 1962/63, a short film of Eastbourne trams was shown and David Holt and I decided it would be great to work on them in the summer. We wrote to Claude Lane and were taken on as conductors for August that year. We B&B’d and camped out in the depot. That was the start of three or four summers working there, latterly as a driver.

The trams ran from 10.00am till about about dusk, with two shifts for the crews. However there were always extras to take out whenever needed. Cars 6 and 7 provided the backbone of the service, with 4 and then 2 in reserve. By 1966 No.12 had joined the fleet, but did not see much use as most passengers wanted the open top option. 4 and 12, being longer than the other cars, often managed to scoop up the pebbles on their front catchers as they rounded Beach Corner. The pebbles on the stretch between the corner and terminus were a constant moving problem.

The fare was 10d return, collected by conductors using ex Manchester bus ticket machines then being phased out in their home town. The only days off we got was when it was raining but discovered that if we wore our green tram uniforms, we could generally travel for free on the Corporation and Southdown buses so were at least able to travel nearby to see the area. Our wage rate on the trams was 1/6d (7.5p) an hour hence the need for freebees!

During the day, and especially at the weekends, it could get very busy and it was not unusual for four cars to be out. No.4 was popular in the evenings because it had the coloured light strings up to the trolley tower. 17.00-19.00 could get pretty dead as the day trippers had left and the stayover visitors were at their B&Bs for their tea. Such was life in those days.

David Holt, John Edwards and Ray Hobson from Manchester all worked some summers 1963-67. A local lad Colin, a couple of years older than us, also worked full time as a driver. A regular volunteer driver was Jack Norris, who more or less claimed 4 as his own. Apart from Allan and Claude, Ted Lilley and his wife Ivy were very much a fixture of the summer seasons. Coming from Croydon in their green 1950s Ford Prefect van, they stayed in a basic caravan beside the small running shed. They were in their late 60s and the "Uncle and Auntie" to us all. Ivy was in charge of the shop, which in 1963 was just a small end portion of the Royal Parade tram shelter. From 1965 onwards, Tram Shop 01 was driven to the end of the line and back to the depot each morning and evening. Ted always had a pipe in his mouth, often unlit, and on quiet evening duties would sit in the lower saloon with the conductor awaiting passengers. He told lots of stories of old Croydon and the London trams, even going back to WW1. Apparently a close relation of Ted had been killed in a Zeppelin air raid..... yes, a WW1 air raid!

At some point I qualified as a driver and my particular love was No.7. It just handled and sounded like a tram should.

Seaton
My career took me away from the UK for long periods from the early 70’s so visits to the tramway's new home at Seaton were erratic at best. The first was about 1971 with my then regular girlfriend (and later wife) Linda. We took out 7 from the depot up the line and back a few times with some passengers. There was no overhead, just a small battery trailer providing the power, not always successfully! By the late 1980s/early 90s it was on and off visits for a few days, mainly in spring half term with my family, which now included two children. Happy days driving on the assortment of cars, but 7 by preference of course, although I have a soft spot for 14 as it reminds me of the old Lisbon bogie cars that used to ride on one of the local routes near our then house in the mid 1980’s.

Trams around the world
My Diplomatic travels saw me travelling on ancient trams in Mexico City in the early 70’s, likewise travelling about in Asuncion, Paraguay to and from the Embassy on old original cars plus not quite so old ex-Buenos Aires cars. One route had been resurrected because of the then first oil crisis. One quirk of that system was that it shut down every afternoon for a three hour siesta, like the rest of the city (and Embassy!). In North America I managed visiting trips on cars in Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Seattle and San Francisco. Africa was a tram desert, as was most of Asia, but I had a few rides in Hong Kong, Calcutta and Melbourne. Holidays and work trips in Europe has provided contact with many systems from Oslo to Rome, the oddest probably Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia in the late 1960s. With attendance at many EU meetings in Brussels in the early 1990’s, when they got bogged down I would often escape for an hour or so and take a tram ride breather to clear the head. Then there is my adopted country Portugal with Porto, Sintra and my local system Lisbon, which I have known and used since the late 1970s through its downs and now ups again.

So that’s 60 years worth. Time goes by!

I have many fond memories both of Eastbourne, although I only spent the summer of 1964 working on the tramway. Howard Parkinson’s parents kindly conveyed us both there by car from Manchester, where our accommodation for the first 3 weeks of our stay consisted of the depot building at the Crumbles, and dossing down in sleeping bags on the floor of a former Yorkshire Woollen District single decker bus which was parked in the shed. I think we had the luxury of a kettle and a single tap of cold water, plus access to a toilet, of which the least said the better! More thorough bathing arrangements were conducted by tripping carefully across the shingle beach and into the sea.

Happily we saved up enough to then access bed & breakfast accommodation elsewhere in the town, but at least our ill-fitting uniforms seemed to get us free travel on the local buses. I remember the likes of Ted and Ivy from Thornton Heath or should that be “Fornton Eefth”, the sometimes flowery language of Claude Lane, not forgetting long-suffering Allan.

Quite how the trams stayed on the track which in parts appeared less than level was a minor miracle but it was all immensely enjoyable as was the camaraderie. I also remember the return journey home by coach at the end of our stay, first by Southdown to Victoria Coach Station then via the overnight North Western coach to Manchester. There was something of a wait at Victoria so we hardy travellers decided to imbibe one or two at a nearby hostelry. Not a good idea as the journey north without a toilet on board proved to be a challenge and the comfort break in the depths of Digbeth Coach Station, Birmingham was indeed a relief in all senses.

There is a very recent connection with the Seaton Tramway as some friends of mine visited there on 21^st September 2020 as part of a weekend based in Paignton. They travelled to South Devon from Lancashire in a fully restored 1974 National Express coach which is owned by one of those friends. Unfortunately I was unable to join the trip as I was due to return from holiday on the morning of their departure, alas like most things in 2020, that holiday was cancelled due to Covid-19 precautions.

My encounters with trams are mostly in Blackpool as I live in St. Anne’s-on-Sea but two of the friends I alluded to above are closely involved with the Heritage Trams operation, one being the driving instructor. Despite Covid-19 limitations a successful weekend was held on the 26^th/27^th September 2020 to mark the 135^th anniversary of Blackpool trams. That’s some landmark, I hope I’ll still be around for the 150^th celebrations!

The following was written as an obituary by John Barrie and originally appeared in issue 17 of “The Tramway Tribune” in December 2001.

Jeffrey Mackenzie (1934-2001) was born in Peckham, south east London on 15^th February 1934, and for most of his life lived immediately adjoining the Peckham Rye tram terminus. He never married and was the youngest of a family of three boys and one girl.

He was a bus conductor for several years on Route 63, working out of Peckham Garage, the last few years of his working life being spent in the department responsible for the advertisements on London Buses.

A serious heart problem forced him to give up work in 1986, and also deemed him ineligible to hold a Seaton Tramway driving license from this date. This meant that we did not see much of him from then on, but he never lost his passionate interest in what was going on, and kept in constant touch.

Jeffrey was mostly involved with the Tramway during the period of the move from Eastbourne to Seaton, and very much involved in the early days at the present site. Most of his days off were spent driving trams. He used to finish an early turn on the buses and then jump straight into his car and drive down to Seaton, spending the next day driving trams. He would drive back to London the following day after covering a couple of early round trips on the tram and then do a late turn on his London Transport duties.

His other great passions were cinemas and cinema organs. He will always be remembered for his organising abilities. Amongst these was the famous Blackpool weekend, which he organised on an annual basis. It was a combination of tram tours and visiting the famous organ at the Blackpool Tower. In latter years his time was mostly spent organising organ concerts on a regular basis at a venue in Essex.

He was for several years Chairman, Secretary and Trustee for the London County Council Tramways Trust (LCCTT), and was actively concerned in the restoration of former LCC tramcars 106 and 1622.

Graham Warhurst was one of the earliest members of staff at Seaton Tramway, joining soon after the move from Eastbourne was underway, and assisting Claude Lane and Allan Gardner in the construction of the line. He also assisted with the re-gauging of the tramcars from 2ft to the new Seaton gauge of 2ft 9 inches.

Graham moved to the Isle of Man and joined Isle of Man transport, where he was involved with both the steam and electric railways, and became Assistant Operations Superintendent. He returned to Seaton Tramway on several occasions in the 1990s with the Isle of Man Transport publicity bus and stand, at some of the special events of the time.

Melvin Eva (d. 1985) was one of the earliest members of staff at Seaton Tramway, joining soon after the move from Eastbourne was underway, and assisting Claude Lane and Allan Gardner in the construction of the line. He also assisted with the re-gauging of the tramcars from 2ft to the new Seaton gauge of 2ft 9 inches.

Melvin moved on to work for many years at the Talyllyn Railway.

Ken Thorpe (1932-2014) was a very important figure in the early stages of Seaton Tramway. Although he had followed the Tramway closely since its days in Eastbourne, he became actively involved shortly after the sudden death of Claude Lane in 1971. Ken was the instigator of the legendary weekend working parties of volunteers, which he organised and which enabled many of the large early projects to be completed, such as the extension from Riverside to Seaton from 1973-1975 and the extension to Colyton from 1975-1980.

Ken worked for London Transport for much of his career in revenue protection, and then latterly as an archivist at Somerset House in London. But it was his connections with the enthusiast community in London that led to many people being introduced to Seaton Tramway, many of who became active volunteers themselves.

He stayed closely involved at Seaton for the rest of his life, making several visits each year with his wife Lydia to drive and assist in the depot.

Sid Coates was one of the very first tram drivers and conductors at Seaton, and worked during the period of operation with battery trailers between Riverside and Colyford in the early 1970s, and for most of that period the selection of trams was limited to Car 2 and Car 8. In those days, tickets were sold on board the trams by the drivers or an on-board conductor. Sid was already of retirement age at this time, and lived in a bungalow at Colyford.

I was born in north London, and in early childhood lived at Barnet, not far from Claude Lane's Lancaster Electrical Company works. I visited the tramway at Eastbourne just once, in 1969, with a group from Bournemouth where I was living at the time.

I first visited the tramway at Seaton in 1972;  I learned to drive that season, and that started an annual visit to help and drive. In my first two seasons, the mornings were taken up with working on the line or in the depot, and in the afternoon trams ran between the depot ('Seaton/Riverside Only' on the blinds) and Colyford; they were powered by battery truck attached with tow bar and power cables, number 8 being the main workhorse.

In my early years, the tramway hosted a winter London area volunteers' update, held at the long-defunct Fred Tallant Hall in Drummond Street. It was an opportunity to be briefed on the forthcoming season, and to catch up with other volunteers. In later times, an annual update weekend was based at the Seaton Heights Hotel, also now gone, and which included driving refreshers. One year the weekend included a tourist board 'Welcome Host' session. This reminded us all of the importance of pleasantly looking after our passengers, even when we might be tiring after a busy day - guest house breakfast talk will tell of previous day's experiences, good or bad, and good words from happy passengers are important and free publicity.

Year by year, at each visit, the tramway developed: power from the overhead, extension to the car park, and later on to Colyton. Later still, the attractive shelter, ticket office and shop was built at the Seaton terminus, with the welcoming art-deco style sign between two dark red‑painted poles. I enjoyed coming down volunteering, accompanied at times by Robert Keeping, Paul Sutherland, or Colin Stannard.  Although each year I came down at around the same time, it was a pleasure to meet and work with a variety of other volunteers - Geoff Hodgson (a former Huddersfield trolleybus driver), Mike Mercer, Stan Letts, Roy and Jean Hubble, to name just a few. In later years, my wife Heather would join me towards the end of my week, and after the tramway week we would enjoy some more time in the West Country.

In the late 1970s, during our week's visit, Robert Keeping and I used to run a 2-car half-hourly evening service from Seaton, by 9pm dropping to one hourly car, with the last car from Colyford taking a few from the White Hart home to Seaton. With the tram shop/ticket office 01 packed away in the depot, we exchanged the one ticket machine where we passed at Swans Nest loop, and on more than one occasion the Riverside to Car Park single-line staff travelled up and was exchanged there too.

I worked on the main line railway, and introduced colleague Bill Fitton to the tramway. Later that year Bill introduced our colleague Brian Raybould. My railway career spanned over forty years, many in timetabling. For the Tramway, I documented the 20-minute tram service, pasting the standard-hour minutes on to old London Transport bus timecards; I also devised the timetable and produced the traffic notice for the launching of car 14 by Larry Grayson, in 1984. It was a pleasure to contribute and drive on the tramway, giving my passengers an enjoyable trip, hoping many would tell others and return themselves for another visit. I last drove on the tramway in 2004.

My wife and I now live in Exmouth. My transport interest is maintained by committee membership of the Avocet Line Rail Users' Group and the Devon General Society; I am also a trustee of the Devon General Omnibus Trust, with which I continue to enjoy driving our old buses.

The photo shows Martin with the late Larry Grayson during the launch of Car 14 on 2nd June 1984.

Geoff Sawford (1928-2013) was an ex-trolleybus driver with London Transport, but his enthusiam for trams led him to become renowned in tramway modelling circles, and to get involved at Seaton from the early 1970s. He played a significant part in the working parties of the 1970s which assisted with large projects such as track laying, overhead wired construction, earthworks etc. Geoff was also a regular volunteer driver into the 1990s

After he stopped driving, he formed a regular working partnership with Keith Marlow, and the two of them gave a lot of time helping with electrcial engineering projects, and the construction of new trucks for cars 14, 16 and 17.

Geoff's wife Kathy ran the cafe at Colyton Station from 1989 until 1991, in partnership with Elaine Langford (wife of longstanding volunteer Gordon Langford).

Fred Chubb (1928-2005) was the only member of the Seaton Tramway staff to also work on the Seaton Branch Line, having been a track engineer with British Railways before he took up the same role with Seaton Tramway in 1972.

Fred played a big part in extending the track from Riverside to Seaton in 1974/75, and from Colyford to Colyton between 1975 and 1980. He assisted with much of the work on the overhead wire, and also performed regular service driving duties.

Born in Colyton, he was a lifelong resident of the town; even after his retirement, he was a regular visitor to Colyton Station, which had played such a big part in his life.

David Chaplyn (1948-2006) joined the company in 1973, along with his father Cyril and sister Susan, who had married managing director Allan Gardner that year.

David played a significant role in all of the Tramway’s projects and developments for over three decades, supporting Allan Gardner in countless projects, and he was also a regular driver throughout each season. Sadly, he suffered serious ill-health in his last years at the Tramway, which led to his retirement in 2004, and he passed away two years later.

I was born in 1947 and will always remember riding with my father on the London trams especially through the Kingsway Subway. To a small boy of 4 or 5, the exhilaration of going down a 1 in 10 incline at Southampton Row into the enveloping darkness of the subway was a thrill. That was the start of my enthusiasm for tramways.

My association with the tramway came at Eastbourne in the late 1960s when I visited the line and met the late Claude Lane and his assistant Allan Gardner. In 1969 it was announced that the tramway was to close and move to Seaton, I went down to ride the last car which turned out to be number 6.  No sooner had we thought that the last car had run then some people arrived for a ride so Claude took them to the Crumbles and back, this happened a couple of times until the last was definitely the last.  

It was 1973 when Ken Thorpe organised a working party to help on the tramway.  I went down to Devon with a small group of enthusiasts and ended up being a conductor on the trams. I preferred conducting to driving but ended up taking my turn at driving though not in public service.  The General Manager, Allan Gardner, decided to dispense with conductors and asked if I would like to drive one instead. 

During the late 1970s/early 1980s, my late mother and father came down to Seaton with me, they would enjoy their holiday and I would be on the tramway driving as usual. My parents would come for a ride one afternoon but father insisted on two conditions – that there were other passengers on the tram and they would pay their fares. I would drive them to Colyton for afternoon tea. 

In 1998, I decided to leave the Seaton tramway having spent many summers down there driving the trams and enjoying every occasion. I felt it was time to travel and see tramways operating in different parts of the world and have visited China, Japan, United States, Australia and New Zealand, to name but a few, in my quest. 

Simon Earley (d. 2016) was one of the volunteers who got involved in the working parties of the early 1970s, helping to acheive labour-intensive projects such as track laying, bridge building etc. He went on to be a driver for many years up until the late 1980s.

Volunteer Driver 1973-1985

Regular Working Party volunteer and occasional driver

Volunteer driver 1974-1996

Beryl Chaplyn (1920-2011) joined the company in 1974, following her husband Cyril, son David and daughter Susan, who had married managing director Allan Gardner in 1973.

Beryl worked in the shops at both Seaton and Colyton, latterly in joint shifts with Cyril. Beryl and Cyril also owned Jasmine Cottage in Seaton, which they ran as a guest house. Many volunteers stayed with them over the years, even though the house was reputed to be haunted! Their generous hospitality enabled many people to offer their time and skills, and therefore played a huge part in securing this vital source of labour for the Tramway.

Beryl provided, planted and maintained the early floral displays at Colyton and Colyford stations, which did so much to lift and enhance their appearance, and made the first sets of curtains for cars 14 and 16.

Beryl retired following Cyril’s death in 1994, but retained a keen interest in the Tramway and attended events and get togethers whenever she could.

Harry Ellis (1914-1996) was a tram man through and through, having joined London Transport in 1946 after his war service.

He began as a conductor at New Cross Depot in 1946, later transferring to Holloway Depot. Tram shifts were always his preference, although he also worked on the trolleybuses and buses, but always opted for tram duties when they were offered, and he was able to work on the trams for most of their last year of operation in 1952.

After the trams finished, he worked on the buses, latterly at Wandsworth Depot, from where he retired in 1979. He later wrote a short book, London Tramway Memories – New Cross & Holloway Depots 1946-1952, and also gave talks about his memories of London Transport in that era.

Harry spent every annual holiday from 1974 at Seaton Tramway, driving the trams until he had to finally give up at the age of 70 in 1984. However, he continued to visit Seaton, where he still managed to get some driving, but not in passenger service.

Cyril George (c1921-2001) was a London Transport bus driver who volunteered at Seaton for many years.

Dick Fishwick was a volunteer who mainly helped with engineering tasks, and his most enduring job was digging the inspection pit on 1-road in Riverside Depot in the early 1980s.

Volunteer Driver 1975-86.

Volunteer Driver 1975-87

Roy Hubble (1933-1994) was a tramway modeller and enthusiast from Harlow in Essex, who took cine film of many tram systems around Britain, including at Eastbourne in 1959. He became volunteer driver at Seaton in 1976, and moved to the area with his wife Jean in around 1982 when he joined the full time staff, combining driving duties with maintenance, including the daily servicing of the Ruston diesel generators at Axmouth and Colyford.

Roy and Jean move away in 1990, and became involved at the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville.

The video clip was filmed by Richard Youl in 1986, and shows Roy doing the daily maintenance at Axmouth Generator, and also with his model tram layout at home.

I knew the tramway from Eastbourne days although was never involved with it then. We first came to Seaton on a weekend trip with a London RTL type bus in 1975. Allan Gardner provided his usual excellent hosting and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

It was then that I had my first short drive and later the subject of needing volunteers came up, so I expressed an interest. John Barrie taught me all my bad habits and I was subsequently let loose on the Tramway, with 1976 being my first season as a volunteer driver, for a couple of weeks that hot summer.

I then thoroughly enjoyed coming down for a session every summer as well as the gala weekends for the next 42 years, finally calling it a day in 2018 at the age of 70, when permitted working days became restricted and, to be honest, I was a little sad to see the new terminus as being not quite in keeping with the general flavour of the tramway, although I do appreciate it has probably been great for the business. I thought it was best to bow out on a ‘high’ at that time! I still love the tramway very much, meeting those friends I have made down there over many years, and enjoyed ‘popping in’ last August with my grandchildren. Fortunately my sister/brother in law live in Axminster, so it is ’two birds with one stone’ so to speak.

All of my memories of Seaton Tramway are great and, like most, I have had a few ‘incidents’, but none too disastrous I believe. Two “classics” stand out;

I was coming south on a floater to find that, on going around Windy Corner, Alan Collins and his tram rolling gently into mine. Fortunately there was no damage done, and I was (smugly, I’m ashamed to admit) in possession of the staff at the time. I felt so sorry for Alan as anyone could have made that same mistake. We are all human.

The other claim to infamy was where I gained the nickname (initiated by “Macey”), of “Seafront”, relating to the day JJ had just greased the track and unfortunately I went farther south than anyone else had ever done on the line, with a bit of damage to car 10 and the old exit gate.

The best amusement is always present when dealing with the public and I’m sure we can all relate stories about how they can react and what they say. My day job was driving buses and later into supervision and management, ending up as an operations project manager on Croydon Tramlink, so many things were uncannily common to both my work and my hobby.

I often came down to Seaton with Nick Agnew, but others spring to mind who have long since disappeared, Mike Underhill and Colin Sales to name just two. I often came with my wife Joyce and later our girls Vicky and Kate, who sometimes came for the ride and turned the trolley for me at Colyton in the years before the reverser. For some seasons, I also came down with Martin White, who seemed to suddenly disappear off the face of the earth and I have no news of him since about 2004.

John Farrow (1949-2020)

Though I was aware of the Seaton Tramway before 1976, it wasn’t until that year when two friends (Nick Agnew and Paul Ross) told me about their experiences volunteering there that summer, that I decided I’d like to help as well if I could. A brief reconnaissance visit that autumn confirmed my interest, and next summer I was able to spend a couple of weeks there.

The first thing that struck me was how friendly and informal the whole operation was; everyone involved, whether a member of staff or a volunteer, wanted to be there and was willing to help with whatever needed doing. Those were still pioneering days, with the move from Eastbourne still fresh in many people’s memories and a great pile of miscellaneous bits and pieces from the move still to be sorted out in one half of the depot building. All the trams used at Eastbourne were operational, but number 12, then a single-decker, didn’t get out much. The body of the new number 14, still far from complete, lurked at the back of the shed waiting for time to be available to finish it.

The line itself had recently extended from the Depot down to the Car Park, winding its way past the back of a holiday camp (known as “Warnitz” because of its resemblance to a prisoner of war establishment  - which of course it had once been) and a chalet park. These two sites produced an enormous amount of traffic for the trams. At the other end, the limit of operations was Colyford, though the track and overhead crossed the A3052 (without a formal level crossing) and continued on towards Colyton; the overhead wire stopped about half way there, but the track continued into the old station site. Some passengers at Colyford could be heard speculating why the tramway had closed the section to Colyton, but they were soon put right!

Presiding over the whole undertaking was Allan Gardner, who at the time lived in a large caravan behind the depot, with his wife Sue who also drove trams and officiated in the tram shop which was towed down to the Car Park behind the first car in the morning and towed back by the last departure in the evening. Allan had an inexhaustible supply of anecdotes about the tramway in its current and previous locations, and boundless enthusiasm and ideas for its future; these were always shared during after-work sessions at the White Hart Inn beside Colyford station.

Operations were different from today; the first tram left the Car Park at 0940, and cars ran at 20-minute intervals (with extras) – but the whole service stopped for lunch! This was very often taken at the Harbour Café on Harbour Road, opposite Racal and Bradfords; I remember the two John Denver cassette tapes played alternately that invariably accompanied the meal. Services resumed after lunch, but during the peak season they continued into mid-evening, with the driver of the last car back from Colyford going into the “White Hart” to announce its departure. After that, there might well be a “staff special” from the depot to Colyford, which returned after closing time - imagine doing that today! At that time, the street lights in Seaton were switched off at midnight, so a delayed departure from Colyton could result in having to stumble back to the B&B I was staying in the very dark streets of the town.

Initially, I worked as a conductor; this involved collecting fares on one car between the Car Park and the loop where the other service car was met, changing over there to issue and check tickets on the returning car. On a two-thirds scale car, this was an interesting challenge – even more so when it rained! As time went on, I gained driving experience; like most things on the tramway at this time, it was an informal process with no set syllabus, but I quickly got the hang of it. Over following years, I enjoyed many happy weeks at Seaton, driving for half a day and spending the other half exploring the local area,

The fun continued when the tramway closed for the winter; “Working Parties” were held on certain weekends, when volunteers would come to undertake tasks like track maintenance. The cold and dark winter evenings would be spent in convivial company in the “White Hart” or in a pub in Colyton. There were also annual gatherings in London, where Allan (accompanied by Sue and sometimes other staff members) would review the Tramway’s progress over the last season and explain plans and ambitions for the next year. These were held in a room over a pub in Euston and were often a chance to renew acquaintance with other volunteers whom one might not have met since the last gathering.

The volunteers themselves were a mixed crowd; some had continued their involvement with the tramway at Eastbourne, and at that time not a few had known London’s first-generation tramways. Others had more local connections with the area or were involved professionally with public transport. Two names that come to mind are John Barrie and Ken Thorpe, both no longer with us. John had begun his working life as a London tram conductor and then became an Underground booking clerk; he spent a great deal of time supporting the tramway and moved to Seaton on his retirement so he could continue to do so. Ken had begun as an apprentice at London Transport’s tram overhaul works at Charlton, and then moved to their Effra Road ticket machine works; he involved himself in all sorts of activities at Seaton and elsewhere, but I particularly remember his prowess at organising the “Working Parties” and London events. Inevitably, there were some “larger than life” characters who it would probably be invidious to name – but I do recall the late Cyril George, latterly a bus driver at Finchley, who always claimed to have driven trams through the Kingsway Subway, even though John Barrie pointed out that he could not possibly have had the seniority needed to do this.

All good things come to an end. After several happy years spending time at the tramway, family and work commitments meant that I could no longer devote the time required. I’ve never forgotten it though, and I’ve made trips back there occasionally as an anonymous “punter” to see how things are going and to marvel at its continuing development.

Paul London, June 2020.

My association with the tramway goes way back to 1962 in Eastbourne; I clearly remember going there frequently and riding on the trams, looking in the depot and dear Claude Lane’s colourful language!

With the move to Seaton, my involvement grew as I became old enough to work on the Tramway, starting off by working in the tram shop at Seaton car park in 1976. I have quite detailed diary entries of all my time working on the Tramway over a number of years, writing a full page a day, although what follows are just short extracts.

Much of it you may wish to gloss over as being of no interest (!) but there may be a few snippets that ring a few bells with people. Read and skip bits as you please.

1976
15^th April: Wore a pair of Beryl Chaplyn’s old trousers and David’s old boiler suit overall and up at the depot washed the trams inside and out including cleaning the windows.

Diary entries this year generally detail the trams being very busy with four cars out and still long queues.

31^st July: I have made note that the shop took £21 in fares in just one hour! That was a lot in those days. These were the days of two holiday camps being right next door along Harbour Road, and apart from Saturday (changeover day) the trams were usually very busy. This is the year when I would start to drive the trams, taking them over the points in the car park and changing the trolley. I also did a Saturday job in Blue Waters camp, cleaning out the chalets and always trying to make sure I got the chalets near the tram line. I’d forever be popping out to see who was driving!

A person who will remain unnamed caused some mirth when he told another chap off for putting the trolley on the opposite wire (the wrong wire but it didn’t actually matter in this instance) and made sure everyone could hear him, but then proceeded to do exactly the same thing himself a short while later, and was himself told to put it on the right wire. Naturally that caused much laughter all round but I hasten to add that this person was a very kind man so this is not meant to insult, merely that my childish writings of the day made note of this sort of thing, as it was humourous to those around at the time.

I had an idea that it would be really exciting and adventurous to sleep in the depot, in a little “room” on the upper deck. Sue and Allan agreed to this childish venture of mine and all went well with Sue lending me a sleeping bag and there was already a mattress in the room. I woke the following morning to the Ruston generator being put on at 9.30. Next night I drift off to sleep with the sounds of a man singing and playing the guitar at the holiday camp. Apparently he’s there every week singing the same songs! No generator went on the next morning. Why? Allan had kindly not wanted to wake me. Third night and there are others also sleeping up on the platform at the other end of the depot. Fourth night and the adventure turns scary for me as I hear footsteps and banging in the wee small hours. I think about going to Sue and Allan’s caravan but don’t want to disturb them. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night, but the cause was likely nothing more than a cow walking up on the track and banging its backside against the depot doors. Adventure over though!

A very heavy snowfall brought the West Country to a grinding halt. Dad and I got a phone call from the depot to say that they were going to try and take a tram up to the White Hart Inn at Colyford. We waded through knee/thigh deep snow to get to the depot and a group of us started out on this journey, shovels at the ready to clear a path along the track. We made it to Axmouth loop and had to concede defeat but it was fun trying.

1978
I am still working in the shop, being paid 80p p/h. Notes of that year:

28^th August: No4 came out on top of the service cars but there wasn’t enough juice and the extra tram wasn’t needed anyway, but there was a certain amount of sulking by the enthusiast when he had to put the tram away. No names mentioned!

17^th September: My first drive alone at Allan’s suggestion on No7. This tram became my firm favourite and I have been amazed that people still associated with, and working on, the Tramway now, remember this from all those decades ago. No6 was my next choice and, if I recall correctly, was Allan’s favourite tram. The enthusiasts all clamoured for No2 & No4, which were my least favourite as it happens.

18^th September: Dad (Gordon Langford) and I drove in service today.

20^th September: Two trams plus a floater, which meant whoever was at the car park worked in the shop until the next tram arrived. Sue announces that, now I am driving, my pay rate goes up from 80p p/h to £1 p/h.

22^nd September: A lady passenger compliments me on my driving, which was nice.

26^th September: No7 is being stripped down in the depot and looks rather sad. No8 is newly out from being repaired for several weeks, and the brakes are terrific, whereas before they were virtually non-existent.

1^st October: Last trip of the season and what a trip. Drove No8 but as I got out of the depot loop, No6 is unexpectedly coming down the track. Turned trolley etc. and back to depot to let No6 pass. Finally got going again, only to find smoke coming out of No8’s controller, so trolley turned and returned to the depot again. The brakes sticking seemed to be the cause and finally all was well.

1979
16^th July: No4 was supposed to be doubling up with me as it was busy, but the driver was leaving when he fancied, which resulted in me having a cornfield meet with Andrew.

21^st July: Price rise for a round trip from 60p to 80p (adult) and from 40p to 60p (child), but price will remain the same when they go all the way through to Colyton (in 1980).

24^th July: On No6. I was just coming up to Swans Nest from Colyford when the other driver went through the loop, even though I was about 25 yards away and easily visible. At first I couldn’t believe it. Anyway, he had to change the trolley etc. He said he’d lost concentration and was looking at the rails, and thought he was at Axmouth loop.

27^th July: At Colyford station we could all smell burning and thought it was Allan welding, but then we saw smoke and thought it was my tram, but it turned out to be a sleeper smouldering as the wood was so dry and the sun had set it alight.

4^th August: So many helpers today that I didn’t have a tram, so helped out with cutting back brambles instead, but worked in the shop in the evening.

5^th August: Charlie drove under my instruction as he’s not passed out yet. Felt strange me now acting as an instructor.

14^th August: The power was just about nil, there were strong winds and the trams just idled along. The timetable got more and more out as the day went on.

15^th August: Service up the creek as the Colyford generator ran out of oil and there was virtually no power.

24^th August: So much power tonight, and the trams were racing along on first notch.

25^th August: Rota mix up as a certain enthusiast had just turned up unannounced and demanded a tram. He refuses to have tram 6 or 7.

25^th August: No2 derailed on 2-road at the depot, just as I was driving it into the depot, due to a rotten sleeper. There was a horrible crunch, but it was fortunately not too serious and was back on the track fairly quickly. I was upset and felt a fool, but dear Allan just smiled. I apologised of course but he said it would have happened to anyone and not to worry.

27^th August: Worked in the shop with my brother Philip this evening. In the pub, tomorrow’s rota is worked out, with a certain unnamed enthusiast insisting everything is worked out around what he wants.

6^th September: A little boy comes tumbling down the tram stairs. He cried but was so brave and sweet, although he was badly grazed and would clearly have some nasty bruises. I gave him a tram badge for being so brave.

10^th September: I don’t get taken off my shift as arranged as certain enthusiasts just don’t show up as they have arranged to do.

16^th September: As the weather gets colder, Chrissy’s jumpers (which are on sale in the tram shop) are in demand. In just one afternoon, eleven of her jumpers were sold.

23^rd September: No proper service today, just two large parties. They’d come down on a specially chartered train – 250 of them - but the train failed to stop at Axminster and sailed on to Honiton. Poor people. They were an hour late as a result and the weather was awful and to cap it off, No2 and No7 both derailed at the same place, full of passengers.

24^th September: The corners were painful and needed oiling badly. The trams were grating like mad.

25^th September: The extension to Colyton was to have been inspected and hopefully passed out today, but it’s been postponed.

1980
3^rd June: The BBC and Tony Soper were filming on No2 and No4 for a bird watching programme.

5^th/6^th June: Cyril Chaplyn’s 62^nd birthday. Gave him a card and wine gums, as since he stopped smoking he eats loads of them. Worked 2pm-6pm on No8. It poured with rain with thunder and lightning, and I mean really poured. The lightning caused Chrissy’s lights on No7 to go out – it was directly over her and probably struck a pole or something.

7^th June: I had 20-to-25 sheep on the line so that delayed me.

8^th June: An enthusiast succeeds in mucking up the service by bringing out No2 unannounced.

9^th June: From Dad’s study window I can see Sue Gardner driving No8 past, so I flash the desk lamp at her. She “replies” by madly striking matches to make a light!

12^th June: An elderly man on a tram becomes unwell and couldn’t even stand. Other holidaymakers helped him but complained that the enthusiast driving the tram was quite heartless and didn’t help at all. The man was taken to hospital.

18^th June: No7 is out of service because the whole trolley and support has been ripped out. The unnamed driver was driving down to the car park from the depot and didn’t check the trolley, which had gone on the depot wire. The overhead stayed intact, which is strange. The wire was fine but the whole trolley damaged.

21^st June: Cyril said had I seen my picture in the paper. I thought he was joking but sure enough there’s a picture of me looking very serious driving No8 in the Western Morning News.

20^th July: The morning was a mess as far as the service was concerned. There were numerous cornfield meets – at least four this morning! In the end we had to “lose” a tram to get back to normal. Contributory factors were staff not getting to the car park and other people “playing” on No4 severely hampered the service too.

24^th July: Took over No6. Others had been complaining that it was sluggish and there was a funny smell. I could smell something odd by the trucks. David rode to the car park with me and it was found to be a bearing.

30^th July: Drove No8 all afternoon. What a fiasco! It was so busy that we were “ordered” to leave when we were full to try and get the queues down. Fine, except no one knew where the trams were and passing at loops was more by chance than arrangement!

11^th August: Pouring with rain and rails really slippery. Waiting in the depot for my tram when a call comes through that another tram has run off the end of the rails at Colyton.

17^th August: Chatted with Allan as he was repairing No8. As the light faded I held a torch so that he could see. People have been getting shocks from the trolley, so he looked at the wire in the pole etc. There were a few bare bits, so Allan thought that must be what it was. However, it wasn’t. Later he found something wrong with the trolley wire in the bottom deck. He tugged the wire and there was a blinding flash and pieces showered us. I felt a slight burning in my hair, like it was a firework. Surely that was the cause. But it wasn’t.

18^th August: Allan was back working on No8’s trolley. Philip, my brother, assisted for a couple of hours but finally, after completely rewiring the trolley and Allan was still getting shocks the cause was found; a screw was slightly too long in the trolley mast and it was touching metal, causing a shock to be felt when one held the handrail and trolley. Sorted!

20^th August: Drove No7 all afternoon. Extremely busy and queues just didn’t go down. It was also very humid, which may have accounted for a boy fainting at Colyton. He came back lying down on No4.

24^th August: No2 was off the rails at Colyton this morning, just by the bend by Christine’s caravan. Fortunately it appeared not too busy.

26^th August: Just one trip on No7 today as it didn’t come out until my last trip. Part of the gear casing had fallen off on my last trip yesterday and had to be fixed. I’d not heard it fall off but saw something on the track coming out of Colyton. I didn’t know it was something that had fallen off my tram.

8^th September: No7 was in the depot having been pushed there by No2. Some wires were chaffing, causing complete loss of power.

1983
2^nd August: The corners had been oiled rather too well and we were sliding all over the place. On the depot curve many of us actually came to a halt because the wheels were spinning so much and would take several run ups to finally get around the curve. There is an art to oiling the corners! Later that shift I had a car go over the Colyford crossing on red. It actually happened often and Cyril would ask us to take the car registration number down so he could hand it to the Police.

5^th August: It was a fairly eventful day. I was a service car and with me alone there were three cornfield meets. There were others too. Then the brakes jammed on and I had to phone for assistance (no mobiles or walkie talkies in those days).

6^th August: Allan emerges from the Axmouth generator looking like a chimney sweep, black from head to toe.

18^th August: Drove No6. A beautiful evening. I had a group of Guides who were chuffed that they had a woman driver. After 9pm I drove only the top part of the track, swapping trams each trip at Swans Nest. That way I was never alone in the car park.

3^rd September: No6 derailed at Colyford. Allan was driving, a brake shoe fell off and the trucks ran over it. Only the pony wheels came off.

7^th September: The trolley on No6 came off at Tye Lane, after a new carbon had been put in.

22^nd September: No6 wasn’t pulling properly coming around Windy Corner and it sounded odd. Then there was a clunk and then it was okay again. Sounded to me as though a pony wheel had derailed and riden back onto the track again. Allan found scarring on the wheel and track and that is exactly what had happened. The sleepers are rotten there so the track had spread. Other trams were okay on that section because their wheels are 3/8 inch wider (apparently!) Swapped to No12 but had to use the hand brake only as the air brake key was locked in the depot. Allan emptied the compressor with the hooter and off I went.

24^th September: Some boys threw a stink bomb at No12, and where it hit it made a horrible mark on the paint, which won’t come off. The acid actually ate through the varnish and paint.

25^th September: The power on the hill was so low that No12 got stuck at Colyton.

1984
This year’s pay rate for drivers is £1.90 p/h.

25^th April: An old man went across the crossing at Colyford on red. Fortunately I had stopped, although I was partly on the road. I reckon he was deaf as he was totally oblivious to everything.

15^th July: Drove No6 with a new trolley head, a vast improvement.

19^th July: Jumped out of bed at 8ish as the bed was shaking, as was the floor beneath my feet, with the wardrobe rattling. Then it stopped but I later found out that an earthquake had hit Britain and it was the worst in this country for 100 years, although what I’d felt was on the outskirts of the tremor area.

27^th July: No2 derailed at Tye Lane. That point blade has been sticking for ages and I always check it very carefully, but today I didn’t notice it was stuck over until it was too late. I rammed the brakes on but the front truck came off. Allan reckoned the driving wheels hit the blade head on, rode over and clunked down whilst the pony wheels went the way of the curve, which accounts for the odd angle the truck ended up. No 12 and No8 were coming down the hill so were delayed. Phoned for assistance and soon Roy and Peter Dixon arrived with jacks and put No2 back on the rails.

28^th July: Drove No7 but No6 had an axle break at Colyford.

7^th August: Pouring rain and the track is like a skating rink.

10^th August: Drove No6 but the brakes were dragging badly and causing the wheels to become hot. Allan adjusted the brakes on my third trip and after that it ran much better.

14^th August: What a busy afternoon – it was chaotic. Crowds everywhere and trams filled to capacity. The power up the hill was frighteningly low and to top it all No14 was out on a joy ride.

15^th August: It was really hectic with big crowds, and even with No12 out we were leaving people behind.

16^th August: On No6 for four trips. Fred had told Cyril to tell me to meet him at Colyford instead of Tye Lane. Cyril didn’t give me the message so Fred and I sat waiting for each other and finally we both set off at the same time and had a cornfield meet. I’m now nearly 10 minutes late so Geoff, waiting at Axmouth decides to come through and so there’s another cornfield meet.

17^th August: Tram to Colyton, then walked back along the track with bin bag and spike picking up all the rubbish. It took about 2 hours, with a rest at Bobsworth Bridge. An enjoyable job as it was so warm and peaceful.

23^rd August: A busy day with, eventually, five cars as it was so busy and a few cock ups occurred as a result.

26^th August: Allan is not at work today but unwell at home with suspected exhaustion.

27^th August: Someone has been “dismissed” and can’t drive, as he’s been ignoring basic rules apparently.

28^th August: Disaster at the Colyford crossing going north. I’d done all the procedure correctly and the cars on the left had stopped. A black Ford Cortina was going so slowly from the right that I thought it was stopping, but then to my horror it just kept on coming. The driver seemed oblivious to everything – was this the same elderly man from my entry on 25^th April? I was on series by now, desperately hoping to get over the crossing but he hit the tram about half way along. I stopped just clear of the road, and Ian who was on the front with me ran to the driver and shouted at him, which really upset me. Robin and Jean in the White Hart Inn phoned the Police. I only had a handful of passengers on the upper deck who were all fine (the newspaper later wrote “passengers on the crowded tram escaped injury” – they’ll write anything for a headline!) and I checked on the driver of the car – a taxi driving for Clapps. The police arrived in 2-3 minutes, checked the lights which were all fine and tram folk arrived to take photos etc. There was a hole in a panel on no. 12 and the car appeared only slightly damaged although it ended up being a write off as the engine was damaged apparently. This is the first accident on the line, although there have been numerous near misses. The car driver apparently didn’t see the lights or hear the bells, and doesn’t blame the tram in any way. All the tram passengers gave statements and said he seemed totally unaware. When Sue came back from Exeter, she thought it was all quite funny that the driver hadn’t seen No12, as it was only the biggest tram in the fleet!

29^th August: Even today, driving No6 & No7, I had people jumping the lights at the crossing. I had a chat with Eric in the depot, talking about yesterday’s events and he was very kind to me and said how sorry everyone was that it had happened to me. I thought that was a lovely thing to say. Sue had phoned Clapp’s and apparently, and understandably, the car driver is still shocked. Sue retorted that she had an upset lady tram driver! Anyway, I was back driving today – No7 until the motor got so hot I had to change to No6 with its dragging brakes instead.

6^th September: On my first trip the points at Cownhayne had stuck over but I managed to stop in time. Apparently I went white though; probably remembering the Tye Lane derailment (27^th July).

More generally:
There was an occasion when the service was driven by Dad (Gordon Langford), my brother Philip and myself. A lovely memory of such happy days and a shared love of the Tramway.

On another occasion the service was driven by me, Sue Gardner and Chrissy Chaplyn. A man at the car park took exception to having a woman driver and said he’d wait for the next tram, little realising that the next tram would also have a female driver, and the next. We three ladies all spoke to each other as we passed at loops, laughing at what his expression would be when each tram arrived with a woman driving. Maybe he got a (non-existent in those days) bus!

My Aunts (one of whom was Dad’s sister, the other “adopted”) who lived in Axminster made the delicious, and often complimented, homemade scones for the tea room at Colyton station, along with pasties for a number of years. Another family connection to the Tramway.

In 1983, whilst I was working in the Home Furnishings department of M&S Oxford Street (and hating it), Allan phoned the store and somehow managed to persuade the operator to put his call through to the shop floor to speak to me. This was unheard of. He said there was a tram driving vacancy for the summer if I wanted it and that was it – I put my resignation into M&S the next day, a huge weight lifted from my shoulders, and I had another lovely season working on the Tramway. M&S versus tram driving? No contest!

Naturally I took a fair number of photos over the years and decided to go for a more “original” angle by lying on the ballast next to the track and taking a photo at track level. All well and good until I realised I was lying in a massive ants nest. There must a been laughter from passengers on the tram seeing this crazed woman doing what looked like a rain dance, jumping up and down and brushing myself down with ants over every part of my body.

In all my years working on the Tramway, I have to say how kind Sue and Allan Gardner plus Beryl and Cyril Chaplyn were to me. Sue and Allan would pick me up to stay at their house at Colyton Station if a thunderstorm and lightning was forecast, so that I wouldn’t be alone. Sue and I used to beetle off to Exeter to go shopping together and would end up giggling like schoolgirls at silly things. She was like a big sister to me, and I loved those outings.

Whilst driving the trams one particular year, I would have to return to London fairly regularly for hospital appointments, and tests and Sue and Allan were so incredibly kind and paid my train fares for those occasions. They didn’t have to but that’s the sort of nice people they are, mindful that I wasn’t earning much and the train fares would have been a large chunk of my earnings gone. Thank you Sue and Allan!

I also went on a trip to Crich and Blackpool with Sue, Allan and Paul Sutherland. It was my first trip to Blackpool, the Tower Ballroom and the illuminations and experiencing the ferocious wind and rain on that coast. Little did I know then that the Tower Ballroom would come to feature quite heavily in my working life whilst working on Strictly Come Dancing. The show decamps there every year (out of Pandemic!) and I have total access to all areas of this amazing building and enjoy exploring it. Sadly never time for a ride on the trams although I get to glimpse them gliding along the Promenade from the Tower.

Anyway, I digress. Sue and Allan also stayed with me in London following the above-mentioned trip, and we did touristy things together. Genuinely kind people.

Many happy times were spent over a number of years as I worked on the Tramway. I loved to take the first tram of the day out as it rarely had any passengers, and I would go along the estuary singing at the top of my voice. I had always assumed no one could hear me but now I wonder?! Watching the rabbits running in the dewy fields was just lovely and I enjoyed the solitude. It was a time before the stresses of real life took over and was an idyllic existence. I hanker to spend another season driving the trams. Over the years, I came to meet so many good people and have wonderful memories. Sadly so many of these people are no longer with us, my amazing Dad among them. They all helped towards making the Tramway what it is today.

I’m not sure when I first went to Seaton, but I suspect it must have been 1975/6 and probably in the company of Paul London and/or Nick Agnew.  We all worked for what was then (I think!) still called London Transport, which I had joined in 1972 after leaving school. A long interest in railways had expanded to include tramways and while my brother (also a railwayman – but on the main line) had gravitated to big trams at Crich, I was very taken with the smaller versions at Seaton. I can remember riding with him on the line at Eastbourne and going out to the depot on what I think was the day when No12 first appeared. My brother started to take some photos of this superb new single-deck tram when Claude Lane saw him and said: “I hope you’re not going to publish any of those?” He didn’t.

I was certainly at Seaton – and driving – in June 1977 during HM The Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations when we decorated No2 with suitably patriotic flags and bunting.  In the event, I wasn’t there on Jubilee Day itself because I had gone back to London for the day to see the Royal Procession to St Paul’s!

I found driving at Seaton to be a very enjoyable experience in those days.  The main risk seemed to be having a ‘cornfield meet’ between two of the passing loops when one misjudged the approach of an oncoming car, thinking “oh, he must be running late – I’ll  carry on to the next loop and pass him there”.  I believe it only happened to me once and I then became rather more careful.

Two particular events on the tramway stay in my mind.  One was when our German volunteer driver Klaus was there. Another of the volunteers – Paul Sutherland, who seemed to drive London buses as a hobby – had discovered a bowler hat somewhere in the depot or in the depths of the ‘Tram Shop’ and armed with this, his suit, a rolled umbrella and a copy of The Times, took up position on the platform at Colyford late one afternoon.

When I duly stopped on my next southbound journey, he came aboard, loudly complaining about late running, the poor standard of service and the general incompetence of the management and staff.  (This was probably based on comments he’d heard as a London bus driver!)  Paul kept this up all the way to Seaton where he departed towards the town, still complaining as he went.  Other astonished passengers asked me “who on earth was he?”, to which I replied:  “Oh, that was Sir Paul – he’s the owner of one of the Axminster carpet companies”.  No-one found it odd that he’d been waiting for a tram at Colyford!  What ‘Sir Paul’ also found very annoying was to discover that the company employed foreign tram drivers, after Klaus had called out a cheery “Hello, Sir Paul” in a very marked German accent as our trams passed.

The other event I recall was a special ‘empty stock’ working to Colyton and back one night.  It was certainly very dark but I still remember the look of surprise on the faces of the car drivers waiting at the level crossing at Colyford as we sailed past. A ‘Night Tram’ service was not expected in deepest Devon!

I believe I stopped being a volunteer driver in 1980 as I do remember driving to Colyton in passenger service.  Looking back, I suspect the reason for me stopping was the requirement to spend more than just a week’s ‘holiday driving’ at Seaton each year and an increasing number of other demands on my time.  A pity, as I thoroughly enjoyed myself during my time spent ‘on the handles’.

I now keep myself busy in retirement with involvement in the Kempton Steam Museum, where I help to demonstrate the world’s largest working triple-expansion steam engine (my father worked for the Metropolitan Water Board – hence the interest), Redbournbury Water Mill near St Albans (where we have a 1934 Crossley 31-litre oil engine), the Silver City Association (of which I am the Chairman) and the Airship Heritage Trust.  As people of my age often say:  “I don’t know how I found the time to go to work”.  I also have fun with my 1962 Rover 100.  I seem to remember that Cyril Chaplyn (Sue Gardner’s father) had a similar Rover with a magnetic, roof-mounted sign that said ‘Tramway Official’ with a lightning flash.

And finally…..we used to stay in a very good B&B in Fore Street in Seaton. Hearty ‘Full English’ breakfasts were accompanied by predictable comments that “this will keep you on the right lines” or “this will keep you on the right track” but the thing I most remember was the card in the bathroom (no en-suite in those days), which read:

“Guest house notices we abhor,
But if you don’t keep the shower curtain inside the bath,
The water ends up on the floor!”

Funny how these little things stay with you. Happy days!

Geoff Hodgson (1930-2014)

I first visited the Tramway as a child in the mid 1960s when it was at Eastbourne. We used to travel down from Croydon on a Sunday as a family with my grandparents for Sunday lunch at the Queens Hotel. After lunch we would often drive along to the car park at Royal Parade and sit and listen to one of the early afternoon comedy programs on the BBC Light program. Following that, we would walk in Princess Park, on the beach, or better still, have a ride to the Crumbles and back! My favourite car was No12 which was rarely out, but we rode on it several times. It was my favourite because it was green and modern looking, and reminded me of the trams in Basel, Switzerland! As a kid, I was bitterly disappointed when the tramway moved to Seaton; we arrived at Eastbourne after lunch to find everything gone!

 

In 1974, I was introduced to Sue & Allan Gardner at the LCCTT Christmas Dinner at Euston in London. I was invited to visit the Tramway, now relocated and slowly establishing itself in Devon. In 1977, I briefly visited the tramway with my parents whilst on holiday nearby.

 

Later in 1977, I passed my driving test and in 1978 I drove myself to Seaton, and stayed in a B&B on Seaton Down Hill, and spent a very enjoyable week working and learning to drive on the Tramway!

 

Over the next few years I spent many holidays and long weekends at the Tramway, and many enjoyable evenings in the bar of the White Hart at Colyford in the company of fellow enthusiasts! Eventually, I took the opportunity to move to Seaton to work, which enabled me to spend more time during the evenings and weekends volunteering on the Tramway.

 

During the late 1980s, I moved back up to London, having changed jobs. I was employed by London Transport, and the work involved shifts that enabled me to continue visiting the Tramway for long weekends or days during the week. On one such visit, after a good evening at the White Hart, it was suggested that it would be a great idea to have a bus rally as we were all mainly bus, trolleybus and tram enthusiasts!

 

After discussing this several times in a hypothetical way, I started to formulate an idea and approached Allan Gardner. The Seaton Tramway Bus Rally was born! After two years with a handful of buses and a couple of lorries on show in the main car park adjacent to the old tram terminus in Seaton, we decided to expand it out to include other vehicles, and it became the Bus & Vintage Vehicle Rally, an event I helped to organise for the Tramway from home in London, and one which I came down to oversee for ten fantastic years! The rally did move site a few times to accommodate more vehicles, but we ran a vintage bus service to carry visitors on a round trip around the Axe Valley, and between the rally site and Axminster railway station. I believe over 140 vehicles attended, plus a small amount of trade stalls.

 

After my tenth rally, I decided to bow out as it was taking around nine months to organise & I had a young family who I wanted to spend time with. I still share an interest in the Seaton Tramway, and keep in contact with some of my fellow volunteers and the many friends I have made along the way.

Mike Mercer (b. 1946) writes:

My first visit was in June 1976, during a family holiday. I met Allan Gardner following another visit in summer 1977, and he invited me to train as a Seaton Tramway driver. I was finally passed out in November 1979.

In 1980, I slept in the depot at first; it was cold and the depot roof was very noisy at night. In 1983, I lived in my blue minivan behind the depot; there was no hot water in those days!

I drove trams a lot at first, but then I met John Wills and we worked together on Car 14 from 1981 until its completion in 1984, and then on Car 16. I also built new staircases for Car 7, and carried out other maintenance to the trams, track and overhead. In fact, I did this for most of the time I worked at the Tramway.

However, I was often asked to drive special trams at short notice, usually with Car 12 as not all drivers were passed out on it at that time. On one occasion, the rostered driver had not turned up, and I was asked to take the tram out as there was no one else around. I was in my shorts and didn’t have time to change, so there was lots of leg-pulling from the passengers!

Klaus Oehlert-Schellberg was born 1955 in Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany and became interested in trams as a very young boy; he watched the very modern single ended eight-wheel tramcars in double-traction on line 18 between Mülheim and Essen on the way to his kindergarten! Later he loved to ride on the Mülheim and Essen trams, especially on the interurban lines to Essen.

When he grew up he got in contact with different tramway enthusiasts in Essen and Düsseldorf. In Düsseldorf he met Vivian von Seeler, who gave him the recommendation to visit Seaton Tramway, because they needed helpers to get the line running.

In 1977 he visited Seaton for his first time and he was excited about the trams and the people. They were very kind and, after a short amount of training, he got a tramcar license for driving in service for two weeks in the summer season. He made friends with Sue and Allan Gardner and many other staff of the time, and today he is still in contact with them. He loved the trams and for many years came over every summer to do at least two weeks of driving.

He was one of the first drivers to get to Colyton by tram in 1979. At this time the overhead wire was only partly finished, so when Beryl Chaplyn organised an extra tour with a group of ladies on Car 2, David Chaplyn assisted by towing Car 2 with the Ruston loco to get it though the section without overhead. Klaus enjoyed every duty very much.

When Klaus retired from work as a timetable creator for Cologne Tramways, he loved to visit Tram systems around the world. Today he regularly volunteers at the tram museum on Schöneberger Strand near Lübeck.

Christine Chaplyn (1946-2001) was the sister-in-law of Commercial Director Sue Gardner, and she and her husband Stuart both drove trams while living in a portable home at the south end of Colyton Station platform. Christine was skilled at knitting and sewing, and produced some of the early uniform items for the Tramway.

Stuart Chaplyn (1944-1998) was the brother of Commercial Director Sue Gardner, and he and his wife Christine both drove trams while living in a portable home at the south end of Colyton Station platform. Stuart was an excellent signwriter and produced the early signs, information and advertising boards for the Tramway in the 1970s and 80s.

Background
I was always interested in trams, visiting Blackpool from an early age. This started around 1960, when many of the England tram routes were still running. This included the Marton route, which was run by open boat cars. I discovered Seaton tramway and its former home at Eastbourne in the early 60s. I used to read Modern Tramway magazine and look forward to Eastbourne entries. My normal occupation over the years has been a Management Accountant and Business Systems Analyst. Like Business Systems, the Tramway, as I see it, is basically yet another system and I am very interested in how it is operates. After many years following the Tramway at Eastbourne, including articles in Modern Tramway about the move to Seaton and what it may be like, I decided to first come down to Seaton in 1972 with my mother and father. I am very interested in public transport in general; anything basically that is organised, unlike cars, which are somewhat of a disaster.

My early days at Seaton Tramway
My first visit to Seaton was in August 1972. We stayed in the Blue Waters Holiday camp. Those days the Tramway was only running from the Depot to Colyford, basically a single line from the depot fan to Colyford. Operation was basically using cars 2 and 8. Each tram had a battery tender, at the north end, supplying 72 volts to the motors. Although the motors were only 60 volts, you were able to drive in parallel, as the supply was low from the battery tender. My first drive was with John Barrie, on a return trip from Colyford. My parents were upstairs on the tram. I drove back on battery operation, at the age of about 14 with a full tram. The overhead poles were in position to Colyford painted grey, but no bracket arms were in place or passing places. The loop at Riverside had just been built and contained the works car 02  and Car 12. There was still 2-ft gauge track into road 3 of the depot and this contained Cars 6, 7 and Tram Shop 01, which was pushed out on the 2-ft gauge track to sell souvenirs, mostly stock from the old Eastbourne Tramway. In those days conductors were used on the trams and the fares were issued from ticket machines, which had not been converted to decimal currency. Trams only ran in the afternoons from 2:30, up to the evening closing time of the White Hart at Colyford.

The mornings were reserved for construction work using Works Car 02, complete with batteries inside. The only trams in use at that time were Cars 2, 8 and 12. Car 12 used the battery trailer from Car 2 on wet days.

Seaton itself was a very different place, compared to how it is today. The two holiday camps, Warners and Blue Waters, were open and in full swing. The seafront was also very different, with a small pink wall that one could pop over onto the beach.

You got to the depot by walking along Harbour Road, just renamed in 1972, and previously known as Station Road. Most of the other trams inside were still in Eastbourne condition, including Car 4 up on blocks on road one and Car 14, the conversion of which had started at Eastbourne but then stopped for many years due to the move and then the need to establish the new line. Piled up in the depot was lots of equipment from Eastbourne in boxes, crates and so on. The depot floor was just ballast, no concrete at all, and a sign outside stated no one was to enter. After riding on the trams everyday of my holiday at Seaton in 1972, I returned home and made plans to go back again in 1973. In those days I was at comprehensive school in Codsall.

Returning to Seaton again, the Tramway look somewhat different. Although the battery operation with Cars 2 and 8 was still going on, the overhead wire had been put up. Track bonding was still to happen, but passing places were starting to be built and Car 2’s battery pack was used for one of the substations at Axmouth. The young driver who I had seen in 1972 was back again in 1973; he had slept in the sub-station hut at Axmouth the previous year, but now slept in the Depot. As one battery trailer was available only to increase capacity, Cars 2 and 8 were coupled together at peak times. The power came from Car 8’s battery.

The rest of the 1970s involved running to Colyford. This included running trams in the evening up to 10 at night, often using two cars and taking the tickets along the way for security purposes. I took my test in June 1978, whilst on a 2-week holiday down at Seaton, passing out on Car 7. The test was done during an evening (which was rather wet) and most of the people stayed behind in Tram Shop 01 at Harbour Road Car Park and let me take the tram out on my own. As long as I got it back safely to the Car Park, I would have passed the test.

1980 saw my first runs up to Colyton and I was trained by Allan Gardner on the new route, running down the hill through the new loops.

I have appeared in several films/videos featuring Seaton Tramway, the earliest one being No Trams To Savoy Street.

In the earlu 1980s I was a passenger on the first test run of Car 14 (without any brakes or windows) up to Colyford, which was done by using another tram’s trucks. This ran from the depot on a Saturday evening in September, just before I was due to go home to the Midlands. Other notable events were the first run of Car 17 and I was the first passed out driver for that car in 1988.

In the 1990s I spent a lot more time down at Seaton, driving either afternoons only, or mornings and evenings. It was always important not to do any damage, otherwise new cars would not go into service, as repairs had to be done.

Into the new century, I was spending even more time on the Seaton Tramway and this evolved me buying a new flat down in Seaton. I could spend lot of time driving the trams throughout the year.

Conclusion
The Tramway has provided a lifetime interest for me and I still get a great thrill out of helping with it. The last 4 years, I have been able to spend complete months at a time without going home to the Midlands, due to my holiday home.

John Money (1942-2018)

Volunteer Driver 1978-1991

Bernd Oehlert, brother of Klaus Oehlert-Schellberg, has been interested in trains, cars and of course trams since early childhood.

He first came to Seaton in 1978, and was able to help out as a tramcar washer and driver over the next few summer seasons.

From 1981 he was also allowed to drive on the route to Colyton. He especially enjoyed it when he was driving on the same shift with Roy Hubble, as they always managed to meet each other perfectly on time at each passing loop, which looked very professional.

In real life Bernd is a tax officer and is about to retire. Today he is chairman of the transport history working group in Essen. This association maintains the historic tram museum vehicles of the Essen City Tramways Company. He still visits Seaton regularly, as well as Sue and Allan Gardner, with his son René.

David Wallis (d. 2010) was a reuglar volunteer for several years, but his first love was the Bluebell Railway, where he was a signalman for many years.

John Longley (1921-c1999) had a distinguished career in the RAF, seeing active service during World War 2, and later became Lord Louis Mountbatten's personal pilot.

He joined the Tramway after retiring to Seaton, and with his handlebar moustache and humourous demeanour typical of the RAF’s wartime generation, was unforgettable to all who met him.

Volunteer Engineer 1979-1990

Harry Moore (1937-2019) was a tramway enthusiast from an early age, and long-serving chairman of the Merseyside branch of the Tramway & Light Railway Society. A music teacher by profession, he was a talented organist and received the Archbishop of Canterbury's Diploma In Music in 1970. He came down to Seaton regularly as a volunteer driver for more than 10 years, usually helping out at with the peak summer service. His first love in trams had been the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay system, which had also been a big inspiration to Claude Lane.

Martin Shaw was an engineer at the BBC, and brought his skills to bear in a number of projects at the Tramway, including major re-wiring of Car 2 and Tram Shop 01.

Bill Fitton (1948-2012)

Brian Raybould (1939-2011)

Stan Letts (1932-2014) was a volunteer driver at Seaton from 1980, but his major contribution was as the Tramway’s “insignia designer”. This involved designing and making the ornate roundels, crests and lettering that adorned the trams. These were produced as transfers, and were then applied to recently-painted topcoat surfaces on the trams. Although Allan Gardner was an excellent coach painter, Stan would assist in the application of some of the topcoat paint, to ensure that the finish would precisely match the requirements of the transfer being applied.

Much of Stan’s work can still be seen on the fleet today, testament to the very fine, high quality work that he did at Seaton.

The following text is taken from an article that Stan wrote for issue 16 of “The Tramway Tribune”, Seaton Tramway’s in-house newsletter of the time, in 2000.

The scene is set on the last Saturday of October in 1948. Birmingham Corporation Tramways are saying goodbye to the trams on routes 84 and 90 to Stechford, and the enthusiasts are out in force to witness the sad proceedings. I was among them, a callow youth of only sixteen having just left school and started on my chosen career with the Midland Red bus company. In this capacity, of course, I was now an “alien” in Corporation territory.

I chose to watch the goings-on at Stetchford terminus. One of the trams to arrive from the city was in the charge of a driver who had looked after our Light Railway Transport League party on a special car a few weeks before. He recognised me (folk do say of me “once seen, ne’er forgot”) and we fell to chatting. I decided to ride back with them to town, volunteering to the conductress to “watch the platform” for her (this was strictly against the rules, but I had been doing it for years on the buses to and from school, and in any case it guaranteed a free ride!).

Getting off at the depot, I had a chinwag with my fellow nutcases congregated there, then reboarded No368 as it passed, going back to Stechford. We were clattering down Bordesley Green when the back platform bell rang. The conductress made her way through the crowded tram to see what the driver wanted, and immediately came back to say that he wanted to see me! Friendly though he was, I straightaway thought that I was about to get a roasting for my illicit campanology (bell ringing!). AS I entered the front platform and slid the door behind me we had just arrived at Belchers Lane (it’s true – that’s its name). which marked the start of the reserved track.

“You want me?” I said. “Yes”, my friend replied, “have you ever driven one of these things?”. “No”, I replied. “Now’s your chance”, he said. So, at the tender age of sixteen, I was at the handles of a fully-laden tramcar, at full parallel notch, careering along Bordesley Green East, including having to make service stops.

Moving forward to the summer of 1980, I was delighted to learn of the opening of an electric tramway at the Black Country Museum, in Dudley only six miles from my home. I had to go and see this phenomenon, and found this lovely green and cream Black Country tram, not only running, but in the charge of an old friend (who, it transpired, received his “training” when he too was a mere youngster, through a friendly relationship with the fitters and staff at Birmingham’s Witton Depot). Again came an invitation to take over the handles, which I accepted with alacrity. Despite my last attempt being 32 years previously, the familiar Dick Kerr DB1 controller made me quitte at ease, and I did one or two trips.

A few weeks later I was the guest of a fellow transport enthusiast at his home in Lyme Regis. Of course, I told him that I had driven the tram at the Black Country Museum in Dudley, which interested him greatly. One afternoon he had to visit the Seaton Tramway to deliver some books. At the depot I was introduced to Allan Gardner, where we were interrupted by a panic phone call from Colyton. They were unable to clear the accumulated crowd wishing to return to Seaton (does anything change?). This put Allan into a quandary – he was the only person on the premises, so could not leave. At this, my friend gave me a huge wink, nudged Allan and said, “Stan here drives the tram at Dudley. Can he help?”. Allan, at his wits end, threw caution to the winds, and asked me, “Could you take No6 up to Colyton and bring a load back?”

So I did just that (ah – the dear old DB1 again) – and carried on driving at Seaton for a further thirteen years until in 1993 a “dickey-ticker” brought it to a halt. But that’s not all.

I returned to Dudley shortly afterwards, and officially joined the Transport Group there. They found out that I “drove trams” at Seaton – and I was appointed driver on the spot! I had received NO formal training at either establishment! Since then I have instructed others (even at Seaton I spent one afternoon revealing to a handbrake-only driver the delights of Car 12’s airbrake). But who taught me? Yes, Allan tested me on all trams, but who taught him? Indeed, who instructs those who put teachers through their training courses? It is a salutary thought that there is no skill that is taught which was not in the beginning picked up by trial and error by the pioneers.

The sensitive souls can now relax, because all this was in the distant past, and at both places, Dudley and Seaton, Ministry Rules now rule, ok? Everyone receives strict and formal training, and the rules are observed by all.

Now, of course, my association with Seaton (and Dudley) continues with applying the “pretty bits” to the trams. I enjoyed my driving but, having consigned those experiences to the “happy memories” cupboard, I find my artistic role infinitely more satisfying. At least I can look at any of the trams at Seaton and several elsewhere, and think to myself, “I did that”. Egotistical that may be, but it is an activity in which even the most imaginative safety-conscious official cannot perceive potential dangers, to oneself, staff or customer.

Arthur Whitehouse (1938-2010)

Dick Sloman (1922-2006) was a regular on the Tramway in the 1980s, and the attached video clip shows him driving Car 14 on winter service at Colyton in 1985. Dick was later a group organiser and brought several coach parties to the Tramway in that capacity. He saw distinguished service during World War II, survived the campaign in the far east and received the Burma Star.

My first experience of Seaton was a trip on an old ex London Transport double decker RTL 453 – a rare example with a “Roofbox” route number indicator. This was, I think, in Summer 1979. The bus then belonged to a group of guys including my friends Nick Agnew and Mike Underhill and I was lucky to get an invite. A splendid weekend ensued and included a brief drive of No.2. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the old boy who looked after us for this driver experience, although amongst the early instructors were John Barrie, who was a former London tram conductor and chief clerk on the District Line, and John Wills, who also carried out restoration work.

It was then that I realized that these were the same trams on which I had travelled as a nipper when in Eastbourne for a family holiday many years previously. At some stage during the weekend Allan Gardner mentioned the possibility of volunteering as a driver during the holiday season. Quite a few of us found this a rather fine idea.

Subsequently Nick, my brother David and I spent a jolly week in Seaton the following year (my slides from this trip were developed in 1980 so that was probably the Summer). David and Nick were both keen to drive and, at that stage, I was more interested in helping around the depot or on the line.

I think this latter idea was probably more of a nuisance to Allan Gardner than a help but, being Allan, he found me some work de-rusting some rather nice ex railway railings which he wanted to use. For this task I was entrusted with an air driven rotary wire brush and, suitably bedecked with goggles, gloves and boiler suit I set to work. Some time later Sue Gardner came along with a mug of tea. By now I was pretty grubby and covered in dust. Sue duly presented the most welcome brew and then stared at me before saying: “Colin, you look like a hedgehog!” I was duly ushered into the depot loo and discovered that my nose had been the unlikely target for a number of wires which had broken off the rotary brush. I hadn’t felt a thing but the dratted things certainly hurt when removed!

While this was going on David and Nick were driving as part of a 3 car service – I think Nos 6 and 7 with Dave Chaplyn driving No. 8. At some stage one of them, I think No.6 suffered a broken axle somewhere up the line. Word quickly got back to the depot and Allan grabbed me and we set off in No 2 to see what could be done. Luckily the ailing tram was in a loop so passengers were duly transferred to No.2 which resumed the journey. Allan inspected the damage and thought we could get the tram back to the depot at very slow speed and hence, between service cars we set off at a crawl. As we gently rumbled along I became aware of a burning smell accompanied by a wisp of smoke. I yelled to Allan who promptly stopped. He guessed it was the control resistances overheating and raised floorboards confirmed that they were very hot indeed. Having waited a few minutes to allow them to cool Allan left the floorboards up to provide some air circulation. Then we gingerly continued and with some relief arrived back at the depot.

As a result of this Dave Chaplyn was needed to help Allan sort out the broken axle and effect repairs. This left them a driver short for the following day so Allan asked me to fill in with No.2. In the event I filled in for the rest of the week and got well and truly hooked!

Subsequent visits to Seaton were mostly with Nick but my memories of these are mostly of the tramway steadily improving facilities and the rebuilding and launch of No.14. We always stayed at “Beach End” if we could, although one visit necessitated us staying at a fairly unpleasant B&B in the middle of the town, but we’ll draw a veil over that one!

One week’s visit was, however, a solo effort for some reason or other. I already knew that my favourite tram, No.2, was in works but Allan was hoping to get it back in service in time for me to have a drive. When I arrived she was almost finished but still needed the brake gear on one bogey re-assembling. As ever, Allan was optimistic and suggested we get together to have a bash at finishing the job one evening. We duly got everything mounted and secured except for one wee bracket which proved frustratingly stubborn. Allan knew it had come out OK but the little b*gger would not go in with its mounting bolt. After some ungodly amount of time it finally slotted in and was secured. A few adjustments and favourite tram ready for the road.

This was a bit of a relief since I had been driving No.12 earlier in the week. At the time this tram had a rather sensitive pole which used to bounce off the overhead at the drop of a feather. One afternoon I was heading up the hill to Colyton and spotted a broken rail in a loop. On arrival I shot off to the ticket office and asked Sue if she could give Allan a call about it. Sue then said that Allan was at Colyford with Dave (I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of them on the way up so guessed a pint was involved). Ever aware of No.12’s proclivities, I carefully negotiated the loop and broken rail and pulled into Colyford where Allan was standing in the pub car park. I secured the tram and rushed over to apprise him of the breakage whereupon, with a huge grin, he said, “Do you know you’ve just come down the hill with the pole leading?” As they say, if the ground could have swallowed me up……

Other warm memories of Seaton generally hinge around the Gardners and Chaplyns, who were always so welcoming and friendly; Allan’s generosity both with his time and patience which was often leavened with Sue’s pithy humour, a pint in the Kingfisher at Colyton nattering to Dave, and wandering back down the track to Seaton in the dark with the glow worms. Happy days!

Daphne Brewer (1924-2016) was born just before Christmas in 1924 in Wood Green (Middlesex) where her parents ran a grocery store. Daphne met her future husband Don, as her parents were customers at Don’s family’s furniture store. Daphne was evacuated to Somerset with Don’s sisters at the beginning of the war, but returned after 3 months as all seemed to be quiet, which meant that she ended up living through the worst of the blitz, working in a munitions factory for the rest of the war.

Daphne married Donald in Edmonton in 1948, but following the sudden death of her mother, the family relocated to Nailsea, and Don’s family moved to Seaton, where Don was advised that the sea air would help with the illness he suffered from. Daphne remained in Seaton for the rest of her life. Don & Daphne settled in well, and they helped to run youth soccer teams in both Seaton and Beer. Daphne has a variety of jobs in and around Seaton over the years, including St Clares school, Racal, Burges toy shop and Mareeba Hotel, but by far the longest-lasting was at Seaton Tramway.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Daphne became the face of the Tramway at Seaton Terminus, welcoming hundreds of thousands of people during her 25 years of service. She was absolutely unflappable, and always showed great calm and good humour, whatever the situation.

As well as her duties in the shop, Daphne also did cleaning work at Riverside Depot once a week, bringing with her an ample supply of biscuits for the other staff members, a typically generous act of kindness.

Daphne finally retired from the Tramway in 2006 at the age of 81, but is still missed and remembered with great affection by all who knew her.

Joan Clarke (d. 2005)

Jean Hubble was married to Roy Hubble, who was initally a volunteer driver at Seaton from 1976. They moved to Seaton in 1982 and joined the full time staff, with Jean working in the Tram Shop (01) at Seaton. They moved away in 1990, and became involved at the East Anglia Transport Museum in Carlton Colville, with Jean becoming the museum's Group Visits Organiser.

Just before I got involved at Seaton Tramway, I had a café in Torquay and had also just started what was to become my main business in later years, dealing with items for model tramways.

Allan Gardner and Nigel Harper came over on a visit, as they had heard about me, and also that I had a model tram layout. That led to me visiting Seaton, where I soon became a Sunday visitor, and ended up as a driver. Later I purchased the mobile tea bar which was installed by the unloading area at Colyton Station.

With my increased activities at the Tramway, I sold the café and my house in Torquay and moved to Seaton. Apart from many hours driving during the summer period, my tea bar business at Colyton Station also built up.

During this time we had the offer of lifting some track at one of the ex-Torquay Tramways depots before it was demolished. First we lifted a set of points leading into the depot, and a quantity of stone setts, and then later removed track from the old inspection pits inside. Although it was hard work, it was also a totally enjoyable experience. At least I knew how to use a pneumatic hammer! Later, of course, these rails and points were used to extend the track at Colyton Station to form the present day unloading area and stub end.

At the same time, work had been completed on Car 14 and ideas were mooted as to how it could be suitably launched. Luckily, at the time I knew various people in the entertainment business, as well as knowing and being a friend of Larry Grayson. It was therefore a pleasure to ask him to assist with the launch. He happily came over for driving lessons, which culminated in great free publicity on the local ITV channel. A few days later, he came over and drove Car 14 on its official launch on 2^nd June 1984.

After that, I became the main Winter driver of Car 14 and managed to keep warm on some of the coldest days we had that Winter. At the same time, I had been given the use of the old waiting room in the station building at Colyton, to use as an outlet and also to have a model tram layout on public display. Working on this, the basic side frame of an old London tram had been stored near the depot, and I used this as a “side” to the shop. Later, I purchased a casting machine to start to produce my own white metal model tram kits. Due to the size of the waiting room and enormous electric fire heating costs, my casting was undertaken at home in my kitchen.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the casting and model tram side grew extremely quickly. Colyton was a bit off the beaten track, big decisions had to be made as to relocation, in order to have a proper and more accessible shop. In the end, and after other unforeseen reasons, I made the move to the Midlands.

Denis Higgins (1926-2006) was born in Manchester and spent the bulk of his career in the printing industry. He was a founder member of the Tramway Museum Society, which went on to establish the National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire.

He first volunteered at Seaton in 1984, along with his friend and fellow TMS member Roger Benton, and visited every year thereafter.

Denis moved to Seaton in 1989 and joined the seasonal driving staff. He had a great sense of fun and enjoyment, while still expecting things to be done in the right way, particularly when it came to timekeeping!

Outside of the Tramway, Denis enjoyed playing jazz drums, and caused some consternation when he moved them into his sheltered accommodation; when one concerned neighbour asked him if he was planning to play the drums in the building, Denis told him that he only practiced for two hours a day…usually around midnight! He also enjoyed playing skittles, and was a keen member of the Seaton Social Club team.

Denis retired from the Tramway in 2001 and remained in Seaton until his passing in 2006.

The accompanying film was shot by fellow driver David “Scratch” Mitchell in 1999, and takes us on a trip with Denis in Car 4.

Roger Benton (1940-2015) was a founder member of the Tramway Museum Society, which went on to establish the National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire.

He first volunteered at Seaton in 1984, along with his friend and fellow TMS member Denis Higgins, and visited every year thereafter, while still remaining fully involved at Crich.

Roger joined the staff of Sheffield Supertram before its opening in 1994, and became one of their driver trainers. As his workload increased, he wasn’t able to spend as much time at Seaton, and his active involvement finished in 2000.

Sadly, Roger passed away in January 2015, but his influence lives on with a very generous bequest to Crich, specifically given for the restoration and preservation of the seven Sheffield trams in the museum’s collection.

Keith Marlow (1928-2002) was an electrical engineer by profession and became involved with the Tramway after moving to Colyton. He worked on many projects, including the rebuild of car 6 and 8, and the construcution of new trucks for cars 14, 16 and 17, often with Geoff Sawford. He also designed a prototype contactor controller, envisaging the time when spares would no longer be avaiable for the old equipment, and was a mentor to younger staff and apprentices including James Hammett.

Keith Terry (1930-2018) was well-known across the tramway preservation world, and was a founder member of the Tramway Museum Society, which founded the National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire. He was personally involved in the rescue and restoration of many trams, which now form an important part of the collection at Crich. He became involved at Seaton Tramway in the mid 1980s, and was a regular volunteer for over 15 years. He was awarded the MBE for services to tramways and tramcar heritage.

Sue Chaplyn was married to long-standing Tramway engineer David Chaplyn, and she worked in the shops at both Seaton and Colyton.

(d. 2003)

Brian Blackburn (d. 2012)

David Saunders (1938-2017) and his wife Mags joined the Tramway in 1986, initially to run the newly-installed cafe in Colyton Station. David had spent much of his career in the newspaper printing industry, working for News International among others. His experience made him an ideal administrator, and he joined the Board as Company Secretary in 1986, overseeing payroll and other essential tasks, prior to his retirement in 1989.

The video clip shows Dave working at his desk in Riverside Depot in 1988.

Mags Saunders was married to David Saunders (director and engineer), and ran the Terminus Tea Rooms at Colyton Station from 1986 until 1989.

Lee Watts (1950-2013) was born in Ilford, Essex. He first came to Seaton Tramway as the foreman of a short-term team of workers from the Manpower Services Commission, but was offered a job on the full time staff after this came to an end.

He played an important role in the conversions of Car 6 and Car 8 to lower deck toastrack layout, the construction of Car 17 (now Car 15), as well as the restorations of Car 16 and Car 19, and was also a regular driver during the season.

Lee's picture was taken during a Tramway event to celebrate 50 years of VE Day in 1995.

Malcolm Hart (1946-2014) was from Chelmsford and was an accountant by profession, but had a great love for Seaton Tramway and East Devon, and spent a good portion of his summers driving trams. Malcolm was a very popular member of the team and is much missed by his friends and colleagues.

Bernhard has kindly shared a few of his memories of driving on the Tramway...

Weatherproof

As a volunteer from Germany during the summer seasons between 1988 and 1990, I learned a lot about how to handle these beautiful trams and made friends with the managers Sue and Allan Gardner and many other staff of the time.

Being in a vacation mode, British holiday makers and passengers are mostly nice and friendly people and not very different from those in my country. With one big difference: 

British people are weatherproof, a fact that is probably well-known to you.

Not every day is a sunny day, and on wet and windy days every German passenger would either stay indoors or, if they should dare to take a tram ride, sit downstairs with their sweaters on and rain jackets firmly closed. Just unlike British people. I wouldn’t have believed it until I saw it, but no matter how cold and wet it was they would climb upstairs and enjoy their ride and the beautiful view. On these days you could see the top deck covered by colourful umbrellas. On one occasion, when it was raining cats and dogs (if it had been down to me, I would have stopped the service), two girls with shorts on and plastic raincoats over their shoulders climbed upstairs an sat down on one of the soaking wet benches. When I asked them if they wouldn’t prefer sitting downstairs they just laughed and replied merrily “we are the maddies!”

Mind your head

When I was driving in the late 1980s the older cars 2, 6, 7 and 8 were still the usual every-day fleet – apart from big No12. A warning sign in the cars, in four languages, reminded people to be careful when entering or getting off. But the fourth “language” was cockney, and it said “Look ‘art! Mind yer flippin’ ‘ead when yer git orf“.

It was a sunny day and a long queue of people were waiting patiently at the car park to enter the small sized car 6. Inevitably an elderly gentleman hit a wooden edge above with the result the blood started running over his bald head. Quickly I got the first aid box from Daphne in the ticket office and, with the help of another person, managed to dress his wound. By the way, the victim wasn’t put off by this experience and decided to continue the ride together with his wife.

But a young girl in the queue was horrified by the sight of blood and fainted. Meanwhile she lay safely on the ground with a sweater under her head and began to open her eyes again so everything seemed to be safe and sound. As a joke, when taking the first aid box back to the tram shop, I shouted „anyone else fainting?“ to the crowd. Immediately, people burst into laughter. I got a few back-slaps and a jolly “So you Germans HAVE got a sense of humour“! I hadn’t expected anything like this, and in the end, I found it was a great day.

Ooops

Every driver had his favourite car, I‘m sure it must be same for today’s drivers. In those days No2 rolled very nice and smoothly but with its open driver’s position could be a nuisance when it rained, or on hot days when you could quickly get sunburned. 6 and 7 had closed driver’s positions but were a bit too narrow to my taste, although I am not very tall. To cut a long story short: I loved No8. Enclosed and big enough to feel comfortable, and it was fast. I remember that, during the instruction, Sue had reminded me to be careful and not to drive in the full parallel position too long. But I must admit I liked to let her go if possible, and nothing went wrong with that.

It was one of these nice and warm summer weekend days again, the tram was very busy with two floaters out. I remember driving No8 as a floater ahead of the regular service car No2, which was driven by my friend Dirk. And then, on the entering points of the car park terminus, No8’s south truck derailed and we quickly came to a halt on the tarmac. Thankfully the passengers could safely and easily get off the car. From the tram shop I phoned the depot to report what had happened. Very quickly Sue arrived in her car to view the disaster. “Been going fast again, huh?“ she said with a wink in her eye. That was no place to be speedy and I hadn’t been going fast, as it was just before the final stopping position. Later I learned that these points needed extra care, as they were a bit worn out.

Under the guidance of Sue we carefully reversed No8 so the car pulled itself back onto the track again. Meanwhile Dirk on No2 had picked up as many passengers as possible and taken over the floater position, and with a little delay, I could follow as regular service. “See, we haven’t lost a journey“ Sue summed up. I was much relieved and felt I had gained some extra respect.

The following was written by Mick Bulman (1932-2022).

I first drove a tram in Leicester when I was employed as a trainee electrical engineer with Leicester City Tramway – this was in the late 1940's and I was allowed to bring empty trams back into the depot, no passengers as I was but a youngster starting my training.

But all things change and trams were being phased out – the last tram in Leicester ran in November 1949 and I had to earn a living so I moved to another local firm before transferring to Post Office Telephones, Leicester as a Youth in Training. I completed my training to become an Electric Light and Power Technician TI(A) -(Up to three phase – 415 volts).

I enjoyed the work very much but by 1965 I had a wife and young family and I needed to progress; despite having worked for Post Office Telephones for fifteen years except for two years National Service in the Royal Corps of Signals seeing active service in Malaya, promotion prospects were not good and I left the telephones somewhat reluctantly to join the Ministry of Transport as a Traffic Examiner.

The work was completely different but interesting nevertheless and I continued and progressed with the Ministry to the rank of Higher Executive Office until when I retired in 1989. By the time I took early retirement we had moved to Somerset and a whole new arena was open to me. During the intervening years we had, on several occasions, visited Seaton and ridden the trams while on holiday and now with retirement looming I decided to volunteer with the tramway – travelling for an hour and a half each way didn't bother me – the tranquil journey between the depot and Colyton more than compensated for the travelling. But in 1991 I became employed by Seaton as a part time driver, electrician and telephone engineer, there was no Tesco's next door and fewer houses near the depot and along the track to town.

Gradually over time I had noticed, along with Alan Pearce, that the tramway telephone system needed some attention – a requirement for the safety of staff and passengers. During the 1990's slowly but surely the telephone system was standardised and improved with spare parts being acquired from various sources – back in the 1990's we didn't all carry mobiles!

I loved working at Seaton – the comradeship, the joy of driving the tram, the peace of the Axe river, the hard physical work and the satisfaction of combining two of my loves – telephones and trams.

I rarely returned home without some tale to tell, very often tales about nature, seeing a heron standing motionless, the flash of colour from a kingfisher diving for food, the siting of a fox or occasionally a badger. Sometimes there were tales about passengers – the excitement of children, the reminiscences of older passengers.

I had to retire in 2002 having reached the age of seventy. It was with a great deal of sadness that I brought a tram back to the depot for the last time. There have been occasional visits since then but always tinged with sadness that I could no longer drive.

Age has caught up with me but I hope these brief memories will help you enjoy and experience some of these yourself in the same way that I enjoyed my twelve years associated with Seaton.
 

Derek Shepherd (1930-2020) was famous in tramway preservation circles, especially as the man who rescued and restored Bolton 66, which has operated at Blackpool continuously since 1981.

He was a regular visitor to Seaton Tramway in the 1990s, helping out in the depot with a variety of tasks, and in 2000 his company Bolton Trams Ltd was given the contract to construct the bodies of Cars 9, 10 and 11, which were delivered to Seaton in 2002. He then went on to drive in service for a few more years, including the three trams he'd had such a major part in building.

I was born in 1943 and had a passion for railways from a very early age. I did a degree in Architecture at Liverpool University, where naturally I joined the Liverpool University Public Transport Society. This covered other transport interests besides railways and I developed an interest for tramways at this period.

It was after I joined Reading Transport in 1971, where one of my colleagues was already making foreign trips, that I started regularly visiting tramways with him on the continent. These trips continued after my move to Nottingham City Transport in 1977, and it was in the course of one of these trips, in 1988, that I struck up a close friendship with Alan Pearce.

Alan had been involved with Seaton for a number of years and persuaded me to join him on various of his working parties. By this time I had become an active volunteer at Crich Tramway Museum, doing both traffic duties and helping in the workshop, so came to Seaton with some established skills.

As well as helping Alan, particularly on renewing the telephone system, I was able to put in a week's driving for a number of years during the 1990s. Sleeping accommodation was in Alan's caravan in the depot yard, occasionally shared with one of the depot cats, then later with those great friends of the Tramway, John and Irene Wills.

After I found that I could no longer make the commitment to driving within my holiday allowances, I made one or two further weekend visits with Alan to help with his Lisbon tram, 730, which for a time it was hoped would be able to form part of the Seaton fleet. Distance and other activities have one way and another kept me away from Seaton since then, although I do have fond memories of the time I was able to give to the Tramway.

Peter Duncan (1933-2006)

Driver 1993-1997

Sales Assistant 1994-2002

Driver 1993-1998 (died 2001).

Stuart joined Seaton Tramway as Track Engineer in early 1995, having previously worked in the same role for British Rail. He has now clocked up 26 years of service and is the longest-serving member of the permanent staff.

It’s all Denis Higgins fault that I became involved at Seaton. I used to help him with the TMS Journal when he was Distribution Officer and lived in the Manchester area. His printing works was close to where I lived and it seemed logical to go and help him.

He used to volunteer at Seaton and tried on several occasions to get me to go down as well, but I was involved at Crich and said I was too busy. Eventually in 1995 I agreed to come down. By then he had retired and had moved to Seaton, and arranged for me to stay in the Guest Room at the block of flats where he lived. I came down and was introduced at the Depot. I had been told to bring a suitable green uniform, and as I was crewing at Crich I had a Glasgow green uniform which I continued to wear until recently. I was told that, as I was an experienced tram driver, I did not need to be taught to drive, but I did need to learn the route and timing/passing points. I spent the day with Denis and the following day I was allocated a shift and tram (No 7) and I was out with passengers on my own.

I had not felt so nervous for ages, but I soon settled into the way of things and have enjoyed coming down regularly except for just after having a stroke. When I felt I was able to make the long drive down, I asked if I could come back driving. I was told if I could pass the medical I would be welcome. I passed the medical, and have been coming regularly since except 2020 when Covid stopped me.

John Marsh (1943-2020) 

Jackie was the manager of the Colyton Cafe, and introduced many great innvoations, including a much-expanded menu, special events and jazz evenings. She also devised the name "Tram Stop Restaurant", which is stil in use today.

From a young boy, I’ve always had a fascination about all forms of transport, and have worked in it most of my life. Firstly I was in road haulage, then I was a bus driver, and finally a self-employed taxi driver for 15 years.

Back in 1995, I was on holiday in the area with my wife Yvonne, and we discovered the little gem that is Seaton Tramway. Allan Gardner said that the Tramway is always looking for enthusiastic people to become drivers, and after speaking with him, Allan offered me a seasonal contract, which I was delighted to accept.

Before the holiday, the two of us had talked about a ten-year plan to move to the area from our then home in Northampton. So when Yvonne was then offered a registered nurse post at Seaton District Hospital, for us it was a dream come true.

We packed up our lives in Northampton and headed to the South West. As we were not sure at first if we would settle in, we first bought a touring caravan and pitched up on Manor Farm, overlooking the beautiful Axe Valley. This was a real added bonus, and gave us stunning views, including nearly the whole of the Seaton Tramway route.

During my ten years, I was part of an enthusiastic team, all of whom were passionate about the Tramway. Allan Gardner has brought the Tramway to Seaton along with the late Claude Lane, and other staff included Denis Higgins, known for his passion for timekeeping, and John Barrie, originally from London and involved from near the beginning, so he could give you a detailed history about all aspects of the Tramway.

My worst nightmare was when I was asked to run the service in the normal running season, but it was on a gala day with every tram in service, including the works car 02. I was told to take charge, but wasn’t told that there would be a phoney derailment to deal with as part of a training exercise! In the end, I coped very well and got all the trams back up and running. However, just after 02 had just arrived back at the depot, I heard that Car 4 had actually derailed at Tye Lane loop, so this time I had to cope for real; I blame James for the event!

Although I originally intended to work part time and be semi-retired, I ended up working full time for the Tramway and loved every minute of it. Most of it seemed like being on holiday, and because that’s what most of the passengers were doing, they came along in a good mood ready to enjoy themselves, and that was great for me too.

Driver 1995-1999

Mark Horner writes:

Handel Kardas (1952-2000) was a distinguished transport journalist, writing for titles such as Old Glory and Railway World, and going on to serve as editor of the latter.

Handel was a volunteer driver at Seaton from 1995, but had been a regular visitor for several years prior to this. His interest in railways was fired in adolescence by the Bluebell Railway, and he went on to edit their in-house newsletter The Flying Pig. Another favourite was the Ffestiniog Railway, and latterly he was press officer for its sister line, the Welsh Highland Railway, while it was being constructed.

I first got to know him when he came down to Seaton in 1995 to do a piece for Railway World about our silver jubilee year. I remember that we took Car 16 down to Seaton on a cold February morning, so that I could show him where our new terminus was to be built, and also give him the chance to drive Car 16. Handel was astounded at the sharpness of the curves, and enjoyed the thrill as the front end swung out at almost 90 degrees to the track. This experience confirmed his desire to become involved at Seaton, and he trained and passed out as a driver soon after.

Uniquely, Handel’s tram was always double crewed, for he invariably brought Toby along with him, his faithful and impeccably-behaved Staffordshire bull terrier, who bore an uncanny facial resemblance to Gromit (of Wallace fame). I often remember looking out from the Depot and watching their tram rounding Depot Curve, with Toby’s head sticking out of the side of the car, ears flapping in the breeze.

Handel’s cancer was diagnosed in 1996, and he was given eighteen months to live. The fact that he lived for another four years bears eloquent witness to his determination and love of life. He continued to drive at Seaton until the end of the 1999 season, and explained in March 2000 that he would have to give up “for a while”. He continued to visit us right up until the last weeks of his life.

His final request, that his ashes be taken for one last ride up to Colyton in Car 16 with his close family in attendance, was fulfilled on 31^st August 2000, two days after his funeral service at St Swithan’s Church, Bridport.

Anne is the longest-serving member of the shop staff, and has been with the Tramway since 1996.

Previously over 30 years with Midland Bank (later HSBC).

Originally from Hertfordshire, moved to West Country in 1988.

Passed tramway driving test in 1996, after 2 weeks training with a very patient Mark Horner.

In my first week, I managed to derail a tram, and in my first season made every mistake that was possible.

Finally got the hang of it, and spent a further 19 very happy years driving. I made many friends and met many interesting characters during my time. I would single out Denis Higgins and Owen Sayce (the Time Lords!) - whom I dreaded working with initially but later became good friends – and many volunteers including Peter Duncan, Malcolm Hart, Brian Raybould who are all sadly missed.

During my time I saw lots of changes, the upgrading of Colyton Station, the extension of the depot, and the refurbishment of many trams. Also the comings and goings of many staff members, from drivers to management.

After 20 years I decided to hang up my cap, I figured that everyone had seen enough of me, and now I spend my spare time on my allotment.

Driver 1996-2016.

Driver 1996-2002

Volunteer Driver 1996-2001

Driver 1996-1999

Driver 1996-1999

Driver 1997-2003

Driver 1997-1999

David is a long-serving member of staff, who joined initally as a seasonal driver, and then took up a post as a full-time engineer.

Mike Rawlings (d. 2010)

Pete Brown (b.1964) lives in Wiltshire and was a civil servant from 1982 until 2016, when he took a career break to care for a family member.

Sheila Smith (d.2020)

Driver 1998-2002

I was born in 1947 on bonfire night in Smethwick fire station, or to be correct in a flat above one of the appliance bays. Smethwick fire station at that time was in
South Staffordshire, now West Midlands.

You may be thinking what an earth has this to do with Seaton and it’s tramway. To me it does, because the fire station where I was born and grew up was located in an area of heavy industry, opposite a drop forge. Its hammers worked day and night and the vibration would make the gas rings dance about. The forge had Sundays off, and Sunday night was the only night you couldn’t sleep because it was too quiet!

The view from our back windows looked across the canal towards other factories with their smoke and flames; boats came along the canal loaded with coal, pulled by tired horses; a true industrial scene. I grew up on the fire station (marvellous childhood), time went by and I left school at 15 with no qualifications and went to work in a local factory, but I fulfilled my dream at 18 when I joined the Smethwick & West Bromwich fire service and was posted to the station where I was born.

I was married in 1968, and Seaton became our holiday destination year on year with our children, and in later years our parents. A ride on the tram was always on the agenda. When I was about ten years old we came on holiday to Seaton and I can remember walking with my father to Seaton railway station and on to the road along the river axe and gazed across as the train ran to Seaton Junction and back, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would drive along the same route. The other amazing thing was my future wife also holidayed in Seaton every year with her parents.

I retired from the fire service in October 1998 and moved to Seaton in January 1999. I felt at the time that I still wanted to work part time and in the spring of that year got two jobs, one with the Tramway and the other with the local bus company. l remember on Wednesdays I would do half a day with the tram and in the afternoon I would drive the bus, now this caused confusion with those who had been on the tram then travelled back to Axminster for the train.

Back in those days there wasn’t much work with the tram in the winter closed season so my work with the bus company increased, so I gave the Tramway up. A few years ago I retired from the bus company and applied to re-join the Tramway. Now you can understand the connection from my industrial past and as I drive along towards Colyton, the factories  smoke and flame have gone and the scenery is wonderful. I find pleasure in talking to our passengers, I enjoy the banter with other drivers, I basically really enjoy it. I know in the scheme of things I am merely a speck of dust in this Roll of Honour, but I am a very happy speck.

Driver 1999-2012, Colyton Cafe 2012-present

David Mitchell (1953-2012)

Alan Collins (1939-2018)

(b.1941)

Mike Lynch (1939-2018)

Driver/Maintenance Assistant 1999-2001

Life began for me on 15 November 1939, in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Education led me through several schools and culminating with Wisbech Grammar School, which had its foundations way back in 1379. I was the first pupil from the school to attend a “Sandwich Course” involving a formal five-year apprenticeship with six months College followed by six months industrial training.

I began with Siemens Edison Swan at Ponders End with an excellent training school for apprentices, the factory at Brimsdown for manufacturing experience and the factory in Tottenham working with valves and cathode ray tubes, telephone line protectors and then…transistors! - then came the first of several takeovers, we became part of AEI (Associated Electrical Industries). Thorn Electrical Industries wished to have a hand in the development and manufacture of components for their “Ferguson” radios and televisions so AEI decided to sell this aspect to Thorn.

The apprentices were transferred to Manchester and Rugby, I finished my course with AEI (Manchester) and started my experience as an engineer in the Radar Engineering Department at Trafford Park. After a year or two I was approached by my divisional manager to join a team of engineers working on the UK Polaris Programme (which involved spending six months in America). Having returned to the UK I represented the Cammell Laird shipyard as an engineer working on test instrumentation, fire control and missile test and readiness before being promoted to Systems Engineer being involved with the missile system on the submarine.

As I came toward the end of the work in the shipyard of Cammell Lairds, the “David and Goliath” GEC takeover of AEI took place and I was persuaded to transfer to the GEC Team as a Systems Engineer to join the refit programme at Rosyth, Faslane and Coulport.

Having spent time on the refit of HMS Resolution and the pre-refit of HMS Repulse I transferred to GEC Portsmouth working on Missile Safety and Arming Systems for about two years until GEC Marconi took the project I was leading to Frimley, Surrey. My wife and I, together with our family moved to Frimley where we spent 27 years.

Various Company mergers and changes in Company titles took place over the years and my career moved once again towards Radar and I finished as Post Design Service manager for the two radars associated with the British Aerospace Rapier Weapon system.

During the various changes of company mergers, titles etc I managed to achieve over 40 years working with “the company”.

The Company offered and I accepted early retirement at age 60 and left the company on 30^th November 1999 – the very day that British Aerospace took over the part of the Company in which I was working – so after only one day nominally ‘working’ for BAe I have a British Aerospace pension!!

By this time, I had joined Lions Clubs International and it so happened that a member of the Frimley and Camberley Lions Club was working with John Marsh on the Wimbledon Number One Court redevelopment and when I announced to the Lions Club that I would be moving to Seaton I found out about the “volunteer drivers” on Seaton Tramway. My introduction to thoughts of the Tramway!

My wife and I spent some time with our caravan at Charmouth looking along the Dorset Coast for a possible retirement location, but as we were in effect on holiday we decided to motor along the Devon Coast and drove into Seaton with the aim of buying a coffee – we did that but also drove away from Seaton having placed a deposit on a house – yet to be built!

Once we had sold our house in Frimley we moved to a cottage in Weymouth, belonging to the “in laws” of one of our daughters for a period of about six months whilst our house was being built in Seaton. We travelled from Weymouth on a fairly regular basis and often called at the White Hart in Colyford for lunch. On one occasion Car 16 pulled into the Colyford station and I enquired whether Mark Horner was about – and lo and behold he was on the tram, so we had a brief chat beside the tram and he kindly advised that an advert for seasonal drivers was going into the paper the following week and suggested that I should go home and write a letter so that it would land on top of the pile! This I did and the rest is history.

Having spent the necessary period of training and qualifying my first drive with passengers was a Good Friday Special – car 12 – and I was followed in tandem by none other than Mark Horner with a second tram for the special party. The remarkable thing some 17 years later was that the last tram I drove was Car 12; was this just coincidence?!

Over the years I had some interesting experiences and witnessed considerable changes, much to do with health and safety at work and safety of passengers.

During the early days, there used to be a number of span wire breakages resulting in sagging of the overhead power line and obvious care and observation when driving to ensure safety of passengers on the upper deck. This is a problem that became very rare over recent years.

I was driving to Seaton terminus and discovered on entering the terminus that Car 7 became derailed (front bogie). Mark Horner was on duty at Seaton Terminus and hauled me over the coals for travelling too fast. However, the problem was repeated the following day when Allan Gardner had the same experience, and further investigation showed the problem to be faulty points.

On another occasion, I was driving Car 6 which had undergone some significant changes. I was heading to Colyton and, having reached Colyford, I discovered that I had no manual braking whatsoever so one notch of reverse was applied and then I travelled to Colyton which I felt was reasonable being in an uphill direction. Upon reaching Colyton I radioed to advise that I was refusing to drive back to Colyford as it would be downhill with no brakes, and I had heard a piece of metal fall from the tram as we were travelling into Colyton. I admit to telling a slight untruth to one of our “Anorak” passengers to advise that I was having to stay over for a special.

When engineering assistance arrived, we found two chains hanging plus the remains of Clevis Pins which had been used instead of Shackle Bolts! I insisted that I would examine the tram after repairs had been carried out before the tram was again used for passenger transport. As a result of this experience some changes to inspection procedures took place.

There was another occasion when I was driving Car 12 and Colin Brown had travelled with me from Seaton to Depot and he hopped off and said carry on, so with only a slight pause I carried on but did notice that the acceleration was a bit sluggish; when I reached Axmouth passing loop, the tram came to a grinding halt with brakes locked on. Investigation revealed a broken axle.

I also discovered that I could push a tram off the road; embarrassment followed as I had my wife and three grandsons on board and the remark was heard that Grandad couldn’t drive the tram! I was just crossing the road when a linkage between trolley arm and the large spring decided to shear allowing the trolley to fall away from the power line just as the tram was neatly parked across the road. I managed to push the tram plus passengers over the road to cancel the crossing lights and allow traffic to flow. As the power line was slightly lower, sufficient contact was made to enable the tram to be nursed to Colyton. Help was then summoned together with a different tram.

I have said several times that I could write a book about my experiences, but I will limit the rest of this summary to driving experiences and passengers travelling. I have had many interesting passengers, some of whom were well known such as a former BBC Sports Presenter.

A group of ladies were travelling with Truemans Travel and I was assisting with checking them on board and three ladies were most surprised when I told them where they lived. They had travelled from Frimley where I used to live and I recognised them - and one in particular was over surprised when I remembered her name!

Some of the most enjoyable times were spent with TDLs. I’ve still got my hair so I didn’t tear it out; we took it carefully and the result was success. Some were joint arrangements with two or three sharing the experience, and some were regulars who came several times making it a very easy day.

One gentleman brought his son-in-law who took video shots of the experience, even transferring to the service tram such that we were filmed following the service tram in the final run from Colyford to Seaton, and I still enjoy the DVD that they kindly provided.

A highlight for me was giving a tram driving lesson to a blind man. John Barrington-Rowell lives in Seaton and, as a member of the Axe Valley Runners, knows much of the Seaton Area. He unfortunately went blind over a very short period of time and I heard that he had always wanted the experience of driving a tram. As a member of Lions Clubs International who are known as Knights of the Blind following the address given to the International Convention in 1925 by Helen Keller, I thought what an opportunity.

Seaton Lions Club sponsored the event with a cream tea at Colyton and Colin Brown reduced the cost of the event also. I spoke to John all the way to Colyton and one of John’s relatives who came along for the experience asked why I had given such a descriptive commentary. The point being that John knew the area and I made sure that he knew where he was and what we could see. He proved to be one of the best, if not the best person that I had instructed as he followed each instruction with great care. Following the lesson, John became a member of the Seaton Lions Club and has since carried out many events helping fellow blind people in the Devon area on behalf of the Lions.

Through my membership of the Lions Clubs we have had several Lions outings with several local Clubs who came along for the experience.

I was also very grateful to the Tramway for the support that I received during my year as District Governor in the South West during 2010-2011, giving permission to use Car 12 on my bannerette and the donation for the tooling for my pin badge.

One of the things that we do as Past District Governors is to have an annual reunion, and we had one in Seaton. The Past Governors and their wives/husband enjoyed the experience in and around Seaton, including a trip on a tram of my choice.

My last day spent driving was during August 2017 and quite remarkably the tram driven was Car 12, so this has had quite an association with me over the years.

We’ve had ups and we’ve had a few downs but overall I would not have changed anything, and I look back on 17 years with the Tramway as an enjoyable experience.

David Mann (1939-2013)

Shop Assitant 2000-2011

For a reason that was always a mystery to my parents, I developed an interest in buses, and in particular all types of transport tickets from an incredibly early age.

My earliest tramway memory was a ride on Volks Railway at Brighton, about the age of five, where the driver allowed me to sound the gong. Bliss!

By the time I left Worthing High School in 1962, I had made several friends with similar transport interests, and not wishing to lose contact, we formed a group called the Worthing Historic Commercial Vehicle Group which grew and morphed into the Southern Counties Historic Vehicle Trust which still exists today.

Amongst our early exploits was an attempt to preserve two Brighton Corporation tram bodies which were rotting at a field at Fittleworth, and in reality were probably beyond saving. However, we did manage to save various other items, including a horse-drawn milk float (Worthing was one of the last places to use these), and a Shelvoke and Drewry dustcart from Epsom Borough Council. At age 17, my own attempt at vehicle preservation was a 1937 Austin Seven Van bought from a scrap yard for £7.50. I painted it from its original grey to a garish yellow and entered it in the HCVC London to Brighton run, where it was pictured alongside a vintage London bus. I still own it today, and it should re-appear restored to its former glory again very shortly.

One of the other activities of the WHCVG was to organise interest trips, usually hiring the oldest bus available, a Southdown Utility Guy, a pre-war Brighton Corporation AEC Regent and Eastbourne Corporation’s Leyland Lion amongst others.

I organised the Eastbourne trip and it included a visit to the Modern Electric Tramway at the Crumbles, hiring tram No 6 – my first encounter with the tramway some 55 years ago!

My interest in trams, transport and tickets never waned, although family commitments, moving to Surrey and running a publishing and distribution business seven days a week for many years pushed this somewhat into the background, although I did manage to travel to some exotic locations overseas to hunt out soon-to-disappear tramways and interesting transport including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Viet Nam, North Korea, the Surabaya Steam tramway, and of course Calcutta, to where I have returned several times since. Tramming in the raw at its best!

A change of circumstances the early 1980’s prompted a move of home and business to Somerset, and this gave me rather more time to pursue my hobbies, and with semi-retirement in 2000, I took on the role of publicity officer for the Transport Ticket Society. In the days of Seaton Tramway running historic vehicle events, I took our publicity stall to Seaton Heights Hotel in 2001 where some of the old vehicles were displayed. There I met Mark Horner, where a discussion resulted in my taking a tram driver training course a few months later. My current tram driving licence No 53 was issued in 2003.

At around the same time I was starting my driving career on Seaton Tramway, I was building a 7¼in gauge railway/tramway at home and out into the fields and woods beyond. This still features large in my life today, and I have welcomed many visitors from Seaton over the years: Allan Gardner was featured alongside one of my less successful trams.

Some highlights of my driving times at Seaton:

In my early years at of driving at Seaton we operated an evening service in the high summer, however, the service did not operate long after dark, but I well remember driving No.4 on the last trip northwards with the moon reflected in the high tide of the Axe Estuary. With the headlight dimly illuminating the rails ahead it was a magical and exhilarating experience!

As mentioned, I am fortunate in having built an extensive 7¼in gauge railway/tramway at home in Isle Abbots, and I am a member of Taunton Model Engineers who organised a group visit to the tramway in 2005. I was driver of the former car 17, and we got off to a rather ignominious start when the trolley head fell off just a few yards after leaving the old Seaton terminus.

I celebrated my 70^th birthday in December 2015 by hiring a vintage double deck bus to take around 50 guests from our village of Isle Abbots to Colyton for morning refreshments, followed by a ride to Seaton on cars 9 and 14. As it was a non-service day, we had the line to ourselves. High winds and heavy showers added to the drama. A fish n’chip lunch at Fryday’s was followed by a depot visit and a leisurely drive home. It was a non-driving day for me due to bubbly consumed in the Garden Room at teatime! My thanks to Gareth Richards and Allan Mace for their help freely given. Also in 2015, the Seaton, Beer and Colyton Experience published a rather nice picture of me driving tram 2 into Colyton; this image has appeared several times since, including on the display screens at Seaton station.

In September 2019, I was elected president of the Transport Ticket Society, having been a member since 1956!  I arranged a presidential weekend based at Seaton. Delegates received a ‘rover’ day ticket on the Tramway; some had a tram driving ‘experience’ and after lunch in the garden room I delivered my presidential address. An evening meal at the Premier Inn and a visit to the Beer Heights Railway the next day rounded off a very enjoyable weekend.

As the years roll on, my volunteering days are now somewhat less frequent, but I continue to enjoy driving the variety of trams, the passengers, the wildlife, tides and scenery, and I hope to be contributing at Seaton for some years to come.

Geoff was born in Nottingham in 1937, and moved to Bristol in 1947. He studied at Bristol Cathedral School and the University of Bristol, and was a Research Biologist at ICI from 1961 to 1966. He was then Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol from 1966 until his retirement in 1997. He moved to Seaton in 1998, and became a driver at Seaton Tramway in 2003. He retired from driving at the end of the 2017 season, and since them has been a volunteer Meet & Greet at Seaton Station.

Geoffrey Douglas Smith (13th January 1943 - 30th June 2021) wrote the following specially for this Roll of Honour in early 2021. RIP Geoff, you will be sorely missed.

I have been reliably assured that my first tram journey was just a few hours before I was born! This was Merseyside, during an air raid. Trams next appeared at nursery school, where the pictogram for my peg was a 4-window open fronted open balcony tramcar, coloured green, or maybe red; I am seriously colour blind. In 1947 the family moved to Colwyn Bay. Mother smoked, and as she liked shopping in Llandudno, a trip on the top deck of one of the ex-Bournemouth cars was always something to look forward to, even if it did involve being dragged around Marks and Spencers! I remember all the different types of car well, but I was always thrilled to get to sit behind the driver’s bulkhead on car 23 or 24.  These were the ex-Darwen “Spivs” and were the only air braked cars in the fleet. Little did I imagine that 60 years later I would be handling those very same controllers and brakes at Seaton, on cars 4 and 12. Visits to Merseyside were frequent and I always delighted on a ride on a Liverpool tram.

All good things come to an end, and in my thirteenth year both the Liverpool and Colwyn Bay trams were no more. Travelling daily to school in Abergele, I became conversant with many of the older members of the Crosville ‘bus fleet. On leaving school I attended Liverpool University, spending the summer seasons working as a conductor for Crosville out of Llandudno Junction Depot. Then came the move to real work at the Llanwern steelworks in Newport as what was called “Industrial Engineer”, but really involved works-wide logistics, problem solving and major project planning. There followed the usual sequence of marriage and child rearing. Any free time was taken up with small scale model making.

In 1990 I was widowed, the boys were self-sufficient by then, so apart from moving home things carried on as normal. I was able to travel more, and visited some of the European Tram systems. Full time work finished at the end of the year 2000.  In 2001, I had family members living in Exeter, and on a visit I took a look at Seaton Tramway. Not long after, on 28^th May 2002,  I made the acquaintance of Mike Ward and Car 16 for a TDL. In May 2003 I underwent training, with Tim Fowles and instructed by Bob Addington. In 2007 Colin Brown trained me up as his Tramcar Control Supervisor relief, subsequently Inspector.

My experiences at Seaton have been many and varied, from hilarious to hair raising. The most worrying was on a blistering and very busy August day, whist acting as TCS. I was at Seaton terminus when a call came in that Car 17 had failed at Colyford. As I did not have the fabled “Ouija” board on hand, a great deal of radio traffic was needed to keep things moving, and eventually the radio battery ran out. For a little while I wrote instructions on notes to drivers, but luckily Colin returned, delivered a charged battery and matters got back to normal.

For hilarity, Car 6 had arrived at Colyton. The last passenger from the upper deck was a “well blessed” young lady who snagged her top on the way downstairs, and lost her footing. She ended up sat on the platform, all her upper garments around her neck, and  convulsed with laughter. It could have been nasty, but she was unhurt, and pleased to be the focus of much attention.

Then there are the mistakes. I am most guilty of “trolley leading”, but the worst mistake was at Cownhayne Loop. With an empty Car 4 I was daydreaming and was going out of the loop when I remembered that I had a Southbound tram to pass. I neglected to look at exactly where I was, and I just turned around and started to reverse. All seemed well at first, but then there was a lurch, I was rather slow to react and by the time I had stopped, Car 4 had one bogie on each side of the loop. However, all seemed to be well, and as the southbound car was approaching I kept going. Once clear of the loop, I came forward to where I should have stopped, and breathed a sigh of relief.

I remember another funny story with Tim Fowles in 2006. He and I were on floater shifts, and I left Colyford at 16:17, and passed the northbound service at Cownhayne as normal. At Tye Lane, I waited for Tim to pass northbound. After 5 minutes or so I called Colin, who said that he would be with me shortly as he was walking down the line from Cownhayne. By the time he arrived he had called all the other drivers, but nobody had seen either Tim or his tram, nor was Tim answering his radio. The whole system was stopped awaiting instructions. Somebody, probably Andrea but I don't know, called Tim's mobile 'phone and got through to him. He was in the staff room at Riverside having a cup of coffee. Tim had simply misread the schedule, and had returned to depot instead of working the 16:06 floater. Needless to say, he suffered some good natured ragging for a while.

More recently, I took Car 2 out for a rounder. Whist I was away the curves had been greased, and on re-entering Seaton station the grease on the wheels made the brakes ineffective. Luckily, my speed was low enough and Car 2 stopped about 1cm from the buffer stop, much to the amusement of the other drivers present.

I served a term as a non-executive director at Newport Transport. Our Managing Director Trevor Roberts was appointed MD at Blackpool Transport, and I brought him to Seaton for a TDL. On taking up the reins at Blackpool he introduced day tram driving sessions, which eventually led to the present Heritage tram service.

Talking of Car 6, Bob Addington reminded me that in the first decade of the 21^st century we could bring a fully-loaded Car 6 into Seaton, unload it, turn it and reload to capacity, to be off the stop in 6 minutes from first arrival. I doubt that we could do that today.

I was born in South Africa in 1951 and grew up in Edenvale, a small town about ten miles from Johannesburg in the then Transvaal, now Gauteng.  After matriculating at Jeppe High School for Girls in 1969 I spent the next four years at the Johannesburg College of Education and in 1973 attained a teaching diploma qualifying me to teach in primary schools.  I spent five years teaching at a government primary school where I had been myself.  In the meantime I married and in 1980 my husband Richard and I moved to what was then Natal and I spent another 5 very happy years teaching at a private prep school for boys, “Cordwalles” in Pietermaritzburg. My final year was spent teaching a small class of twelve boys aged 8.  The happiest year of my teaching career, what a delight to be able to spend more time with each pupil. As well as teaching I managed to work on my degree and finally achieved my BA from The University of South Africa (Unisa) in 1984.

South Africa was in turmoil at this time and in 1985 we made the decision to leave and make our home in England, the country of Richard’s birth.  Our two beloved golden retrievers accompanied us though they had to spend six months in quarantine. We spent two years in Leicestershire and the next 12 years in Somerset. It was there from 1990 to 2002 that we became familiar with Seaton Tramway.  We enjoyed visits to Dorset and Devon over weekends and holidays and soon became aware of the tramline linking Seaton and Colyton.  We travelled on it a number of times and always ended having tea on the platform in Colyton admiring the view and the trams going to and fro.  

Hardly surprising then that when Richard retired in 2002 we decided to make our new home in Colyton. I wasn’t ready for retirement and when a job vacancy at Seaton Tramway appeared in the Midweek Herald, and it was for a job in the shop at Colyton station, and it was within walking distance of home, and it was part time three days a week, well how could I resist it. After an interview with Sue Gardner I was offered the job and started at the end of February 2003. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Tramway. I met so many interesting people and made many friends. I decided to call it a day after 14 happy years at the Tramway and finished my stint in January 2017.

I had no retail experience and had never before touched a till. But I needn’t have feared because the shop staff couldn’t have been kinder and more helpful in settling me in. Pat Davis, Jenny Mann, Sue Collins, Ann Porter, Sheila Smith and Doreen Tillbrook were great. On my second day Jenny Mann showed me how to cash up, and on the third after a sleepless night before, I cashed up by myself with Sue Gardner standing behind me and suggesting it might speed things up a little if I used two fingers instead of one while counting the coins!! Needless to say within a short time I felt quite at home at the till and dealing with the money. Pat Davis had a wicked sense of humour and on my first day with her she told me I had to recognise the whole fleet of trams and that she would be testing me next time we worked together. She did and I failed, by one tram. “No good,” she said, we’ll do it again tomorrow and we did, and this time I was awarded her gold star.  I still chuckle at these memories.

I enjoyed working with the other shop staff and was impressed by the fact that when one or other of us had a holiday coming up or couldn’t manage one of our days for whatever reason the others would step into the breech without a second thought. They would do it for me and I would do it for them. That’s the way it should have been I reckon. New staff during my fourteen years didn’t always have the same attitude. Some like Betty Hogan and Jose Allan fitted in immediately.  Jose has been with us for quite a few years now. She was one of the new crop but she has exactly the same ethos which was important to us. Café and shop staff didn’t spend much time together but I always enjoyed the camaraderie and banter. In the summer holidays youngsters from schools and colleges in the area would earn holiday money by working in the kitchen and some of them were absolutely delightful.  It wasn’t all fun and laughter. Carrying heavy boxes up and down stairs to the stockroom and keeping the shop stocked and dealing with a crowded shop in the busy times was hard work. But the exercise gained by all this and walking to and fro from work meant that I didn’t have to fork out money for the gym. On the whole I loved serving the customers. Most of them were lovely, they were on holiday and enjoying themselves and interaction with them was enjoyable. A small percentage seemed to go out of their way to be demanding and unpleasant but they were few and far between and soon forgotten.  

It wasn’t all work in the shop. Staff were encouraged to go on courses. I remember a first aid course held at the depot and a Jurassic course at the Seaton Heights Hotel, also a computer course in Axminster. I recall a funny incident concerning the last of those. Colin Brown, controller and driver, was attending the course which ran one night a week over a number of weeks. He offered a lift to some of the staff from Colyton who were also attending the course. After about the third week when he picked up Betty, Sheila and me in the square he commented. “I’m glad the police aren’t about or they’d soon nab me for cruising about and trying to solicit the “ladies of the night”. We were much amused. 

Over the years I got to know many of the tram drivers and admired them for the great job they do at the tramway. Not only do they drive the tram in all weathers but they have to excel at driver/ passenger relations and need to have a lot of information about the history of the tramway and of course the workings of the trams at their fingertips. A number of volunteer drivers have always come to spend some time at Seaton during the summer holidays and I met a number of them in my early years at the Tramway when we still had evening tram rides for a couple of months of light evenings. I worked a couple of evenings a week. Some of the volunteer drivers would come into the café to sample Jacky Goode’s cooking and would sit together at a table in the café. They would be there for at least an hour and they nattered nonstop all that time.  And what did they talk about? Trams! It was wonderful listening to them. What a passion!

So much happens at the Tramway. Each season and time of the year means something different is going on. Easter, Mothering Sunday, Halloween, Christmas. And each of those involves activities for the children, decorating the shop and station, special menus and many other things. All the catering managers have been wonderful; Jacky Goode, Ray Morgan, Karl and Abi Newman. I have worked with Abi for a number of years and her imagination and ingenuity and sheer practicality impress me. And I’m not just talking about the kitchen. She always makes the shop in Colyton look magical for the various seasons.

There is so much more to Seaton Tramway that I haven’t mentioned. Although it is now four years since I retired from the Tramway my husband and I still visit and will do so more often once life is back to normal. We like to go for occasional tram rides and enjoy travelling through the Wetlands and seeing the birdlife. We are fairly often to be seen sitting on the platform at Colyton enjoying coffee and one of Abi’s special scones. We still enjoy the flowers in the troughs, the view, and the sound and sight of trams coming and going.

(1964-2018)

Volunteer Driver 2003-2018

Engineer 2004-present

I always wanted to drive a tram so I booked a Tram Driving Experience (TDE) at Crich in 2000 which gave me 6-miles “on the handle”.

I then booked a Tram Driving Lesson (TDL) at Seaton in 2001 and what a difference - 27-miles "on the handle".

Some years later, in 2010, my wife also bought me a day’s driving at Blackpool - where I drove “Balloon” 711.

The first person I met at Seaton on the afternoon before my first TDL was Bob Addington who told me where to be the following morning for the TDL. (I also recall that Bob carried out my annual re-test some years later).

Tram 16 duly appeared with Barry Cooper and the day turned into one that neither of us forgot - nor did James Hammett who was about as well.

To be fair, it was dry when I got onto Tram 16 at 9:30 a.m.and it was dry when I got off about 5:00 p.m., but it rained and rained and rained all day in between.

I did lots of TDLs between 2001 and 2004 - including five in one year - all with either Barry Cooper or Mike Ward and it was the latter who persuaded me to apply to be a volunteer driver.

I found the Tramway a very friendly place and it turned out that Mike Ward had been married in the church in Cockfosters, North London where I used to go to Church Parade once a month with the cubs and scouts.

I did my training with Andrea Fawcett under the very able instruction of Barry Cooper. I recall Barry saying that we would make mistakes. In the end it was one each - me at Depot Curve and Andrea at Cownhayne Loop. For the first week we had Tram 16, and for the second week we had Tram 12 on which we both took our tests with Mark Horner - air brake one way, hand brake the other.

On the Sunday prior to my second week of training, I met Geoff Smith for the first time at Colyton and introduced myself and explained what I was doing there. Typical Geoff … the next thing I found was myself driving Tram 6 southbound with Jeff sitting on the stairs keeping an eye on me.

I really enjoyed driving in the days of Allan Gardner, Mark Horner and Colin Brown.

I recall the Gala Weekends at which Colin Brown would try to get as many volunteer drivers down to Seaton - so that paid drivers were not necessary for the two days of the Gala.

The Gala weekend also included a dinner for the volunteer drivers as a “thank you” for which the tramway paid.

I remember going to Seaton Heights several times, once to Colyton in Mike Poole’s car and several times to the Kings Arms in Seaton.

The whole time was one of great professionalism but also great fun.

When driving over a weekend, I would travel down on Friday arriving about 3:30 to 4:00. I then always met up with David “Scratch” Mitchell for the 5:00 p.m. departure which he always let me drive - despite (in those days) my not being in uniform. This was a good opportunity to catch up on the gossip.

My wife and I also holidayed in Seaton from time to time so that I could get a day or two driving. On one occasion, we caught a southbound Tram 9 at Colyford driven by Mike Ward. Mike spotted us in the queue at Colyford, gave me the key to drive to Seaton and took my wife into the rear saloon for a chat!

In all my time on the Tramway, I never committed a “Scoty" or a “Bafta", but I did have many "Shirley Eds" (those will make you think!)

My favourite trams to drive were Tram 17, Tram 16 and Tram 6 - all of which were very freewheeling - although Tram 6 was a squeeze for me being 6-feet 3-inches tall.

The trams I least liked were Tram 4, Tram 19 and Tram 14 - the latter in wet weather when the brakes just didn’t like wet weather and tended to slip or lock up.

Abi has worked at Seaton tramway for 15 Years. Based at Colyton Station she has had several roles, in both the shop and the café, and is now the Station Supervisor. She is responsible for the day to day running of the cafe and shop, and all the staff and volunteers working on site.

Abi has a background in catering, retail and hospitality which has helped her develop in her role and has lead to her achieving 3 NVQ qualifications whilst at the Tramway. As can be seen from her picture, she is not shy about dressing up when the occasion is right!

Ralph Hibbert (1938-2010) was a guest house owner from Honiton in East Devon, who joined the Tramway in 2005. He was also part of the "Trolley Heads" team from Seaton Tramway which challenged the "Eggheads" on the BBC programme in 2010. Sadly, Ralph died later that year, before the programme was broadcast.

I moved to Seaton in 1987 from Fordingbridge, a lovely town on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. I gave up working as a territory manager, which was a posh name for a Sales Representative, in the catering and bakery sector. My wife and I bought the lease of a two unit combined gift shop and turned one into a tea room called Coffee & Cream.

We changed the nature of the business in 1992 and created the Four C’s fish and chip shop, which we ran until we sold it in 2003. I ran a small ice cream kiosk for 2 years, then due to boredom I sold it to a Tramway employee. I needed to work a few hours a week and decided that as I had heard so much about Seaton Tramway, I would approach the company and see if there were any vacancies.

To cut a long story short, I had an interview which included driving a tram under instruction from a senior driver/trainer. I was offered a position on the driving team, subject to reaching the standard required and passing any necessary driving test and medical. After two weeks of training, I gained my license in May 2006.

It would be true to say that by the end of my first day of solo driving, I was totally hooked on the job. Before I had started with the company, I knew nothing at all about trams, but it soon became a hobby rather than a work commitment, and I was always taking on extra days when asked. One of the things that I enjoyed and still do is the camaraderie and banter amongst the staff.

After a few years I took on the role of safety rep. for Operations and following on later I also became one of several first aiders within the company. I have always believed that it is the mind and not age that stops people from achieving what they want out of life, and in the spring of 2019 at the age of 71, I applied for the position of Tramcar Inspector, and along with two colleagues, became a part time inspector, and that is where we are today.

Graham Stephens (1946-2016) was an ex-Metropolitan police officer, and also a rail enthusiast. He joined the Tramway in 2006, combining tram driving with other pursuits, such as being a local councillor for Colyford. His increasing workload as a councillor led to his departure from the Tramway in 2012.

I was Operations Manager at Heaton Park Tramway at the time, and Bob and Joan Hill invited me down to Seaton with them. I duly attended and, as they were friends with Colin Brown, I was lucky enough to be able to get into the depot. During the week I was also lucky enough to get a little drive. On that first visit I also found myself in the presence of Alan Gardner over dinner and had a very pleasant evening listening to his stories. Colin didn't really give me much option but to join the rank of Volunteers!

Over the next few years I spent time checking tickets and loading Trams at Colyton, moving to shunting and loading at Colyton and Seaton and Driver. Unfortunately my duties elsewhere were expanding and I wasn't able to get down so had to leave the volunteer pool. I made some good friends in my time there, including Tim and Andrea, whom I would later work with in Blackpool on the Heritage Trams.

One thing which will always stick in my mind was one Gala weekend when Colin was on duty. He had based himself in the old Tram shop on the depot fan with his whiteboard, always affectionately known as the ouija board. It was quite windy and as I sat eating my lunch he came back past me in the Tram, right into depot. Two minutes later he came back out pushing his 'office', looked at me and said 'dear me, we've had an occurrence!'

Another occurrence was after an evening Gala shift when the Trams were being shunted back into depot when we heard a squeal and a splash and a trolley pole flying into the air. Needless to say the young lad was unharmed, if somewhat damp.

Driving at Seaton was a wonderful experience I shall forever be grateful for, not just for the 4 seasons during one driving shift (which no one ever believes until they've seen the sea mist roll in). Of course the evening socials were as colourful as the days on the Tramway, though I'd perhaps better not recount the stories in polite society! Many years later I came down for a visit and purely by chance it was the last day of my Seaton driving instructor Mike Ward, another bizarre Seaton coincidence.

Volunteer driver since 2007

Having lived in Seaton all my life I became aware of the trams from an early age, and used to enjoy watching them go up and down the line. When it was time for me to do my work experience with school, I decided to apply to do a week at Seaton Tramway, as it was local and I was interested in the engineering side.

After thoroughly enjoyed my week of work experience, I applied for an apprenticeship the following year and was delighted to be the successful applicant. I then started my full time apprenticeship in June 2010 and started college in September. After a few years of hard work, I qualified from my apprenticeship and became a full time engineer at the Tramway, and more recently have been promoted to Assistant Engineering Manager.

I joined at a time when the Tramway seemed to face trial after trial, and each year which brought a new set of challengers, like clearing 3 miles of snow, relaying small sections of washed out track after extreme rain fall, surviving the aftershock of the 2008 financial crash, relaying more washed out track, relaying a large section of track caused by the 2014 St Valentine’s Day tidal surge and the list goes on. Even though each disaster has presented many challenges, it's always been rewarding to be part of the team who solve problems, repairs and gets the Tramway back on track. For me the good times far outweigh the tough times and the job continues to stay challenging and exciting to this day.

I joined the Tramway in 2010, on moving back to Devon following my retirement from a career in HM Customs and Excise, the ranks of which sterling organisation I joined in January 1967 and from which I was offered early release, gratefully accepted, in December 2005, after 40 years of faithful service, amen.  

Originally from Oldham, Greater Manchester, and a Customs career starting in Manchester and various locations around the Northwest, in 1979 I made my first move to Devon when appointed to Exeter, initially to the VAT office and subsequently the local Investigation Unit, before a move to the Custom House (Excise) on Exeter Quay, eventually transferring to the Customs uniformed branch (Customs, Preventive) at Exeter Airport.

In 1990 I was appointed to Harwich Customs in Essex, where I languished for some 20 years, latterly as Support Unit Manager for Anti-Smuggling (renamed from Preventive), for the Central Region, Eastern, an area covering the Wash to the Thames, until early retirement and eventual permanent return to Devon in 2010.

Customs and Excise service provided me with a varied range of experience first in the Excise, involving Breweries (ahh, such happy days), Bonded Warehouses, imports, exports, On and Off-course betting and Oil refineries, to name but a few, followed by spell in VAT and Local Investigation Unit. Anti-smuggling duties including passenger baggage examination, aircraft search and trainer, freight examination, drug detection with associated intelligence gathering and latterly, resource management. Over the years, I encountered many characters, both colleagues and of the general public, with some more memorable than others and for diverse reasons!

I was already aware of the Tramway, having travelled between Seaton and Colyford (Car 7) in around 1975, when we were holidaying at what then was the Old Manor Hotel in Colyford, and partaking of a full day’s driving lesson, with Barry Cooper as my instructor, in December 2000. On relocating to Devon and looking for gainful employment in retirement, I saw the trams pottering up and down the valley and decided that be might something with which to be involved?  Nothing ventured etc, I took a chance and called at the Depot one day and met with the manager, James Hammett, to enquire about vacancies; not quite ‘gizzajob’ but close enough, which led to my being invited to apply and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

My initial interest lay with driving, but there was then a delay in recruitment, but I successfully applied for an advertised job in the Seaton Kiosk, where I spent my first year learning the ropes and eventually, received driver training, once again under the expert tutelage of Barry Cooper, and qualified to become a member of the driving team in 2011.  

With no previous conscious yearning for a life on the open rails I have been pleasantly surprised and continue to enjoy the whole Tramway experience.  With a few years driving under my belt, I was elevated to Instructor and able to put my accumulated knowledge and experience to good use guiding participants through the mysteries of tram driving during Driver’s Eyes, together with half and full day driving experiences. This aspect of the job has generally proved mostly enjoyable, entertaining and at times, mildly to very exciting, and proving the adage “it’s the people wot makes it interesting!”  

Over the years I continued to learn much about the operations, and having acquired a reasonable technical knowledge of the trams, organisation, rules and regulations, resulted in 2019 to my appointment as Inspector. 

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Working for the Tramway has been quite a (welcome) change from life with HM Customs and long may it continue.

I was brought up in Oldham, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester).  I left school at the age of 16 and was offered a job at the main branch of Yorkshire Bank in Oldham, in September 1963, and was employed by them for seventeen years at various branches around the area.  I started as bank clerk and worked my way up through the ranks of bank cashier, admin duties, Secretary to the Branch Manager for a few years, having obtained shorthand and typing skills at night school. I progressed to working on securities and investments and later undertook managerial relief duties at several of the small branches in the surrounding area. Having married in October 1973 I then moved to Burnley, where I undertook pretty much the same work, returning to Oldham three years later and stayed until we moved to Exmouth in 1981.

I then had to leave the bank and look for alternative employment in the Exeter area. A general Civil Service recruitment was advertised for which I applied. Imagine my surprise when at the interview I was asked would I be interested in working in a prison. My answer was no doubt somewhat vague as it wasn’t something I would have ever thought about, but two days later I received a call offering me a job at Exeter Prison in the Discipline Office (subsequently renamed Custody Office, being more politically correct). I was there 8 years and it was a very interesting job, which included undertaking work relating to the Magistrates and Crown Courts, the Parole Board, calculation of prisoners sentences, and dealing with prisoners’ relatives at times.

Now the time came to move again with my husband, taking up a post in Harwich, just as I received a promotion! The Regional Manager arranged for me to take up my promotion at Portland Youth Custody Centre so that I could apply for a transfer in my new grade. I spent a few months travelling between Exmouth and Portland, before eventually joining my husband in East Anglia.

I applied for a transfer within the Civil Service and was offered a post with HM Customs & Excise as a VAT Control Officer based in Colchester, which involved going out and about examining traders’ VAT records. I stayed with the Department for 16 years until I took early retirement in March 2006. During that period I spent several years at Colchester, moving on to a VAT Enquiry post after a couple of years, but also spent three years working in Ipswich on a Personnel Project covering Human Resources and Early Release/Resettlement.

On my return to Colchester I continued with VAT/Team Management work, finally moving to Harwich Custom House to an International Trade post, consisting mainly  of Management/HR work, from where I took early retirement in 2006, when we planned to relocate to Devon. As often happens our relocation didn’t go entirely as planned and the move didn’t take place until 2010, but in the interim I did some charity work for Cat Protection.

Once settled in our home in Colyton, I thought I needed to find something to fill some of my spare time, so having visited the area regularly over the years and having visited and travelled on the trams several times since the mid 70s, I decided to offer to volunteer for Seaton Tramway.  I had never worked in retail but volunteered in the Colyton shop a couple of days a week, and it wasn’t too long before I was offered a permanent job as Shop Assistant.  My job is that of any shop assistant, providing a good customer service, selling goods and tickets, keeping jobs stocked etc. but it can never be classed as mundane as many of our customers expect us to know a good deal about the history of the tramway and how it operates, which makes the job a lot more interesting and enjoyable. Many changes have occurred along the way with staff, management and operations, the change to a charity and introduction of Gift Aid etc, and the extra challenges as a result of COVID 19, but I’m still here after ten years!

I do have other interests and in my spare time also volunteer for East Devon Cats Protection in an admin capacity, processing their Membership and Gift Aid and also helping with their fund raising events, plus in normal times I am involved in some volunteering within the local community.

Born in wartime Forest Hill in South London on 1st January 1943, I grew up in the locality through to my mid-twenties.  I was educated through the State system, although I was lucky to have attended Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, a direct grant school at the time, but now back in the Private sector.  I spurned university and went into commerce.

I joined the Port of London Authority as an A level entrant in September 1960.  I quickly worked my way onto traffic training assignments and after a few years managing conventional berths in the up-river docks, I became a pioneer in managing the early days of 24 hour container berths at Tilbury docks in 1970.  Night time shifts could be slow for the management team, so I set about using this time to write a paper on container operations spurred on by the fact that ship owners believed every ship in the world could be loaded or discharged of containers at the rate of 20 per hour, which was not so unless it was large and purpose built.  I offered this paper to the then Institute of Transport (now the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport), of which I was a student member, and was awarded the then major Docks and Harbour Authorities Award in 1972.  

This led to me being hauled out into the Marketing Department, but by a quirk of change management found myself immersed in Public Relations.  I managed the Port of London Magazine and the internal staff newspaper, became an expert in producing leaflets and brochures in-house on account of the PLA becoming strapped for cash as upper river docks closed and then did all that again with press relations for an offshoot of the PLA with the Riverside wharves and lighterage industry.  That set me to pick up my pen again and I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship (travelling scholarship) in 1978, which sent me round northern Europe looking at lighterage and inland transport.

I must have done something right because at the end of 1979 I was appointed to run the Public Relations Department for the British Waterways Board.  I could write a book about that wonderful opportunity that I undertook with great relish, especially as I was one of the few members of the staff who actually knew anything about freight transport by water, but I was there to concentrate on the PR side of the whole organisation, which was mainly the leisure trade on the extensive 2,000 mile canal system.  

There were many changes as the organisation gradually worked its way round from the central autocratic organisation that I had joined to a coordinated set of local management units, which was the way forward and well after my time led it to reach the ultimate goal of becoming the Canal and River Trust that it is today.  With localisation I sort of worked my way out of a job and in 1994 went off to do something different.

I joined the then Article Number Association, which was the name of the English arm of the multinational standards body that looks after data standards. The prime one everybody knows is the barcode found on all our shopping. In my ten years there it changed name to ‘e-centre’ as it was joined by the former Electronic Commerce Association.  This was probably more logistics related than transport!  

During this time I worked quite closely with the Transport Institute on many activities, but as electronic business systems grew and became the way for the world to go, I became more involved with the international set up and in 2000 was drafted on loan into the Head office in Brussels to run its world wide PR. It was then called EAN International but towards my time for retirement at the end of 2004, I was involved with a major management change that led to a renaming to one world wide name GS1, with each country’s arm becoming the same name followed by the two figure country computer suffix.  e-centre became GS1UK.

Unfortunately in my early days at the PLA I never quite got round to studying for full CLIT membership, as days in the docks were long and busy and I was also a passionate member of the London Auxiliary Fire Service until it was disbanded in 1968, so I have remained an interested bystander with the Institutes activities.  Now, long into retirement from paid employment I keep myself busy.  Following my retirement we had moved from North East Kent to Mere on the Wiltshire/Somerset/Dorset border. For the first twelve years I used my PR background to edit and produce the monthly community magazine “Mere Matters” in my small town and concurrently I spent ten years using my Project Management skills in looking after the fabric of our large Grade 1 listed church.

From the age of five until I was eight I commuted to school by tram, until they were scrapped in London, but my interest in trams continued, mainly from my armchair. When on holiday in Devon some forty years ago I came across the Seaton Tramway, and took the opportunity of taking a ride whenever we were that way on annual holidays. On moving to Mere, just over an hour away from Seaton, I applied to the tramway in early 2011 to train as a volunteer Tram Driver, which quickly came to fruition. I am now as ‘happy as a sand boy’ with coming up to ten years driving experience, one day a week regularly during the running seasons.

My parents lived in Edinburgh, where I was born in 1944, and the family moved from Edinburgh in the same year; I always think I was kidnapped from Scotland because I never got a Scottish accent!

The move was due to my father, who worked at that time for Vickers Armstrong on large guns of 14, 15, and 16 inch which were used on battleships, being relocated in his employment from Scottish naval bases and shipyards to H.M. Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth. He later left Vickers and worked in the Dockyard at Portsmouth. My paternal grandparents moved from Edinburgh to Portsmouth when my grandfather was transferred by the Admiralty from Rosyth Dockyard to Portsmouth Dockyard, but I still had relatives in Edinburgh.

I was educated at Kingston Modern school, Highbury College, gaining an ONC in Electrical Engineering and later during my career I did various Navy and Merchant Navy courses at H.M.S Collingwood and South Shields Marine College. 

In 1960 I started an Electrical Fitter apprenticeship in H.M. Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth. On completion of my apprenticeship worked as Electrical Fitter working afloat on various ships, Progressman Planner Technical and temporary Estimator, I have worked on all types of naval ships from Aircraft Carriers, Royal Yacht, Frigates, Destroyers, Minesweepers to Submarines, including sea trials on certain ships. 

In 1979 I transferred from the dockyard to the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (RMAS) a civilian manned Naval service, (a uniformed Civil Servant) as an Electrical Officer based in Portsmouth serving ashore and afloat on Research Vessels, Ocean Tugs, Degaussing vessels, Ammunition Ships, Coastal and Harbour tugs (including the last naval paddle tug, of which I have a radio controlled model at 1:43 scale), Mooring vessels and other types of ancillary ships and craft employed around the Naval Base. I took early retirement/redundancy on privatisation of the RMAS in 1996 and was awarded the Imperial Service Medal (I.S.M.), for my service to the crown, then worked in H.M. Naval Base, Portsmouth for BAE, retiring in 2009.

I have always been interested trams, as I spent the majority of my school holidays with my maternal grandparents in Glasgow and other relatives in Scotland. My grandparents’ house at the western end of St Vincent St had tram services 16, 17 and 21 running along the road whilst within a 100 yards was the junction with Argyle St where the 9, and 26 routes ran, with the 15, 18, 18A, 6 and 14 a short walk away, to see relatives in Paisley we took the 21 tram to Paisley, or either the 9 or 26 to the Erskine Ferry, on the other side of the Clyde we took the 28 tram, to see relatives in Blairdardie we took the 21 tram changing to the 1 or 30 trams at Anniesland. So, therefore in Glasgow, I would go to sleep and wake up to the rumble of the trams, the whine of the motors and the hiss of the bow collector on the trolley wire.

To see relatives in Edinburgh from Waverley station, we took the 1 or 12 to Corstorphine or the 1, or 7 to Liberton.

I rode on the last Glasgow service tram from Yoker on 1^st September 1962, this being Cunarder tram no. 1313, which met with the last tram from the western terminus of Dalmuir, also the procession was joined by the last tram from Scotstoun, the trams being escorted by police cars back to Dalmarnock depot. I also rode the last special service car on 4^th September, this being Coronation tram no. 1274, before the closing procession which was watched in the pouring rain at the Argyle St / Union St corner, where because the trams had to loop around the Central Station we saw the procession twice! Whilst travelling to and from Scotland we changed trains at London and I always insisted on a tram ride in London until they were abandoned in 1952. Whilst in Scotland during various visits I was lucky enough to travel on trams in Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen when visiting relatives in those parts of the country. I can also recall travelling on the trams in Southampton before they were abandoned in 1949, and made my first acquaintance with the Blackpool trams in 1959 and then visited quite frequently whilst pursuing another hobby.

Other Interests

I have always had an interest in cycling, being a member of a local cycling club for a number of years and cycled the 8 miles to work until I retired, but still cycle occasionally.

I raced model yachts in classes 36 inch restricted, Marblehead, 10 Rater and A Class between 1956 and 1971, belonging to Portsmouth, Guildford and Greenock Model Yacht Clubs, racing model yachts nationally and internationally for both Scotland and England with quite a bit of success. This was how I became acquainted with the Blackpool trams in 1959, and afterwards whilst racing at Fleetwood. 

I am a member of the Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers (railway) with a 16mm garden railway, also a member of The Fareham and District Society of Model Engineers. I have two 5 inch gauge locomotives and a radio-controlled model of the last Naval paddle tug RMAS Forceful.

I became a member of the Caravan and Motorhome Club in 1974 and been member ever since, caravanning in the UK and abroad.

In 1960 I became and still am a member of the Tramway Museum Society. In about 1990 I became a member of The City of Portsmouth Preserved Transport Depot (CTPPD) and got involved with the cosmetic restoration of Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway tram No 13 from approx. 1990 to approx. 2010, including doing the lining out, signwriting the adverts, crests and ownership details amongst other work on the tram.

I also give talks to various societies on subjects such as local railways and tramways including Seaton. I am always surprised at how many people in my area do not know or are aware of the existence of the Seaton Tramway. These talks always seem to go down well

Eastbourne and Seaton Tramway

I first rode the trams at Eastbourne in 1962 then at various times until closure, then first rode the trams at Seaton in the 1974 and subsequent visits, did a TDL in 2011, then started doing  volunteer conducting duties until passing my driving test and becoming a volunteer driver. I enjoy driving as each trip is different and one never knows what may happen, what animals we may meet and see including deer, foxes, hares, squirrels and pheasants who seem to take great delight in playing chicken by running along the top of the rails in front of the tram and of course the birdlife, I enjoy speaking to our guests (passengers), answering questions and passing on information about the trams and tramway. The camaraderie with the other drivers and staff is akin to the banter one gets on a ship, it’s like another family.

Seaton anecdotes

I remember driving a special one day with a group of scouts onboard in the morning, the round trip went well  with no problems, in the afternoon I had a group of girl guides onboard, again doing a round trip, but, this trip was completely different to the morning one because as we left Seaton the, girls began singing pop songs and stamping their fit in time to the music thus the tram started bouncing, which along with the normal movement of the tram made for an interesting ride, as we left Colyford the singing stopped and the rest of the trip was done in silence from the girls. On arrival at Colyton, I enquired what happened to the singing, I was told that it was because they were eating doughnuts and they had saved one for me. The return trip was really uneventful although they started singing again.

Another time whilst driving a northbound tram for Colyton, at Axminster Loop the southbound car had my very young grandson onboard with my family. My wife said “there’s Grandad say “bye, bye, Grandad”. As I left the loop all the passengers onboard the other tram shouted “Bye, Bye, Grandad” 

Recently in 2019 I was doing shunting duties at Seaton terminus and with the late John Marsh who was duty inspector that day, some passengers asked question how we got interested in trams, this led to John and myself  talking about our experiences during Glasgow’s last tram week, the tours that took place etc, the waiting passengers were all very interested in our reminiscence’s, especially  as we found out that whilst I was on the last tram from Yoker , he was on the last one from Dalmuir, and that we both walked back from Dalmarnock Depot,  him to his digs, me to my grandparents house. This prompted some of waiting passengers to ask questions about trams in general. It was brilliant.  

One day whilst driving towards Colyton with a fully loaded double decker, it started to rain heavily as we approached Colyford and as we came into Colyford stop I suddenly had a pair of feet on my shoulder and there was a lady trying to come down the stairs. I asked the lady what she was doing she replied “I’m wet, I need to sit in the dry”. I had to explain that the tram was full up, that the only seat available was the one she had vacated, and that I was as wet as she was as the rain was driving into the cab from the side and down the stairs on to me. As we left Colyford the rain eased and had stopped before we arrived at Colyton.

It had been explained at the beginning of the trip that if it rained everyone would have to stay where they were, unfortunately we cannot control the weather.

I did my driver training in 2011 and ended up driving a little that summer season.

I have always had a passion for trams and one of my earliest memories was seeing the boat car with its lights on during evening service when I was about 5 or so. That would have been about 1979/1980. A trip on the trams around my 12th birthday and seeing Alan William's "Tramalan" shop got me into modelling trams.

I am still driving 10 years later and hope to be doing it in 20 years time, love it so much! I have recently bought a property on pebble beach and currently can see the trams out of the window.

I am a born and bred Musbury girl. Born in Rosemary Cottage on Rosemary Lane, Musbury on 21st June 1964. I went to Musbury Primary School, as did my grandad, my dad and aunties before me. Then to Axminster Secondary School, which I left at 16 in 1980.

Found a job at the old Co-op on Fore Street in Seaton, where I worked for just over 10 years, ending up being the Checkout Supervisor, plus in charge of the wines, spirits, beers and tobacco. In April 1989 I got married to Tony. We lived with my father in-law for 18 months until we got a one bedroom flat in Colyton. I left the Co-op to have my son Adam in April 1991, moved back to Musbury in 1992 and then I had Emily in September 1993.

When Emily was still a baby I got a job three mornings a week at Musbury Playgroup as a Playgroup Assistant while Adam was attending; Emily used to be in her pram or car seat until she could join in. Ended up working for them for around 5 years.

When both children had gone to school (Musbury Primary of course!) I was offered a job at the primary school as meal time assistant in the playground etc for five days a week. I very much enjoyed working with the children, even though some were little darlings #coughcough. Worked there for just over ten years, until I had to leave to look after Adam, who was having chemo to fight cancer. He passed away July 2011 aged 20 after a brave fight for 8 years.

I didn't do any work for a while until I applied for the Tramway, and am glad to say I began on 20th April 2012. Started on the till in the shop in Colyton on Friday and Saturday mornings, then a job became vacant at the Seaton end with more hours, so I took that. I love working for the Tramway.

I have had more ups and downs in my life including the death of my husband in 2018. I moved to a two bedroom flat in Colyton in July 2019, which I share with my dog Baxter, and Emily got Married last year 2021, so onwards and upwards.

Working for the Tramway helps me a lot, they are like a second family, so kind and supporting. I was in the old Seaton Terminus, which we all had fun in, and now in the new Seaton Station, which I think we have got used to. I am working at Colyton again this season (2022). Now we have hopefully coming through the worse of Covid, things can only get better. Hope it's a good season!

I was born Dulwich, London in 1954 and moved to Berkshire at the age of 3, where I lived until 2006 when we moved to East Devon.

After school I started an apprenticeship in Electronic Engineering qualifying in 1974 and joined Sperry Univac, a computer company which became Unisys after a merger. A few years ago I visited the Science Museum in London and it was interesting to see that some of the early Univac products I worked on as an engineer were on display.

In 1979 I joined Hewlett-Packard as an engineer and stayed with them for almost 30 years before early retirement in 2008. I had various jobs at HP, Customer Engineer,  Engineering Training, Environmental Consulting, Team Management and finally Business Technology Manager.

As an HP Environmental Consultant, I had to deal with computer systems that can be susceptible to environmental interference, hence why they are located in temperature controlled rooms. Many things can cause issue with these systems; dust, corrosives, radio frequency interference (RFI) to name a few. RFI can be very destructive to stored data. My job was to identify these issues and recommend corrective action. On one occasion a disc drive started talking; we found that a delivery courier was using his two-way radio in the parking area outside the computer room!

Early retirement in 2008 gave me the opportunity to work on our house refurbishment, which was mostly completed by early 2013. I volunteered to Seaton Tramway in March 2013 and became a driver that year. In 2019 I gained my Inspector rating.

My wife and I decided on a step change to our lives and wanted to get out of the rat race.  After many months of deciding where in the country we wanted to make our home we fell upon Branscombe and instantly fell in love with the area.

Our plan was to design our own home and be mortgage free. We immediately set about trying to find a building plot. As if it was meant to be we came across a Developer who had bought the old Three Horseshoes pub in Branscombe and wanted to sell a plot of land there to financially kick start his plans. The rest is history.  We project managed the build and obviously luck was on our side as from the first spade in the ground to moving in it only took 6 months.

My wife retired but I needed something to do until my pension kicked in.  After a trip on the tramway I was hooked and straight away asked to see Gareth with a view to becoming a driver. I first started with the Tramway as a volunteer in 2016 progressing to pass my tram driving test in 2017 which was quite amusing in itself. Just before the test Allan (my instructor) decided I should practice an emergency stop. I was tense and ready for it, so much so when Allan switched the breaker off, I immediately slammed everything on full blast and virtually threw him to the floor.  He said “well I’m not doing that again” but I didn’t believe him and was ready for round two!!!

A bit about me.  I somehow managed to gain a BA First Class Honours degree in Industrial Design which put me well on my way in my design career. Eventually becoming Managing Director of a multi-million pound design and build business.

I also became an Associate Professor / Lecturer for De Montfort and Buckingham Universities lecturing on Environmental Design.

I have always had a keen interest in old vehicles and in my youth I have rebuilt several old cars out of necessity to keep me mobile.

My first experience of trams was as a conductor in the summer holidays on the horse drawn trams on the Isle of Man.  I then became, and still am, a shareholder in the Great Central Railway and now thoroughly enjoy my roll driving holiday makers through some beautiful countryside and watching the faces of the young kids who have never seen a tram.  Here’s to many more years of the same.

My name is Brian and I am a tram driver on Seaton Tramway. So, how did this come to be?

The first time I came across the tramway was in the 1960s when the tramway was operating in Eastbourne. My parents took my brother and I on a day trip from our home in London. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. On a later visit to Eastbourne I was very disappointed to find that the tramway was no longer there! It was some years later that we discovered the tramway at Seaton; whether we realised it was the same tramway at the time I cannot remember.

In the 1990s my wife and I introduced our own children to the tramway on a day trip from our home near Winchester, but it was in 2001 that I received my best Fathers’ Day present ever – a half-day tram driving experience on the tramway. Under the watchful eye of an instructor I was able to drive one of the trams up and down the line with my family the only passengers. Later that year I recall dreaming of retiring early and moving to Seaton so I could drive the trams again.

Some twenty years later I did retire early but it was several more years before a move from Winchester became feasible. We considered a number of options (including Norfolk and the Isle of Wight) but were drawn to the West Country by the memories of many wonderful family holidays in Devon and Cornwall.  For ease of getting back to see family in the south east, and to avoid some of the more congested holiday areas we settled on East Devon and homed in on the Seaton and Colyton area.

We moved in the spring of 2016 and I became a volunteer driver the following season.  Driving a tram is not especially difficult but I did find the training very intense and considered quitting part way through.  But I stuck it out and despite a disastrous mock driving test on the day before, I passed the real thing with flying colours on the day.

There is something very therapeutic about driving a tram especially along such a lovely route through the Axe and Coly valleys; and I enjoy the opportunity to engage with customers especially when things are not too busy.  I also enjoy the great camaraderie amongst not just the drivers but the whole team. The operation of the tramway runs very smoothly – but from time to time things do go wrong (after all, some of the trams are over a 100 years old!).

In August 2020 we were in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. Since the tramway had re-opened in early July following enforced shutdown customer numbers were gradually increasing. Social distancing meant we could only load trams to half normal capacity or less. Some days the numbers of customers waiting for the last return tram from Colyton were such that a relief tram was needed – the tramway always ensured that one was ready if needed. But this particular fine day as I drove into Colyton and rostered to drive the last tram back I saw the very long queue on the platform. I immediately called the Inspector to say that I estimated we would need a total of three or possibly four trams to get everyone back to Seaton. Extra trams were immediately despatched from Riverside depot.

All four trams were loaded and just a few minutes behind schedule I led the procession down the single track towards Seaton. Unfortunately, less than five minutes into the journey my tram developed a rare mechanical failure and ground to a halt with the other three trams stuck behind it.  Another radio call to the Inspector and yet another tram sent up from the depot with the Inspector and Engineers on board. All passengers were safely transferred from the stricken tram to the rescue tram which I then drove the rest of the way back to Seaton. I didn’t get to see how the Engineers managed to move the tram into the passing loop, so that the other three trams could continue their journey within a matter of minutes!

Brian Lowing, Tram Driver No.108

We grew up together, Seaton Tramway and I.

Each year from the early 1970s, when the Tramway was just getting started after its move from Eastbourne, my family came to Seaton on holiday. And each year both the Tramway and I had grown bigger. In those pre-internet days, the excitement was palpable. I knew they’d have done something new, but what would it be? I remember the trams pushing batteries from Riverside to Colyford and back; 1975, when the Tramway was extended into what was then a huge town-centre car park surrounded by scrub land where you could look for grasshoppers in between watching the trams; and, most excitingly of all, 1980 when, after years of waiting, the Tramway finally made it across the level crossing and up to Colyton.

I also remember 1976, when No. 4 came back into service and we often travelled on it in the evening when it was all lit up, the comforting yellowy warmth of its lights reflected in the estuary; 1977, when it was repainted purple for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and got smart new red, white and blue lights. It looked magnificent and is my favourite tram to this day, so strong are those early memories.

If the weather was bad, we would sit in the car and watch the trams come and go, marvelling at the hardy souls sitting upstairs in the pouring rain (I’m glad to report there are still plenty of them about). My dad would put the news on Radio 4 while we watched, just in time for the Shipping Forecast. To this day, I can’t help but think of the Tramway when I hear the words “Forties, Fisher, Dogger – rising”.

I loved the Tramway because its half-sized trams were perfect for a small child with a fascination for how you drive things, especially things on rails. You could see exactly what the drivers were doing at Seaton, which you certainly couldn’t on the big trams at Crich Tramway Museum. And the controllers were just high enough for a six-year-old to study the top and try to work out what all the notches were for (at Crich I couldn’t even see the top). Most of all though, I remember being allowed to stand on the platform of No. 2 at Riverside, back in the battery days, so my dad could take my photograph. I clutched the controller with my left hand and the brake with my right, just like I knew you were supposed to, and thought to myself: “This is great. I want to do this for real someday”.

That day was a long time coming because I started to do other things as I got older and ended up moving abroad in my early twenties for three years that actually became thirty. It was to be 2007 before the Tramway and I caught up again. By then I had a young daughter, and my wife and I wanted to have a proper British family seaside holiday of the type we’d both grown up with. But where to go? We had to be sure there would be enough to keep an inquisitive toddler occupied. I suggested the Seaton area because I knew there was plenty we could do. We rented a holiday cottage in Branscombe, and one day I suggested we go on the trams “just once, for old times’ sake”.

“Just once”.

“For old times’ sake”.

I actually believed it too. I thought I’d grown out of it.

During that “just once”, the years disappeared and the “old times’ sake” came flooding back. I found myself not only delighted to see my favourite old trams again, but fascinated by the then-new trams 9, 10 and 11, with their controllers with built-in air brakes, dead man’s pedals and low-floor sections. The “just once” was repeated several times during that holiday and many times in the following years. Fortunately, my wife and daughter liked Seaton and the surrounding area as much as I did, though they never quite got the fascination of the Tramway.

In 2016, with a big birthday looming, I treated myself to a full-day tram driving lesson. I was very nervous. What if, after wanting to have a go for so long, I was no good? My instructor was Allan Mace, whose biography is elsewhere on this Role of Honour. Allan was a first-class driver and instructor, and, under his excellent tutelage, I had a thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring day, during which I discovered that not only could I drive a tram, I might actually be quite good at it. This planted the idea that one day, when we moved back to Britain, I could become a volunteer driver.

That day came sooner than expected, when my wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We were both British, but had met doing amateur pantomime in Switzerland (that’s another story). She wanted to spend what time she had left back home in Britain, so we moved down to Ottery St. Mary. I trained to be a driver, again under Allan’s expert guidance, and started my driving career in the middle of the high season on 1 August 2018.

Since then, I’ve been a regular at the Tramway in all winds, weathers and seasons, and can’t have done too badly because I’ve managed to become an instructor and inspector as well as a driver. I’ve found my way back to my old childhood friend, and the friendship’s been more important than ever since my wife died. I have the good fortune to work with a lovely bunch of people, and the camaraderie at the Tramway is like nowhere else. I like introducing the people who do driving experiences to the art of tram driving, just as I once was, and I enjoy running the daily service as an inspector. Most of all though, given that the bug bit me at an early age, I enjoy talking to the children who even in this age of Theme Parks and Virtual Everything still find our eccentric little Tramway as fascinating and fun as my six-year-old self did. He’s still right there with me whenever I climb onto No. 2 for another trip and put my left hand on the controller and my right hand on the brake, just like he knew you’re supposed to.

And we both still love it as much as ever.

Perfect timing! I joined the Tramway as a ‘Meet & Greet’ volunteer in July 2018 just after the brand spanking new Seaton station had opened.  Indeed, the first event I helped with was the Official Opening in August of that year.

My husband, John, and I retired from Taunton to Seaton in 2017. It was after talking to Ian Waite - a neighbour, who proudly told me his son, Steve, had just been appointed Station Manager - that I decided to volunteer for the Tramway.

There are many reasons why I love my weekly visits to Seaton station. I really enjoy welcoming and assisting customers - and their gorgeous dogs! - and chatting with friendly colleagues including those in Claude’s café and the tram drivers.

My interest lies not only in the history of the Tramway, the golden age of travel, but in the trams themselves. One of my favourites is No19, the bright green former Exeter saloon built in 1906, with its splendid Edwardian interior design. You can imagine Hercule Poirot sitting there exercising his little grey cells!

Proud to be a Devonian, I was brought up on a livestock and arable farm in Burlescombe, near Tiverton. My career included marketing in the financial services sector in the City of London and, more recently, as a professional fundraiser for charities in the West Country including the West of England School for visually impaired youngsters in Exeter and Somerset Wildlife Trust. My qualifications include the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

My other passion – apart from the Tramway and dogs! – is music. I am a semi-professional organist and play for services in churches in East Devon. Recently, I was appointed organist at the medieval church in Salcombe Regis, near Sidmouth, which overlooks the sea.  How lucky am I to live and work in this beautiful part of Devon!

My role as a volunteer driver at the Tramway came about as a complete matter of chance. Following the death of my mum in law, we were left an inheritance and decided that we should buy a property close to the sea, which the whole family could enjoy. Obviously, we were constrained by both the budget available and a limit of two hours driving from home. We looked at both Sidmouth and Lyme Regis, but neither appealed, partly because they are tourist hotspots and also because they were beyond our means! And hence why we chose Seaton. This fitted the bill very nicely due to the proximity of the house to the town centre, the beach (OK, shingle) and some local hostelries. But what we didn’t appreciate, at the time, was the nearby wetlands, the gem which is Beer and, of course, the Tramway. We rode it a few times, became loyalty card holders and always took friends and family along for a trip when they were down. Enough boring background. 

Many (many) years ago I sat next to a lad at school for two years called Simon Earley, a quiet, but thoughtful individual, who unfortunately got drawn into some of the scrapes which the whole class managed to find itself in from time to time. His passion was his immaculate, third rail, Hornby Dublo layout, with many locomotives, a range of rolling stock, which also incorporated tunnels, an embankment and a shunting system. It was absolutely brilliant and a trip to his house was always a delight. We both left school in July 1966 but never saw each other again. I did keep in touch with some of our other classmates and one evening, after buying the house in Seaton, was reminiscing with one of them in a pub in our hometown local in Carshalton. For whatever reason Simon’s name came up and the mate I was with said he had kept in distant contact but believed he had moved to Yorkshire. Bear with me; we’re getting there.

Following the meet in the pub, I thought I would type Simon’s name into “gurgle” to see if it came up with anything. And unfortunately, it did. Up came an extract from the Husthwaite Newsletter, which contained Simon’s picture and his obituary. He was just 67 and we were born a day apart. But closer reading revealed that Simon “became involved in the construction of the Seaton miniature tramway in Devon, laying track and putting up overhead wires.” That is the quote from newsletter and what made me decide to volunteer at the Tramway. It was my way of honouring the memory of an old friend. 

As for my role as a volunteer driver, it wasn’t something I expected to be offered. The training took a couple of weeks, was quite arduous but our instructors were very encouraging and patient. They needed to be. That first solo run with fare paying passengers was quite nerve wracking and in the early days, minor mistakes were made which, at the time, were somewhat depressing. But with lots of encouragement from the other drivers and the support of the rest of the operations staff, I somehow started to fit in and now look forward to each shift. Every run is different and no matter how many times you travel along it, the estuary and wetlands always provide a new experience. I consider myself very lucky to have been given the opportunity.

I have always had customer facing roles. I worked for Habitat Designs Ltd for 10 years, managing one of their inner London stores. Then I became a management consultant and business performance coach based in London. In 1999 set up my own driving school business in and around Swindon, Wiltshire, retiring in 2017.

I moved to Coombe St Nicholas in January 2020, and applied for a volunteer driver position at Seaton Tramway in February 2020, but due to Covid I only started training in October  2021. Since gaining my licence I have driven as much as possible including Polar Express. I have been very impressed with the operation of the Tramway and how welcoming, friendly and supportive everyone has been while I have been learning the ropes.

From an early age I have been keen on railways. Steam had gone by the time I got interested, so I grew up with diesels and electrics and took a keen interest in anything that moved on rails, including model railways.

On leaving school, Mum would not let me become a train driver so I joined the LEB (London Electricity Board). After over 20 years’ service I took early retirement and was then head hunted by Paypoint and thereafter by Payshop, working in Portugal and South Africa.

In 2002 and purely by chance the opportunity to become a train driver presented itself after my wife noticed an advertisement for female train drivers on the London Underground. Applications were welcomed from both sexes, so I applied and after a lengthy recruitment process together with 6 months training, I was driving tube trains on my chosen line, the ‘Misery Line’, AKA the Northern Line! Thereafter, previous experience facilitated promotion into various management roles at head office, 55 Broadway, where I stayed until early retirement in 2018.

Having retired to sunny south Devon in Teignmouth in 2018, I then led and organised "Teignmouth Together", a railway-themed event for the Teignmouth Pavilions, working with various local organisations including the museum, library, local traders, etc. and to which I also invited Seaton Tramway. The rest is history!

Throughout my childhood, I have always had an interest in the Seaton Tramway, having been on it several times as a child (my first trip being when I was just 6 months old!). My father undertook a half day Tram Driving Lesson back in 2003 on tram number 16 and since then, I’ve always ensured that whenever I have been down in Devon or Cornwall, to detour via Seaton for a tram ride. After speaking with one member of staff back in 2018, I became aware that many of the drivers are volunteers. However, because I live 160 miles away from Seaton in Watford, I had always just assumed that volunteering would be out of the question because I could not commit to many days and never really thought much more about it.

A little about me. I work full time for the largest train operating company in the country, responsible for the passenger information systems found onboard all our trains. I’m also that automated voice at many stations across London & the South East, including at London Victoria, St Pancras International and Gatwick Airport… So there’s a good chance you may have heard me already! In my spare time, I also manage the operations of the longest 12” gauge railway in the UK at the Ruislip Lido Railway. I’ve been a member at Ruislip since I was 8 and it has always been a huge part of my life. As you can probably tell, I definitely have an interest in railways (and now tramways)!

How did I end up becoming a tram driver? During 2021, I posted a video on a popular social media channel I run which was about the tramway. This caught the attention of Josh, the tramway’s Marketing & Events Manager, who invited me and my best friend Andy (also now a tram driver!) down to undertake a day’s Tram Driving Lesson and record some videos. During the day, I spoke with Josh and the tramway’s Operations Manager Gareth and explained that I would love to volunteer but presumed I lived too far away. To my delight, I was told this wasn’t an issue and by the end of the day, I had put my name down on the list to be trained as a driver.

I undertook my intense 2-week training course in March 2022 and qualified a couple of days before my 34th birthday. Since then, I have managed to balance my work and home life to accommodate a long weekend once a month down in Seaton. Not living local, each trip down to the coast is like a mini break away, which makes it all the more enjoyable to do. I really enjoy the comradery at the tramway and have made some great new friends in the process. I love meeting the passengers and talking to them about the history of the tramway and the route, which in turn has helped me to boost my confidence when talking to large groups.

If you are considering a volunteering role at the tramway, I highly recommend putting your name forward and going along to meet the team. It’s a great place to be a part of.