The site of Crich Tramway Village was part of the mineral railway built by George Stephenson to link the quarry to Ambergate. The Crich site came into the hands of the Tramway Museum Society in 1959 and over the years has developed in an internationally recognised tramway collection with trams from all over the world. A running line of approximately one mile in length is operated when the Museum is open to the public, with trams also on display in the Depots and Great Exhibition Hall. The public can also view work on tram restoration projects from the Workshop Viewing Gallery where London United Tramways 159 and a host of other trams are currently under attention. Several historic buildings populate the “town end” of the tramway including the facade of the Derby Assembly Rooms and the recently restored Stone Workshop which houses a new exhibition space and learning centre. There are also other attractions for the general public including the Woodland Walk with its sculpture trail, and a lead mining display at Wakebridge where passengers may alight from the trams. The small park area close to the Museum entrance has also been revamped recently and now looks much more in fitting with the period village atmosphere.

As mentioned in main text above the day of the launch is expected to have a heavy Blackpool bias with all of the operational Blackpool trams in service (including recently launched Blackpool 630). Three Blackpool trams are also expected to be on display on the depot fan during the day. In addition to these it should not be forgotten that there are lots of other trams either at rest in the Depot or on display in the Great Exhibition Hall.

Crich is another tram location in the UK where it is a lot easier to get to if you have a car! It is just eight miles from junction 28 of the M1 and can also be accessed using the A38, the A6, the A61 and the A52. A map showing the location of the museum can be found of their website here.

A word of warning if you are planning on travelling to the Museum by public transport, because of engineering works there are no trains on the Derby-Matlock line over the whole Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend with a replacement bus service in operation instead. This bus service will still serve the nearest railway station at Whatstandwell which is approximately one mile away from the Museum and is then a very steep uphill walk (and believe me it is very steep!) Alternatively there are railway stations at Belper, Matlock and Alfreton from where you can either travel by bus or by Taxi. Local buses run from Matlock, Alfreton, Ripley and Belper and further details can be found from Derbyshire County Council here.

Admission prices are as follows:
Adult £12.00
Child (4-15 years) £7.00
Senior £9.50
Family (2 adults and 3 children) £35.00

These prices give you free return admission for 12 months, excluding certain special events. Members of the Tramway Museum Society, and some other societies, are granted free admission.

The official Crich Tramway Village website has recently been given a makeover, and although some information is still being added, most details of use to visitors can be found here.

For the latest news from around the Museum check out their blog here which is regularly updated with news and photos from around the site.

Obviously the weather will be a major factor for the launch of 236 with a nice sunny (or at the very least dry!) preferable for many. If you want to check just what the weather is going to do check out the BBC 5 day weather forecast for Matlock here.

It is not yet known whether any live coverage of this event will be available, but it is probably worth checking on the Tramgen Yahoo! Group and our own British Trams Online Facebook page as the event unfolds.

At the time of writing we do not know whether British Trams Online will be providing our usual comprehensive coverage in the aftermath of the event. Keep checking back onto our homepage in the week following the event to see what coverage we are offering.


All information in this preview is provided in good faith and is, to the best of our knowledge, correct at the time of going to press, although all planned events are subject to change or cancellation if unforeseen circumstances dictate. Please note that this event is not organised by British Trams Online and that we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies contained in this article. If you plan to visit for any specific attraction, we would advise you to check the websites mentioned in this feature before travelling. We will of course endeavour to keep our news page updated with any new developments involving any of the trams that are due to appear at this event.