Crich Tramway Village have unveiled their new First World War Recruitment Tramcar, Chesterfield 7, ahead of its scheduled public debut on 18th April. The tram has been extensively decorated for its new temporary role, recreating a common practice from last century which saw many trams used to encourage people to enlist for the armed forces.
7 has not yet run this year and has spent most of the winter confined to the workshop where it has been receiving some remedial attention, including weatherproofing work on its roof and a partial repaint and re-varnish. More recently its appearance has been enlivened by the addition of appropriate patriotic slogans to the rocker and decency panels (complete with a deliberate spelling mistake which is historically accurate!), along with recruitment posters in the lower saloon windows, and flags for the various British countries strung from the top deck, including large Union Jack flags adorning its balconies. Even the dash panels have been virtually covered by posters in period style, although the ornate fleet numerals and headlights remain visible. Splashes of red, white and blue can also be seen on various railings on the tram. After receiving some finishing touches during the week leading up to its passenger debut, the car was taken for a test run on Friday 17th April and is set to enter service on Saturday 18th.
Chesterfield 7 is expected to operate every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday until 29th September, excluding certain special events – and of course subject to the usual conditions, such as availability and weather. The tram looks certain to be a big talking point this season and looks very striking with its new look, as the picture below clearly shows!
A sneak preview of Chesterfield 7 in its temporary recruiting guise, seen at Town End on test on 17th April ahead of its launch the following day. (Photo courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)
If that is a Welsh flag I see on the upper part, tangled between an English and UK flag, that is an anachronism.
Is this an accurate re-creation of decorations carried in the past? It seems very lackluster compared to the many black and white photos from the early 1900’s which show tramms absolutely covered with fabric swags, evergreen foliage, flags, bunting and usually coloured lights. The signwriting is also particularly poor, so again I hope it’s an authentic recreation of something someone did many years ago, although i fear someone turning that sort of job out in 1915 would have been immediately told to go back and start again!
One thing I do know for a fact is the one place Chesterfield DID put adverts on their trams was over that wrought iron gare under the stairs. So why have Crich left it blank?
All in all 10 out of 10 for the idea, but 1 out of 10 for the actual execution. It’s really not an effort befitting of a so-called ‘national’ museum.
I doubt whether the Welsh flag (not officially adopted in that form until 1959, as far as I know), or the English & Scottish flags also shown would have been used in that way during the First World War. The whole emphasis at that time was on Great Britain and not the countries making up the British Isles. Every reference I have seen from that era concerning recruitment for the armed forces has been supported by innumerable Union Flags and associated slogans and nothing else!
It does seem rather lacklustre!
Think people need to take a step back and recognise that the educational value in telling the important story of how trams were effectively weaponised to aid the war effort. For once feel inclined to defend their actions. Seems perfectly reasonable scheme. Not all of the cars were as flamboyant as some pictured. It might be a more mundane example but am sure the money spent reflects that.
You have picked up on an important fact- that this is part of an initiative to tell the story of how trams and tramways were affected by the First World War. I was at Crich on Saturday for the first service journey of the tram, and the official opening of the associated exhibition in the Derby Meeting Rooms. If you look at the photographs there of recruitment trams you will see that they were much more simply decorated than than they would have been for celebratory purposes. It also has to be remembered that the recruitment trams in 1915 were not intended to be used in the advertising role for long, and that they were not intended to carry passengers. Crich had made it clear early on that Chesterfield 7 was to be used for passenger duties and over elaborate trappings would not have lasted very long. Chesterfield are not known to have used a recruitment car anyway and it was probably decided that it was better to be able to tell the story, rather than create an historically perfect replica. The exhibition and the recruitment car are complementary and are only intended to be in use for one season.
For those who think Chesterfield 7 is not sufficently eleborate, look at the museum’s own website in the “Latest News” section: http://www.tramway.co.uk/blog/recruitment-tramcar-for-2015
There are two pictures of recruitment cars which are rather plain, the Hull car in particular. Of course you could not cover the windows for a car in passenger service at Crich.
Given the fact that Crich has a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable curator I would have been surprised if the museum had gotten this one wrong.
Looking at these two photos, with the exception of some lights and stuff in the windows (both not too practical for a service car), 7 looks pretty authentic:
https://nymbol.co.uk/media/collections/3afd/transforms/3yfsVCe/08aeedeebbdea266840583fb3be63eae.png
http://0.static.wix.com/media/765fef86f93bbf65e27d864d5a055082.wix_mp_512
I hope also that there is documentation with this tram stating that the 1915 recruitment drive was to replace the “acceptable losses” of those already killed in the first months of that terrible war. Many of those recruited were never to ride a British tram again once they had been sent to the trenches.