The loan of London County Council 106 from the Crich Tramway Village to the East Anglia Transport Museum – the first time a tram from the national collection has run at Carlton Colville and the first short-term loan of a tram – has been recognised at the Derbyshire Heritage Awards 2016. The loan was Highly Commended in the Best Volunteer Project at the ceremony which took place at the museum on Friday 7th October.
Crich were proud of the loan of 106 to East Anglia as it “increased the audience capable of seeing such a fine member of our collection. With a distance of approximately 200 miles between the museums, the loan of tramcar LCC 106 allowed visitors who hadn’t necessarily seen a tramcar from our collection before to see the vehicle in an operational capacity but within a different infrastructure.” A number of younger members at Crich led the actual move of the tram including once it was at Carlton Colville working alongside members from the EATM to ensure the tram was unloaded safely and commissioned for service during the London Event.
The volunteers who assisted with the project to loan 106 were Andrew Bailey, Mike Crabtree, Steve Hughes, Cameron Sharp, Phil Spowart and Tony Williams. All gave a considerable amount of free time to ensure the project was a success and worked as a team not just between themselves but also with members from the EATM and staff from Scott’s Heavy Haulage who moved the tram.
Thanks must be passed onto EATM who gave a warm welcome to us from Crich and assisted with the commissioning/decommissioning processes.