On Sunday 5th March, the Heaton Park Tramway will be holding a special running day in tribute to Bob Hill, who sadly passed away recently. Bob was one of the key people involved in the tramway’s survival and development through a difficult period, and was serving as President of the Manchester Transport Museum Society at the time of his passing – however these barely scratch the surface of his contribution to British tram preservation, and it is therefore highly appropriate that tram enthusiasts have a chance to pay their respects.
On March 5th, trams will be operating in the park from 1300. It is planned to run three different trams over the course of the day, all of which will be adorned with black bunting on their trolley arms as a mark of respect. No fares will be charged, but instead trams will carry collection buckets with passengers encouraged to make a donation to Macmillan cancer support, at the request of Bob Hill’s family. As Bob was also a small scale engineer, some of his models will be on show inside the tram depot at Middleton Road and there will also be a memorial display with written memories of Bob from some of the many people who knew him.
No doubt this day will be a splendid tribute to one of the greats of the British tram preservation movement, and hopefully a good amount of money will be raised for charity thanks to this thoughtful gesture.