Last December the latest restoration for the Crich Tramway Village arrived back at the museum but this wasn’t a tram but the historic Bradford Cabmen’s Shelter which had been away in Bristol undergoing a major restoration back to a near original condition. Since it came back little work has been possible because of the ongoing Covid situation but at the start of July this changed with it being moved onto a new proper base at Wakebridge.
This move took place on Friday 2nd July – with the museum remaining closed on Friday’s currently – and a temporary display panel was also installed alongside. This panel includes a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to view a virtual tour of the interior of the shelter. This can also be viewed online at https://www.tramway.co.uk/library-collections/online-exhibitions/.
The next stage of the project will see the interior fittings being reinstated to recreate how it would have looked when in use. The interior will be recreated based on research which has been done using original architect’s drawings and descriptions in articles.
The shelter currently only remains viewable from the outside bit once this work is completed visitors can also see in the inside with extra audio features and possibly even some appropriate smells!