Whilst the high profile restorations at the Crich Tramway Village are tramcars, that’s not all that gets restored at the home of the National Tramway Museum. We’ve featured the Bradford Cabmen’s Shelter on these pages before which has seen extensive restoration over the past couple of years and now visitors to the museum can get inside it once more with all work completed and it open to the public once more.
The Cabmen’s Shelter is located at Wakebridge and was sent away for restoration work which saw it return to its former position in December 2020. But at this stage it remained closed to visitors to allow for staff at the museum to complete the interior work – and with this now completed it is possible for anyone to get inside and see what the Cabmen’s Shelter looked like in its heyday.
The interior has been fitted out as it was in 1877 with bench seating along with storage space beneath that would have been used as lockers. There is also a table with coal locker underneath inside the structure.
The Cabmen’s Shelter is considered a significant item in the collection as it represents urban transport before the introduction of tramways. It was once the refuge for Bradford’s horse car drivers who weren’t allowed to shelter in their cabs so they could use the shelter to warm themselves, wash and get a hot drink.