Groundwork Greater Nottingham – a trust who are committed to improving the quality of life for local people – this week launched their new “Tram Travellers” project at Scotholme Primary School, with the help of local historian Peter Hammond and the Crich Tramway Village.
“Tram Travellers” will be an eight week programme which will help pupils at the school find out about the history of trams in Nottingham and the area around a modern tram stop near the school. Year 6 pupils will visit Crich Tramway Village as part of their studies, as well as using the modern tram network during their research, with the support of Nottingham Express Transit. Research will also be done along with artwork which will eventually contribute to a celebration booklet about trams and local heritage.
The event will also see the Crich Tramway Village launch their brand new Resource Boxes. These contain a wide variety of historical artefacts and other resources relating to different aspects of the history of trams.
Jan Barratt, Education Officer at Crich, commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Groundwork Greater Nottingham on this exciting project. Time Travellers will enable the children involved to investigate and explore the history of the communities in which they live using the tram as their starting point. The project has provided the Museum with a perfect and appropriate opportunity to launch our latest resource boxes which will form part of the children’s investigations. On their visit to the museum the children will be able to use further images and artefacts from our collection to aid their research and compare and contrast vintage and modern trams.”
Tracey Lloyd, Tram Travellers Project Officer for Groundwork, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local children and adults to find out more about the history of trams and how the local area has changed since trams first came to Nottingham. The project will continue until summer 2010, and as we have received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are delighted that we will be able to offer a number of other schools the opportunity to participate. We are looking for interested schools within walking distance of a tram stop, which have a class that would like to be involved. The wider community will also benefit as the children’s findings will go on display and they will be creating a celebration booklet.”
Ray Harris, Operations Manager for NET, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this project, to build awareness and use of the tram and to work with the school children to trace the history of tram travel in our city"
Source: Nottingham Express Transit