“Picture in Time” again comes from Blackpool in October 1979 this week.
And in this photo we see a tram which is a distant memory as we its Brush Railcoach 638 which is loading up for Starr Gate at Bispham Station. The tram already looks very well-patronised and the passengers in the queue will almost certainly not get a seat on it. The illuminated sign on top of the shelter advertises Blackpool Zoo, while Williams and Glyn’s Bank, later the RBS, can be seen across the Promenade on the corner of Red Bank Road. This is no more than a memory now as Bispham’s last bank closed in 2018.
And of course its not just the bank that is just a memory! 638 was built as 302 in 1937 and wouldn’t have much longer in service after this photo was taken as it was to be withdrawn in May 1980. It would linger on stored at Rigby Road Depot until 1984 when it was moved into the yard and scrapped. But that little timelines does little justice to the history of the tram as in the 1970s it had been an early conversion to one person operation, although it wasn’t a success and many of the changes were reversed.
Photograph by Donald Brooks, October 1979