Beamish Great North Steam Fair 2011

Posted on Sunday 17 April 2011 by Gareth Prior

The Great North Steam Fair took place at Beamish – the Living Museum of the North between Thursday 14th and Sunday 17th April. As the name suggests this event (one of the two major transport events which will take place at Beamish in 2011) is mainly concerned with various varieties of steam vehicles but that doesn’t stop the trams and other forms of transport playing starring roles. Gareth Prior reports from Day One of the event – Thursday 14th April.

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Event Preview: Beamish Great North Steam Fair 2011

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2011 by Gareth Prior

Event: Great North Steam Fair

Where: Beamish – the Living Museum of the North

When: Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th April from 1000 to 1700 each day (last admission 1500)

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Heaton Park Tramway Blackpool November 2010

Posted on Sunday 28 November 2010 by Gareth Prior

The Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester held their most ambitious event to date on Sunday 21st November 2010 – “A Celebration of Blackpool’s Trams and Transport”. Gareth Prior reports from the event.

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Blackpool Tramway 125th Anniversary 2010

Posted on Sunday 17 October 2010 by Gareth Prior

The 125th Anniversary of the Blackpool Tramway was celebrated at the end of September with a week of events taking place. In the build up there were many disappointments with trams not being able to go to Blackpool, other trams going but being ruled out and others seeing their restorations taking longer than expected but there was still plenty to keep the tram enthusiast occupied during the week. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports in the usual “A week in Blackpool…” format from Thursday 23rd September to Saturday 2nd October.

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Totally Transport Weekend June 2010

Posted on Sunday 4 July 2010 by Gareth Prior

The annual Totally Transport event took place in Blackpool on Sunday 27th June 2010 with the usual mix of buses, cars and commercial vehicles on display with vintage trams in operation as well. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from the events of the day as well as the previous day which saw the “From the 1950s to the 1980s” tram tour featuring resurrected Brush 632 and Coronation 304 and also a few notes from the Friday..

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Seaton Tramway 40th Anniversary Gala Weekend

Posted on Sunday 20 June 2010 by Gareth Prior

The Seaton Tramway in Devon are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year having opened in August 1970. As part of their year of celebrations their usual Gala Weekend had added significance including the launch of a tram in a special 40th anniversary livery and an appearance by past Eurovision winners Brotherhood of Man – performing on top of a tram! British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from most of the weekends events.

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Crich Enthusiasts Tram Event 2010

Posted on Sunday 20 June 2010 by Gareth Prior

The annual Enthusiasts Tram Event took place at the Crich Tramway Village on Sunday 30th May 2010. The day saw an intensive tram service, Works Cars in operation and withdrawn trams being shunted around the Depot. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from the event.

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Crich 150 Not Out!

Posted on Sunday 20 June 2010 by Gareth Prior

On Sunday 31st May the Crich Tramway Village celebrated 150 years of trams in Britain with a special event entitled “150 Not Out!”. Although the event was not aimed at the enthusiast community – the target audience was apparently families with a funfair taking place by the Bandstand – there was still plenty to keep tram fans interested for most of the day.

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Beamish’s Power from the Past 2010

Posted on Sunday 25 April 2010 by Gareth Prior

Between 15th and 18th April 2010, the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish in County Durham held their second (in the current format) “Power from the Past” event on the theme of “Corporations and Contractors”. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior made his first visit to the Museum for over 20 years and reports on Day One (and partly Day Two!) of the event.

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Heaton Park Tramway 30th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on Sunday 4 April 2010 by Gareth Prior

The Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester celebrated their 30th anniversary over the weekend of 27th and 28th March 2010. The first day of the celebrations was reserved for members but on Sunday 28th March it was open to anyone, and this brief report – from British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior – concentrates on the second day.

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Farewell to Fleetwood November 2009

Posted on Sunday 22 November 2009 by Gareth Prior

The stretch of the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramway between Ash Street and Fleetwood Ferry closed at the end of service on Sunday 8th November for a start to be made on upgrade work for the new Supertram system, due to open in 2012. Over the final weekend a series of special tram tours were run as we said “Farewell to Fleetwood”. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from the weekends events.

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Wirral Bus and Tram Show 2009

Posted on Sunday 11 October 2009 by Gareth Prior

The annual Wirral Bus and Tram Show took place in Birkenhead on Sunday 4th October. As well as many buses on display an intensive tram service is operated on the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from the event.

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A Week in Blackpool: 5th to 12th September 2009

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2009 by Gareth Prior

Yes, it’s that time of year again when British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior makes his week long sojourn to Blackpool for a week on the trams. This year because of where the Bank Holiday falls the “Week in Blackpool” was quite late being 5th-12th September and as such all schools had gone back and obviously tram output was even further down. A day by day account detailing anything remotely exciting that happened is provided along with lists of the trams making appearances.

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So Long Starr Gate! The Last Day of Trams before the Upgrade

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2009 by Gareth Prior

The section of the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramway between Pleasure Beach and Starr Gate was shut to trams from the end of service on Sunday 6th September to enable work to commence on upgrading the track and to build the new Depot for the Supertrams. Although trams will return to Starr Gate from Easter 2012 this was the last day of the full length “traditional” tramway and to mark the occasion the very first Tramways Monthly/British Trams Online tram tour took place. Gareth Prior gives the low down as we said “So Long Starr Gate!”

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MOSI Transport Festival August 2009

Posted on Sunday 16 August 2009 by Andrew Waddington

Between 8th and 16th August 2009, a special transport exhibition was staged at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry, featuring two very special visiting tramcars. The event was split into two segments, with the first six days being devoted to road transport, and classic cars in particular, whilst the final three days were largely devoted to Beyer-Garrett steam locomotives. As an added bonus, the Heaton Park Tramway was open for business all week for the first time in its history. Andrew Waddington paid a visit to both locations on the first day of the week-long event, Saturday 8th August, and this is what happened!

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Stockport 5 Tour July 2009

Posted on Sunday 2 August 2009 by Andrew Waddington

On Saturday 18th July, the owners of Stockport 5 held a full system tour along the Blackpool tramway using their tramcar. As followers of the Blackpool tramway scene will doubtless be aware, Stockport 5 is a very elusive tram which rarely operates apart from one annual tour for the ‘Friends of Five’. However, a chance invitation to ride on the car proved to be too much to resist for regular British Trams Online contributors Tony & Andrew Waddington – and what follows is an account of what happened that day.

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Totally Transport Weekend June 2009

Posted on Sunday 12 July 2009 by Gareth Prior

The fifth annual Totally Transport event took place in Blackpool on Sunday 28th June 2009. For the tram enthusiast the main highlights of the day are the heritage tram service between North Pier/Tower and Starr Gate and in addition there were special tours from the newly restored Western Train. British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior made his first visit to the event and reports from both Totally Transport day and also the day before.

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Crich Enthusiasts Tram Event July 2009

Posted on Sunday 12 July 2009 by Gareth Prior

Its been all change at the Crich Tramway Village for the special events aimed at enthusiasts in 2009 with the merger of Tramathon and Enthusiasts Day to make the imaginatively titled Enthusiasts Tram Event. The event took place on 5th July 2009 as usual promised to be “dream date for tram enthusiasts” but was it? British Trams Online Webmaster Gareth Prior reports from the event.

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Manchester L53 at Beamish May 2009 – The View from the Front Platform

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2009 by admin

Geoff Senior – from the Manchester Transport Museum Society – gives an alternative look at the events of the “Power from the Past” event at Beamish, and particularly the operation of Manchester Eades Reversible Horse Tramcar L53.

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Manchester L53 at Beamish May 2009

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2009 by Andrew Waddington

On 28th to 31st May inclusive, Beamish Museum staged a new event entitled ‘Power From the Past’. The idea of this event was to show machinery that existed during the time periods that Beamish represents (1825 and 1913), and most excitingly for tram enthusiasts, this included the visit of a very special tramcar. Andrew Waddington visited on the first day of the event, Thursday 28th May, and this is what happened…

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