In news which had previously been released to members of both the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) and the Tramway Museum Society (TMS), the latest public update from new custodians of the Wirral Transport Museum and Heritage Tramway has confirmed that trams owned by the MTPS are to depart from Taylor Street and head to the Crich Tramway Village.<\/p>\n
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Three trams are set to be transferred to Derbyshire \u2013 Birkenhead 20<\/strong>, Wallasey 78<\/strong> and Liverpool 762<\/strong>. Details of when the move may take place have yet to be announced but in preparing for the move of items from the Clay Cross store and the building of a new structure at Crich (for which fundraising is now underway) consideration has been given for future acquisitions and so there will be extra capacity available at the home of the National Tramway Museum to house these trams.<\/p>\n In their latest update online, Big Heritage gave some context for the moves: \u201cAs space is at a premium and the new museum focussing only on local transport, we requested that MTPS re-homed their Lisbon built-and-operated Tramcar 730<\/strong>, which was subsequently moved to Beamish Museum.<\/p>\n \u201cMTPS wrote to us in September to inform us that they wish to relocate all of their trams to Crich National Tram Museum. This decision is a disappointing one and came as a surprise to us. They are an important part of the history of Merseyside, and we believe that they should remain local. We have written to MTPS to share our opinion but accept that this decision lies with their committee.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, we have not asked for the trams to be relocated, and the invitation for the trams to stay or eventually return to Birkenhead will continue to remain open should this decision be reversed.\u201d<\/p>\n The MTPS have already moved their horse trams away from Birkenhead, Douglas 11<\/strong> and 47<\/strong> along with Liverpool 43<\/strong> can now be found at Hooton Park, Ellesmere Park. This just leaves Warrington 28<\/strong> which is likely to be moved away from Taylor Street at some point in the future as well, although details of this have not been revealed.<\/p>\n In the same update, Big Heritage also confirmed that the three trams owned by Wirral Council will remain as part of the museum collection (Hong Kong cars 69<\/strong> and 70<\/strong> plus horse car Birkenhead 7<\/strong>) and a new loan agreement has been reached with National Museums Liverpool for Liverpool 245<\/strong>. This will give the tramway three operational electric trams when it eventually reopens.<\/p>\n Trams haven\u2019t run on the tramway for 19 months now. This came after an Office of Road and Rail inspection in April 2023 which found several issues with the condition of the track alongside concerns over operational procedures around risk assessments, health and safety record keeping and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) procedures.<\/p>\n Big Heritage took control of the museum and tramway on 28-year lease in December 2023 and continue to progress their plans for the reopening of the museum and tramway. It is not expected that the museum will reopen until 2026 with the tramway following on from this. It was previously reported that detailed plans for the new museum will be revealed in early 2025.<\/p>\n The museum will not only be about trams of course, and to this end Big Heritage have already committed \u00a330,000 towards maintenance and restoration of the bus fleet. This has included money to complete the restoration of a Wallasey Corporation Leyland Bus including a complete engine overhaul and respray. They are hopeful that there will be a much-expanded vintage bus service around the Wirral in 2025, using volunteers who have returned to the museum following the Big Heritage takeover.<\/p>\n The update announcement also contains this related to volunteers: \u201cAfter taking over the museum in December 2023, we welcomed back volunteers in January 2024. We now have a new comprehensive health and safety protocol in place, requiring all volunteers (regardless of previous experience) to undertake a short series of training programmes, sign up to a new volunteer conduct agreement and be required to wear appropriate PPE clothing when on site \u2013 all fully paid for by Big Heritage.<\/p>\n \u201cMany previous volunteers continue to attend and are joined by several new volunteers. They access the site at least once a week and are invaluable in maintaining and regularly driving the classic bus collection, which are now being driven out to events and meetings by volunteers on an almost weekly basis.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the tram tracks are due for a complete refurbishment in 2025, we have not been able to offer tram driver and guard volunteers access to these roles, but the invitation continues to remain open for them to volunteer in other roles within the museum on the proviso that they abide by the new policies noted above.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have now also created partnerships with Wirral Met College and the apprenticeship programme at Cammell Laird to provide placements and learning opportunities to a new generation of young engineers who will be able to hone their skills in the museum, learn from our experienced volunteers and eventually act as a talent pool for us to provide future employment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In news which had previously been released to members of both the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) and the Tramway Museum Society (TMS), the latest public update from new custodians of the Wirral Transport Museum and Heritage Tramway has confirmed … Continue reading