Lost Tramways of Kent
In August 1883 electric trams were introduced along Brighton beach, with Blackpool following two years later. In Kent, Dover was the first town in the south-east to open up a service. Other local tramways soon followed. In the west of Kent, Dartford, Bexley and Erith were linked; as were Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate in the north-east; and Hythe and Sandgate in the south-east. At this time, too, the Herne Bay Pier Tramway was being developed. Local councils, in towns such as Gravesend, Chatham, Maidstone and Sheerness, seeing the benefits, were also anxious to acquire their own systems. At a time when money was short, the electric tram took the workman to his factory, his wife to the shops, his children to school and, on Sundays, his whole family to the park or countryside — at a price he could afford. The heyday of the tram had arrived. Sadly, by the start of the First World War, the good times were over. The system in Sheerness was the first to close in 1917. Twelve years later Gravesend's tramways ceased. The remainder of Kent's tramways disappeared in the 1930s, unable to fight off competition from motorised buses. In this excellently written and researched book, Leslie Oppitz tells the story of Kent's golden age of trams. Modern photographs accompany those taken when the tramways were busy and at their peak. There are also notes for those who wish to explore some of the relics that have survived. Originally published as part of a book called Tramways Remembered: South & South East England, this text appears here in a revised and updated new format.
Softback, 128 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9781853069963
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