"Fares, please!"
A few weeks ago, the wife and I took our grandson to the National Tram Museum. It's about an hour from where I live. "Honest officer, I did 70 MPH all the way" The museum is located in the village of Crich, not far from Matlock, Derbyshire, tucked away in the hills.
It seems that most venues in the UK are now doing this and charging a slightly higher entrance fee, but in return giving you twelve-month access. I paid (Online) £24.00 each for myself and my wife, plus £15 for our grandson. Charlie (Our dog) goes free.
Now, I have to say, before I went, I thought the prices were a little steep; you definitely get your money's worth, in my opinion. The track is a mile long, so it's a two-mile round trip. I say round: you go to one end and then come back the same way. One feature the kids love: when you get to the end, everyone stands up and flips the backrest so that you're facing forward for the return journey. I'm always slightly surprised at the odd old crusty who doesn't understand what's going on. 🤣
Hold very tight, please.
One of my favourite trams is this LCC (London County Council) tram because it obviously ran a route I know very well from my childhood. I grew up in Plumstead, and Beresford Square is in Woolwich, a fairly well-known town in South East London, so it kinda felt like home riding on it.
There's a Woodland Walk you can take from the Wakebridge stop that winds its way down to the terminus at the bottom of the site. Along the way are various carvings of cars, spiders, and a wizard whose lap the wife seemed happy to sit on. You pass through a large picnic area with a maze, then come out to a children's play area with climbing tyres, a zip wire, and a slide. The grandson only likes the slide? 🤦♂️
The tram sheds are well worth a look; they have a very large collection of trams, although sadly not all of them are running. They are working on most of them to get them back in working order. There's also a museum with even more trams, including some horse-drawn trams and an electric bus!
And you thought electric vehicles were a new thing!
Pint of bitter, my good man
The site could do with a few more buildings, really. There's only the pub. There are some buildings at the terminus; the Derby Assembly Rooms' fascia was rescued after the fire in the 60s that destroyed most of the building, but it's only a frontage; it's not really a building as such.
There's a shop where you can buy old-fashioned sweets and a cafe if you want a more substantial meal. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and resolved to come back for the "Tram Fest" which was held on Saturday.
We were really looking forward to the increased number of trams billed to be running. I was especially glad two of the trams I wanted to ride on were going to be out that day. You can just about see "The Last Sheffield Tram" just in front of the single-decker Blackpool tram. The other tram I wanted to ride on was the London County Council no. 1, a desperate attempt to hang on in there with plush seats.
Air brakes and a smoother ride.
I really enjoyed this one.
See the lights!
We're going back again in November for the Tramlight event. The gates open at 2 pm, and the museum is open until 8 pm, giving visitors a chance to travel in the dark with all the lights on. It's an additional £16.00 per person on top of what we've already paid, but I'd say it's well worth it.
I can't wait.
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