A Tramendous History of Manchester!

A brief history of Manchester's original tram network, including the man who brought buses to Britain, horse-drawn trams, electric trams and trolleybuses. Most big cities in the world enjoyed a long affair with the tram and Manchester is no exception.

Trams allowed ordinary people to leave their local area and access a wider world around them. They allowed people to work further from home and have more options when it came to making a living. Long before cars and motorbuses, trams were connecting communities of ordinary people.

Then came the cars, motorways, Beeching cuts and Ernest Marples, the Manchester-born Tory politician responsible for more dismantling of Britain's public transport networks than any other man in history.

Thanks to:

Manchester Museum of Transport:

Music:
Kevin Macleod - 'Spinning Monkeys'
CC Licence

Kevin Macleod - 'Sneak Snitch'
CC Licence

Heftone Banjo Orchestra - ''St Louis Tickle'
CC Licence

[markbooth]

I should think there are tram tracks under Princess Road (Hulme/Moss Side). When I was a kid, my Grand Parents lived by the old Princess Road Bus Depot. The huge wood doors that used to face Princess Road had tram tracks in the Setts (large cobbles), that had been tarmacked over. I saw them when works were being done just in front of the unused doors to level the pavement, as it still had the original kerbs on either side of the doors.

[catherinehamer]

My 90yr old dad Manchester born and bred, would have loved I'd found them earlier but he passed away last month. Now I am watching them all in his memory!

[RingwayManchester]

Absolutely brilliant mate! Love how effortlessly you present this to us; I bet it took hours upon hours of research etc.

[neilbain]

Love this video! Manchester is a totally amazing place to be. When I first got off a train there, the vibe hit me. It just felt so... vibrant. It’s odd saying that, but something really is different. Amazing kebabs too! I need to search out these original tramway relics next time I’m there. I never knew they existed.
But when the new link via Exchange Square was being constructed, you got an amazing slice of archaeology in Corporation street. If you looked into the excavation hole, you could see the original cobbled roadway with the original tram rails. But it was about a metre below the current roadway.

The old rails were being removed and piled up for scrap. I was on a bicycle so even if I slipped a guy a few quid to cut off a bit of old tram rail, I wouldn’t have been able to carry it.

The oddest thing for me is that the original shops and their frontages and the pavement hadn’t changed their ground level so some serious regrading must have taken place when the Arndale Centre opposite.

[RingwayManchester]

Know I know what I’m watching after work!

[mikeclarke]

That was great, thanks Ollie! Funny how things go round in circles...get rid of the trams, bring em back....I wonder what they'll do next??? Your production skills are fantastic. I have a tiny bit of experience of editing, so I know how much work would have gone in to this film to have it flow so well. The different soundtracks you've laid in fit with the vision perfectly too....so well done you!
I remember the old toll gates on Daisy Bank Rd/Oxford place in Victoria Park. Just the stone pillars left when I was a kid in the 60's, but all four sets were still in their original locations back then.
Can't wait to see what you come up with next.
Stay safe!

[joc]

Once again, another excellent and really interesting video on Manchester. I am especially pleased you talked about the wider MCR network, not just the Manchester Corporation like most videos concentrate on. An interesting point, our tramway lines actually connected with the wider Liverpool network as well, so it was possible to get a tram all the way from the seaside to the Pennines - although generally you had to change, sometimes they put on a direct route as a special.

Though probably for a different video, maybe one regarding the underground that never happened (there were over 20 attempts at getting an underground railway in MCR), the only reason the trams came back was that we got the poor-man's subway. Normally a city of our size would have begun building a metro network, but the funding for various reasons never reached us in MCR. Metrolink was a cheap solution. It wasn't chosen because modern trams are the best, but because they are at least better than buses.

It's also worth pointing out that the main reason the original trams died away was because, as you say, the car - but more than politics, the advantages vis cost of modernising the trams. Cars became cheaper and people just preferred them to the ageing tram network. You could go door to door, to anywhere in your neighbourhood, city, county or country. Why bother with public transport which was so much slower and run down. As you point out, traffic congestion eventually became an issue, but people back then didn't know this would happen and the attraction was just too great. With the trams needing a huge upgrade, it was just seen by almost everyone, as the logical solution to get rid of them. The cities around the world that didn't are generally really happy now that they kept theirs, but that's hindsight for you.

Finally, I thought it was odd bringing up class at the end. Public transport is hugely popular with both working and middle class. Metrolink fills its cars whether from Didsbury or Altrincham to Oldham or Eccles. And this can be seen much better in cities that have proper metro systems. It is really just about getting people where they need to go. If there is an efficient journey and if the network is modern and effective, everyone uses it.

Again, a fantastic video and thanks for posting. I love your work and this channel :)

[fpe]

Hi Ollie Anoter great video, Spoken with such passion and knowledge, I learn so much watching them, Take care.

[GeraldineJayne]

You make feel homesick and want to move back to Manchester Xx

[andrewschmitz]

Beautiful piece about our city's transportation past, and I especially enjoyed it since a mate does You Tube vlogs on Mancunian history.

[JK-ckgg]

Your videos look very professional. The editing in nice work and the choice of music suits.Well done.

[socklesslad]

A lot of the tram lines were just covered up and forgotten about.

Earlier this year they were updating the utilities under Princess Street and had to dig their trenches carefully to avoid the tram lines buried just under the tarmac. I was amazed to see the lines - I thought they'd have been sold for scrap!

[Davejezz]

Brilliant video again Oli, thanks for such a great story. Very well presented.

[WRiggs-curb]

Thanks! A nice, light-hearted film! But - a historical note. All the trams in the country had - not - gone by 1952. Several British systems ran until the late '50s. The last three large British city tramway systems to close were Leeds in November 1959, Sheffield in April 1960 and, finally, the once very large Glasgow system in September 1962.

[philhallsworth]

Nice video. I remember, when living in Moss Side as a kid, the huge front door, facing Princess Road of the Princess Road bus depot (now gone). There was an odd looking set of kerb stones and if you looked closely, you could see the original tram track from within the depot, embedded in the old road setts, on to Princess Road with tarmac over the top.

[salomonarreguin]

Subscribed... So I can watch all the videos from start. Keep up the good work!

[phlarrdboi]

The editing choices and music are so fine!

[johnjephcote]

I love trams. I remember the first generation in London. We have super systems nearby in Sheffield and Nottingham.

[richardjellis]

Great video AGAIN..
QUESTION... Do the Heaton Park trams run at any time, like in the summer holidays for example.?🤔?.
Rich🥰🥰🥰.

[andrewholland]

Ah nice video, enjoyed watching it, Manchester kinda has it's own Jago Hazzard I see! :)