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Steam Trams in Prestwich
The first horse drawn tram to be drawn through Prestwich appeared along Bury Old Road in 1824.
The route of the old Roman Road out of Manchester was barely a sandy track between Strangeways and Kersal Moor onwards, and Bury Old Road was the main, if not direct, route for the bustling trade growing along the route between Bury and Manchester.
An inspection tram carried the inspector and local dignitaries including the Mayors of Bury, Heywood and Rochdale, along the 6 miles of track to Kersal on the 8th of March 1883.
One engine made five return journeys with packed double deck cars to Kersal Bar, carrying 700 people on the first day.
The engines in use were built by William Wilkinson of Holme House Foundry in Wigan. They had a vertical boiler and looked like a small tram itself, with three windows along each side of the engine.
A further nine engines were delivered in 1883 to be used on the Bury to Broughton service. These were numbered 4-8, and 35-38.
The original three engines were retired in 1883, and by the end of 1884 the MBRO tramway connected via Heywood to Rochdale, Littleborough, Oldham and Royton, and was the largest steam tramway in the world. Only surpassed by some European systems which came along before the century ended. It was still subjected to considerable operating overheads due to running narrow gauge sections as well as operating horse drawn services.
The tramway system as a whole still suffered from weak engines leading to delays of up to 2 hours. They sometimes had insufficient power, some drivers were fined for not observing compulsory stops, for fear of not being able to get moving again, and some were unable to hold the car on it's breaks so occasionally would roll backwards if they stalled on a hill. This issue led to the first fatality in 1884 when a Rochdale car rolled back and two ladies on the top deck jumped for their lives, and one lost hers from the injuries shes sustained. A month later a child ran out and was killed by a tram.
You can read more about the uniforms and appearance of the MBR&O staff
A lane linked Bury Old road to Kersal Moor for people to use their carriages to visit the annual Horse Races. The first reference to the Manchester Races "On Carsall Moore" was in 1687. Of course many race goers did not posses a carriage and chose to walk the shortcut along the old Roman Road, and one such walker described the route from Strangeways over the long neglected Roman Road to Kersal Moor in the 19th century:
'An extensive meadow almost reaching from Cheetwood Lane as far as the present (1890) Waterloo Road was covered with rich grass, the hawthorn's rich scent perfuming the air. The road is in a tolerable condition as far as the corner of Broughton Lane. After this we are soon in Stony Knolls, a mere good road, a beaten track over hill and valley until we reach Cliff Point, the junction of Lower Broughton Road with the road to Cheetham Hill and Prestwich. Here we enter a sandy lane and in the side nearest the river are a few old houses, one of them a public house nicknamed "Hard Backed Nan's". In the valley nestles a comfortable farmstead. We pursue our way through this sandy lane and on a narrow road without even a footpath.'
[Taken from Broughton & Cheetham Hill (in the Regency and Victorian Times) - by the late Monty Dobkin]
This trade route and movement of people along Bury Old Road gave employment opportunities for locals to serve on the omnibuses, such as George Curtis of Egerton Street in Prestwich, who was an omnibus driver.
In 1826, Bury New Road was constructed as a turnpike road, whereby local trustees were given powers to levy tolls on the users of a specified stretch of road thus returning on their investment and funding further maintenance.
Bury New Road was an exception to other turnpikes, as the middle section was 4 yards (3.7 m) of gravel, with stone pavements 3 yards (2.7 m) to each side. Such pavements were expensive, and unpopular with travellers who regularly described their discomfort travelling upon them.
The idea was hatched in 1880 to create a network of tramways connecting the towns of South East Lancashire. It would centre on Rochdale and from there reach North through Whitworth, Bacup, Rawtenstall, Haslingden linking with Accrington Steam Tramways. West from Rochdale it would connect through Heywood to Bury, and from there on to Tottington, Limefield and Broughton, there connecting with the horse drawn trams of Manchester Carriage & Tramways. Southward from Rochdale it would connect Ashton-under-Lyne, Denton, Hyde and Stalybridge. Other plans were to connect Milnrow, Littleborough, Shaw, Crompton, and Lees into Oldham and Rochdale.
This ambitious undertaking aimed to create over 100 miles of tramways and be the largest such network in the world.
Due to the potential lack of return and the lack of funding, it was left for the developer to fund the construction of the lines, along with the maintenance of the streets that they passed through.
In 1880, the developer, Henry Osborne O'Hagan, met and entertained the Corporation of Bury first, lavishing the 42 (!) people from the council attending a champagne lunch. Shortly after, in 1881 the provisional order to build the Bury sections of the network was provided. However the narrow streets of Bury and other towns would necessitate the use of narrow gauge track and even horse drawn services on some lines unless street widening works were first carried out by the Company.
The Manchester, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Tramways Ltd Company was formed and construction began in Whitefield in April 1882.
Though the steam powered line would terminate at Broughton, the intention was to see a through service to Manchester Victoria and the same standard gauge of track to that already in place in Salford was used on the Bury to Broughton section. However the two lines were not initially connected to each other at the Kersal Bar Terminus.
A narrow gauge service, horse drawn from Bury to Limefield also followed.
The construction of the Bury to Broughton line was quite speedy due to the type of track laid, relatively light weight, Barker Rail on cast iron sleepers. The map of 1893 shows the track was centrally positioned in the roadway possibly avoiding digging up the pavements of the turnpike road.
After the successful inspection on the 8th, four days later at 11am on Monday the 12th of March 1883, the first public service tram between Bury and Prestwich set off. The start point was from outside the Derby Hotel in Bury, as the track had not yet been connected to the Depot which was located across the Rock on Castle Street.
The route operated along Haymarket Street on to Manchester Road to the border with Whitefield, then continued along what is from that point Bury New Rd through Whitefield and Prestwich until it reached the border with Salford at Sedgley Park, then continued for 250 yards inside the Salford boundary.
The line wasn't yet connected to the Tram Depot in Bury however, and a second engine was delivered direct from the Railway Station to the track outside the Derby Hotel, doubling service the next day.
Engines numbered 1-3 saw service on the line to Kersal but were soon found to be of insufficient power for the climb from Blackford Bridge up to Whitefield, and delays of two hours were experienced on some journeys. Delays were also experienced at each terminus while the engine was resupplied with coal and water and enough head of steam was gained for the journey to continue. Six other engines sat in the depot unable to join the line to Kersal, and the service gained a reputation that it was unreliable.
MBR&O Steam Tramways Ltd sent several of the engines to Thomas Green in Leeds to be rebuilt. Instead of having the windowed appearance in the inaugural day photo, they came back later in 1883 with larger boilers and open cabs.
Also in 1884 MBR&O Steam Tramways Ltd became a Company, and later that year they introduced fare stages. Previously you could join the tram at any point and the conductor would estimate the length of your journey. They also gained permission for cable haulage (similar to San Francisco) on certain stretches to overcome the weak engines, and a 1d surcharge came in for people who sat in the lower saloon.
The network was affected by poor weather during the Winter of 1885 and fruther accidents involving a runaway car, which had been secured to the engine with string, ran lose with people jumping for their lives before it crashed onto its side. Then a speeding engine with a top-heavy car, had set off late came off at the points and fell over. Luckily neither incidents led to loss of life, but compensation claims for injuries followed. The 1d surcharge for those sitting in the saloon was removed.
Later that year 17 drivers went on strike, the first ever tram drivers strike, complaining of long hours, no breaks and little pay. The strikers were sacked and replaced by drivers drafted in from Stafford.
The rolling stock was also starting to suffer, with some of the earlier produced engines in Bury being ordered back to the depot by the police if they were producing too much smoke. The Broughton line engines were scheduled to make the journey in 30 minutes with a 5 minute turnaround, however maintenance at the terminus was taking upto 25 minutes, then the subsequent speeding resulted in driver being fined.
In 1886 economy drives were enacted with the repair depot closed in Bury and repairs centered in Rochdale. New engines from Beyer Peacock were also purchased. The following year the company share price dived from £10 to £1, liquidators were appointed to run the network and Beyer Peacock wanted the money they were owed (£22,000). Expenditure was found to be higher than expected, some money was unaccounted for and the company also had excessive debts.
In 1888 a new company was set up by the liquidators, the word "Manchester" was dropped, as the Manchester Carriage & Tramways Co. had denied access to their tracks at Broughton, and it was now called the Bury Rochdale & Oldham Tramway Co.
The cost cutting continued with loss making services to be axed, and the Bury to Broughton line was first for the chop. The Bury service was now to terminate at the Whitefield/Hamilton Rd. passing point.
In 1892 the service was cut to terminate at the Whitefield border, just down from Well Lane, and the map of 1893 shows that the line was still in place as far as Butterstile Lane in Prestwich.
Prestwich fell back on to the omnibus services, the next time Prestwich would see a tram would be in 1902. Bury's last steam tram ran in 1904.
Of the expected 100 miles of tramway, 36.75 miles were laid at the height of the service, and for a time it was the largest steam tramway in the world.
The first Electric tram set off from Kersal Bar and arrived at Prestwich Town Hall to great ceremony, but that's another story.
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