Chester - Hidden History

A rather more mundane piece of Chester's past in this shot, with a short section of tram track which has survived.

The first trams ran from June 1878 between the railway station and the castle, and were horse drawn.

The route was taken over by Chester Corporation in 1901, the track gauge was reduced from 4ft 8.5inches (1.435 metres) to 3ft 6inches (1.067 metres) and electric vehicles were introduced.

The system survived until 1930 when the trams were replaced by buses. The area at the rear of this shot was the site of the tram depot, and later became the home for the buses, which is how I remember it when we used to visit our daughter Louise when she was a student in Chester.

Since then the bus depot has closed and been replaced by student accommodation. However this short stretch of track and another stretch at the opposite side of the site has been retained as a reminder of the history of the site.

Ian

[Shanne]

interesting to see, but I bet that's a cycling hazard

[Judith Johnson]

A nicely preserved bit of history

[william wooderson]

Buses are an excellent form of public transport, but it's still a shame to see trams phased out...

[Nina Ganci]

wonderful history Ian, thanks for sharing this. Glad it has been saved. neat capture

[Peter H]

I really like these little bits of history that are left for us to discover. I am now imagining trams rattling along this street...

[gloria jones]

A short track with immense history :).

[Pyrrhula]

Hated those . Biking was dangerous in this streets. To day the trams has it own roads. Fav. for this childhood memory.

[Steve and Pam Winfield]

Its still a historc photo and well worth seeing fav:)

[bruni]

Interesting history. always nice to keep a bit of the old. great memory for you. I often wonder what the area looks like today where I grew up in around 1935-45.

[bkb in the city]

Great piece of history

[Babs]

Interesting history. The end of the line

[Beth]

Nice that a bit of the past is preserved. I like the brickwork around the track. I like that you've included some of the history.

[Casablanca]

Nice bit of history. I still remember the bus depot!!

[Fisher Family]

@shannejw @busylady @will_wooderson @ninaganci @peadar @seattlite @pyrrhula @stevepam @bruni @bkbinthecity @onewing @vernabeth @casablanca

Thank you all for your comments and favs, which put this shot on the Popular Page.

Almost all tram networks in the UK suffered the same fate as that of Chester and ended up closed, but many cities are looking to bring them back. There is a proposal to link Chester city centre to the railway station by tram and to use tram-trains to link that to the Manchester tram network.

Trams are relatively inflexible compared with the bus, but they are excellent for the mass movement of large numbers of people. The tracks could be dangerous for cyclists, and the old cobbles could definitely be uncomfortable!

Ian