Definitely Not About T.R.A.M.S

OK, I lied. (See postscript for explanation.) Blackpool is rightly famous for its trams, ancient and modern. They run the length of the promenade from Starr Gate, south of the pleasure beach, and continue right up to Fleetwood Ferry eleven miles to the north. The end-to-end journey time is just over an hour. Last year (2023) the Blackpool Tram System carried 4.7 million passengers.

In fact the jewel of the north has the second oldest tram system in the UK. (Only Brighton preceded it.) Blackpool's line opened officially in September 1885, a mere six years after Siemens had first demonstrated electric traction. It was originally operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company and latterly by Blackpool Corporation. 

Because of the challenges of running a tram line along the coast (with frequent inundations of seawater and sand), the original design of a ground level electric conduit was soon abandoned in favour of overhead wiring.

Blackpool Tram (in service, 1970s)

Over the last hundred and forty years, a succession of classic trams have plied their trade along our seafront, single-deckers, double-deckers, open-top double-deckers, many of them manufactured in nearby Preston by United Electric, or English Electric Company, or Dick Kerr & Co.

Nowadays the 'A' fleet comprises eighteen smart 'Flexity 2' trams built by Bombardier in Germany, but Blackpool Tramway also has a 'B' fleet of nine pre-WW2 'Balloon' trams which operate as part of the heritage tram attraction, plus a 'C' fleet comprising all sorts of weird and wonderful relics from the town's tram yesteryears, some dating back to 1904 and all maintained in working order for special outings on heritage tram days, the annual Tram Festival and during the Blackpool Illuminations.

The Tram Festival (known locally as Tram Sunday) is held every July. It has become the largest free vintage transport event in the country, featuring not just Blackpool's historic trams but vintage cars, vans, motorcycles and allied arts events celebrating the long history of transportation along the Fylde coast. 

A few years ago, Lancashire Dead Good Poets were invited to take part in the annual Tram Sunday as one of the arts events. The plan was for us to ride on the heritage trams and perform tram and transport related poetry to the passengers as the vehicles travelled up and down the line. We had microphones and portable PA for the purpose, so we could be heard above the noise. 

However, it didn't quite work out like that because most of the paying passengers were hardened tram enthusiasts who had come to Blackpool especially to ride these old trams. They didn't want to listen to a bunch of poets reciting away. They wanted absolute silence so they could hear the sounds of the trams themselves. They wanted to savour every last rumble, squeak, whir, clang and vibration of the ride, getting carried back into some golden age of tram travel in the process. So we shut up and listened too.

Blackpool Tram (retired, now)

That was the inspiration for today's new poem...

Song Of The Tram

Shut up and listen, the old chap said, 

so we did on a perfect summer's day

to the bump and grind of wheels on

rails, the creak of wood and steel as

we trundled along the prom, clanging

at intervals, serenaded by the circling

gulls. But he with eyes closed in rapt

concentration, saw nothing of crowds

of bronzed holiday-makers, enjoying 

fun in the Blackpool sun. Neither did

we see the pale girl sitting beside him

as he, lost in a symphony of machines

battling the whip of the wind, the lash

of the rain, chorus of passengers long

since gone, revelled in the song of the

tram, music to ancient ears.  The only

thing missing, a warm fug of tobacco

smoke - illegal since the millennium,

did nothing to dint his pleasure in the

ride or in the invisible girl at his side.

Postscript: If you were wondering about the strange title I've given today's blog - seeing as it patently is about trams - that's because we Dead Good Bloggers have had a bit of an issue with Facebook this week. They have seen fit to remove two posts from our Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society Facebook page that contained links to the earlier blogs from Pam and Terry about trams, claiming that such posts have  contravened some mysterious Facebook community standard!

Thanks for reading, S ;-)