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Alright?

If you’re reading this, congratulations: you’ve survived Storm Amy and everything she had to throw at us.

It wasn’t so bad in the end, was it?

Earlier this week, I sent a few of you an email about the launch of The Secret Norwich Club, which is your chance to get more emails (written by an actual historian), occasional invites to exclusive events and access to our private WhatsApp communities.

You can join by clicking the button below:

Right then. Today, we’re talking about the 35-year period during which Norwich had a tram system. Strap in, it’s going to be a ride nearly as thrilling as the trams themselves.

We Trammin’.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, Norwich had a very primitive public transport service, which consisted of a bunch of horse-drawn buses. They weren’t too dissimilar to the horse-drawn carriages you now have to pay a fortune to ride when you’re on holiday.

Aside from being relatively slow and unable to accommodate large groups, the horse-drawn buses had another big, smelly problem: manure. Everywhere. The city centre must’ve been even more turd-filled than it is now - which is saying something.

An upgrade was needed, and at the end of the 1800s, two proposals were submitted to the Norwich City Council: one for a light railway and one for an electric tram system. Norwich’s public, usually only galvanised by Taylor Swift appearances and Alan Partridge Premieres, turned up in their masses to vote for the latter.

A city transformed.

As you might imagine, building fifteen miles of tramlines in a functioning Victorian city presents its logistical challenges.

One of the big problems was the width of the streets. Norwich’s layout was more medieval than industrial, and whilst I’m no expert, I can’t imagine small, cobbled lanes are ideal for building tram networks on.

As such, plenty of streets had to be dismantled and widened. Buildings were even demolished, including, tragically, a pub called The Three Pigeons, which I’m sure would’ve done an excellent, if slightly overpriced, Sunday Roast if it were still around today.

Some of the streets that were most transformed during the construction of the tram system were Redwell Street, Red Lion Street and Orford Place, all of which had to be widened substantially to accommodate the trams.

Norwich and its suburbs would never look the same again.

In addition to the lines, the trams also needed an electricity generation station (built on Duke Street) and a depot (built on Silver Road - the only remaining tram-related structure in Norwich).

On July 30, 1900, the first tram in Norwich opened to a huge turnout. Within the first two months of operation, 50,000 Norwich residents had paid the hefty fee of 1p per mile to ride it.

Life in Norwich during the trams.

The trams were a hit, for the most part.

They opened up areas of the city that were previously inaccessible to some residents, making it easier for people to find different work.

There were a lot of them, too. The ivory and maroon fleet comprised 40 open-top, double-decker trams, each capable of carrying 52 passengers, meaning, theoretically, over 2,000 people could be riding the trams in unison at any given time.

As with any transport system, they had their flaws too. Tailbacks were common, and the morning rush hour was apparently just as frustratingly slow then as it is now.

What happened to the trams?

In 1935, the tram system was purchased by the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company.

Or, as it’s now known, First Bus East of England.

Formed in 1931, First Bus quickly built a large fleet and purchased the tramway system with one plan in mind: to shut it down and replace it with motor buses.

Which is exactly what it did. If it didn’t, Norwich might well still be a tram city, like Nottingham or Manchester.

Norwich doesn’t have a tram system anymore, but it still bears the scars of one. If you want to see more pictures of them, just Google “Norwich trams” and take a look through the images. It’s well worth a perusal.

I’d also recommend the Wikipedia page, which details, amongst other things, the routes each tramline ran.

See you next week,

Secret Norwich.