Now I’m not one for walking, cycling or driving round with my eyes metaphorically closed but just recently I became aware of something which I must have passed hundreds, if not thousands, of times during my life without knowing what it is – the town’s only remaining tram pole.
Prior to 1900 Bolton had a fleet of horse-drawn trams which had operated from 1880, owned by E Holden & Co and serving several of the town’s suburban areas, with a town centre depot housing 48 trams and 350 horses. In 1899 Holden’s sold out to Bolton Corporation and the local authority immediately began a major modernisation programme with a total of 70 electric tramcars being ordered from a company in Preston. It was the largest single order for tramcars ever made in Britain and in less than a year Bolton’s tram network was revolutionised.

The last horse-drawn tram service operated on January 2nd 1900 and on the same date electric trams began running to seven of the town’s suburbs, while a circular network was developed within the town centre itself. One feature of the new tram system was the use of letters to denote the route, among them ‘H’ for the Halliwell area, ‘R’ for Rumworth and ‘G’ for Great Lever. Within a few short years the tram network was extended to three other outlying areas and in 1908 a parcel delivery service began to operate around the borough, while a contract was signed with Tillotson’s, owners of the Bolton Evening News, for bundles of newspapers to be picked up from their town centre offices and delivered by early morning tram to various newsagents shops.

The Corporation’s Tramways Committee had adopted a policy of keeping fares low and this policy continued despite inflation during the years of the First World War. After the war the number of passengers carried increased steadily from 32 million to 56 million and in 1928 nearly 60 million passengers were carried on the 150-strong tram fleet. Sadly though, the advent of the Second World War signalled the beginning of the end for the town’s tram network.
Track maintenance and much-needed repairs were put on hold during the war years and by the end of the war some parts of the network were in need of major investment. The Tramways Committee had already decided in the 1930s that the future of the town’s transport system lay with motor buses as these were more flexible and required less infrastructure than trams, so several tram routes had actually been abandoned before the war.
During the war years more routes were closed, one of these being the route from the town centre heading south past the local football ground – it was officially closed in November 1944 but the track and overhead wiring remained in place, with the route occasionally used by Football Specials on Saturdays. It was on such an occasion in September 1946 that a tram driver was forced to stop his tram about half a mile from the football ground when the track suddenly disappeared – the Highways Department had apparently failed to notify the Tramways Department of their intention to lift a section of what they regarded as redundant track.

By the end of 1946 all but one of the town’s tram routes had been closed and abandoned. The last route to survive was the ‘T’ service to the north east suburb of Tonge Moor and Tram No. 440 was picked to operate the final there-and-back service on March 29th 1947. It was suitably decorated for the occasion and driven by the Mayor of Bolton, and for the only time in the town’s tramway history smoking was permitted on board.
Fast forward to the early 1960s and Alan Ralphs and Derek Shepherd, two tram enthusiasts who had met at school and helped out at the town centre Tram Shed as teenagers, decided to rescue the shell of an old Bolton tramcar and restore it to its former glory. Most cars had been scrapped or sold off for other uses after the tram service ended in 1947 but the bottom deck of Tram No. 66 was located on a local moorland farm where it was being used as a chicken coop. After it was transported to a barn at Derek’s house a growing band of fellow enthusiasts dedicated their Monday evenings to its repair and restoration and the Bolton 66 Tramcar Trust was born.

By 1978 work was progressing well but the tram still needed a top deck – being of wooden construction none of the original top decks had survived in good enough condition after the tram fleet was scrapped so a replica had to be built from scratch. After a very generous donation from one of its members the restoration group was able to commission a custom-made top deck produced in kit form by a local cabinet maker and once this had been assembled, sealed, canvassed and glazed the interior fittings were added.
In June 1981 the now complete tram, painted in its period maroon and cream livery, was moved to Blackpool. After successfully undergoing its initial test runs it was put into service on the promenade and the restoration group had the satisfaction of seeing 18 years of their work transformed into a working tramcar carrying fare-paying passengers for the first time since the 1940s – and 41 years later it’s still providing a traditional British tram ride for visitors and enthusiasts.
