|
The tram ran from Framley Parkfields, up past the corner of Springsteen
Terrace and Denegate, along the river as far as the bowling alley
and then out to Orley Roundabout and off into the countryside.
Here it joined the path of the B108, previously "Bauring
Street", the old Roman Road.*
The Second World War hit the tram service hard. Most able-bodied
men were now working as soldiers, and the tram was no longer the
obvious choice for them to get to work. When many chose to use
aeroplanes, tanks or parachutes instead, and incomes from tram
tickets dwindled, a series of unpopular fare increases were instituted.
This was, as local transport philospher Friedrich Klezmer put
it, "The Twilight Of The Trams" (Die Förderwagener-Dämmerung).
* Framley's historic position, somewhere along the old Roman
Road, makes it almost unique. With only four hundred other places
in the UK able to make such a claim, it's no surprise that last
year the Framley Tourist Board office in the Max Wall Centre was
forced to open Wednesdays as well as Sunday.
|
