1985 was the centenary of the Blackpool Tramway. It was the first tramways system operating along public roadways in mainland UK and is unique in having operated trams throughout its history through to the present day, broken only by periods of maintenance on the permanent trackway.
Needless to say, that Blackpool celebrated the tramway centenary in a big way that year with many restored and preserved trams from elsewhere coming to run along the eleven and a half miles from Starr Gate at the southern end of Blackpool to Fleetwood Ferry, the terminus on the end of the Fleetwood peninsula and opposite the entrance to the ferry across the River Wyre to Knott End.
Fleetwood too, despite the fact that trams didn't reach there until 1898 from Blackpool - and even then being operated by a rival company to the Blackpool Corporation Trams, decided to join in the celebrations with a tram and transport festival that became known as Tram Sunday This would feature the preserved and restored trams running up and down the length of Lord Street (Fleetwood's main shopping thoroughfare) whilst more traditional forms of vintage and classic road transport in the form of cars, buses and lorries would form a static display along the sides of the road.
It was a huge success, helped by glorious weather, and it was soon decided that this would become an annual event. Here a restored Glasgow tram is seen, loaded to capacity with excited tourists, returning to the top of Lord Street where it will cross to the north-heading track to repeat the trip with a fresh but equally eager set of passengers.
Even with several trams running such a short distance, they had no problems at all with finding enough people willing to queue for a ride. This tram is from Bolton in Lancashire and had been in Blackpool for a few years already and at time of writing in 2023 it still is, on permanent loan, now forming part of the Heritage fleet of trams.
A 1942 Morris 8 Series Z van. This vehicle was owned by the Commercial Vehicles Museum at nearby Leyland. The type was launched in 1940 and in production until 1953.
A Scammell Scarab three-wheel tractor with flatback trailer. I used to see several of these outside Rochdale and Manchester railway stations, pulling flat trailers, loaded with goods that had been transported by rail. They were built from 1948 all the way through to 1967 and whilst they were used predominantly by railway companies, they also were popular with the military and for deliveries in tight city streets as their use of articulated attachment to trailers made them more manouverable than a standard flatback lorry.
A Jaguar XK120 fixed head coupe, originally sold in 1953 by Henlys in London. These were very high performance cars. Just over 12,000 were made between 1948 to 1954 and in 1949 the second such car to be built was measured through the standing mile on a closed road in Belgium at 132.596 miles per hour. In 1953 a modified open-top version with aerodynamic bubble covering the cockpit (actually from a glider!) clocked over 172 miles per hour along the same standing mile in Belgium. There was no chance of attempting this speed in Fleetwood...
A few people attended in fancy dress, adding to the fun and atmosphere of the day.
Fleetwood tram 167. Built in 1928 it remained in service until 1953 from when it was used as an engineering car until 1962 when it was sold to the National Tramway Museum at Crich, being the first tram to use a motorway (the M62) during its journey to Crich.
Manchester tram 765 of 1914 vintage. The only surving example of over 60 trams of the type, it was retired from Manchester in 1930 when the route transferred to bus operations and it ended up stored on a farm for a while prior to restoration. It currently runs on the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester.
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