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Brighton's last 1900s tram could return to service

Zac Sherratt
BBC News, South East
George Carden
BBC News, South East
Reporting fromSteyning
BBC A red and cream tram which has been restored. It sits in a metal and wooden barnBBC
Tram 53 has been lovingly restored and is almost ready for a return to service

Tucked away in a countryside barn, engineers have been tinkering with one of the most important missing pieces of Brighton's transport history.

Between 1901 and 1939, Brighton was home to a bustling network of electric trams, transporting thousands across the then-town every day.

But at the outbreak of World War Two, the tram bells fell silent and all 116 cars were scrapped for the war effort - or so it was thought.

In 2010, Tram 53 was found rotting on a pig farm. And now, after 15 years of hard work, it could soon return to service.

Brighton Tram 53 Society A rotting tram car in a metal barn. It is covered in green fungus with a tree growing from its frontBrighton Tram 53 Society
Tram 53 was left to decay until 2010

After the shock discovery, Guy Hall set up the Brighton Tram 53 Society, got a team together and moved the tram to a barn in Steyning.

"The tram was in pretty poor condition," he said.

"It's been hard work. The worst part was when we stripped it down and it looked like a pile of matchwood.

"It was difficult to keep positive but we did."

A man wearing blue overalls and a black woolly hat. He is stood with his leg on steps looking through a hole in the top of a tram. The photo is taken from above
Guy Hall said there are just a few minor jobs left to do before the tram is finished

Tram 53 has now been restored to its original specifications - gorgeous varnished woodwork on the inside and the signature deep red and cream on the exterior.

Among those working on the project is Roger Sharman, whose grandfather Horace was a conductor and later a driver, or motorman, for Brighton Corporation Tramways.

The inside lower deck of a restored tram carriage with dark wood panels and window frames and a light vinyl roof
The dark woods and glossy interior have been brought back to life by Guy and the team

"He was very proud to work on the trams," Roger explained.

"It was a very well-disciplined and well organised system. Without the trams, Brighton could never have expanded at the rate it did."

Brighton Tram 53 Society Black and white image of three trams parked on a roadside in front of a large brick buildingBrighton Tram 53 Society
Trams outside the depot in Lewes Road, Brighton, which now serves as a bus station

Tram 53's life was short. It was built in 1937, just two years before the service came to an end, but there are now plans to relaunch it.

Guy is working on proposals to lay track in Stanmer Park for the tram to run on, and hopes it will form the basis for a museum celebrating Brighton's unique transport history.

Alan Robins, from Brighton & Hove City Council, said the authority is always open to ideas that enhance the city's parks and preserve their heritage.

So with some luck, after an 85-year wait, the bells of Brighton's trams could soon be ringing again.

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