Worcestershire Maps

This project provides on-line access to digitised 18th and 19th century maps in the county, together with their attached documentary evidence. Together, these transform flat maps into a powerful searchable research tool.

Only a part of the capabilities of the system can be demonstrated on-line. The full system is available at the offices of the Historic Environment and Archaeology Service.

The site is under development, but the following pages provide access to an internet mapping system, through which you can view modern and historic maps, and also provides information about why the original maps were created.

Railways in Worcestershire

My Worcester Tramways article last month prompted a reply from Tavis Pitt about a site I hadn't seen before.Index page for Railways in Worcestershire.
Thanks, Tavis. It's a really good collection of tram pictures you referred me to.

Worcester People & Places - Articles by Bill Gwilliam

Worcester People & Places has dozens of extracts from the late Bill Gwilliam's published works. Fascinating reading.

Welcome to Project Gutenberg - Project Gutenberg

Welcome to Project Gutenberg - Project Gutenberg: "Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts) on the Internet. Our collection of more than 13.000 eBooks was produced by hundreds of volunteers. Most of the Project Gutenberg eBooks are older literary works that are in the public domain in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use"

Worcester's Electric Trams

by John Stafford

There had been horse-drawn trams run by various companies on Corpora­tion rails for more than twenty years when there began moves to electrify the system. After visits to towns such as Kidderminster and Birmingham, where electric and steam trams were already operating, the council decided to build an electric system. The construction of the electric tramway system in 1903-4 involved upheaval on a scale that has not been matched by any more recent improvements. It involved the closure of important streets such as Broad Street for days at a time, not only to wheeled traffic but also to pedest­rians who were unwilling to cross expanses of mud to reach the shops. Most of the work was done with spades and wheelbarrows, and the only machine which we would regard as modern was a lifting device for erecting the posts which carried the electricity wires. By the end of 1904, a line to the Berwick Arms was under construction, completing access from all the outer areas of the city along The Tything, Lowesmoor, London Road and St. John's. The electric trams were faster than horse trams or horse buses, but were unpopular with many residents because of the noise they made when crossing points. The tramways were purchased back by the Corporation in 1928 when the operating rights of the company lapsed, and the trams were replaced by motorbuses, which in their turn had become faster vehicles. The only relics of the tramways that are still with us are the posts, which are to be found along various parts of the routes, in use today as lampposts. They are easily identified by the tramway symbol of the magnet, which is cast onto the base of the post.