Our Trams go online

A website tracing the history of trams in Croydon and the capital with the help of memorabilia, personal recollections and virtual tours of trams has just been launched jointly by Croydon Council and the London Transport Museum.

Supported by the Millenium Commission under its Sharing Museum Skills Scheme the www.croydonbytram.org site features a host of interesting information, photographs and curious facts about trams.

For example, when novelist DH Lawrence worked as a schoolteacher in Croydon he wrote a short story which featured descriptions of trams in the borough.

The first trams to roll through the streets of London were pulled by horse, with electric versions taking over from 1901.

Nearly 50 years after their subsequent demise Croydon became the first London borough to reintroduce them in 2000, with its Tramlink service covering a 28 km route linking central Croydon with Wimbledon, Beckenham and New Addington, using trams able to carry up to 200 passengers.

Croydon's cabinet member for cultural services, Councillor Raj Chandarana, said : "this new website is designed to appeal to people of all ages, whether its children doing a local history assignment, those interested in Croydon's heritage, or tram enthusiasts."