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Trams to Newhaven

Trams to Newhaven
Trams to Newhaven
This collection of photographs, and many more to be found on this website, are kindly shared by Brian Patton, a lifelong tram enthusiast who recorded the construction phase of the Trams to Newhaven extension. Brian has documented the various phases of the construction of the tram line extension from York Place to Newhaven, and in all weathers.

Brian’s love of trams stems from an early age:
“I was born in Glasgow, to families who came from the Isle of Bute and the north of Ireland. This naturally resulted in many trips on Clyde and MacBrayne steamers and on the Irish ships, usually Lairds Isle. It also brought close acquaintance with the tramways of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast and, later, Dundee, Aberdeen and south London. These were then all efficient people movers and, as a wee boy, I was surprised and indeed horrified later to learn that Manchester and Dublin had scrapped their trams and that Belfast, Liverpool and London were following suit.

During a boring English lesson, a friend showed me, under a desk, a magazine that dealt with trams and so I became an avid reader of ‘Modern Tramway’ and an enthusiastic member of the publisher, the Light Railway Transport League”.

Brian has been dedicated in his quest to record the construction phase over the full length of the new tram line from York Place to Newhaven. He has kindly donated his collection of photographs to Central Library’s collections which provides us with this fantastic record of a major civic infrastructure project.