Chorlton and the city part one ........ the tram that takes you there

It's now a few months since I took these pictures and they have now passed into history.

The platforms outside the Ref are closed, the trams terminate down the line at Castefield and when this bit of the network reopens there will be a bigger and grander tram stop marking the addition of the Second City Crossing.

And so here is a bit of our past.

I was in St Peter’s Square waiting a tram  to come home which of course offered up the first story.

Despite the occasional closure of the lines and having to endure the rush hour squezze I do like the tram.

More so because for part of its route it travels follows the old railway line which ran from Central Station through Chorlton to Didsbury and on into the Peak District.

The line was opened in 1880 and was an instant success.

And yes I was on it when the tram first arrived in Chorlton  and again when the service was extended to East Didsbury.

For the purists this first picture was taken back on an April morning just before an East Didsbury tram pulled out across the city to Oldham and Rochdale.

The second was taken in May as I waited for the tram back home.

Pictures; trams and people in St Peter’s Square, 2014