Birkenhead Corporation Tramways, No. 20

Birkenhead occupies a unique place in the history of British street tramways, as the site of pioneering American entrepreneur George Francis Train’s first horse tram venture, which began operating on 30^th August 1860.  Four years later, Birkenhead became the first local authority in Britain to own a tramway, though the service was initially operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway Company.  However, Birkenhead Corporation subsequently took full control of the tramway, including the 1.5 mile line from Woodside Ferry to Birkenhead Park, which was electrified in 1901.

Birkenhead 20 was one of 44 tramcars ordered by the Corporation to operate the tramway when services commenced on 4^th February 1901.  The trams were built by local manufacturers G.F. Milnes & Co. at their Birkenhead factory, which was also the location of the first tramcar factory in the country.

Originally built as an open-topped double deck tramcar, No. 20 was subsequently fitted with a Bellamy-type short top-cover (around 1911), which provided protection for upper deck passengers while leaving the balconies still exposed to the elements.  The actual cover applied to No. 20 and several of its sister cars was manufactured by Brush to a Milnes Voss design. Interestingly, the timber for the roof covers was obtained from trees growing in Birkenhead’s parks.

This was one of a number of transitional designs that helped pave the way for fully enclosed double deck tramcars that began to appear before the first world war.  However, No. 20 is believed to have retained its Bellamy-style roof until it was withdrawn in 1937, becoming one of the last survivors of the fleet.  By the time Birkenhead tramway ran its final service on 17th July 1937 most of its original routes had already been abandoned between 1931 and 1935.

Following its withdrawal, the body of the tramcar was sold and became a fishermen’s shelter on the banks of the River Dee.  [Coincidentally, a similar fate befell Dundee & District Tramways’ steam tram trailer no. 21, which is also in the collection].  There it remained for 46 years until it was spotted by members of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society, who swapped it for a replacement shed before embarking on a lengthy restoration programme in 1983 with the aim of returning it to its original open-topped condition.

The ambitious project began in a hangar at nearby Speke Airport and involved the acquisition of various replacement parts including a Brill truck, which was sourced from Barcelona, controllers from Oporto and a trolley pole that came from Blackpool.  It also involved several changes of location, including Princes Dock in Liverpool and the original Pacific Road premises of the Wirral Transport Museum.  The restoration was completed by 2^nd April 1999 when, on Good Friday, Birkenhead 20 became part of the operational fleet on the Wirral Tramway that had been established as a heritage attraction in 1995.  Indeed, the half-mile tramway ran on part of George Francis Train’s original 1860 route.

In addition to its regular service duties, the tramcar has also put in guest appearances at Beamish, where it took part in the museum’s Great Northern Steam Fair between 12^th and 15^th April 2012, and also Blackpool for an extended loan between July 2017 and November 2018.

Despite its undoubted historical significance, the Wirral Tramway has unfortunately endured a somewhat precarious existence as a result of successive rounds of financial cuts that have afflicted Wirral Borough Council since it first established the attraction with the aid of European funding in 1995. Indeed, it was first threatened with closure in 2009, when both Museum and Tramway were initially put up for sale and a proposed sale to Merseytravel fell through after protracted negotiations.

A rescue plan was eventually agreed that involved the operation and management of the facility being undertaken from January 2014 by volunteers from the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society on behalf of the Council as part of a proposed asset transfer arrangement.  A major refurbishment of the museum subsequently took place over a six-month period that ended on 21^st July 2018.  However, a further round of council funding cuts sadly resulted in both tramway and museum being closed once more in April 2023 with custodianship and management of the facility being transferred from the MTPS to Big Heritage, a not-for-profit social enterprise company.

This coincided with an inspection carried out by the Office of Road and Rail which resulted in a requirement to complete an extensive programme of work to address a number of health and safety and related issues, in addition to the major restructuring of the museum itself that Big Heritage is undertaking.  Consequently, several vehicles have had to be rehomed, either temporarily or permanently, some of which belonged to the MTPS.  They included three tramcars with strong links to the Merseyside area, one of which is Birkenhead 20.

Following extensive deliberations and conversations with interested parties during autumn 2024, the MTPS very generously donated all three trams to the Tramway Museum Society, where they will join Liverpool 869 – another tramcar that was rescued and preserved by the MPTS with further subsequent restoration being undertaken by the TMS at Crich.

With its impeccable pedigree, and Birkenhead’s historical links stretching back to the dawn of Britain’s tramway era, Birkenhead 20 makes a worthy and very welcome addition to the Museum’s tramcar collection.

In addition to Liverpool 869, the museum also holds an extensive collection of books relating to the tramways of the Merseyside region, including Birkenhead’s, together with an original rectangular metal timetable board belonging to Birkenhead Corporation Tramways, dating back to May 1904.

 

 

 

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