This is just a lovely way to spend an afternoon. The 6 mile round trip on the tramway follows the Ax Estuary from Seaton to Colyton, and the world is full of herons, egrets, kingfishers and the like. They're all completely unfazed by the trams rattling along, and stare back at you with a kind of bored expression, as they pose for the obligatory photographs.
The south coast of Devon would have been well served if there could have been a mainline railway running along the coast. However, the local geography was too hilly, so any railway line had to run inland. There were one or two branch lines built to service the coastal towns, however, the Seaton and Beer branch line closed in 1966, leaving Seaton a bit isolated.
That railway line has since become the Seaton & District Electric Tramway.
Several of the trams are genuine old trams from various places in the country, but they have been cut down to about 2/3 size and rebuilt. Some were designed for workers, with open tops and plain wooden seats, others are enclosed railway-style carriages, with plush, upholstered seats. The tramway now has an extraordinary collection of trams, both single and double deckers, and enough rolling stock to run every few minutes in peak season.
The 25th. anniversary of the tramway saw the building of an Edwardian-style terminus building right in the town centre, which has since been extended to support a whole new experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment