Mr Claude Willington Lane was born on the 2nd June 1908 at Totteridge, just
south of Barnet in the then county of Middlesex.
From the age of around 3
he would be taken by his nanny to see the trams at the Metropolitan Electric
Tramways Finchley Depot and this, it seems, is where his interest in trams began.
When he was older he would visit the nearby works at Henden and stand looking
through the gates at the workshops. On one of these trips he was lucky
enough to be invited in and had a tour around the depot - this was one of the
highlights of his boyhood.
When Claude reached school age he was sent to Berkhamsted Boarding School and his
main interset was engineering and electricity. When the old generator at
the school started becoming very erratic the Head - knowing that Claude was
interested in this sort of thing - asked him if would have a look to see if he
could repair it. Claude stripped, cleaned and straightened the lead cells
and a couple of new parts later the generator was up and running again. He
also helped the Head replace the engine in his car, he was about 15 years old at
this time.
When he left school
Claude went to work at Stoke Newington Power Station and gained
an apprenticeship (Diploma of Faraday House) in eletrical engineering he then
went on to work at Blackstones, a company manufacturing oil engines, and gained
another apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. At around the age of 22
he left Blackstones and set up his own business, the Mobile Welding and Workshop
Company, based in Barnet. He then went on to open a small workshop that
specialised in batteries and called this The Lancaster Electrical Company.
When Claude began to get interested in battery run vehicles he needed a larger
workshop so purchased some land and built one.
In 1938 the lure of the trams became too great - he wanted to drive them.
London Transport started their tram crew as conductors so he made enquiries and
found he could become a driver for the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric
Railway. He drove part time during the summer so that he could still spend
time at the Lancaster Electrical works. Unfortunately he had a
disagreement with the management and in 1939 he decided to apply for a tram
driving job in Blackpool. After an interview and test drive he was given
six weeks work - he enjoyed himself so much that he went back to Blackpool as a
volunteer driver every season until 1954.
After a miss-understanding with the Rolling Stock Supervisor in 1947 at
Blackpool Claude decided that he would build his own trams so that he could
drive them whenever he wanted. He sat on a stool in front of the shutter doors at his workshop
in Barnet and asked one of his men to outline his body in chalk on the door.
He then anounced to his workforce that he was going to build a tram and the
chalk outline showed the size of the cab. The project tested all Claude's
technical abilities but by 1949 his first tram was completed. It was
tested on track laid in the yard at the Barnet works with local school children
volunteering to be 'passengers' so the tram could be tested at full capacity.
And so to Eastbourne. Expansion plans and the setting up of a new company
- Modern Electric Tramways Ltd - on the 19th May 1953 resulted in the search for
a new, permanent site and Claude found this site on the outskirts of Eastbourne.
A five year concession was granted for the tramway to run in Princes Park, from
the gates to Wartling Road, where a depot was built.
Track laying was started in March 1954 and by the 4th July 1954, 230 yards of
track had been laid from the depot to the Golf House and the first passenger
carrying trams began running. Work continued on the last part of the track
from the depot to Princes Park gates and this section was opened to the pubic on
the 15th August 1954. The tramway proved very popular and a turning loop
was planned for the terminus so that operations could be speeded up. The
Council also agreed to the building of a shelter and sales kiosk at the Princes
Park terminus plus a small shed for an emergency generator.
The official opening of the line
was carried out by the Mayor of Eastbourne, Mr Alderman L W Pyle, at Whitsun 1955.
The Mayor opened the line by driving tram 226 the full length of the line with
other local officials riding as passengers. The opening was filmed by the
BBC and broadcast to the nation over the next two days.
In January 1956 Claude applied to the Entertainments and Pleasure Grounds
Committee to build a 330 yard extension so that the trams could run to
the Crumbles, this was refused. Claude arranged to attend the next meeting
in February so that he could put his case to the Committee in person and on the
20th April formal approval for the extension was given. At the same time
the lease agreement was extended by a further season to the 31st October 1956.
During the Committee meeting in October 1956 it was agreed to extend the lease
further taking the agreement to October 1963.
In
December 1956 Claude made an application to the
Entertainments and Pleasure Grounds Committee to double the track
between the Golf House and the depot to improve the operation, permission was
granted and work started straight away. The track to the Crumbles
extension was also in progress at this time.
Also in 1956 the Committee informed Claude that they proposed to extend Royal
Parade roadway to link with Wartling Road and the new road would need to cross
the track twice. The company agreed to relay said track on the seaward
side of the road when construction started. It was alslo pointed out that
the new road would isolate the depot and permission was granted, after
consultation, for a new depot.
There was also a shock when a representative from the Chatsworth Estates
contacted Claude and asked him why track was being laid to the Crumbles as the
land belonged to the Estate, the land had been gifted to to the Council by the
Marquess of Huntingdon in 1926 but was subject to certain conditions. It
seems that the council had failed to consult with the Chatsworth Estate about
the laying of track. After lengthy consultation with legal experts it was
found that the track was indeed on Council land but very close to the boarder
with the Chatsworth Estate who now put in an official objection as they had not
been informed. After many meetings and proposals the Estate said the
objection would be withdrawn provided the track was moved fifteen yards
from the Chatsworth Estates boundary. Claude was not happy with this as
the track was already in place and now it had to be moved but move it he did.
In May 1958 saw the opening of the Crumbles extension and the Mayor, Councillor
J W G Howlett, it was opened it in the usual way by the Mayor driving the number 6 tramcar from
the depot to the new terminus. Again the BBC sent a television crew to
film the event.
It had always been the intention to continue the tramway to Langney Point
however this would have meant using land very near to the Chatsworth Estates and
if previous experience was anything to go by the extension would be opposed.
Claude has also been told (informally) that the Corporation Transport were
concerned that if the tramway was extended to Langney Point it would have a
serious impact on the takings of their buses on that route. Ideas for this
extension on the track were shelved for the time being.
By 1960 the Modern Electric Tramways had settled into its new building and
business was very good, the trams were pulling a lot of holiday makers to
Princes Park - the locals also used the trams a lot, I was one of them - when
you are small the Crumbles seemed a very long way away, such adventures!
The Company also applied for an extension of the agreement beyond October 1963
but this was refused.
Mr Cannon, the Corporation Transport Manager, continued to
have worries over the tramway and wrote to the Town Clerk voicing his concerns
that the buses might be replaced by trams. Mr Cannon had also opposed both
the extension to Langney Point and the extension of the agreement. He was
also worried that the tramway company would sell its shares to the Southdown bus
company who would then be allowed to compete with the Corporation buses.
In December 1960 the tramway had another atempt to get permission to extend the
track but only for another 10 yards as this would take it to the edge of the
Council property. Beyond this point it was Chatsworth Estate land and
Claude felt he could now get an agreement from the Estate to extend the track
down to Langney Point. The Council were aware of the reason for this
request and continued to turn down every application to ensure the tramway could
not be extended.
On a leaflet dated 1960 the fares were as
follows: From Royal Parade to Golf House, 2d - to Sports Ground, 4d - to
Boundary (Terminus), 6d - Cheap Return, 10d. Also on this leaflet it
states the opening times as 10am - 10pm (7 days a week) and the length of the
line, 1 mile with 5 passing points.
The leaflet states that "This system is now the only Tramway in the country
South of Sheffield, and the only Tramway in the world using double-deck cars on
a two foot gauge line".
In October 1962 the tramway managed to get more publicity for their proposals to
extend the system. The London Evening Standard published an article on the
extension proposals - it detailed where the extensions were hoping to go and
that this would double the track length to at least 2 miles. The article
also stated that 175,000 passengers had been carried in 1961 and more that
200,000 during the summer of 1962.
The same month saw the Town Clerk prepare a report on the tramway for the
Council. He stated that the yearly receipts for the operation from 1958
were between £1,800 and £2,000 and in his view the operation was being run on a
shoe string. Also in his report he stated that Mr Lane had expressed hopes
that the tramway would run to Pevensey Bay and that this would seriously affect
the Corporation bus operation.
In
1963 an American, Mr Don Sorenson, had heard about the tramway, spent a week in
Eastbourne and was captivated by the trams. Whilst on a tour around the
depot he saw the three smallest tramcars and when he enquired about them was
told they were no longer in use. Mr Sorenson decided he would like to
purchase the trams so he negotiated a price with Claude. He then spent the
next two weeks working at the Eastbourne Tramway depot learning how to maintain
and carry out repairs. The tramcars left England during November 1963 on
their journey to Wilton, Connecticut, USA were they were set up in Mr Sorenson's
garden on 520 feet of track with 200 feet of sidings. He did not use
overheard wires but installed five 12-volt batteries in each car to give the
required 60 volts.
The lease agreement with
the Entertainments and Pleasure Grounds Committee was due to expire at the end of October 1963 and
it was not until September that the Committee agreed to extend it for another
year - to the 31st October 1964. In 1964 the return fare was raised from
10d to 1 shilling as the tramway was making very little profit. Claude
asked the Council if they would agree not to take their percentage from the 2d
increase. the Council refused.
During the 1964 season the ticket kiosk at Princes Park terminus was broken into
several times so Claude came up with the solution - an electric tram-shop!
A flat bed works car (01) was rebuilt into the Tram Shop during 1964/65
and started off the 1965 season, it sold tickets, souvenirs, postcards, books
and other gifts.
In September 1964 the
Entertainment and Pleasure Grounds Committee granted another one year extension so that it could
operate until the end of October 1965. Claude did not like this
arrangement so in September 1965 he asked the Committee for a seven year
extension and explained the reasons for this request - it was difficult to make
improvements when the arrangements were on a year to year basis and some of the
track would need renewing as it had been on site for eleven years. Claude
explained that the Company would want security of tenure before a lot of this
work could be carried out.
The Town Clerk, however, reminded the Committee that it would soon be time to
carry out a second review of the Development Plan and that the Crumbles would
have to be included in this plan. The Borough Surveyor referred to the
likely construction of new roads in the vacinity of the tramway, this came as a
great shock to Claude and the Company. Claude's immediate reaction was to
appeal against this but he found that he was constantly being put off and any
decisions were delayed time after time.
At the next meeting in October Claude and his solicitor, Mr Brewer, were asked
by the Committee if the tramway company was going to sell its rights to an
omnibus company - Claude stated that he had no intention of selling and that no
approaches had been made to any omnibus company. The Committee were
worried that a commercial bus company might get the tramway and claim passenger
service rights in Eastbourne. At the same meeting the Committee agreed by
four votes to three to extend the lease agreement for a further three years, so
it now expired on the 31st October 1968. However the extension was subject
to resiting the track in accordance with the instructions of the Borough
Surveyor and also a possible resiting of the tramway works building.
Claude and Mr Brewer were back in front of the Committee in
February 1966 to tell them that the terms of October 1965 were unacceptable to
the company. This meant that the agreement ran out on the 31st October
1965 and the tramway had no legal rights to operate. Mr Brewer then put in
a counter offer, including the Langney Point extension, removal of the condition
to resite the main workshop at six months notice and for the agreement to be
longer than three years. After Claude and Mr Brewer had left the meeting
the Town Clerk strongly recommended that the Committee adhere to their October
1965 decision. This was approved.
The Company now had to rethink their position, as up to that point Claude felt
he had the chance to get a resonable agreement, but when he discovered that the
Town Clerk was no longer supporting the tramway and was advising the Council to
cease the concession Claude realised that his days at Eastbourne were numbered.
So he started seriously looking for another site that, due to previous
experiences, would have to free hold and so not subject to the quirks of a
landlord. This was during the time of the Beeching railway plans and many
small branch lines were being closed.
Claude and Mr Brewer went back to the Committee in March prepared to enter into
an agreement provided that notice to move the main workshop was not served
during the period of 1st December to the 31st March so they would not have to
resite the building during the summer. This was agreed by three votes to
one, the tramway was able to operate for a while longer.
The search for another site took Claude to Dorset
and he found that the Bridport to West Bay line was closing, he made enquiries
and was told that British Railways were required to offer the land to the local
council first. Claude set up a meeting with the Planning Officer and was
told that the Seaton Branch, in Devon, was also due to close. He visited
Seaton and talked to some
local people, they seemed very enthusiastic so he contacted a Mr Lines about
purchasing the Seaton Branch - not realising that he would be entering a five and
a half year project just to purchase the line!
Now back in Eastbourne, in October, the
Entertainments and Pleasure Grounds Committee sat and the
Borough Surveyor gave more details of new road. Effectively the majority
of the tramway would need to be moved, including the depot building itself -
only the section from the depot to the Crumbles would not be affected. The
Committee then authorised the Town Clerk to serve notice on the tramway company
to resite the track by the 31st October 1967. The new road depended upon
the Sussex River Authority reconstructing the Crumbles outfall and the timetable
for this work to completed by was October 1967 and the road was to be built in
1968. However the River authority did not complete the culvert until 1968
so the tramway was able to keep running until October 1969.
1969 saw the last year of operation in Eastbourne and the trams were fitted with
special notices saying "Last Tram Weeks. This year we say goodbye to
Eastbourne. We hope to be running in Seaton, Devon next season. Come
and enjoy 3 miles of beautiful scenery".
The
Entertainments and Pleasure Grounds Committee were still
unsure what the timetable for the new road would be as the completing of the new
culvert had set back the start of the new road by many months. At their
meeting on the 16th May 1969 the Town Clerk reported that the company was
prepared to remove the necessary track within 21 days provided the Council would
either agree to an alternative use for the workshop or pay resonable
compensation. They then considered an application by Messrs Lambourne and
Bradford for permission to use the workshop as a children's pleasure centre,
with amusement machines and children's rides. The Committee turned down
the application adding that no land would be made available for the erection of
a building for that use.
At the next meeting on the 30th June the Town Clerk reported that the
tramway had indicated that they would cease operations at Eastbourne. The
company had agreed to a compensation sum of £500 plus a sum to be negotiated for
the loss of income between the date of ceasing operation and the end of the
season. There were four offers for the workshop from boat firms and a sum
of £3,000 was being discussed. But the Council refused to give permission
to reuse the building and it looked like the company would have to demolish it.
The
Transfer Order and Light Railway Order for Seaton was granted on Christmas Eve
1969. It was the beginning of organising and planning for the move
of all the equipment from Eastbourne on its journey to Seaton in Devon.
When the last tram ran in Eastbourne on the 14th September 1969 it was the
signal for dismantling the whole system ready for the move.
A prefabricated building imported from Belgium by Messrs Tyler of Tunbridge was
erected on the Seaton site in early 1970 so the transfer of material from
Eastbourne could begin. In February 1970 the first of 32 round trips, each
344 miles long, by the two company lorries and a 6 wheel trailer. The
whole of the workshop and machinery was moved along with nine tramcars, track
and points, 160 traction poles, overhead wire and equipment, generators and
dynamos, batteries and the many tons of stores.
The first passenger carrying tram journey in Seaton was made at 2.30pm on
the 28th August 1970 and they are still running there to this day.
I would like to thank Mike
Poole, a tram driver from Seaton since 1972, for the books I was
able to use to get the above information.
The title of the books used are: Next Stop Seaton! by David Jay and David Voice,
published by Adam Gordon and Seaton and Eastbourne Tramways by Robert J Harley,
published by Middleton Press.