~ Gallery - Transport ~
Trams
A public transport system never touched Lower Gornal until the appearance of the motor bus, however Upper Gornal was well connected with the advent of the tramway in the 1880s which ran between Wolverhampton and Dudley.
Early trams were powered by steam, electric trams took over at the turn of the century and from the 1920s, trolley buses operated along the route.
Electric tram c1900 at Sedgley Bull Ring.
The first tramway was proposed in 1879, it was built and operated by the Dudley, Sedgley and Wolverhampton Tramways Co. Ltd. and was opened in May 1883, it ran through Upper Gornal along Kent Steet and Clarence Street.
Initially horse drawn trams were used, but within a few years, steam powered vehicles took over the job.
The D.S. & W. struggled and after a few changes of ownership the company was bought out by the British Electric Tramway Company (BET) at the turn of the century and the route was operated by them thereafter.
The steam tram era finished and overhead wires were installed for electric powered vehicles from the early 1920s.
However, the Dudley Herald reports that electric trams first ran from Dudley to Sedgley via Upper Gornal in October 1900, it appears that it terminated at the Sedgley depot (at Upper Gornal) and did not run through to Wolverhampton at this time..
The Sedgley tram depot was situated at the side and rear of the Jack Darby Picture House in Upper Gornal and was the terminus until the route was extended to Dudley, although on an Ordnance Survey map of the 1880s it does already seem to extend to the Eastern end of Clarence Street.
The following was part of the application for the Dudley-Sedgley section of the proposed tramway published in the London Gazette, 28 November, 1879.
Tramway No. IA.
A single line 5 furlongs 7'65 chains in length, commencing in Salop Street by a junction with Tramway No. 7 at its termination as above described, passing thence into the Dudley and Wolverhampton Road, and terminating in that road at a point 7'60 chains or thereabouts from the south corner of Eve Lane leading to Coseley, at the commencement of Upper Gornal.
Tramway No. 2A.
A double line 3 chains in length, wholly situate in the Dudley and Wolverhampton Road, commencing by a junction with Tramway No. 1A at its terminations above described, and terminating at a point 4'60 chains from the south corner of the said Eve Lane leading to Coseley.
Tramway No. 3A.
A single line 3 furlongs 9'77 chains in length, wholly situate in the Dudley and Wolverhampton Road, commencing by a junction with Tramway No. 2A at its termination, as above described, and terminating 1'30 chains from the south corner of the "Jolly Crispin Inn" in Upper Gornal.
Tramway No. 4A.
A double line 3 chains in length, wholly situate in the Dudley and Wolverhampton Road, commencing by a junction with Tramway No. 3A at its termination, as above described, and terminating at a point 1'70 chains northwards from the south-east corner of the "Jolly Crispin Inn", in Upper Gornal.
Tramway No. 5A.
A single line 4 furlongs 8'83 chains in length, wholly situate in the Dudley and Wolverhampton  Road, between Upper Gornal and Sedgley, commencing by a junction with Tramway No. 4A at its termination, as above described, and terminating opposite the north-east corner of the "Grand Junction Inn," at the corner of the Tipton Road.
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