The Halifax Tramways History Talk

On Thursday 12th February we hosted another well attended history talk at Foundry Street Community Centre, delivered by local historian David Glover. The subject of the afternoon was the tram system of Halifax and the trams themselves.

David presented a detailed and engaging slideshow featuring historic photographs of the trams, their depots at Mile Cross and Skircoat, along with maps illustrating the full extent of the network. He carefully traced the development of the system from the opening of the first line in 1898 through to 1939, when the final tram ran and the network was replaced by buses.

At its height, the Halifax network operated 12 routes stretching from the town centre towards Shelf, Causewayfoot, Skircoat, Triangle, Brighouse and along the Calder Valley to Hebden Bridge. Development of the system continued almost up until its eventual closure.

One interesting local detail concerned the Skircoat route, which originally stopped opposite the Post Office before the road rose onto the green. In 1925, a deep cutting was constructed, allowing trams to travel the remaining few hundred yards to the top of Copley Hill.

A particularly surprising feature of the Halifax system was its 3 foot 6 inch track gauge. This differed from neighbouring Bradford and Huddersfield, which operated on a 4 foot 7¾ inch gauge. As a result, passengers travelling between Halifax and Bradford had to disembark at Shelf and walk to connect with the Bradford tram system.

The talk concluded with an open discussion, where attendees shared memories and posed thoughtful questions, all of which David answered with his usual depth of knowledge and enthusiasm.

We look forward to welcoming everyone to our next history event.