Since Hastings Tramways Club was founded, we have been lucky enough to find three ex-Hastings Tramcar bodies which we are now trying to restore to their former glory.
Discovery of the trams
The first of our trams (no 43) was found at Winchelsea by Colin Smith, Charley Wheeler & Ron Leach in October 1985. Unfortunately, due to storage restrictions, no 43 has now been dismantled - the parts being used to help restore the other cars we have rescued.
The other two cars (nos. 48 & 56) were found in March 1995 at Camber. At the time they were found, they formed part of bungalow which was about to be demolished. Had we have not rescued them, they would have be lost forever. Photos of the trams in these early days can be found on our early photos page.
Five years of change
After cars 48 and 56 were found in 1995, they were more-or-less on the move for 5 years. Initially, they were moved to a storage site on Quarry Farm, Bodiam in one of their buildings. This did not last long though and they soon had to be moved. After several weeks of searching, a site was found, ironically at the place they spent a significant part of their life - the Silverhill Depot. Although owed by Stagecoach and used as a bus depot at the time, they spent several years in the generating room of the building. Again, this arrangement was not to last and they had to be moved again, this time to the Eastbourne Miniature Railway. They were stored on their site in the open, wrapped in tarpaulins, for a couple of years. This arrangement was less than perfect and we were constantly searching for a more permanent and sheltered location. This finally came in 2001, when they were moved to their current location on the Rother Valley Railway site at Robertsbridge.
The Current Situation
The trams are currently stored under a lean-to which does keep the majority of the weather out, which is a major plus. Now the tram bodies are located in a more permanent location, we can actually begin to properly work on them. Over the past years, a few members (namely Derek & Roy) have spent their Wednesdays and Sundays working on the when they can. As all our income comes from events and donations, this does limit the amount of work we can do. Similarly, the fact that the trams stay on the RVR site requires us to help on the railway side of things whenever required, which we are happy to do but does again limit the time we have to work on the trams.
Our first aim is to make the trams look presentable and make the site 'visitor friendly', which we are making significant progress with. We now have access to area of the site to do with more-or-less what we like. We have added tracks to one part of the site, which could be used to display our ¼ scale tram on. We have also made a walk-way behind the trams to allow visitors to view the trams from. We would like to add a seafront façade to the inner walk of this, to give it an authentic feel.
In 2004, we had an opportunity to purchase an ex-South Eastern & Chatham Railway PMV wagon for the sum of £300. We jumped at the chance as it gave a dry storage area for all our tools and equipment as well as a few layouts and other bits and pieces. The wagon was built in 1922 at Ashford, Kent to SR diagram 960. It was withdrawn from service by British Railways in 1988 and arrived at the RVR in 1995. We have since worked on it to repair and it is now in quite good condition.
The best way to find out more information about our trams and the Rother Valley site is to come and visit us at Robertsbridge. The RVR site is open to the public on Sundays and Bank Holidays throughout the year from 9am to 4pm(in winter) or 5pm(in summer). There will be someone available on most days to give you a tour of the site.