Y'all Need Trams

A 1940s High Street

So this week we’ll be looking at my favourite museum in Hull... and at trams. The Streetlife Museum of Transport might sound boring and lame at first but it really isn’t. It gives you insights into what transportation was like in the local area up to 200 years ago. Electric tramcars were a big part of that as they helped move the people of Hull for over 60 years.

The museum is situated in Hull’s beautiful old town and has been welcoming visitors since its opening in 1989. It is part of the Museums Quarter, which also includes the Hull and East Riding Museum, the Arctic Corsair trawler and the Wilberforce House Museum, all of which are managed by Hull City Council. The Streetlife Museum has a unique approach to making your visit memorable!

“Is that... Can... Can you smell horse?”

The museum goes all out to fully immerse you in 200 years of local transport history by engaging most of your senses. Hearing, sight, smell and touch - we’re just missing taste but I’ll happily give that one a miss. Most collection pieces have been turned into scenic galleries you can walk through while recordings of conversation snippets make the scenes come to life. There are not many restrictions dictating how close you can get to a vehicle. In fact, you’re welcome to climb inside a genuine tram or you can stroll down a 1940s high street and browse around the shops. You can also take a bumpy ride in a stagecoach, though you shouldn’t be claustrophobic or get motion sickness as me and my cousin had to find out!

Trams in Hull

Now I know that my brain might be slightly romanticising what using electric trams in early 20th century Hull might have been like - friendly, helpful conductors with all the time in the world. Maybe they’d help a lady get up the steps and have casual, pleasant conversations with their passengers. Either way, I’d like to think that it beats today’s reality of having to escape the rage of bus drivers trying to run you over with a look of almost mad contempt in their eyes. Maybe that’s why I like the Streetlife Museum so much - it makes the past come to life again when I’m feeling nostalgic :)

Tram 132

It all started in 1872 when local parliament authorised the construction of a tram line in Hull. Continental & General Tramways Company built five main tram lines from the city centre. Two lines went westward along Anlaby and Hessle Road, one line went northeastward along Holderness Road, one went roughly westnorthwest along Spring Bank, and a short line ran southwards from the city centre to the old town to Nelson Street close to Victoria Pier (If you look at the trams system map it will be called Corporation Pier, although the name was changed to Victoria Pier in 1854). From the pier you could then take the ferry across the Humber to New Holland in Lincolnshire as was common practice before the Humber Bridge was built. The first tramcars were a success and three years later a tram route up Beverley Road was added. You can check out pictures of trams running through Hull here. Sadly, in the 1930s and 40s electric trams were slowly but surely being replaced by motor buses. 

One of the trams that ran through Hull can be found in the Streetlife Museum. Electric Tramcar 132 is from 1909/10 and one of only two restored tramcars in Britain. It travelled the streets of Hull until the 1930s. In 1942 it was transferred to Leeds where it ran until 1952. It returned to Hull in the 1980s and was restored to its original condition.  

Inside One of the Shops

Soooooooooooo...

The Streetlife Museum is a great morning out and even young kids won’t hate you for dragging them to a museum if you take them there. If you feel like immersing yourself in a different time period for a bit then you can check out the opening times here. Admission is completely free so you have no excuse! :)