First in Derbyshire – the Ilkeston Tramway 1903-1931 system – Stephen Flinders

On 24th January Stephen Flinders gave a very entertaining talk entitled ‘The first in Derbyshire – the Ilkeston Tramway 1903-1931 System’

The presentation follows the development of the tramways around parts of the world and ups and downs of establishing an electric tramway system in the Derbyshire town of Ilkeston in the late 1890s, a system which, despite the hopes and dreams of those who promoted the idea, failed to live up to expectations, even though it ran for almost 30 years.

Stephen showed many old B&W photos of trams on the route and then overlaid various photos with colour views of the same scenes today

Coupled with the early history of trams in the UK, Stephen’s talk was both informative and entertaining