This is South Shields Tramways new Thorneycroft tower wagon at the Pier Head in 1913. It was used for erecting and repairing the overhead wiring for the trams. It's a hefty beast with solid tyres and you wouldn't want it to run over your toe. Hand coloured photograph and caption Malcolm Fraser
There were celebrations in South Shields when the first section of the new
electric tramways was declared open on Friday 30th March 1906. The official
party boarded the trams here at the foot of Fowler Street and rode up to the top of Stanhope Road. After running back down to Chichester junction and the bottom of Laygate, they inspected the tram depot in Dean Road and returned to the starting point.
Caption and hand coloured photograph by Malcolm Fraser
This is South Shields Corporation bus 121, a Daimler COG5, new in 1938. It was one of the first new double-deck buses which they bought. The destination 'Chichester' is not pronounced like the town of that name. The folks in Shields pronounce it 'Chy-Chester', which is where the tram and bus depot was. The building is still used by Stagecoach. Hand coloured photograph and caption from Malcolm Fraser.
South Shields trams are remembered for having names as well as numbers but only eighteen of them were so treated and then only between 1928 and 1934. The first of these was 'Nelson', which was originally open-top car number 11. It was renumbered 50 after it was rebuilt in 1928 which is when this picture was taken at the Pier Head terminus at the bottom of Ocean Road.
Hand coloured photograph and caption, Malcolm Fraser
