At the end of September I had a day out at the East Anglian Transport Museum which is up near Lowestoft, not far from the Suffolk coast. The museum has been there for many years but it's somewhere I'd never been before.
It was a special Trolley Bus day and very busy, so parking was at a Park and Ride a mile or two away, which confused me and because of not parking on site I wasn't able to go and fetch my jacket when the wind got really chilly and I got very cold and suffered the next day.
The over head electric wires that power the trolleys and trams look very complicated, it would have looked like this in every town back in the day
As well as having a ride on all the trolleys and trams that run round and round the museum there's lots to look at too.
Below is a Suffolk County Council road menders van - dating from way before Colin worked on the roads!
This is how a village a Post Office might have looked. There was a Village Petrol Station and Garage too but I found I'd not taken a photo of it for some reason.
One of the first caravans to be on the road, details below
Back Soon
Sue
I remember riding the trolley with my grandmother, to go downtown Cleveland in the 40's and 50's. Streetcars, they were called.
ReplyDeleteOnly a few big cities now have trams and I'd never been on one before
DeleteThanks for taking us along for a visit. I bet your grandson would love it!
ReplyDeleteThink it's agood place to visit as long as the boys can ride on the buses
DeleteWhat an interesting place to visit. I love the double decker buses, and that small camper reminds me of the trailer we had for camping growing up. No bathroom and we needed to hike to the community toilets. Bathing was done in the lake.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Caravans now are so big and very posh and expensive
DeleteSouthampton had trams once upon a time, but they were gone by the time I was going into town. The steamroller really bought my childhood back as I can recall one working on the road opposite our house as clear as day. I used to love the smell of the hot tar.
ReplyDeleteThis looks an excellent museum and one your grandson would love I'm sure. How basic that little caravan was but back in the day, it enabled folk to get away and I am sure they coped perfectly well without inside loo/shower etc.
Our first caravan wasn't much bigger - a squash for 4 of us then
DeleteGoodness me, that brought back memories! As a very young child, in the early 1950s, I remember the fear of sliding around on the wooden slat seats on trolley buses in New Zealand. Then, in the early 60s, my parents had a revolting minuscule caravan. Walking a long way to the (smelly) loos. Ug! Then, in 1987, in London, we hired a very basic camper van with a portaloo, and the dining table folded down to become the base of the double bed. We toured the UK and Europe in it - and financially, it was a winner, but .... Never Again!! Great memories, I'm glad I'm not young again!!
ReplyDeleteThe trams had seats with backs that moved depending on which way the tram was going - but they weren't slatted.. Seems lots of people have memories of early caravan holidays
DeleteGosh, haven’t been there for decades, certainly changed.
ReplyDeleteThey have a whole field at the back now to expand even further which will make it even more interesting
DeleteThat caravan really takes me back to the caravan holidays we had when I was a child. It wasn't ours, a friend let us borrow it. xx
ReplyDeleteMum and Dads first caravan wasn't quite as basic as this but our first was not much bigger
DeleteThis looks like a great museum. We were too lent a tiny caravan when the children were small. It was an experience never to be forgotten!
ReplyDeleteHappy holiday memories!
DeleteSmashing pics. It looks a great day out. I'm soooo jealous. Why are the best places a long way away from me.
ReplyDeleteYou could always car-camp in the area
DeleteI remember using the trolley buses in Ipswich in the 1960s when visiting one of my aunts. Wonderfully quiet compared to their replacement diesel buses.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm not mis-remembering then, as I thought I could remember the trolleybus wires in Ipswich but thought they must have stopped earlier than 59 or early 60's
DeleteThat looks interesting. Thanks for sharing - nice photos
ReplyDeleteA bit of a photo heavy post I realised - never mind
DeleteThat's a great museum!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day out
DeleteThat’s a wonderful museum to visit but realise I must be older that I feel as so much of it seemed familiar to me. It would be a joy to take a child to visit such an interesting place. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThe garage and petrol station that I didn't photograph was similar to one in the 50's near where I lived.
DeleteYou know what I'm going to say don't you ... I LOVE the caravan, isn't it so sweet. The old buses and trams are nice too, what a great day out, apart from catching a chill of course!!
ReplyDeleteLovely nostalgic pics, shame you were chilly
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
The weather gradually got colder as the day went on but it was a good visit
DeleteSuch a wonderful museum I think your right your grandson would like it.
ReplyDeleteCathy
As long as the buses and trams were running so he could ride on them I think he would enjoy it
DeleteOh, my grandkids would love that museum. 5-year-old Thomson is always drawing pictures of "vehicles" these days! This is a wonderful museum, Sue!
ReplyDeleteThe museum does a nice tribute. Lovely walk down memory lane. I've never seen tiny caravans. Finally, after all our heat, it is sweater/jacket weather and the chill is noticeable.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a fascinating museum.
ReplyDeleteLike others, the caravan reminds me of one my family of four stayed in up in Scotland in the 1950s. Same colour and about the same size. What I most remember was the cold, the wet (rained the whole time) and the unrelenting midges. Not one of my fondest camping memories.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the exhibits are great. Many a ride taken on the old Routemasters as I grew up in London. Running to jump on the open platform at the last minute (not encouraged by my mother, I have to say). Or jumping off just seconds before the bus stopped--also frowned upon by Mum. Loved watching the conductor ring up fares on their ticket machine; long strips of paper tickets always stashed in our pockets. If you road the same journey frequently enough, you got to know the conductors. London bus rides seem so impersonal these days by comparison.
Thank you Sue...that sounds all very interesting....but do take your jacket next time! x
ReplyDelete