Tram & Bedford Vaults, Drake Circus 1945

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Featured in the Plymouth Extra on the 8 January 2009.

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WMN/1/1/2 Tram, Drake Circus, 1945

"We've featured a photograph of Plymouth's last tram in action before (see Tram, Old Town Street, 1945). On that occasion we saw it at the bottom of Old Town Street. Here we see it further up that thoroughfare going around the west side of Drake Circus. [We are standing down from the entrance to Park Street with Spooners on the corner, where Bedford Vauxhall Dealership were based; the advertising for which can be seen reflected in the tram window]. Looking down this one way section of Old Town Street with a policeman bravely directing traffic from the middle of the road.

Note the black and white stripes on the base of the lamp post, a reminder that the days of the blackout and the war are not long passed. It's September 1945 and although some of these buildings would survive another 10 or 20 years, there is nothing now remaining to give us our bearings. To stand in the same place today you would need to be in front of Central Methodist Hall in the road outside the church car park, looking down to Marks and Spencer and the north-western entrance to the new Drake Circus building.

Picture courtesy of the South West Image Bank (01752 665445) ref: WMN/1/1/2."

(Commentary by Chris Robinson)


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