John Woodman
- May 11, 2021

Wyre Dock Terminus

John Woodman

The very recent online posting by an intruder keen to showcase the Trust's assembly of trams stored at Wyre Dock and now looking very much the worse for their lengthy external storage has triggered a slew of similar photographic afficianados with similar intentions. In fact the FHLT have received more interest in their assets than at any time since we started a decade back.

However welcome this interest may be, it is in fact causing the owners of the Port of Fleetwood property to turn back further wannabe tram enthusiasts from entry to the Wyre Dock property. Most particularly for insurance, liability and safety reasons. Additional security is being put in place for this purpose. Trespass onto the Trust's property is a criminal offence.

Where permission is sought in advance, for those with a serious interest in either recording or acquiring some of the stored trams now being disposed of - the Trust will make its best endeavours to provide sanctioned access. Otherwise casual visitors are strictly discouraged. Discussions with alternative homes for some of the Trust's assets are underway and firm decisions on disposal will be announced here - as and when they are agreed.

Speculative online exchanges elsewhere on the Trust's collection and its future placement are inevitable but carry no substance. Announcement this week of the decision by the Brighton 53 Group to dismantle their former Graz car which had originally operated (away from Austria) at the Summerlee Museum for a short time - being a timely example of expiry dates being acted on when no sustainable alternatives are at hand. A not dissimilar ending for three former Charleroi postwar trailers which eventually found their way to a working remnant of the County Donegal Railway via a Northern Ireland theme park - underlines the frailties of tram preservation. The FHLT of course found itself bereft of a Centenary car following vandalism on a Blackpool company's property some year's back.

Other than the trailer unit 687 intended for Rossall School no firm agreements have been reached with third parties for the other cars in FHLT ownership or oversight but the clock is ticking on all of them.