Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 1710 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| BRADFORD TROLLEY BUSES 1972 | 1972-1978 | 1972-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: Super 8 Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 8 mins 45 secs Subject: Urban Life Transport Politics |
| Summary Made by Cawood Filmmakers in 1972, this film records the last of the Bradford trolleybuses. The commentary was added in 1978, and the sound is a mixture of oral histories of the trolleybuses and recordings from speeches made at the time. |
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Description
Made by Cawood Filmmakers in 1972, this film records the last of the Bradford trolleybuses. The commentary was added in 1978, and the sound is a mixture of oral histories of the trolleybuses and recordings from speeches made at the time.
Title – Bradford Trolleybuses Britain’s first and last
The film opens as a blue trolleybus backs out of a large garage. It pulls into the street and heads off on its journey. There are close up shots of the overhead wires as well as of the driver. The...
Made by Cawood Filmmakers in 1972, this film records the last of the Bradford trolleybuses. The commentary was added in 1978, and the sound is a mixture of oral histories of the trolleybuses and recordings from speeches made at the time.
Title – Bradford Trolleybuses Britain’s first and last
The film opens as a blue trolleybus backs out of a large garage. It pulls into the street and heads off on its journey. There are close up shots of the overhead wires as well as of the driver. The bus is on route through Bradford, and the city streets can be seen with the trolleybus coming towards the camera. The conductor gets off and pulls on a chain. There is a view of the back of the bus and more footage of the wires overhead.
At night, the trolleybus makes its way to Thornton. Crowds of enthusiasts climb aboard, most of whom have a camera with them. There is also good footage of contemporary fashions. The bus goes on its way, and an Asian conductor collects the passengers’ fairs. People get off the bus at various stops before the trolleybus is eventually empty. The conductor rings the bell and the bus moves off. The trolley bus enters its garage and the doors are closed by two men holding cigarettes in their mouths. Finally, the driver collects his coat and leaves the garage.
It is the final day for the trolleybuses, and they have all been lined up along a street. Accompanying the images is a recording from the Lord Mayor of Bradford who reminisces about his time as a trolleybus driver. The buses have adverts along their sides reading, “1911 Bradford’s Last Trolleybus 1972.” Various people climb aboard including a policeman, and the bus makes its way along the streets of Bradford. It then pulls into the garage where the Lord Mayor officially switches off the power signalling the end for this mode of transportation. The film closes with the crowds of people who have gathered to have one last glimpse of the trolleybuses.
Context
This film is one of several made by Edward Croot of Bradford trolley buses in the 1970s, under the name of Cawood Films, from where Edward lives. Billed as Britain’s First And Last, it is the distinction of Bradford to have both the first and last trolley buses in Britain. It is noticeable that on the side of the buses it states both ‘Bradford’s Last Trolley Bus’ and ‘Britain’s Last Trolley Bus’. In fact it was both Bradford and Leeds together who were the first cities to operate...
This film is one of several made by Edward Croot of Bradford trolley buses in the 1970s, under the name of Cawood Films, from where Edward lives. Billed as Britain’s First And Last, it is the distinction of Bradford to have both the first and last trolley buses in Britain. It is noticeable that on the side of the buses it states both ‘Bradford’s Last Trolley Bus’ and ‘Britain’s Last Trolley Bus’. In fact it was both Bradford and Leeds together who were the first cities to operate trolleybuses in Britain on the 20th June 1911 (the United Kingdom didn’t come into being until 1927), manufacturing their own vehicles.
The first commercial trolleybus route was opened from Laisterdyke to Dudley Hill, with double deck trolleybuses being introduced in 1921. The first successful trolleybus system operated in Switzerland in 1901, and the idea was picked up from Germany and Italy in 1909 by a deputation from Leeds – see the excellent trolleybus database for a detailed history (References). The last trolley bus to operate, when most of the footage in this film was taken, was on the 26th March 1972. This is 10 years later than they were stopped in London. For those who have no memory of these, this film provides a good look at how these electric buses operated, drawing electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. As they didn’t have any track, as trams and streetcars did, in order to complete the electrical circuit two wires and poles are needed instead of just one wire and pole. Two years after this last trolleybus, from April 1974, Bradford City Transport became incorporated into West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Metro). Bradford also had the last rear-entrance trolleybus in Britain – now owned by the still active Bradford Trolleybus Association (whose website is the best source of information). Trolleybuses in Bradford can be seen throughout this time: from 1912 in Easter On Shipley Glen, Elland Carnival of Yester Years (1926), the Lord Mayor’s Year of Office (1944-45), especially Bradford Silver Jubilation (1935), which shows a trolley bus (an AEC English Electric) doing a u-turn on the turning circle at Tyrrel Street and Sunbridge Road, and stopping for an inspector. As well as trolleybuses, Bradford also had trams, at first using horses and then, from 1884, steam. Later the corporation introduced electric trams, running between Forster Square and Bolton, from 1898 – see the Context for Bradford Town Hall Square (1896) When motor buses were introduced in 1926 they resembled the tramcars – for more on this see the history in References. But as one commentator in the film notes, trolleybuses, by running on electricity, make sense; even more so with the knowledge of global warming. So, they may make a come back, and Leeds will be the first place in the UK where this happens when it will have thirty trolleybuses in operation from 2016. Throughout Europe and the world trolleybuses are common – in nearly 400 cities – often the centrepiece of a public transport system. References Bradford Trolleybus Association Bradford Trolleybus, BBC History Leeds Tbus A brief history of transport in Bradford trolleybus database |
