Ian Yearsley

The Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire was part of my growing up. It was fairly near my home, and we could be there inside half-an-hour; there was always something happening - in its early days, volunteers would complain that they'd lay a length of track, and the next time they were there, someone had put a tram on it! - and in the 1960s it was one way to support the preservation movement without undertaking a major journey. Of course, in time that changed.

So this history of the Tramway Museum Society is timely. It's a reminder of the passage of time - the Society has been running for more than fifty years now - and for me it was a very nostalgic exploration of the Society's early days, as well as a useful summary of what it has done in the twenty-five years since I left Derbyshire. It is also interesting for me because a younger me appears in one of the crowd scenes in the book (the photograph at the foot of page 24).… (more)