The golden key to our public transport
PIECE OF HISTORY LOST FOR MORE THAN CENTURY BACK IN HOME CITY
IT was the key that unlocked public transport in Manchester.
And now, thanks to a very lucky break and a successful fundraising campaign, the golden piece of transport history is back where it rightly belongs.
The year 1901 was a landmark moment for public transport in Manchester.
The first electric tram depot opened at Queen’s Road in Cheetham Hill, with routes operating between Albert Square and Cheetham Hill, and out to Heaton Park and Chorlton.
More routes radiated out across Greater Manchester over the coming weeks and months – with several hundred trams running at first.
It marked a revolution in public travel – and life – after horse-drawn omnibuses and eventually, the depot gave rise to Manchester’s first public bus garage on the same site.
Cutting the ribbon to open the depot on June 6, 1901, was Lord Mayor of Manchester, Thomas Briggs.
He was given a symbolic key to physically open the shed’s doors in what was a huge ceremony of its day.
The key, 12 centimetres long and solid 15 carat gold, also features the Manchester crest and was made by Elkington Jewellers in St Ann’s Square.
An engraving on the key reads: “Presented
by the Tramways Committee to the Rt Hon Thomas Briggs, Lord Mayor of Manchester, on the occasion of the opening of the first electric tram route and the Queens Road car shed – June 1901.”
The mayor himself then took a trip into the city centre, with crowds waiting to see him and the tram at Albert Square.
But after the pomp of the big day, the key completely disappeared.
Fast-forward 118 years and
The Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, based next to the present-day bus depot on Queens Road and Boyle Street, was stunned to be contacted by an auction house in Newcastle that it was going under the hammer.
An initial guide price of between £1,000 to £1,500 quickly increased due to demand, sparking an impromptu fundraising plea by the museum.
Eventually enough was raised and combined with funding from the museum, £5,000 was raised, enough to buy the key and ensure its return.
Paul Williams, a volunteer at the museum and one of the trustees, said the response was overwhelming and thanked all who pledged money.
The key is now being cleaned and will eventually go on show at the museum.
Mr Williams said: “We are immensely pleased and very excited to be bringing a piece of Manchester’s history back to its home.
“It really did mark the beginning of public transport in Manchester, with the electric trams then the buses.”
Mr Williams said what became of the key isn’t known.
He drove up to the north east to collect it and it was presented to him in a worn necklace box. “According to the hallmark, it was made between July 1900 and June 1901, and I expect it hasn’t been cleaned since,” Mr Williams added.
“We still do not know where the key has been, but we’re very pleased to get it back. We do not even know who the seller was.” Other tram garages began to open across Greater Manchester, but Queen’s Road was the first.
“The trams were amazing for people,” Mr Williams added.
“Instead of walking to work you could catch the tram. It made a massive difference to people’s lives.”
Opened in 1979, the museum is a partnership between Transport for Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Transport Society.