Synopsis: A trip on Seaton tramway with Mum. A novel experience for us both, travelling on an electric tram for the first time. Followed by a walk along Seaton seafront and an ice cream and tea in a beach café.
I’d been meaning to do this trip out with Mum for sometime, but things had been transpiring against us, but today was to be the day. We were in part inspired to do this by having obtained a copy of the book Exeter and the Trams, 1882 – 1931, which I’d first stumbled upon in Exeter Central Library. Since trams obviously played a significant role in Exeter’s recent history, and as the Seaton Tramway is just up the coast from us, this seemed the opportune time to find out more.
I parked on-street just a short distance from the tramway, as I didn’t want the concern of a parking ticket expiring. We walked past St Gregory’s Church (Grade I Listed) on our way to the tramway, which seemed to be glistening in the sun. Apparently Grade I Listed, but we passed it by today as we wished to be on our way.
We purchased our tickets at the Seaton tram stop. I keep wanting to say station, but I believe stop is more appropriate for a tramway. The tram waiting to depart was full, so we would have to wait 20 minutes for the next tram, due to depart at 12:20pm. Evidently Seaton Tramway was very busy on this warm and sunny day.
Axmouth
Our tram journey did a dog-leg around the new Tesco store, then passed the tram depot (previously this was Seaton railway station), before beginning its run alongside the River Axe. The tram line runs between Seaton Marshes on the west and Axmouth Marsh on the east. The tower of Axmouth parish church was clearly visible, a prominent backdrop to Axmouth Marsh.
Colyton tram stop
This was the first time that Mum and I had travelled on a tram, and we were pleasantly surprised how smooth and silent running they are. I had read how the businessmen in Exeter had complained they couldn’t work for the noise of the trams, but can only conclude these were the luddites of their day lamenting the demise of the horse drawn carriage. I also noticed that there were canoeists out on the River Axe. This is probably an interesting estuary to explore on the water, so I must make a return visit with my canoe sometime.
Lunch at Colyton tram stop café
We arrived at Colyton tram stop just before 1pm and were now ready for lunch. Mum and I settled for bangers and mash in the café which is housed in a part of the old railway station complex. The café was light, airy and cool, with good basic food to be had at a reasonable price.
Colyton tram stop - our return tram arrives to collect us
We wiled away some time in the Seaton Tramway shop whilst waiting for our return tram. I acquired the, as my daughters will tell you, all important fridge magnet to add to my collection. They had one showing tram 19 (built 1906) which is the only surviving Exeter tram still in use, which sadly we didn’t see for real today. It was a must to have for my fridge door. The article Trams and buses in Exeter at Exeter Memories contains background information on the trams in Exeter including this picture of tram 19.
We were back in Seaton a little before 3pm and decide on a stroll along the seafront. First we headed towards the old bridge over the River Axe (Grade II* Listed), constructed in 1877, the first in England to be constructed in ‘massed concrete, to imitate rustication’. Apparently the rather odd looking building nearby is the old toll house, contemporary with the bridge. I should have guessed that but I’m afraid age and senility impaired my mental faculties.
View from old bridge looking out to sea
Our way ahead, after having crossed the river over the old bridge, was restricted, as their was a notice informing us there had been a landslip and that it was not possible to access the beach. We turned about, retraced our footsteps over the old bridge, and made our way out onto Seaton seafront.
Seaton esplanade - Chine Café
We walked the whole length of the esplanade, which took us as far as the Chine Café where we stopped for refreshments. We treated ourselves to a a cup of tea and an ice cream; well, it was rather hot. I’m not sure what the date of this building’s construction is, but it looks 20s-30s. We chose to sit inside, as we’d had a lot of sun and appreciated the cool shade. It was lovely sitting there and looking out to sea and the white cliffs just west of us.
It is possible to walk the 2 miles to Beer, which is a lovely walk, well described in the ‘Seaton to Beer over White Cliff’ on the Seaton Bay web site, but it was time for us to return home, so we headed back along the esplanade. Cutting up through the town and we were soon back at our car and making our way back to Exeter.
I think we both enjoyed our day very much. Visiting the Seaton Tramway made a pleasant change, and it was interesting to experience travel on these faithful workhorses (minus the horse) of a bygone age. The refinement, energy efficiency, durability and cleanness of tram travel all these years on, seems to me to have been well ahead of its time. Maybe we’ll yet see a return of the tram to our streets.
There is rather a nice set of old photos of Seaton in the Francis Frith collection should you wish to see how the resort looked in earlier times.
A modern tram in Strasbourg
This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strasbourg_-_Stra%C3%9Fenbahn_-_Stadtumgestaltung.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 2.5 license.
Trams are due to return to Edinburgh in 2014 © BBC
Full speed ahead in Edinburgh trams test - BBC News Scotland
Trams in Calcutta, the last city in India to operate trams, teetering on the brink after 140 years of service © BBC
Trams scheduled to return to Edinburgh in 2014 © BBC
Edinburgh trams: Services 'will be running by next May' – BBC News Edinburgh
Trams scheduled to return to Edinburgh in 2014 © BBC
First Edinburgh tram takes customers to the city – BBC News Scotland
Trip Statistics (including tram ride):
Total Distance: 8.8 miles
Max Speed: 15.7mph
Moving Time: 2hrs 44min
Stopped Time: 2 hrs 07min
Total Ascent: 125 metres
Maximum Elevation: 32 metres
Buses: (none)
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