113-495: Doncaster Corporation Tramways was an electric tramway network serving the town of Doncaster , England . It was authorised in 1899, and the first route to Bentley opened in 1902. This remained separated from the rest of the system until North Bridge was built to carry traffic over the Great Northern Railway main line to Edinburgh. Soon afterwards, deep mining of coal began in the area, and several extensions to
226-584: A lowland valley in southern Yorkshire. To the west are low rolling hills eventually reaching the Pennines . To the east are the low-lying Isle of Axholme and Humberhead Levels . The south is relatively low-lying, with a large forested area including Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire . The Vale of York lies to the north. The floodplains of the River Don lie to Doncaster's north-east; this area
339-663: A mayor every four years. Additionally, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is one of twelve districts in the United Kingdom to have a directly elected mayor , currently Ros Jones , who was re-elected in 2021. The local authority applied several times, unsuccessfully, for city status . Its borough population of greater than 300,000 is larger than that of many cities' such as Hull , Southampton and Newcastle . On 28 October 2021, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council announced its bid for Doncaster City for
452-530: A 2-man crew was needed, and so it was little used. Some sources suggest it was withdrawn in 1918, but new advertisements were fitted in 1921, and it was relicensed in 1922, so this date is unlikely. It was scrapped in October 1925. The final batch of ten cars were ordered from English Electric for an extension to Rossington, and the order could not be cancelled when the extension plan was abandoned. They ran on 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) Peckham P22 trucks. Besides
565-414: A 2011 population of 302,402, while a 2021 estimate was 308,000. The 2011 census figure makes Doncaster's population very slightly larger than that of Rotherham (pop 109,691). Doncaster emerged as an industrial centre in the late 18th to 20th centuries. Its communications, particularly its waterways, meant that it became extremely busy and experienced migration to its centre. Underneath Doncaster lies
678-649: A country (for example, 1,440 mm or 4 ft 8 + 11 ⁄ 16 in to 1,445 mm or 4 ft 8 + 7 ⁄ 8 in in France). The first tracks in Austria and in the Netherlands had other gauges ( 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in in Austria for the Donau Moldau line and 1,945 mm or 6 ft 4 + 9 ⁄ 16 in in
791-480: A huge natural resource by way of deep seam coal. Doncaster's proximity to major urban centres and motorway/rail infrastructure gives it a number of major distribution centres, including the 420-acre Doncaster International Railport , which dispatches goods to Europe. It also has large warehousing and logistic capabilities for retailers such as Next , Tesco , IKEA , Amazon.com , Lidl and Faberge . A marked proportion of fresh and frozen goods for northern supermarkets
904-650: A line to Brodsworth , another mining village, which opened on 21 February 1916. Rather than run along the roads, the Brodsworth route was built on a reserved formation alongside the Great North Road, past Scawthorpe and Woodlands. The plans for the tramway had envisaged single track with passing places, but it was realised that this would be inadequate particularly for the Racecourse route, which saw tens of thousands of people needing transport to and from
1017-510: A standard gauge of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ), and those in Ireland to a new standard gauge of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ). In Great Britain, Stephenson's gauge was chosen on the grounds that existing lines of this gauge were eight times longer than those of the rival 7 ft or 2,134 mm (later 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in or 2,140 mm ) gauge adopted principally by
1130-423: A time-consuming and expensive process. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a "standard gauge" of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ), allowing interconnectivity and interoperability. A popular legend that has circulated since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge even further back than
1243-514: Is a shopping centre and transport interchange. Opened in June 2006, it connects with the railway and bus stations. Lakeside Village, a retail outlet with some 45 retail shops and restaurants lies along the A6182 dual carriageway. The Waterdale area of the town centre is currently undergoing rejuvenation, with a new theatre (known as CAST), new civic offices and a new public square having been completed on
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#17327870979131356-604: Is about as far north as the 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) average July/August maximum temperature isotherm reaches – Indeed, the August 1990 record high of 35.5 °C (95.9 °F) is the most northerly temperature above 35 °C (95 °F) in the British Isles. The nearby town of Bawtry, slightly further south, still holds the UK's September monthly record high temperature of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F), set in 1906. Typically,
1469-402: Is an ancient word for baker: Baxtergate was the bakers' street. Historians believe that Frenchgate may be named after French-speaking Normans who settled there. The medieval township is known to have been protected by earthen ramparts and ditches, with four substantial gates as entrances to the town. These were located at Hall Gate, St Mary's Bridge (old), St Sepulchre Gate and Sunny Bar. Today
1582-402: Is controlled throughout the town by the local planning authority , Doncaster Council. It reduces urban sprawl , prevent areas in the conurbation from further convergence, protects outlying communities, encourages brownfield reuse, and protects nearby countryside by restricting development in the designated areas and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building. It surrounds the side of
1695-766: Is currently operated by the Ghana Railway Company Limited . Kojokrom-Sekondi Railway Line (The Kojokrom-Sekondi line is a branch line that joins the Western Railway Line at Kojokrom ) Indian nationwide rail system ( Indian Railways ) uses 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) broad gauge. 96% of the broad gauge network is electrified. The railway tracks of Java and Sumatra use 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Planned and under construction high-speed railways to use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft 5 + 21 ⁄ 32 in ) to maintain interoperability with
1808-480: Is defined in U.S. customary / Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1 mm. As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – a " gauge break " – loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and reloaded onto another,
1921-536: Is dispatched by road from Doncaster. On 5 March 2004, Doncaster was granted Fairtrade Town status. Over the last few years the Doncaster Lakeside , as home to the Doncaster Rovers ground, has undergone modernisation. Doncaster has a bowling alley and a cinema near Lakeside. The Dome, opened in 1989 by Princess Diana , contains a swimming pool, gym, ice rink and café. The Frenchgate Centre
2034-404: Is regularly flooded, notably in 2007 and 2019. Thorne and Hatfield Moors , east of Doncaster, is the largest area of low-lying peat bog in the United Kingdom. It is protected as a national nature reserve. Potteric Carr , including Potteric Carr Nature Reserve , lies to the south. Doncaster is within a green belt that extends into the surrounding counties. First defined in 1966, the policy
2147-681: Is situated in the Don Valley on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels and east of the Pennines . It had a population of 87,455 at the 2021 census , whilst the wider metropolitan borough had a population of 308,100. Adjacent to Doncaster to its east is the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire , which contains the towns of Haxey , Epworth and Crowle , and directly south is Harworth Bircotes in Nottinghamshire . Also, within
2260-571: Is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia , Finland , Uzbekistan , and some line sections in Spain . The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it
2373-547: The Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works of Preston, or their successor, the United Electric Car Company. One single-deck vehicle was purchased second-hand in 1917 in an attempt to reduce costs on the unprofitable Avenue Road route, but local crews would not allow one-man operation, and it saw little use. The cars were stabled in two depots on Greyfriars Road. The main depot was built for
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#17327870979132486-539: The First English Civil War , King Charles I marched by Bridgnorth , Lichfield and Ashbourne to Doncaster, where on 18 August 1645 he was met by numbers of Yorkshire gentlemen who had rallied to his cause. On 2 May 1664, Doncaster was rewarded with the title of Free Borough as a way for the King (Charles I's son, King Charles II ) to express gratitude for the allegiance. Doncaster was connected to
2599-552: The Latin castra (military camp; fort). It was mentioned in the 1003 will of Wulfric Spott . Shortly after the Norman Conquest , Nigel Fossard refortified the town and built Conisbrough Castle . By the time of Domesday Book , Hexthorpe in the wapentake of Strafforth was said to have a church and two mills . The historian David Hey says these facilities represent the settlement at Doncaster. He also suggests that
2712-608: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway , authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety. The success of this project led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Robert
2825-497: The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. The borough boundaries were enlarged several times, notably in 1914 when it absorbed Balby with Hexthorpe and Wheatley. By 1927 the borough was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough , independent from West Riding County Council . The county borough
2938-651: The Pilgrimage of Grace ended in Doncaster. This rebellion led by the lawyer Robert Aske commanded 40,000 Yorkshire people against Henry VIII, in protest at the Dissolution of the Monasteries . Many of Doncaster's streets are named with the suffix "-gate", after the old Danish word gata , meaning street. In medieval times, craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills tended to live in the same street. Baxter
3051-462: The Racecourse . There had been proposals for a horse tramway in 1878, and another for a tramway to Balby in 1895, but neither scheme had progressed past the planning stage. However, in 1898 a more serious contender appeared, when British Electric Traction proposed tramways serving Avenue Road, Balby, Bentley and Hexthorpe, and began applying for permission to build them. Doncaster Corporation at
3164-630: The West Riding of Yorkshire in 1899. Under the Local Government Act 1972 it was drawn into a new metropolitan borough in 1974 and became part of the new county of South Yorkshire. Doncaster has traditionally been prosperous within the wapentake of Stafford and Tickhill . The borough was known for rich landowners and huge stately homes such as Brodsworth Hall , Cantley Hall , Cusworth Hall , Hickleton Hall , Nether Hall and Wheatley Hall (demolished 1934). This wealth appears in
3277-528: The 1950s and 1960s. The disadvantage of using an unusual type of rail surfaced when the North Bridge was being built, as steel manufacturers were not interested in producing such a small quantity of rail, and the 225 tons required were bought from Hull. The bridge was due to be opened on 12 May 1910, but the death of King Edward VII six days earlier meant that the opening ceremony was cancelled, and it opened without formal celebration. The Brodsworth route
3390-633: The 1960s. Perhaps the most striking building to survive is St George's Minster , built in the 19th century and promoted from a parish church in 2004. Doncaster was already a communication centre by this time. It straddled the Great North Road or A1 , gaining strategic importance, as this was the main route for traffic between London and Edinburgh . Doncaster is represented in the House of Commons by three Members of Parliament (MPs). Sally Jameson represents Doncaster Central , Ed Miliband ,
3503-459: The 19th-century Doncaster Corn Exchange building (1873). The Corn Exchange was much rebuilt in 1994 after a major fire. During the 14th century, numerous friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preaching. In 1307 the Franciscan friars ( Greyfriars ) arrived, as did Carmelites (Whitefriars) in the mid-14th century. Other major medieval features included
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3616-582: The Balby route carried over 46,000 passengers in the same period, yielding £187. The results of the extension of the Bentley route to New Bentley were dramatic, with revenue rising from £3,700 in 1911 to £67,160 in 1913. Prior to 1913, there had only been two years where the accounts had shown a small surplus, but from 1913 to 1919 the enterprise was profitable. 1919 was the most profitable year, but there were underlying problems. Levels of traffic had risen because of
3729-519: The Don Valley, in the lee of the Pennines, and inland from the North Sea, mean daytime summer temperatures are no lower than parts of South East England, despite the more northerly location. The nearest weather station is RAF Finningley, now known as Doncaster Sheffield Airport , about 5.5 mi (8.9 km) to the south-east of Doncaster city centre and at a similar elevation. The Doncaster area
3842-697: The Great , who was headquartered there while his father was based in nearby York . The Register names the unit as under the command of the " Duke of the Britons ". In 1971 the Danum shield , a rectangular Roman shield dating to the 1st or 2nd century CE, was recovered from the site of the Danum fort. An inscribed altar, dedicated to the Matres by Marcus Nantonius Orbiotalus, was found at St Sepulchre Gate in 1781. This
3955-913: The Great Western Railway. It allowed the broad-gauge companies in Great Britain to continue with their tracks and expand their networks within the "Limits of Deviation" and the exceptions defined in the Act. After an intervening period of mixed-gauge operation (tracks were laid with three rails), the Great Western Railway finally completed the conversion of its network to standard gauge in 1892. In North East England, some early lines in colliery ( coal mining ) areas were 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ), while in Scotland some early lines were 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ). The British gauges converged starting from 1846 as
4068-670: The Hospital of St Nicholas and the leper colony of the Hospital of St James, a moot hall , a grammar school and a five-arched stone town bridge with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Bridge. By 1334, Doncaster was the wealthiest town in southern Yorkshire and the sixth in Yorkshire as a whole, even boasting its own banker. By 1379, it was recovering from the Black Death , which had reduced its population to 1,500. In October 1536,
4181-455: The Levett monopoly. Doncaster's Levet Road is named after the family, as are nearby hamlets of Hooton Levitt and the largely abandoned Levitt Hagg , where much of the town's early limestone was quarried. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Doncaster continued to expand, but it suffered several outbreaks of plague between 1562 and 1606. Each struck down significant numbers of victims. During
4294-661: The National Rail section at 750V DC. There were significant interference issues, which led in part to the cost overrun. In 2019 a Sheffield City Region document outlined plans for an integrated rail network, including the extension of the Rotherham tram-train link to Doncaster and onwards to the Lakeside shopping complex, the Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Bawtry . The timeline that formed part of
4407-647: The Netherlands for the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij ), but for interoperability reasons (the first rail service between Paris and Berlin began in 1849, first Chaix timetable) Germany adopted standard gauges, as did most other European countries. The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of 1886. Several lines were initially built as standard gauge but were later converted to another gauge for cost or for compatibility reasons. 2,295 km (1,426 mi) Victoria built
4520-800: The Queen's Platinum Jubilee . This has been supported by the Doncaster Labour Group and the Doncaster Conservative Association. All three MPs for Doncaster expressed support for city status, with Don Valley 's Nick Fletcher speaking for it in Parliament. Alongside seven other areas, Doncaster was announced to have succeeded in its bid to gain city status on 20 May 2022 as part of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II . The city status applies to
4633-512: The United Electric Car Company in 1908, and a batch of seven vehicles were purchased from them in 1913, six fitted with 7-foot-6-inch (2.29 m) Peckham P22 trucks, and the final one, No.32, running on a 13-foot-6-inch (4.11 m) Warner Patent radial truck. This design of truck did not perform well, and it was replaced by an 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) Peckham P35 truck in 1925. Another batch of four similar cars with 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) Peckham P22 trucks were delivered in 1915–16, although
Doncaster Tramway - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-597: The advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. By the 1890s, the entire network was converted to standard gauge. The Royal Commission made no comment about small lines narrower than standard gauge (to be called "narrow gauge"), such as the Ffestiniog Railway . Thus it permitted a future multiplicity of narrow gauges in the UK. It also made no comments about future gauges in British colonies, which allowed various gauges to be adopted across
4859-407: The central part of the parish, including the town. Such townships were also made civil parishes in 1866. Doncaster was also an ancient borough , with its earliest known charter dating from 1194. The borough just covered the Doncaster township, although it exerted some authority over a surrounding rural area known as the soke. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under
4972-594: The city's vicinity are Barnsley , Wakefield , Pontefract , Selby , Goole , Scunthorpe , Gainsborough , Retford , Worksop and Rotherham , to which Doncaster is linked by road and rail. As part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours , Doncaster received city status by Letters Patent . A ceremony to confer city status took place at Mansion House on 9 November 2022 as part of a tour of Yorkshire by King Charles III and Queen Camilla . Possibly inhabited earlier, Doncaster grew up on
5085-483: The coal mines of County Durham . He favoured 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham , and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was built primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees . Opening in 1825,
5198-493: The coalfields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire . Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that it "is perhaps more fairly labeled as 'Partly true, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons. ' " The historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles around 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) apart probably derives from
5311-534: The colonies. Parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ) over
5424-667: The conference in Doncaster, UKIP were "now parking our tanks on the Labour Party's lawn", referring to Labour leader Ed Miliband 's Doncaster North constituency. Shortly afterwards in the seat, at the 2015 general election , UKIP won 8,928 votes to Labour's 20,708. In the 2016 membership referendum , 69 per cent of Doncaster voted to leave the European Union. Doncaster forms part of the South Yorkshire Combined Authority , which elects
5537-409: The controllers for all of these vehicles, but they were later replaced by equipment from British Thomson-Houston . At least two of these trams had their trucks lengthened to 7 feet (2.1 m) between 1913 and 1915. Two more were fitted with new Peckham P22 trucks in 1922, with a wheelbase of 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m). The Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works changed their name to
5650-459: The course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States . In continental Europe, France and Belgium adopted a 1,500 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 16 in ) gauge (measured between the midpoints of each rail's profile ) for their early railways. The gauge between the interior edges of the rails (the measurement adopted from 1844) differed slightly between countries, and even between networks within
5763-596: The early 1920s, there was increasing competition from private motor buses, and the Corporation decided to close down the tramways. They obtained powers to run their own motor buses in 1922, and purchased their first six vehicles from the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company . The trams on the Avenue Road route were replaced by motor buses on 1 May 1925, and the service was extended to Wheatley Hills at
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#17327870979135876-740: The first railways to the 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) Irish broad gauge. New South Wales then built to the standard gauge, so trains had to stop on the border and passengers transferred, which was only rectified in the 1960s. Queensland still runs on a narrow gauge but there is a standard gauge line from NSW to Brisbane. NMBS/SNCB 3,619 km (2,249 mi) Brussels Metro 40 km (25 mi) Trams in Brussels 140 km (87 mi) 1,032 km (641 mi) The Toronto Transit Commission uses 4 ft 10 + 7 ⁄ 8 in ( 1,495 mm ) gauge on its streetcar and subway lines. Takoradi to Sekondi Route,
5989-749: The former Labour Party leader , represents Doncaster North , and Lee Pitcher represents the Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme . From 2023 , the Don Valley constituency will be renamed Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme , and will cover part of North Lincolnshire . A new Rawmarsh and Conisbrough constituency will be created covering the south-western suburbs of Doncaster and parts of Rotherham. Doncaster Central and Doncaster North will see minor boundary changes. In September 2014, UKIP held an annual party conference at Doncaster Racecourse . UKIP party leader Nigel Farage claimed that by holding
6102-559: The gates at Sunny Bar are commemorated by huge "Boar Gates"; similarly, the entrance to St Sepulchre Gate is commemorated by white marble "Roman Gates". The boundary of the town mainly extended from the Don along a route known now Market Road, Silver Street, Cleveland Street and Printing Office Street. Access to the town was restricted and some officeholders secured charters to collect tolls. In 1605, King James I granted to William Levett of Doncaster, brother of York merchant Percival Levett ,
6215-498: The green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests, with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including the River Don and valley west of Hexthorpe; Hexthorpe Park; Cusworth Hall , museum and country park; Potteric Carr and Huxter Well Marsh; and the Trans Pennine Trail . Doncaster has a maritime climate lacking extreme temperatures, like much of the British Isles. Its low elevation in
6328-497: The grooves in the rails. There was also a former horse tram, which was built in 1903 and bought from York around 1912 for use as a trailer for sand and salt. In January 2013 it was announced that a proposed trial of Tram-train's linking Rotherham 's Parkgate with Sheffield could lead to a similar scheme being rolled out in Doncaster. The extension of the Sheffield Supertram network to Rotherham using tram-trains
6441-429: The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around 1850, to the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge. The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway ,
6554-433: The lack of a crossing over the railway. Next to open was the tramway along Nether Hall Road to Avenue Road on 15 January 1903, and a short branch from this line along Beckett Road on 17 August. Another short branch from St Sepulchre Gate to Oxford Street opened on 25 November 1903, but was not profitable, and closed after two years. Several additional Light Railway Orders were required to authorise extensions and deviations to
6667-825: The late 70s. Doncaster provided an alternative land route between Lincoln and York , while the main route Ermine Street involved parties breaking up to cross the Humber in boats. As this was not always practical, the Romans saw Doncaster as an important staging post. The Roman road appears on two routes recorded in the Antonine Itinerary . The itinerary includes the same section of road between Lincoln and York and lists three stations between these two coloniae . Routes 7 and 8 ( Iter VII & VIII ) are entitled "the route from York to London ". Several areas of intense archaeological interest have been identified in
6780-434: The level, a temporary stabling place was provided for four trams in an old barn at Marshgate, to the west of the railway. This was not in a good state of repair, and blew down in late 1904 or early 1905, to be replaced by a new shed which could hold three cars. When an extension from the Racecourse to Rossington was planned in 1919, ten new trams were ordered, and since the existing depot would not be large enough, an annexe
6893-417: The luxurious, historic gilded 18th-century Mansion House in High Street . This land ownership developed over what is an ancient market place and large buildings were erected in the 19th century, including the Market Hall and Corn Exchange . The old Doncaster Guildhall in Frenchgate was designed by John Butterfield with a tetrastyle portico and completed in 1847: it was demolished in the redevelopment of
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#17327870979137006-439: The old 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) plateway was relaid to 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) so that Blenkinsop's engine could be used. Others were 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) (in Beamish ) or 4 ft 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,410 mm ) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend ), Kenton , and Coxlodge ). English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for
7119-409: The opening of the system, 15 trams were acquired from the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works of Preston, which were mounted on Brill 6-foot (1.8 m) 4-wheeled trucks. Doncaster had originally planned to order single-deck cars, but opted instead for a standard design. The staircases were reversed, running from the inner end of the front or rear platform and curving around the outside edge of
7232-469: The opening of the system, and the second in 1920 to house cars bought for an extension to Rossington which did not go ahead. Public transport in Doncaster began in 1887, when an undertaker called J G Steadman started running horse buses in the town. Two years later, the grocers Hodgson & Hepworth also started running buses, to be joined by J Stoppani soon afterwards. Between them, the buses served Avenue Road, Balby , Bentley , Hexthorpe , Hyde Park and
7345-569: The original plans. These were obtained in 1902, 1903, 1911 and 1914. These did not include the connection of the Bentley route to the rest of the system, which was authorised as part of the powers obtained in 1908 to build North Bridge. This period saw the development of deep coal mining in the area, and the extensions were to serve new communities that grew up around the pit heads. The 1911 Order saw extensions from Bentley to New Bentley, which opened on 20 March 1913, and from Balby to Warmsworth , which followed on 4 February 1915. The 1914 Order authorised
7458-416: The overhead wiring. Driver training for the trolleybuses took place in spring 1928 on the Racecourse route. As the conversion of the wiring was not complete, they ran for part of the way with one trolley boom running on the tramway wire and the other connected to a skate that ran on the tram tracks to complete the electrical circuit. The first route where the conversion was completed was that to Bentley, where
7571-400: The passenger vehicles, two works vehicles were also owned by the Corporation. The first was a water car and sweeper, bought in 1902, and equipped with two large water tanks to wet and sweep the dusty roads of the time. The brushes were powered by an additional electric motor. In winter it was used to sweep snow from the tracks, and was fitted with Jarrards rail scrapers, which removed debris from
7684-412: The poor construction methods used to lay the track. The system had been financed by loans repayable over 40 years, and with the track needing replacement after half of that period, it was uneconomic to carry out the work. The Corporation decided to replace the system with motor buses in 1922, but in 1926 concluded that trolleybuses would be more economical. The first route of the Doncaster trolleybus system
7797-426: The races. The Board of Trade was able to authorise doubling of the track without recourse to Parliament. The 1902 Order had also allowed a siding to be built beside the stands, and although most of the route was double track, the section at the bottom end of High Street was not, as it was too narrow. The vast crowds of St Leger Day in 1902 showed that getting trams to the Station Road terminus under these conditions
7910-410: The rail network in 1848 and a plant and carriage works for Great Northern Railway was constructed in the town in 1853. The Doncaster Carr rail depot was opened in 1876. The area to the east of Doncaster started developing settlements where coal miners lived from the 1850s onwards, exploiting coal near Barnsley . One such settlement is Deneby. Doncaster and surrounding settlements became part of
8023-436: The rails is better, thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads ) was the important one. A standard gauge for horse railways never existed, but rough groupings were used; in the north of England none was less than 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). Wylam colliery's system, built before 1763, was 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ), as was John Blenkinsop 's Middleton Railway ;
8136-443: The records are somewhat ambiguous about the year in which they actually arrived. All of these vehicles had top covers but open balconies at the outside ends. The next car was obtained second-hand from Erith Urban District Council Tramways in 1917. It was a single-deck vehicle, and was designed to be one-man operated. It was intended for use on the unprofitable Avenue Road route, as a way of cutting costs, but local crews insisted that
8249-410: The replace the worn-out track. The Bentley route was one of the most profitable, but if it was uneconomic to reconstruct it, then it would not be so for any of the other routes either. Trolleybuses initially solved this conundrum, since they did not require the track to be reconstructed, and revenue on the Bentley route increased by 50 per cent when they were introduced, while for the rest of the system it
8362-714: The report suggested that the section to Doncaster could be completed by 2028. Doncaster Doncaster ( / ˈ d ɒ ŋ k ə s t ər , - k æ s -/ DONK -ə-stər, DONK -ast-ər ) is a city in South Yorkshire , England. Named after the River Don , it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough , and is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield . Noted for its racing and railway history, it
8475-537: The rest of the UK. The Doncaster skyline is overlooked by the minster in the middle of the city. The Frenchgate Shopping Centre is in a similar position in the skyline, along with the Doncaster College Hub building. After the old Doncaster College and surrounding buildings were demolished, the new Doncaster Civic Office designed by Cartwright Pickard was built for Doncaster Council at a cost of £20 million and completed in 2012. Doncaster lies in
8588-411: The rest of the network. All other railways use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft 5 + 21 ⁄ 32 in ) ( broad gauge ) and/or 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge . BLS , Rigi Railways (rack railway) 449 km Several states in the United States had laws requiring road vehicles to have a consistent gauge to allow them to follow ruts in
8701-499: The right to levy tolls at Friar's and St Mary's bridges. Having served as mayors and aldermen of Doncaster, the Levetts probably believed they could control a monopoly. In 1618 the family began enforcing it, but by 1628 the populace revolted. Capt. Christopher Levett , Percival's son, petitioned Parliament to enforce the tolls, but Parliament disagreed, calling them "a grievance to the subjects, both in creation and execution," and axing
8814-581: The same time. However, the Corporation took the decision in 1926 to replace the trams with trolleybuses , and obtained powers to convert their lines to this new form of traction. The Brodsworth route was excluded from this, but the Wheatley Hills route was included, even though the trams had already been replaced. The powers were enshrined in the Doncaster Corporation Act 1926, and Clough, Smith & Co. were contracted to modify
8927-482: The scheme, with the loans to be paid back over forty years, which was a longer period than the life expectancy of the track. The rails were bought from Belgium, while the points were provided by Hadfields of Sheffield. The first parts of the town to benefit from the tramway were in the south west, with a route from Station Road along St Sepulchre Gate to Balby High Street, and a branch from Hexthorpe Road to reach Old Hexthorpe, which opened on 2 June 1902. Later that month,
9040-405: The service was provided by both trams and motor buses from 23 March, since when the final eight trams were sold for scrap, only four of them were in working order. The initial construction was financed by loans, to be paid back over 40 years. The Oxford Street route was not profitable, and for the 27-day period beginning 7 December 1903, just £15 was raised by carrying 3,633 passengers. By contrast,
9153-452: The site of a Roman fort of the 1st century CE, at a crossing of the River Don . The 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary and early-5th-century Notitia Dignitatum ( Register of Dignitaries ) called the fort Danum . The first section of road to the Doncaster fort had probably been built since the early 50s, while a route through the north Derbyshire hills was opened in the later 1st century, possibly by Governor Gn. Julius Agricola in
9266-659: The site of the Waterdale car park. The old council house and civic theatre have been demolished and new housing is being built in the town itself, opposite Doncaster Racecourse, and in out-of-town suburbs. During the 19th and 20th centuries, confectioners based in Doncaster included Parkinson's the Butterscotch inventors, Nuttalls Mintoes and Murray Mints. In August 2011, Parkinson's put its 190-year-old trademark up for sale on eBay. The waterways, River Don and Don Navigation were used to transport coal from Doncaster to
9379-540: The steel production centres at Rotherham , Scunthorpe and Sheffield . Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson ), international gauge , UIC gauge , uniform gauge , normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It
9492-464: The street name Frenchgate indicates that Fossard invited fellow Normans to trade in the town. Doncaster was ceded to Scotland in the Treaty of Durham and never formally returned to England. With the 13th century, Doncaster matured into a busy town. In 1194 King Richard I granted it national recognition with a town charter . It suffered a disastrous fire in 1204, from which it slowly recovered. At
9605-510: The system were made between 1913 and 1916 to serve new communities which developed around the pit heads. The Racecourse route was unusual, in that it had balloon loops at both ends to enable almost continuous running on race days, a feature that was not common in England, and only found favour in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1913 to 1919, the tramways were reasonably profitable, but suffered from lack of maintenance during World War I, and
9718-492: The term "narrow gauge" for gauges less than standard did not arise for many years, until the first such locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Ffestiniog Railway , was built. In 1845, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges reported in favour of a standard gauge. The subsequent Gauge Act ruled that new passenger-carrying railways in Great Britain should be built to
9831-404: The time were planning to build a power station to supply a municipal lighting scheme, and an electric tramway would make that more economic, using electricity all day, rather than only when it was dark. They were keen to operate their own services, and so proposed an alternative. British Electric Traction then withdrew their scheme, but offered to run the Corporation's system for them, an offer which
9944-554: The time, buildings were built of wood, and open fireplaces used for cooking and heating. In 1248, a charter was granted for Doncaster Market to be held in the area surrounding the Church of St Mary Magdalene, which was built in Norman times. In the 16th century, the church was adapted for use as the town hall . It was finally demolished in 1846. Some 750 years on, the market continues to operate, with busy traders located under cover, at
10057-652: The town, although many such as St Sepulchre Gate remain hidden under buildings. The Roman fort is thought to have lain on the site now taken by St George's Minster , beside the River Don . The Doncaster garrison units are named in a Register produced near the end of Roman rule in Britain : it was the home of the Crispinian Horse, presumably named after the tribes living near Crispiana in Pannonia Superior (near present-day Zirc in western Hungary ), but possibly after Crispus , son of Constantine
10170-437: The track since 1912, due to its poor construction. In 1922, West Yorkshire County Council announced that it intended to relay the road at a higher level, and this would have involved moving the tracks. Doncaster were faced with the problem that this was uneconomic, as the original loans would not be repaid for a further 20 years, and traffic receipts would not cover the finance costs of the original loans and of new ones required to
10283-401: The track were cut diagonally, to make for a smoother ride over the joint. Construction of the standard gauge 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) network began in 1901, and in order to cut costs, the foundations were not made as substantial as they should have been, resulting in ongoing problems with the track for years afterwards. The Council borrowed money to fund
10396-749: The trams ceased to run on 21 August 1928. Next to go was the Hexthorpe route on 30 June 1929 and the Beckett Road route on 30 July 1929. On 15 January 1930, the Racecourse and Hyde Park services terminated, and in March 1931, trolleybuses replaced motor buses on the route to Wheatley Hills. Balby and Warmsworth services were withdrawn on 25 July 1931, leaving just the trams on the Brodsworth service. These continued to run until 1935, but during April, cars 40 and 47 caught fire, with No.40 being partially destroyed. The final trams ran on 8 June, but it seems likely that
10509-465: The tramway from St Sepulchre Gate along Hall Gate, South Parade and Bennetthorpe Road to the Racecourse opened on 30 June. A short branch from St Sepulchre Gate to Jarrett Street followed on 1 August, and this was extended in October to Childers Street in the Hyde Park area. The tracks along Bentley Road to Bentley High Street opened on 27 October, but that part of the system remained isolated because of
10622-481: The urban area west of the East Coast Line, preventing suburbs such as Sprotbrough , New Edlington , Old Edlington , Scawsby and New Rossington merging. As a result, open rural land can be very close to the town centre at some points (for example the wide undeveloped valley of the River Don is adjacent to the town centre), while at other points the urban sprawl rolls on for up to five miles. Another aim of
10735-406: The vehicle. This was followed by two batches of five cars each in 1903, giving a total of 25 cars to work the service. Cars 5 to 16 and 22 to 25 were fitted with top covers in four batches between 1907 and 1913. Most of the top covers were built by Dick, Kerr , but the third batch was supplied by Brush . When the top covers were fitted, the stairs were replaced by direct ones. Dick, Kerr had supplied
10848-563: The war, but costs had risen at a faster rate. Fares had been fixed by the enabling legislation, as prices were stable at the time, and there was no concept of coping with inflation. Parliament made partial provision for this with the passing of the Tramways (Increase of Charges) Act 1920, but individual tramways still had to apply to adjust their fares. Doncaster made an application in 1920 and was successful. The Bentley line closed largely due to economic pressures. There had been complaints about
10961-447: The warmest day of the year reaches 29.1 °C (84.4 °F) and 12 or 13 days report a daytime maximum of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The lowest known temperature is −13.5 °C (7.7 °F), set during December 1981. Online records only go back to 1960, and lower temperatures may have been recorded earlier. During the 1971–2000 period, an average of 51.9 nights of the year recorded an air frost. Typically 106.9 days of
11074-427: The whole metropolitan borough rather than just the built up area of Doncaster. Doncaster formally received the letters patent and became a city when a ceremony took place on 9 November 2022 as part of a royal visit. Doncaster was an ancient parish , which was subdivided into six townships : Balby with Hexthorpe , Langthwaite with Tilts , Long Sandall , Loversall , Wheatley and a Doncaster township covering
11187-479: The width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Research, however, has been undertaken to support the hypothesis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages". In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from the outermost portions of the wheel rims, it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails, having main wheel flanges that fit inside
11300-426: The world's first mountain -climbing rack railway , is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge since its inauguration in 1868. George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge (including a belated extra 1 ⁄ 2 in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves ) for
11413-459: The year report 1 mm or more of rainfall. Total annual precipitation is slightly below 560 mm (22 in), which is comparable to the driest parts of the UK, due to Doncaster's location in the rain shadow of the Pennines. In the 2011 census the town of Doncaster (identified as the "built-up area subdivision") had a population of 109,805, while the wider " Built-up area " had a population of 158,141. The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster had
11526-430: Was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the larger Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster , which also took in the abolished urban districts of Adwick le Street , Bentley with Arksey , Conisbrough , Mexborough , Tickhill , the rural districts of Doncaster and Thorne , and (from Nottinghamshire) the parish of Finningley and part of the parish of Harworth (the latter being added to the parish of Bawtry ). The borough
11639-445: Was again that to Bentley, opened in 1928, and by 1931, all of the authorised routes had been converted. The tramway to Brodsworth continued in use until 1935, when it was replaced by motor buses. Trolleybuses ran for somewhat longer than the trams had, with the system finally closing in 1963. The service was provided by a total of 47 tramcars, all but one of them being double-deck vehicles running on 4-wheel chassis. Most were supplied by
11752-506: Was almost impossible, and the 1903 Order sought to address this issue. The Racecourse siding became a balloon loop, and another loop was constructed at the town end, enabling cars to pass through the High Street section in one direction only and return to the Racecourse via another single track along Printing Office Street and Priory Place. Few other loop terminals were constructed in England, and they only came into general use in Europe in
11865-559: Was around 38 per cent. When the system was proposed, there were plans to build three depots. One was to be on Greyfriars Road, with a second using part of the Wool Market. However, this latter location was abandoned, and no work took place. The Greyfriars Road depot was located at SE 57269 03587 , near to the power station and the east end of North Bridge. Because trams could not cross the Great Northern Railway on
11978-522: Was debated in 1911–12, and there were moves to use trolleybuses rather than trams. The Tramways Committee visited the newly-opened trolleybus systems in Bradford and Leeds to see them in operation. They were sufficiently impressed, that when the Council reconsidered the route, there were eleven votes for trams and seven for trolleybuses. A proposal to use motor buses was defeated by a larger margin. In
12091-591: Was declined. They were probably the first Council to apply for powers for a tramway using the provisions of the Light Railways Act 1896 , rather than the Tramways Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 78). A hearing took place in Doncaster in February 1899, at which the Great Northern Railway objected to a level crossing with their line from London to Edinburgh. This was upheld, and the route to Bentley
12204-507: Was donated to the Yorkshire Museum in 1856. Doncaster is generally identified with Cair Daun listed as one of 28 British cities in the 9th-century History of the Britons traditionally ascribed to Nennius . It was certainly an Anglo-Saxon burh , and in that period received its present name: "Don-" ( Old English : Donne ) from the settlement and river and "-caster" ( -ceaster ) from an Old English version of
12317-402: Was officially a Department of Transport experiment to prove the concept. The scheme was subject to delays and cost overruns, with the opening date pushed back from December 2015 to December 2018, and the cost rising from £15 million to £75 million. Despite the fact that the new vehicles could operate from an overhead supply at either 750V DC or 25kV AC, the decision was taken to electrify
12430-554: Was planned. Although the Rossington link did not go ahead, the order for the trams could not be cancelled, and so they and the annexe arrived in 1920. This was also known as the Car Repairing Shed, and was located on the north side of Greyfriars Road, next to Frenchgate at SE 57174 03591 . The main depot had seven running roads with a paintshop at the eastern end, while the smaller annexe had three running roads. For
12543-408: Was raised to city status in 2022. Doncaster is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire and the largest metropolitan district in England by area . It expanded dramatically in population with the development of coal mining. Closure of coal mines in the 1970s and early 1980s caused economic difficulties; the town then developed its service industry , drawing on the good communication links with
12656-605: Was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ). "I would take a few inches more, but a very few". During the " gauge war " with the Great Western Railway , standard gauge was called " narrow gauge ", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge . The modern use of
12769-503: Was to be detached from the rest of the system until a bridge could be built. The proposed budget for the scheme was £70,000. The works were authorised by the Doncaster Corporation Light Railways Order 1899, and after a fact-finding visit to Kingston upon Hull , they decided to use Hull's rather quirky system of centre-grooved rail, becoming the only other tramway in the country to do so. Joints in
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