Wantage Tramway – missing movies
The Wantage Tramway was the UK’s first steam-powered roadside passenger tram. It linked the market town of Wantage (then in Berkshire, now Oxfordshire) to the Great Western Railway, north of Grove. The tramway closed in 1945, having run for 70 years, although for the last two decades it carried only freight.
The great mystery is, where are the movies? The only known film footage of the tramway is a short (less than 2 minute) feature by British Pathé. But there must be more. Professional movie cameras were introduced in the mid 1890s. In the early days of cinema, commercial film makers often recorded everyday street scenes. By the 1930s, compact and relatively affordable home movie cameras, such as the 9.5mm cassette-loading Pathex models, were available. Whilst they weren’t that common, there were enough around that surely somebody filmed the tramway.
Also, the tramway passed close to the WW2 USAAF base at Grove, where at least a few of the many American serviceman must have had movie cameras. Maybe even today there is footage of the tranway on an old 9.5mm cassette somewhere in Idaho, or some 35mm home movie in a loft in Montana?
If you know the whereabouts of any more Wantage Tramway film, please contact me. It would be great to pass on copies to the three local museums with a special interest in the tramway. These are:
- The Vale & Downland Museum in Wantage, where there is a display on the history of the tramway.
- Didcot Railway Centre, where Jane (aka Shannon), the sole surviving Wantage Tramway loco, is kept.
- Pendon Museum, Long Wittenham, where a beautiful working model of Jane can be seen.
Tony
