My workshop is part of the old Tram Depot in Matlock. This was a cable operated tram, with a large static steam engine housed in the Depot at the top of Rutland Street driving the cable around huge pulley wheels set under the surface of the road. The cable ran in a channel in the road, down to Crown Square in the centre of town; the trams clamped themselves onto the cable and were hauled up or down the hill. The fare was 'Tuppence up, penny down' and the tram operated from 1893 to 1927.
Originally two rooms, my workshop is now one large space. One room was the ticket office, not sure of the other; a waiting room? I confess to a slight frisson at the thought that I make clocks in an old waiting room.
This building (No. 25 Rutland Street) has housed many different businesses over the years. It was vacant for several years before I acquired it, before then Matlock Autobodies used it as an office. Previous to that a video rental shop and earlier still a greengrocers. I would love to know more about the history of the Tram Depot and specifically my little bit of it, should you happen to know anything.
