Upon finding a document in the Immingham archives that details a hugely accurate report outlining the route of the Thorncliffe-Elsecar Tramway, we knew we had to act.
The tramway was an industrial bloodline: it was built to connect the Thorncliffe Ironworks in Chapeltown - one of the best in the country - to the Elsecar Canal basin, one of the most important canals in South Yorkshire. This route was lost to time with very little physical evidence remaining. We decided that this was unacceptable and there was so much potential for the community and for local heritage. Thus, we partnered up with local historian Joshua Daniels, and filmmaker Matthew Bowns, whom we have worked with before. We met Josh when we found the documentary & research he'd made about Wentworth Woodhouse, and our common enthusiasm for history brought us together. With more digging, Joshua found a map (see above) which gives us the exact route of the tramway. Surprisingly, this was contrasting with all the previous estimations of the route by even official organisations. Therefore, we applied - and were successful - in applying for funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to create a multi-faceted heritage project revolving around this tramway. The main aim was to bring this forgotten history to the public, but also create a multi-faceted heritage project that would help better the lives of the people in the community, and bring people together to celebrate their local history. This project included: a documentary about the tramway; a documentary about two local churches; an oral history archive of people who live in places the tramway affected; two student workshops about heritage filmmaking; two guided heritage walks (one of which accessible for all abilities); two public showings of the documentaries (both free entry, accessible for all & with charity boxes); an end-of-event celebration, and booklets with the walks available for self-guided walks. The results were an astounding success, with one example being over 70 people attending just one of the public showings. We wanted to create a legacy, both digitally and in person, and with the creation of this website we believe we have achieved that goal. |