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Tram line cleaner - 1890

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#1
Dear Family History UK

On Violet Alice Louise's birth certificate in 1890 her 'father' Alfred Jezard is described as a tram line cleaner. Please could you tell me what this job would involve, was it a dangerous profession?

Thank you
Lorraine, Orpington, Kent
 

dochines

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near Boston Lincolnshire
#3
Trams ran on rails which were inset in the roads a bit like railway lines. These lines tended to run in the middle of the road. either side of the rail there would be a small (say 5cm) gap and about 15cm deep in which mud, horse manure and other rubbish could collect. I can only assume a cleaner walked the lines removing the rubbish. If it was not cleared there was a risk of the tram being derailed.

I remember travelling on trams in London, not the horse drawn ones! and my grandmother was once injured falling off her bike when a wheel got stuck in the gap I mentioned above. The Tram lines were quite a hazard. The old highway codes used to include a section about undertaking trams on the near side when you wished to pass them

dochines
 

leefer

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#6


Here is an early Horse Train or tram....this particular one is at The Mumbles near Swansea....would have been hard work with lots of walking....desperate in the winter but a good job in the summer months...any job that kept you above ground and not in the local coal pits was very sought after.
 

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