Race to save historic tramway before it's too late

Available for over a year

A major fundraising appeal has been launched to help pay for vital repairs to Britain's oldest working cable tramway. The Shipley Glen Tramway opened in 1895 as a link between a wooded area near the town of Baildon and the village of Saltaire which lies below. The charitable trust which has run the tramway since 2002 with a team of volunteers hopes to raise £89,000. Trustee John Pitcher said the electrically-powered funicular had been assessed as safe to continue to operate, but would have to temporarily close for the work to be carried out "as soon as possible. What has happened, over the years, is that the damp has washed away underneath the tracks actually into the track bed, so the track bed is now a little bit unstable.