The Christchurch trolleybus turntable formed part of the
Bournemouth trolleybus system, which served the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
and its environs, on the south coast of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is still in existence, and is now a
Grade II
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
History
Opened on ,
the
turntable was used to turn around all Bournemouth
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es terminating at Church Street,
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, a borough and town adjoining Bournemouth in the east.
Manually operated, the turntable remained in use until the closure of the Bournemouth trolleybus system on .
Cables leading from the overhead wires (positive and negative) to a pole-mounted switchbox near the entrance to the yard in which the turntable was situated are evidence that at one time power operation of the turntable was contemplated but there is no record that this was ever done.
Significance
The Christchurch turntable is said to be one of only five trolleybus turntables ever to have been constructed worldwide. Three other such turntables are the similarly abandoned
Longwood trolleybus turntable, in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(in operation 1939–1940; demolished late 1980s), one at the former Isleworth London Transport Trolleybus depot, also demolished but can be seen on YouTube, and the
Unterburg trolleybus turntable
The Unterburg trolleybus turntable (german: Drehscheibe Unterburg) is a disused turntable for trolleybuses in the Solingen district Burg an der Wupper. The facility was regularly used by trolleybus line 683, operated by the Stadtwerke Solingen ( ...
in
Solingen
Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(still in use for heritage trolleybus services). A fifth known trolleybus turntable was one used on the
Guadalajara trolleybus system in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in the 1980s, in a since-closed trolleybus-only tunnel in the city centre, on a temporary basis in 1982–1983 and again from 1985 until early 1988 (when the tunnel closed for the start of work to convert it for use by
Guadalajara's light rail system).
[Morgan, Steve (September–October 1990). "Mexico Review: Part 1". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 173, p. 104. .]
See also
*
History of Bournemouth
The history of Bournemouth and human settlement in the surrounding area goes back for thousands of years. Bournemouth is a coastal city on the island of Great Britain in Dorset, England, United Kingdom.
Before Inclosure
In 1800, the area was ...
*
Transport in Bournemouth
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...
*
Listed buildings in Christchurch, Dorset
References
Notes
Further reading
*
*
*{{cite book , last=Pearce , first=Malcolm N , title=Bournemouth Trolleybuses , year=1998 , location=Midhurst, West Sussex, UK , publisher=Middleton Press , isbn=978-1-901706-10-9
External links
Bournemouth Corporation Trolley Buses: A Brief History
- including images and description of the turntable.
Trolleybus Turntable
History of Christchurch, Dorset
Trolleybus transport in the United Kingdom