We are delighted to be welcoming two new tram drivers to our colourful company this year and as always they will be dressed in the marvellous Derbyshire tartan waistcoats and will be sporting bowler hats.
Joining Mike, our long serving Flash friend, and Gentleman Nick, the new tram drivers, will be retired secondary teacher Chris Smith, and Keith Savage, another teacher but perhaps best known as the former chair of Buxton Fringe. Both men have lived and worked in the area for a long time and have a real passion for the history of the town. Furthermore they love the town and want others to fall in love with the place so you can be sure of a fascinating and knowledgeable tour.
And if that’s not enough they will also be joining us as walking guides although they are yet to agree to don full costume and become a new historical character. Jane, who plays Mary Queen of Scots has though asked if Chris is willing to wear a doublet but I suspect that this is a personal rather than a business request!!
The year ahead looks to be a very exciting one for this innovative company with Anna Seward, a regular visitor to Buxton to take the restorative waters in Georgian times, encouraging visitors to join her on a constitutional to hear more about her fellow guests and life at the Crescent in the late 1700’s. The Crescent has been undergoing a major facelift and is due to open this year after a (conservative guess here) £50.000,000 plus make over so we are sure there will be plenty of visitors flocking to the town to see the changes and hear more about this iconic building’s past.
On March 10th,21st and 29th Mary Queen of Scots will be offering tours around the Old Hall Hotel at 2 pm so make sure you get booked ahead
The tram will begin the season on the 28th March and we will run a daily service from 10 am. The first tour of the day will pick people up from the Palace Hotel and afterwards on the hour from the Opera House. Our office, in the entrance to the Gardens, will also be opening up to welcome visitors to the town and act as an information point as well as a booking office for all our other tours. This year we intend to use more of the space outside our office too and stage a variety of history exhibitions about Buxton. We are beginning with Robert Edward Stevenson who was born in Buxton on the 31 March 1905 and went on to work for the Disney Company in 1956 for six weeks and ending up making 19 films in 20 years including tram HQ favourite Mary Poppins..