AMID all the recent anniversaries, one has been overlooked – the day the last tram ran in Oxford.

The final horse-drawn vehicle appeared in Cowley Road on August 8, 1914, bringing to an end more than 30 years of service.

The first trams had run in the city in 1881, following the launch of the City of Oxford and District Tramway Company two years earlier.

The first line to open was from the city’s two railway stations – the Great Western and London and North Western – through Queen Street and High Street to Magdalen Road, where there was a short spur to the tram depot in Leopold Street.

Northerly routes along Banbury Road and Woodstock Road to St Margaret’s Road and Leckford Road were added in 1882 and 1884, while a short southerly route from Carfax to Lake Street opened in 1887.

An extension to the Banbury Road line to South Parade, to meet the demands of expanding Summertown, was built in 1898. The whole network covered just over six miles.

The trams were a big success and by 1896 were carrying more than three million passengers a year. But their drawback was that they were slow.

Many cities had replaced their horse-drawn trams with electric vehicles, but Oxford University argued that overhead wires would destroy the character of the historic buildings.

When the trams were withdrawn, there were few tears. Postcards were produced with the heading, The Funeral of the Worn-out Tram, with the following ditty underneath:

No more jolting, no more rumbling

No more citizens of Oxford grumbling

I went so slow, they must go fast

Morris has come, goodbye to the past.

‘Morris’ referred to William Morris, creator of the Cowley car industry, who forced the city council’s hand after it had vetoed plans to bring in motor buses.

Morris started a motor bus service between the railway stations and Cowley in December 1913.

Because he had no licence, he could not collect fares – passengers had to buy coupons from shops and hand them in on the bus.

The buses attracted 17,000 passengers on the first three days, leaving the trams deserted.

On January 14, 1914, councillors agreed to issue 12 motor bus licences to Morris and 12 to the Tramway Company.

Two weeks later, Morris handed his licences to the Tramway Company, and the trams were soon consigned to history.

Most were broken up, but some were turned into homes for farm labourers and German prisoners of war, while at least one was used as a chicken shed.

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