Dudley was connected by tram to various parts of the Black Country including Brierley Hill and Stourbridge. When the Stourbridge line was extended to run along the High Street beyond the town clock, problems arose because of the narrowness of the roadway and the attitude of the local council.
Owing to opposition from Stourbridge Council, from this point onwards the tramway along the High Street took on a most unusual character. It was double track, with the lines almost in the gutter. In addition the entire road surface was paved with wooden blocks! This was a concession made to lessen the noise made by the trams. There were no stops in this section between the Town Clock and Foster Street. At this point the line to The Lye branched off. Its junction was operationally awkward. Cars bound for The Lye needed to run past Foster Street and then reverse, taking a single right-hand curve into the street. High Street cars ran past this point, where another unusual feature could be seen. Here the street is narrow and there was not room to erect traction poles to support the overhead wires. So, special plates – called rosettes – were attached to points on opposing buildings and span wires were strung across to support the overhead wires. Approaching the junction with New Road on the right, the double track converges into a single line and runs in the centre of the road past, on the left, the Free Library & Art & Technical Institute, Swan Inn and terminates opposite the County Court building.
Almost immediately upon opening there were complaints about the congestion the trams caused in the narrow High Street, shopkeepers said that customers’ carriages could only be left outside their shops for a very short time before a tram would come through and the carriage would have to be moved out of the way; in addition, they had not sufficient time between trams to load or unload their goods. The tramway company, however, also complained that its cars were so delayed by other vehicles standing in the High Street that the service was disorganised. After a few weeks only, the service was temporarily cut back to the Town Clock.
The situation had been created by Stourbridge Council. The tramway company had originally intended to lay a single track through the very narrow street. However, Stourbridge UDC insisted on having a double line with tracks laid against each kerb; also that there should be a twenty-minute service only and that there should not be two tramcars in the High Street between the Clock and Foster Street at one and the same time. In addition, the Council specified that the whole width and length of the street from the Clock onwards should be paved with wooden blocks – and not just any kind of wood either but Jarrah, which was only available as an import from Australia! Of course, this was nonsense as steel tyred tram wheels running on steel tram lines make their own kind of noise, whatever the road is paved with!
Paul Collins is the author of 'By Tram From Dudley' which takes a route-by-route look at the development, operation and run-down of the tramway system which once linked Dudley to Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Netherton, Cradley Heath, Pensnett, Kingswinford, Wordsley, Kinver, Lye, Wollaston, Old Hill and Blackheath.