TRAMS have made a real comeback as an efficient form of urban transport but it is now more than 80 years since you could jump aboard in Barrow.

Like Carlisle and Morecambe, the town had its own tram system but decided to scrap the tracks and overhead power lines in favour of motorbuses.

The last tram, a No 45, was driven by William Parsons on April 5 in 1932.

Blackpool was among the few places to keep its trams running and modern versions of its system have been returned to places like Manchester and Birmingham.

A feel for the golden era of tramways was provided last weekend at Fleetwood's Tram Sunday, an annual event for transport enthusiasts which started in 1985 as part of celebrations to mark the centenary of Blackpool's trams.

Construction of Barrow's tramway system was authorised in 1881 and in 1885 William Parsons drove the first vehicle.

The early routes were Furness Abbey to the Town Hall, Barrow Steelworks, Ramsden Square and Roose.

By 1886 the system had extended to Ramsden Dock Station to cover the shipyard and Barrow Island.

In 1898 the system went into liquidation and was taken over by the British Electric Traction Company, which had 50 concerns across the British Isles.

Work towards powering the system from overhead electric cables started in 1903 and was completed in 1904.

By 1909 the network reached Walney Promenade and by 1911 you get a tram for a day at the beach at Biggar Bank.

Barrow Council paid £96,250 for the tramway system in 1920.

There are more local history stories in the nostalgia section of the Evening Mail website at http://www.nwemail.co.uk/nostalgia