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54-602: The Worthing Tramocars formed part of the public transport network in Worthing , a seaside resort in West Sussex , England, during the 1920s and 1930s. The vehicles were converted dustbin lorries manufactured by Shelvoke and Drewry and adapted for use by elderly people. "The service was the brainchild" of Bill W. R. Gates, a businessman who had made his fortune in New Zealand before returning to his native England. He registered

108-405: A 120ft. hole by in the pier to prevent it from being used as a possible landing stage in the event of an invasion. The pier is owned by Worthing Borough Council (formerly Worthing Corporation). The Pavilion Theatre and Denton Cafe is situated at the northern, land end of the pier; at the middle is the 1935 amusement arcade, which from 1956 - 2006 carried a distinctive 'New Amusements' sign that

162-429: A London-based coachbuilder to convert them from dustbin lorries into buses. The body was designed around the characteristics of the chassis, with its transverse-mounted front engine, short wheelbase, small solid wheels and even weight distribution across both axles. Behind the front wheel, two shallow steps with handrails led to an interior with a centre aisle flanked by five rows of paired seats and four single seats on

216-462: A business, he moved to Worthing in the early 1920s and lived at 141 Brighton Road, the main seafront road and a busy bus route. He regularly noticed elderly people struggling to get on and off the high-stepped Southdown Motor Services motor buses in use at the time. Deciding there was a gap in the market for this need and for a new route running along the whole seafront from East Worthing to West Worthing, he ordered two S.D. Freighters and commissioned

270-518: A cafe, dance hall and to house a model railway layout. It can be hired for weddings and is used as a live music venue. Since 2008, Worthing Pier has been the home of the annual International Birdman competition, which moved to Worthing after it could no longer safely be held on the Bognor Regis Pier at Bognor Regis , some 15 miles (24 km) to the west. However, Birdman competitions were held in both towns from 2010. On 24 February 2016, it

324-414: A development, although they had no intention of doing so. The bill was never repealed. In the early 21st century longer-distance routes to Midhurst , Brighton and Portsmouth, were run by Stagecoach's South Downs division . Metrobus operated a route to Crawley . Other bus operators in the area included Worthing-based Compass Travel, Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company and Worthing Coaches ,

378-463: A division of haulage and travel company Lucketts Travel Group . Day trips and longer holidays by coach, and private hire of vehicles, are offered. The borough of Worthing has five railway stations. From east to west, these are East Worthing , Worthing , West Worthing , Durrington-on-Sea and Goring-by-Sea . All are on the West Coastway Line , which takes a straight east–west route through

432-715: A few months later a vehicle dealer in Middlesex bought the third and fifth; numbers 6 and 7 both ended up abandoned in Sussex (at Shoreham Airport and on a caravan site respectively) despite being sold to a vehicle broker in London; Brighton Corporation bought number 8 and converted it into a mobile canteen; and of the seven remaining Tramocars sold by Southdown in July 1942, four were used in Staffordshire as transport for wartime munitions workers and

486-671: A full load on virtually every trip". Transport in Worthing Worthing is served by several major roads. The A24 runs to Horsham , Dorking , Leatherhead and London; the A27 serves Brighton and Portsmouth; and the A259 runs along the coast to Littlehampton, Chichester, Brighton, Hastings and Folkestone . The A27's predecessor was the Roman road between Chichester and Brighton. The present route, south of this ancient road, became established in

540-510: A network of routes across Worthing. The last vehicle was withdrawn from service in 1942. A bureaucratic oversight meant that the borough council passed a bill to allow the development of a tramway network in Worthing. Between 1901 and 1903, The British Electric Traction Company sought permission to open tram routes between Hove, Worthing and Littlehampton. The council passed a bill to prevent this by ensuring that only they could authorise such

594-408: A new service was given permission. This was operated separately from the original route, and the two routes each had a 20-minute frequency. After West Worthing station, the second route ran back towards the town centre, passing the central library and main post office before turning there and returning via the same streets. This was almost a circular service, and Gates applied unsuccessfully to extend

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648-476: A police hunt and was only reunited with his frantic parents after a night in the workhouse at Brighton and a telegram to his grandparents in Mayfield. The first moving picture show in Worthing was seen on the pier on 31 August 1896 and is commemorated today by a blue plaque. In March 1913, on Easter Monday, the pier was damaged in a storm, with only the southern end remaining, completely cut off from land. Later, it

702-522: A route between Worthing Pier and Sea View Road to the west. The application was granted in April 1924. He registered the name "Tramocar" as a trademark, and at Easter 1924 the first Worthing Tramocar service ran on its route along the seafront. The event was reported in the Worthing Herald newspaper, which illustrated the vehicle. By early June 1924 a second vehicle was delivered by the coachbuilders, and

756-481: A single route. The last link to the "interesting event in the history of Worthing's public transport" was removed in February 1946 when the former Tramocar route 1, now renumbered 11, was rerouted. Nevertheless, many older residents still referred to the replacement Leyland buses as "Tramocars" throughout the 1950s, reflecting the 18-year history of Gates's vehicles in the town and the popularity among elderly residents of

810-482: A vehicle "specially designed for the elderly". The red and gold livery used on all the pre-Southdown Tramocars was also replaced with Southdown's cream and green house colours on these new vehicles, although no others were repainted until May 1939. Also in 1939, Southdown began to replace Tramocars with conventional single-deck buses such as Dennis Falcons and Leyland Tigers . The three oldest Tramocars were sold in 1938, another went in 1940, two more were sold to

864-482: A vehicle able to carry heavy and bulky loads without requiring lifting gear, the specialist commercial vehicle design and manufacturing company Shelvoke and Drewry of Letchworth , Hertfordshire introduced the "Freighter" (or "S.D. Freighter"). This was a small but high-capacity lorry with an unusually low loading height—23 inches (58 cm) above the ground—and a "remarkably small" turning circle of 15 feet (4.6 m), giving it flexibility and manoeuvrability. It

918-417: A vehicle dealer in 1941 and the last seven vehicles in the fleet were disposed of in July 1942. More Leyland Tigers had superseded them, and wartime reductions in services (particularly in April 1941) reduced the peak vehicle requirement. The first Tramocar service ran on 21 April 1924 along Worthing seafront from the pier to Sea View Road, just short of Grand Avenue—the main road of West Worthing, laid out in

972-520: Is Shoreham Airport , about 5 miles (8.0 km) to the east in the district of Adur . It was the first licensed airfield in Britain when it opened in 1911. In 1933 it was bought by a committee, redesignated the Brighton, Hove and Worthing Municipal Airport, and opened under this name on 13 June 1936. London Gatwick Airport is about 28 miles (45 km) away. Seaplanes often took off from Worthing beach in

1026-425: Is 0.9 miles (1.4 km) further west and dates from 1846. All stations have frequent daily services provided by Southern, to destinations such as London , Croydon , Gatwick Airport , Brighton , Chichester , Portsmouth and Southampton . Worthing station also receives occasional long-distance trains operated by Great Western Railway . Rail travel became quicker and more convenient from 1 January 1933, when

1080-656: Is now the A24 , a primary route which runs northwards to London via Horsham and connects Worthing with the M25 motorway . Worthing's remoteness from London and the major roads and coach routes of Sussex was alleviated in 1803, when a turnpike was opened between the seafront and West Grinstead via Findon . A tollgate stood near the present Teville Gate shopping centre between 1804 and 1845. Other tollgates in Goring, Heene and East Worthing served later turnpikes in those areas. Until 1803,

1134-401: The 17th century. The borough has a road network of more than 180 miles (290 km). A turnpike was opened in 1803 to connect Worthing with London, and similar toll roads were built later in the 19th century to connect nearby villages. Stagecoach traffic grew rapidly until 1845, when the opening of a railway line from Brighton brought about an immediate decline. The former turnpike

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1188-491: The 1870s. The eastern terminus was soon extended to Splash Point, an outdoor swimming pool and leisure centre, as originally proposed in the licence application. The success of this experimental service, and the demands of residents in the Grand Avenue area (which was poorly served by Southdown), led him to order a second vehicle and seek permission to extend the route along Grand Avenue to West Worthing railway station. After

1242-553: The Freighter was "primarily built for municipal use as a dustcart ". Several municipal transport operators also put them to use in the construction of tramways, where they were well suited to carrying lengths of rail and other construction materials. Shelvoke and Drewry envisaged the Freighter as a lorry: it was "not really intended for the passenger carrying market". Bill (W.R.) Gates was born in London in 1883 or 1884. After travelling extensively, including to New Zealand where he owned

1296-456: The Southdown garage on the seafront. In July 1938 Southdown withdrew two of the older vehicles and replaced them with the final new Tramocars: these were of "a very advanced" design with an overhauled chassis, a rear engine and a newly designed 26-seater body (again by Thomas Harrington Coachbuilders) with a central entrance. The floor was now even higher, negating Bill Gates's original concept for

1350-479: The Worthing Motor Omnibus Company ran local and long-distance from garages near the railway station. By 1909, Worthing Motor Services Ltd had formed; their fleet was 15 strong. Southdown Motor Services , formed in 1915 and later nationalised , survived with that identity until deregulation in 1986 , after which Stagecoach Group acquired its routes and fleet. An experimental "tramocar" service

1404-564: The area, and all are managed and operated by the Southern train operating company . East Worthing opened in September 1905 as Ham Bridge Halt and was renamed in 1949. It retained a ticket office until the 1990s, but is now unstaffed. The town's main station, Worthing (formerly Worthing Central), is 0.9 miles (1.4 km) west. It was opened on 24 November 1845, but the present structure dates from 1909. The old station building, further east,

1458-427: The coast for most of its length. In August 2009, local byelaws were changed to support a year-long trial allowing cyclists to use a section of the seafront promenade. Public consultation suggested that residents were generally in favour of the scheme, but the absence of a speed limit and the lack of segregation between pedestrians and cyclists proved controversial. The closest airport to Worthing for light aircraft

1512-421: The door side, with four seats across the rear giving a total capacity of 18 passengers. The wide, deep seat cushions were designed to be "of maximum comfort" to elderly people. The sides were partly open, but fabric blinds offered some protection from the weather; the rear opening was glazed. On 8 January 1924, Bill Gates applied to Worthing Borough Council for a licence to operate one converted S.D. Freighter on

1566-434: The early 20th century. Worthing Pier Worthing Pier is a public pleasure pier in Worthing , West Sussex , England . Designed by Sir Robert Rawlinson , it was opened on 12 April 1862 and remains open to the public. The pier originally was a simple promenade deck 960 ft (290 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) wide. In 1888 the pier was upgraded with the width increased to 30 ft (9.1 m) and

1620-400: The expense of the low floor level: the entrance had to be placed higher and the steps were made steeper, "to the dismay of [the elderly] as they had become used to the lower floor level of the earlier models". The original 1924 vehicles were sold as surplus to requirements in 1934 to Jersey 's municipal bus operator. The introduction of the new vehicles, which were also fully enclosed, allowed

1674-480: The initial "Waterfront service" to be expanded to new routes. Their original "rather unappealing" appearance was also improved. From the third vehicle onwards, the body was modified to put the entrance at the rear, and two extra seats were added. From June 1933, an improved version of the Shelvoke and Drewry chassis was combined with a "handsome-looking 26-seater body" designed by Thomas Harrington Coachbuilders , one of

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1728-467: The largest companies in nearby Hove and a major producer of bus bodies. The final new vehicles delivered under Bill Gates's ownership of the company arrived in 1934 and had conventional steering, as tiller steering mechanisms were now illegal on new vehicles. Southdown Motor Services had formed in 1915, absorbing the former Worthing Motor Omnibus Company and two others, and by 1921 operated six bus routes using conventional vehicles. Their headquarters

1782-466: The name Tramocar as a trademark and procured and converted 13 vehicles for use on various routes around the town. Tramocar services ran from 1924 until 1942—latterly operated by bus company Southdown Motor Services , which introduced a further two Tramocars—but a replica vehicle is still operational at a museum in West Sussex. Until the late 18th century Worthing was a "small and primitive settlement" in

1836-469: The nearest boarding point for stagecoaches was Steyning , but coaches ran regularly to London soon after the turnpike opened. The initial service of three per week in summer only was upgraded to a daily service all year, leaving at 7.00am. The journey took about seven hours and cost 11/- (£60 as of 2024) for an uncovered seat. Coaches also ran to Brighton and Arundel , and by 1832 there were 24 departures and arrivals daily, serving destinations all over

1890-406: The new housing in the rapidly developing Goring-by-Sea area. Both routes were reduced in 1935: route 1 had its frequency cut to one bus every 10 minutes, and route 2 now terminated at West Worthing station and no longer continued to the central library and post office (only route 1 now served this section). After Southdown took over in 1938, the routes were renumbered twice before being merged into

1944-442: The parish of Broadwater , consisting of a manor house, modest housing for fishermen, common land and some fields. The development of nearby Brighton as a fashionable resort encouraged slow growth, helped in 1804 by the opening of a turnpike which connected the village to London and other parts of Sussex . Growth continued throughout the 19th century as Worthing became popular with convalescents and retired people. Borough status

1998-799: The pier head increased to 105 ft (32 m) for a 650-seat pavilion to be built. It is a Grade II listed building structure. The pier has been named Pier of the Year by the National Piers Society on two occasions, first in 2006 and again in 2019. By 1894 a steam ship began operation between Worthing Pier and the Chain Pier in Brighton , twelve miles to the east. Over the Easter weekend that year 4 year old Archie Miles, separated from his promenading family, managed to unwittingly stow away on board setting off

2052-467: The route between West Worthing and Brighton was electrified . Electric trains reached Durrington and Goring in 1938. Freight traffic has declined in importance, but Worthing, West Worthing and Goring had goods yards until the 1960s; West Worthing's supported the town's market gardening industry for many years. There are plans for Worthing to have a direct hourly link to the international station at London St Pancras and on to Cambridge as part of

2106-478: The route from the post office to the pier and Splash Point along the central shopping streets (Chapel Road and South Street). After requests by shopkeepers in Rowlands Road, another major shopping street, Gates diverted one route to run along there in 1934. At the same time both routes were upgraded to a 15-minute frequency. No further route extensions were made, although Gates had unfulfilled ambitions of serving

2160-497: The service level was doubled with effect from 9 June. On that Whit Monday , one of the drivers estimated he had carried 1,200 passengers, each paying a 2 d. single fare. Bill Gates sometimes drove the vehicles as well. Meanwhile, he established a garage on Wordsworth Road where the drivers would perform maintenance on the Tramocars on Sundays, when no services ran. The solid tyres needed regular skimming to maintain their shape, which

2214-464: The service, with its "unorthodox" and "quaint little vehicles" and comfortable interiors. After selling his business to Southdown, Gates retired and returned to New Zealand for some time before moving back to Worthing, where he died in 1947. The former Tramocars had various fates. The original two vehicles were sold for use in Jersey in 1934; the fourth was bought by a laundry in nearby Portslade in 1938;

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2268-407: The site. It bears the registration number BP 9822, the number of the first Tramocar in the fleet. In July 1997, it was driven from the museum to Worthing where it was one of the attractions of a five-day fair on the seafront. After visiting the original garage on Wordsworth Road, which still survives, it ran along the original seafront route and beyond; the service was open to the public and "carried

2322-510: The south of England. James Town, who was closely involved with the early-19th-century coaching industry, became Worthing's leading horse-bus operator in the late 19th century, after the success of the railway caused coaching to decline. Other businessmen provided competition, and by 1900 horse-drawn buses served all parts of the town. From 1904, motorised buses superseded these: the Sussex Motor Road Car Company and its successor

2376-518: The status of the other three is unknown. A 1920s Shelvoke & Drewry freighter chassis was acquired by preservationists in the 1990s and was used to build a replica Worthing Tramocar. The chassis belonged to a municipal dustbin lorry built for the city of Truro in Cornwall . The replica was built at the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre , where it is housed as an exhibit and gives rides around

2430-482: The third and fourth vehicles were acquired, Gates applied successfully to increase the service frequency to every 10 minutes. A special late-evening express service from Worthing Pier, with a higher fare of 3d., was authorised in March 1926, and Sunday services were also operated during that summer. Gates's next applications for route extensions were unsuccessful as they were thought to impinge on Southdown routes, but in 1930

2484-586: The £5 billion Thameslink Programme . Originally envisaged to be completed in 2000, the project is now provisionally scheduled to be completed in 2015. Worthing is on National Cycle Network Route 2 , which will run along the English Channel coast from Dover in Kent to St Austell in Cornwall. As of 2009, it is incomplete and does not run west of the town. The section from Brighton is partly traffic-free and follows

2538-462: Was affectionately named 'Easter Island'. A rebuilt pier was opened on 29 May 1914. In September 1933 the pier and all but the northern pavilion were destroyed by fire. In 1935 the remodelled Streamline Moderne pier was opened, and it is this that remains today. Worthing Pier was sectioned in 1940 for fear of German invasion after the British retreat at Dunkirk . Army engineers used explosive to blow

2592-447: Was also easy to control, as all braking, acceleration and gear change actions were undertaken using a multi-function handle similar to those found in trams. A tiller served to steer the vehicle. The handle would not operate without a safety pedal being depressed, and there was also an emergency footbrake. The vehicle was an "instant success", and about 2,500 were produced in the 15 years to 1938. Although suitable for various functions,

2646-503: Was done by a local engineering company. A third vehicle entered the fleet in October 1924, followed by others in March 1925 and July 1927. Battery-powered lamps were used instead of the oil lamps fitted on the first vehicles. A bigger change took place in 1930, when three new vehicles were added to the fleet. These had larger wheels with pneumatic tyres, giving a better ride quality and a higher top speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) at

2700-510: Was featured on the cover of the album To See the Lights (1996) by Britpop band Gene . Since 2006 the sign has changed from 'New Amusements' to 'Pier Amusements'. The Southern Pavilion (the sea end) is currently home to tearoom and function area, having undergone extensive renovation between September 2013 and the re-opening in April 2014, having previously been used as a nightclub named The Pier, which opened on 20 December 2007, and prior to that

2754-437: Was granted in 1890, by which time the population was nearly 15,000. By the early 20th century, public transport consisted of railway services to Brighton, London and nearby towns, and buses (successively horse-drawn, steam-powered and petrol-driven) to Brighton and within the town. The Worthing Motor Omnibus Company was founded in 1904 to provide competition with horse-drawn vehicles. In September 1923, in response to demand for

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2808-431: Was in central Worthing, although they operated across Sussex. On 1 April 1938 Southdown bought Tramocars Ltd from Bill Gates, who had been given medical advice to reduce his activities. The limited company was formed in 1932 with Gates and his wife as sole directors and shareholders. It had been consistently profitable, and Southdown paid £15,750 for the shares. The original garage was closed and vehicles were stabled at

2862-480: Was preserved and is now listed at Grade II . West Worthing station, a further 0.8 miles (1.3 km) on, opened in 1889 to serve new residential development north of Heene . The main building is Italianate . Before Durrington-on-Sea, another 0.8 miles (1.3 km) west, are train carriage stabling facilities, sheds and sidings. Durrington-on-Sea, which was almost renamed Field Place in 1947 in reference to an 18th-century house nearby, opened in 1937. Goring-by-Sea

2916-448: Was started in 1924. This used small single-decker vehicles manufactured by Shelvoke and Drewry . The first tramocars had solid wheels, open sides and a tiller instead of a conventional steering wheel; later models were fully enclosed and had pneumatic tyres . The initial service along the promenade was provided by two vehicles, but by the time Southdown Motor Services took over Tramocars Ltd's operations in 1938 there were 15 tramocars and

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