Farnworth Council Tramways
Owner Farnworth Local Board (later Urban District Council) - tracks within Farnworth
First horse service 3rd June 1881 - within Farnworth
Operator (lessee) Edmund Holden and Company, on behalf of Bolton and Suburban Tramways (jointly owned by Bolton Corporation, and Astley Bridge, Farnworth and Kearsley Local Boards)
Taken over (lessee) June 1899 (Bolton Corporation) - tramway stock and leases
Operator (under contract) Edmund Holden and Company
Last horse service 1st January 1900
First electric service 13th April 1900 (Moses Gate to Black Horse) - within Farnworth
Operator (lessee) Bolton Corporation Tramways
Opened 9th January 1902 (newly constructed Farnworth UDC-owned lines)
Operator Farnworth Council Tramways
Took over (operation) 20th February 1902 (newly constructed, Kearsley Urban District Council-owned line from Black Horse to Spindle Point)
Took over (operation) 13th March 1902 (newly constructed Kearsley UDC-owned line from Spindle Point to Unity Brook)
Took over (operation) 2nd June 1902 (Moses Gate to Black Horse line previously leased to Bolton Corporation)
Taken over (operation) 1st April 1906 (South Lancashire Tramways Company) - under a lease arrangement
Through running 14th June 1909 (Bolton Corporation Tramways) - from Bolton via Moses Gate and Black Horse to Clifton
Through running 13th December 1913 (Bolton Corporation) - Bolton through services terminate at Black Horse
Through running 3rd May 1926 (SLTCo) - Bolton to Walkden via Moses Gate and Brookhouse
Joint operation 6th December 1926 (SLTCo and BCT) - Bolton to Walkden via Moses Gate and Brookhouse
Taken over (operation) 1st April 1927 (BCT) - all services between Moses Gate and Black Horse, and the majority of services between Bolton and Walkden (via Moses Gate and Brookhouse)
Joint operation 1st February 1930 (SLTCo and Salford Corporation Tramways) - from Manchester (Deansgate) via Pendlebury to Black Horse
Last SCT service 28th February 1931 - from Manchester (Deansgate) via Pendlebury to Black Horse
Last SLTCo service 18th August 1931
Took over (operation) 19th August 1931 (BCT) - all services between Moses Gate and Walkden
Closed 12th November 1944
Length 4.47 miles
Gauge 4ft 8½ins
Button description Pattern of buttons currently unknown.
Comments Farnworth UDC only operated trams itself for just over four years, and whilst its staff definitely wore uniforms bearing metal buttons (see link), marked buttons are yet to come to light. This suggests that they were either plain, or that they bore a monogram or device of some description that is not readily identifiable as an issue of council.
Farnworth Local Board (later Urban District Council), together with Bolton Corporation, Astley Bridge and Kearsley Local Boards (later Urban District Councils) built and owned the track and infrastructure of the Bolton and Suburban Tramways (see link). The line was worked by a local concern, Edmund Holden and Company. The track in Astley Bridge subsequently passed into Bolton's ownership when the latter absorbed the former in 1898, whereas the track in Farnworth and Kearsley continued to remain in the ownership of the UDCs, even when Bolton Corporation purchased the assets and leases of Edmund Holden and Company in 1899.