Leamington and Warwick (Electric) Tramways



Owner Leamington and Warwick Tramways and Omnibus Company Limited
Opened 21st November 1881 (horse)
Operator Leamington and Warwick Tramways and Omnibus Company Limited
Taken over (company) 29th July 1898 (British Electric Traction Company Limited)
Company name changed 1902 (Leamington and Warwick Electrical Company Limited)
Last horse service 16th May 1905
First electric service 15th July 1905
Taken over (ownership) 31st December 1912 (Tramways Light and Power Company, a subsidiary of Balfour, Beatty and Company Limited)
Owning company renamed November 1921 (Midland Counties Electric Supply Company Limited)
Closed 16th August 1930
Length 3.0 miles
Gauge 4ft 8½ins (horse); 3ft 6ins (electric)

Button description (1881-1905) Uniforms not worn

Button description (1905-1912) Wheel, magnet and electrical flashes
Materials used Brass; black horn
Button Line reference [113/16]

Button description (1912?-1932) Plain with scalloped rim
Materials used Brass or nickel
Button Line reference [None]

Comment Photographs suggest that staff working the horse tram services wore informal attire (see link), so marked uniform buttons almost certainly never existed. Photos taken during the BETCo era show staff wearing the standard 'BETCo' 'Magnet and Wheel' cap badge, and they undoubtedly wore the standard 'BETCo' buttons too. Following the Balfour Beatty take-over, all vestiges of the BETCo would have been expunged. A photograph of a Great War Leamington & Warwick tram conductress has survived (see link), and this clearly shows that the uniform jacket bore plain buttons with a scalloped rim; this pattern of button would have been used between the Balfour Beatty takeover and closure.

In addition to the Leamington and Warwick Electric Tramways, Balfour Beatty also owned, operated or had a significant interest in the following systems: Cheltenham and District Light Railway, City of Carlisle Electric Tramways, Dartford Council Light Railways, Dunfermline and District Tramways, Falkirk and District Tramways, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway, Llanelly Tramways, Luton Corporation Tramways, Mansfield and District Light Railway, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways and Wemyss and District Tramways.