Trams in Perth



Busy street scene with horse-drawn carts and tram,
on the corner of South Methven Street and High Street,
Perth, about 1890

With the last Dundee tram discovered as summer house in Perth garden, we thought we would look through our photographic collections for photos of the bygone age of trams in the street of Perth.

The first horse drawn buses arrived in Scone during the second half of the 19th century. Using two or three horses, they worked between Scone and Cherrybank, Perth. They were taken over by the Perth and District Tramways Company in the 1890's.

In October 1903 the horse tramways of the Perth and District Tramways were taken over by Perth Corporation with the main route running from Scone to Cherrybank and with branches to Craigie and to Dunkeld Road. The depot was beyond the terminus at Scone. The tramway closed on 19 January 1929 and was

South Methven Street, Perth, about 1904

South Methven Street, Perth, about 1904

replaced by bus services.

On the second photograph we are looking down South Methven Street with County Place on the left and South Street on the right. The Central Bar, selling Allsopp's Real Ale, stands on the right. In spite of the tram lines running beneath their feet, children crowd the centre of the road in an era when traffic ran at a slower pace than today.

The negative for the second photo was originally acquired by Wood and Sons, Printers, Perth, with a view to producing postcards. Wood and Son were first established in the High Street, Perth, in 1830. They moved to Mill Street, Perth, about 1900 and then to Glover Street, Perth in 2000.