Earlier this year we made plans to decorate one of the horse trams in the Exhibition Hall to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Working with Crich Junior School, we and the children had made some lovely paper flowers and banners to go on the tram (and horse!). We also had plans for using flags and bunting to decorate other trams in the Exhibition Hall, and one of our workshop volunteers had restored some illuminated signs we had in storage, including a crown.
However, due to the current situation at Crich, visitors are sadly not able to go into the Exhibition Hall. So, we have made alternative arrangements and instead decorated the ‘Octagon’ building at the Wakebridge tram stop at the museum. Below are some photographs showing the Octagon decorations – thank you to the pupils of Crich Junior School for their help! If you visit, make sure to go through the woodland walk to see this and some other decorations along the way.
The Octagon decorated for the Platinum Jubilee
Jubilee pictures produced by Crich Junior School pupils
As we wrote in our previous blog post, we have also been looking through our photographic archive to dig out pictures of trams decorated for royal occasions such as Jubilees and Coronations through the years. We have put some of these images on display in the Octagon as part of the decorations. If you would like to see more, you can download a booklet by clicking on this link: A Right Royal Spectacle The Tramcar’s Role in Royal Pageantry
Photographs of decorated tramcars on display in the Octagon