Whatever happened to the good old days?

RETIRED STORES manager Mick Leak is a man with a passion - and a mission.

His passion is the Shipley Glen Cable Tramway and his mission is to keep the 19th century tourist attraction's fortunes on track.

The quarter-mile long line has carried millions of visitors up to Shipley Glen since it was built during the Victorian age.

And although the tramway continues to attract tens of thousands of visitors each year it is struggling to carve out a secure future for itself in the 21st century.

The tramway has not been viable for some time but things came to a head last year when Mr Leak warned its days could be numbered.

He and wife Maureen have sunk their life savings into the line by taking on its lease in the mid-1990s.

But he believes money and action are needed to tidy up the area around the tramway and that massive capital investment - which could amount to £80,000 - would be needed over the next few years to keep the ageing attraction on the rails.

At the other end of the country, in Devon, Martin Wild, managing director of the Lynton and Lynmouth Lift Company, said its famous Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway was living proof that such attractions can survive and flourish in the 21st century.

The 900ft long water-powered railway, which charges visitors £1 to take them down the cliff between the two towns at an angle of almost 45 degrees, opened in 1890 and is the last working system of its kind in the world.

Mr Wild said: "It's the biggest tourist attraction in the West Country and carries far more passengers now than it ever did before.

"It's an integral part of the two communities but it does rely on tourism and without the visitors it wouldn't survive.

"A few years ago there were only about 120,000 visitors a year - we could forsee problems so we made some big changes.

"We spent several hundred thousand pounds - all self-funded - replacing the rails and refurbishing the cars, increasing our spending on advertising from about £5,000 a year to £80,000 a year, computerising our accounts and ticketing system and changing the image of the railway to make it a lot smarter and brighter.

"We now get about 600,000 visitors a year, have 15 full-time staff and make a good profit of about 25 per cent.''

Dr Peter Dewhurst, a senior lecturer in tourism management at Leeds Metropolitan University, said places such as the tramway now faced stiff competition for visitors not only from increasing numbers of other tourist attractions but also from the growing popularity of pursuits like ''leisure shopping'' at places such as garden centres and big out-of-town shopping malls.

He added: "There's also a growing trend towards people spending their leisure time in the home with things such as computers and video games.

"Within the industry it's a case of has supply outstripped demand because when there's been such a proliferation of new tourist attractions and developments at existing ones, there will inevitably be winners and losers.

"There's been a big growth in farm tourism but a lot of cultural and heritage attractions seem to be stagnating.

"Promotion, product development and innovation through things such as changing exhibitions are key to attracting visitors and encouraging repeat visits.

"Customers are after perceived value for money and perceived quality - places like the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and Salts Mill do well because they're indoors and have free admission and catering.

"In the case of the National Museum it's gone through a re-development and re-launch which has raised its profile and Salts Mill has a reputation that goes beyond West Yorkshire because of David Hockney's pictures.''

And the fight back has begun at Shipley Glen Cable Tramway after Mr Leak, 51, called for a meeting with Bradford Council, which owns the site.

He warned that unless urgent action was taken he may not renew his lease when it expires in March 2002.

And he said it was unlikely anyone else would be willing to take on the lease, with the line only just breaking even at around £20,000 a year and he and his wife taking only a ''token wage'' of £100 a week between them.

The Council has said because the tramway is leased on a commercial basis it cannot provide additional financial help to support it.

But after an emergency meeting between Mr Leak, councillors and officers the decision was taken to form a steering group.

And that group is now working to establish a charitable trust which would enable funding to be sought from external sources such as the National Lottery and other organisations.

Mr Leak said: "It is agreed that the ultimate goal should be to form a charitable trust.

"Hopefully once that's constituted they'll be able to bring in the money to keep it going because at the moment it's not financially viable and that's been the case for decades.

"It would be a great shame if the tramway did close because it's one of the last links with the Victorian era and is a unique attraction - it's the oldest working cable tramway in Great Britain.

"If it doesn't outlive me that would be very sad because of all the effort put in by myself and other volunteers over the years.

"It is still very popular and last year we sold 70,000 tickets but during it's heyday before the First World War it would have had about 300,000 visitors a year.

"But things have changed so much since then - people go abroad to find the sun much more nowadays, there are far more visitor attractions around and having cars means people are much more mobile.

"It used to be one of the major attractions for people in Bradford and a real day out. It was built to serve all the attractions up on Shipley Glen. But nowadays people think nothing of jumping into their cars and making 200 or 300 mile round trips to other attractions.''

But Mr Leak said even before a trust was set up there was work the Council could do to help the 105-year-old tramway. He said the area surrounding the tramway was untidy and needed smartening up if more visitors were to be attracted.

Mr Leak said: "There's always litter on the path which runs up the glen by the side of the tramway which is off-putting to locals and tourists and if they're not satisfied with the state of things they won't come back.

"I raised the point a year ago but nothing's been done. The whole area just needs smartening up and regular maintenance.

"I have a legal obligation to continue until March 2002 when the lease runs out but unless the Council sorts things out I won't renew it and there wouldn't be much left for the trust to take over.

"We've just done £5,500 worth of work replacing the platforms at the bottom station thanks to help from a couple of relatives and volunteers but it's work that should have been done last October."

Councillor Tony Miller (Lab, Shipley East), who chairs the steering group as well as the Council's Shipley community area panel, said addressing the litter problem was something that would be looked into.

He added: "The tramway forms an important part of the area's heritage.

"For a lot of working class children from this area a day out on the glen has always been their treat and it's the tramway which has got them there.

"If the charitable trust managed to bring in Lottery money for capital investment it would still need money to keep the line going so it would be nice to attract some sponsorship from local businesses.

"It's one of those things you take for granted when it's there and it's not until it's under threat that people start coming out of the woodwork to help.''

Councillor Barry Thorne, the Council's executive member for culture, heritage and leisure, said: "Along with things like the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the working horses in Bradford and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, it's something that fits in very well with tourism and our bid to be a European City of Culture.

"It's unique in its own right and the establishment of the steering group and a charitable trust is something very important which we support.''

Take a ride on the tramway

The Shipley Glen Cable Tramway is open to the public everyday between now and September.

On weekdays it is open from noon to 4pm - later if the weather is fine - with trams running between noon and 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 6pm on Sundays.

Single fares are 20p for a child or OAP and 30p for adults with the under-threes riding free. A return fare is 50p for adults and 30p for concessions.

The way we were

Shipley Glen Cable Tramway opened in 1895 and is believed to have cost less than £1,000 to build.

The attraction was built by Shipley-based entrepreneur Sam Wilson to take pleasure seekers up to the glen.

In its heyday the tramway was used by hundreds of people every day.

It enjoyed its busiest ever spell during the 1910 Easter holiday when 17,000 passengers travelled on it in just one day.

The tramway was run by a succession of private owners up until World War II.

It was taken over by Glen Tramways Ltd in 1942 but closed in 1966 after a tram hit a platform.

Glen Enterprises Ltd re-opened the line in 1969 and ran it until 1981 - by which time it had become unviable - when it was given to Bradford Council.

Funded by the Council, volunteers, including Mick Leak, from the Bradford Trolleybus Association helped restore the tramway to its former glory.

Passengers travelling on the quarter-mile long tramway do so on one of two double carriages which run on two pairs of narrow guage railway tracks.

The trams are both attached to a cable which forms a continuous loop round the funicular railway.

They are controlled by a 'motor man' based at the top station and are driven by an electrically powered winding drum.

Because they are attached to the cable the carriages remain at a constant distance apart on the loop, meaning that when one is at the top station the other will be at the bottom.

The trams, which can each carry up to 42 children or 28 adults, have a top speed of 8.5mph.

In 1982 the association was awarded the lease and reopened the tramway.

The Victorian attraction risked closure in 1988 when the trolleybus association went into debt to pay a £4,000 tax bill but following publicity in the T&A enough money was raised through fares and donations to clear the debts.

Mr Leak took early retirement from his job as a stores manager to take over the tramway lease in 1994.

A weekend of celebrations was staged in May 1995 to mark its centenary.

Following concerns about its future a steering group was set up in 1999 to ensure its survival.

Can you help the tram survive?

If you can help keep the tramway's fortunes on track Mick Leak would like to hear from you.

Volunteers are being sought for jobs ranging from selling tickets and manning the sweet shop to operating the trams themselves.

Would-be helpers will be provided with training and expenses.

Mr Leak said: "We've already had some people offering their help but having a few more helpers would make life easier."

Volunteers or sponsors can contact Mr Leak on 01274 589010.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.