trams – I Walk Alone

Research rabbit hole ~ Southampton trams

Once upon a time, Southampton had an extensive tram network. Every time I go to the supermarket for my big shop, I’m reminded of it as I go up the stairs from the car park, thanks to a large mural on the wall. The supermarket in question was once the old bus and tram depot. When I was writing Luck of the Draw, I fell down a huge research rabbit hole centred around the trams and the tram depot. The story centred on a tram driver and his conductor friend, the former inspired by my husband’s grandfather Walter Dowling, who was a real-life Southampton tram driver. The history of Southampton trams didn’t really make it into the book, so I’ll share my discoveries with you here instead.

Research Rabbit Hole ~ Oswald Mosley in Southampton

Today, it’s hard to believe that there was ever a time when fascism was accepted in England. It’s even harder to imagine a massive British Union of Fascists rally on Southampton Common or the infamous BUF leader, Oswald Mosley, standing on top of a van giving a speech. This is exactly what happened on Sunday, 18 July 1937, but I’m pleased to say things didn’t go quite the way Oswald Mosley expected. Read on to find out more . . .

The Southampton Tram Project

When we strolled across an eerily beautiful and somewhat misty Common in early October 2021, I had no idea that Commando had another bit of time travel up his sleeve to surprise me. As far as I was concerned, it was just another ordinary Saturday morning watching parkrun and having a wander in the Old Cemetery. My head, as usual, was full of the book I was plotting, listening to the voices of my characters clamouring for attention. The fifth book in the series revolved around a tram driver and his conductor friend. The first draft was written, but despite extensive research about Southampton trams, I’d never actually been on one. The last Southampton tram ran on 31 December 1949, more than ten years before I was born.

Portswood, trams, tin churches, a laundry and some research

Walter Dowling was a tram driver. He was also Commando’s grandfather. In our attic, there was a wooden box with some of his prized possessions, including his war medals, photographs, postcards, and a tiny diary. During the spring of 2021, I’d been working on a story that involved trams, and Commando thought some things in the box might give me inspiration. The diary was especially poignant. Walter wrote little, but it covered the period when he had malaria and was about to be leaving the army after seven years. It was also when he first met Violet, Commando’s grandmother. He may have been a man of few words, but the words he wrote about her showed how deeply he had loved her. They brought me to tears.

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