The Selsey Tramway was possibly the most ramshackle of all the Colonel Stephens lines, though in theory with a cathedral city at one end and a seaside resort at the other it should have been successful. But rather than becoming another south coast branch line it stayed independent right up to closure in 1935.
I remember cycling there when I was about 15, a 40 mile round trip. I found the remains of an embankment near Pagham, and that was it.
Years later I got involved with the Selsey Tramway Society which had excellent plans to restore the line using Parry Railcars as well as taking freight. It was buzzing for a year or so, but I moved away and the Society seemed to vanish from the face of the earth.
So Selsey still struggles with the ancient road, waiting for the tram to return. Perhaps a few brave souls out there will revive this line that promised so much but only really appealed to a few nostalgists first time round. The biggest stumbling block to successful restoration however is probably the rising sea level, an irony not lost on this writer!
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