District Dispatch - 15 August 2024

The exhibition recounts how a railway line was proposed to link the then remote and isolated village of Selsey with Chichester. By August 1897, the Selsey Tramway was born, operated by The Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway Company.

The line linked the outlying villages south of Chichester, known as the Manhood Peninsula, and consisted of approximately seven-and-a-half miles of track, with 11 stops in total, including Chichester, Hunston, Sidlesham, and Selsey, as well as privately owned farms and the Selsey Golf Club.

On 27 August 1897, the tramway was officially opened at the Chichester station, while the Selsey station was still under construction. Crowds were disappointed when the first train arrived an hour late, setting the standard for the rest of its run.

The exhibition has been curated with the help of the Manhood Wildlife and Heritage Group, who have helped to develop the exhibition content, providing information and images. As well as items already held within the museum collection, the Colonel Stephens Railway Museum and local historian Alan Green have loaned objects for display. The film which accompanies the exhibition recounts memories from local people and is worth a watch when visiting the exhibition.

Each year, the Manhood Wildlife and Heritage Group also organise the anniversary six-mile Tramway Walk, which this year takes place at 10am on Saturday 24 August. Starting at East Beach car park in Selsey, the walking route passes the site of eight out of the 11 stations on the route of the tramway, ending at The Anchor Inn in Sidlesham. By re-tracing the route, it's a free, fantastic and enjoyable way of discovering more about the story of the tramway. To walk the route, an interactive map can be downloaded from the Manhood Wildlife and Heritage Group website (opens new window) or you can buy a hard copy for £1 from the shop in The Novium Museum. Anyone wishing to join the anniversary Tramway Walk should contact Bill Martin by email: billm89@hotmail.com You can also find out about the free exhibition on The Novium Museum's 'Selsey Tramway exhibition' page (opens new window).

I also want to let you know that we are currently inviting people to give their views about how they currently use and how they would like to use Chichester city centre after 5pm.

A survey has been commissioned by the council so that we can better understand the experiences and perceptions of people who frequent the city centre and also those that currently do not use the city centre in the evening. The aim is to gather as much information as possible in order to improve the experience for people who want to visit the city centre after 5pm. Please do let us know your thoughts by visiting the Chichester Evening and Night-time economy survey (opens new window) and completing the survey by Friday 30 August 2024.

This work is linked to the Chichester Vision and our Events Strategy which is all about supporting and boosting the local economy by providing more activities and experiences for different groups of people and covering all ages. We understand how important the night-time economy is for Chichester city centre, so much so that we have established a dedicated Chichester Evening and Night-time working group, which includes local businesses, in order to deliver improvements for both businesses and visitors between the hours of 5pm and 5am. We want our city centre to be a vibrant and welcoming space after dark, and so this survey is vital in helping us understand what needs to happen in the future.

Best Wishes

Cllr Adrian Moss

Leader of Chichester District Council