The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company was formed in 1903 to build a tramway linking Nottingham, Derby, and Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, England. But only a short section was built. Construction The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company was formed in 1903 but it was not until 1913 that the tramway opened from Ripley to Nottingham, by way of Langley Mill, Eastwood and Kimberley. The capital was funded by Balfour Beatty & Co., of Ilkeston. Many of the bridges which can be seen along the route date from this time (for example, the bridge over the canal at Langley Mill, that had previously been a wooden construction). The original Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company Bill of 1902 was an ambitious application which proposed the building of of track to link together the tramway systems of Nottingham, Derby and Ilkeston. However, when passed the following year the Act only authorized the construction of of route, of which only were laid, the section from Ripley to Cinderhill. This was the beginning of the service known locally as the Ripley Rattlers. Operation The first tramcar services started on 4 July 1913, only 5 months after linelaying had begun. This was between Loscoe and Kimberley, and the section to Cinderhill was opened a month later. The completed line from Cinderhill to Ripley opened on 1 January 1914 which made it possible to travel from Nottingham to Ripley, a distance of , in 1 hr 40 mins. The trams ran 18 hours a day, except for Sunday when the service was reduced. Fares were a penny a mile. Workmen boarding before 8 am were able to obtain return tickets at single prices, while colliers journeying to and from the pits were charged a penny regardless of the length of their journey. The first trams left the depot at 4.30 am, while the last tram, 'The Flyer', left Nottingham at 11pm with limited stops only. It was, by reputation, the most dangerous tramcar service in the British Isles, due to the length of its route, and the gradients it negotiated. The line was the subject of a short story by D. H. Lawrence: There is in the North a single-line system of tramcars which boldly leaves the county town and plunges off into the black, industrial countryside . . . . . This, the most dangerous tram-service in England, as the authorities themselves declare, with pride, is entirely