THE FIRST MOTOR BUS SERVICE TO CWMTILLERY

(1909–1912)

At a meeting of the Abertillery District Council held on Monday 11th October 1909, it was unanimously decided to ask the Great Western Railway to institute a rail motor service between Cwmtillery and Abertillery. The Great Western Railway had operated Rail Motor Services on railway lines using steam rail motors for some time. These were self-propelled carriages, which often lacked power for heavy loads and gradients. In 1906, the autotrain, a much more powerful solution, used a tank locomotive with controls in a special autocoach. This allowed it to push or pull without needing to turn around at a terminus.

Several months later at a meeting of the Roads, Bridges and General Purposes Committee of the Council on Monday 20th June 1910, it was resolved that the Council should be recommended to appoint a deputation for the purpose of interviewing the officials of the Great Western Railway Company at Paddington as to the provision of a motor service up the mineral line from Abertillery to Cwmtillery.

James Charles Inglis, the General Manager of the Great Western Railway, pointed out to the deputation that there was only a single line to Cwmtillery, and that in order to form a connection with Abertillery, there would have to be a back shunt. A backshunt is a dead-end railway track that branches off from a main line, loop, or siding, to enable shunting operations without obstructing adjacent tracks. They are particularly practical in space-constrained environments, such as industrial sidings or mining railways, where a full curve, turntable, or traverser would be impractical or impossible to install. He stated that this would involve considerable difficulty, and could not hold out much hope of this suggestion being carried out.

At another meeting in November, a letter received from Mr. Inglis was discussed. After stating that a new railway station at Six Bells would not be built because of complaints over increased train stoppages and journey times, he added that the Company were about to introduce a road motor service between Aberbeeg and Abertillery, which would serve Six Bells. He also said it was not possible to operate a passenger service on the branch line to Cwmtillery, but that arrangements had been made to introduce a road motor service between Abertillery and Cwmtillery. It was hoped these road motor services would meet local transport needs. The Council debated the adequacy of this solution, with some members expressing disappointment. It was also noted that the Council had encountered legal and practical challenges in 1906 when trying to establish a road motor service between Abertillery and Crumlin to meet the urgent and growing requirements of the public at that time. A further suggestion was made that the Great Western Railway Company should be requested to extend the proposed motor bus service from Aberbeeg to Llanhilleth. The possibility of extending the service even further to Crumlin had been thought of, but part of the road was deemed too narrow.

In December, it became known that the Abercarn Council were proposing a joint scheme with neighbouring councils to improve transport throughout the Western Valleys by means of either tramcars or motor buses. Some local councillors supported attending a joint conference, while others advised caution because a Brynmawr company were about to start a railless electric traction service from Brynmawr to Aberbeeg Junction, and the Great Western Railway Company was soon to start a motor bus route between Cwmtillery and Aberbeeg. The council finally voted by seven to six to delay action until they had some experience of the new services.

Another meeting of the Committee was held on 16th January 1911 to discuss applications received from the Great Western Railway Company at Swindon for licences to store carbide and petrol related to motor services in the area. The committee agreed to a fee of 5 shillings per licence, and while granting the applications, raised concerns about the proposed storage of 500 gallons of petrol. Further enquiries were ordered regarding the necessity of such a large quantity, and the Surveyor was tasked with assessing the suitability of the proposed building as a storage site.

The new G.W.R. road motor service commenced operation on Wednesday 1st February 1911, but was marred by an unfortunate accident. A number of children were interested in the cars, when Thomas Padfield, the 9 year-old son of Henry and Jeanette Padfield of 22 Gray Street, Abertillery, was knocked down. Thankfully, his injuries were not as serious as first thought, and after being attended to by Dr. Browne, he recovered well. The accident evidently didn’t dampen his interest in transport, as ten years later he was working as a Chauffeur.

The South Wales Gazette of Friday 3rd February published the following article regarding the new motor bus service:

With regards the two agents of the company, William John Yendoll was the Licensee of the Six Bells Hotel, and Frank Walter Patey was the Licensee of the Mount Pleasant Hotel.

Later the same month, a meeting was held on Monday 20th, when an application from the Great Western Railway company (dated February 7th) was discussed. The Company was seeking permission to exhibit poster boards at the top of Abertillery Station, near the lake at Cwmtillery, and at the corner of the road in Aberbeeg. The council granted approval, provided the Surveyor was satisfied with their placement, and that the nominal rent was agreed upon.

The 1911 list of New Year Honours had included Mr. James Charles Inglis among the new knights. He was described as the popular General Manager and Consulting Engineer of the Great Western Railway Company. He was knighted by King George V at St. James’ Palace on Thursday 23rd February 1911.

At another meeting of the Roads and Bridges Committee, a letter dated 11th March was read from Mr. Inglis confirming receipt of the Council’s letter of the 8th March regarding the motor bus service, and the proposed contribution by the Great Western Railway Company towards the cost of maintaining the roads. Unfortunately, the Company declined to make the proposed contribution.

Sunday 2nd April was Census night for the United Kingdom in 1911. Enumerated at Abertillery in this Census were two single men who were working on the Great Western Railway’s local motor bus service. George Rudge, a 29 year-old Motor Bus Driver, was living at 5 Glyn Crug (Ref: RG14 Piece 31842 Schedule 90). Thomas George Rudge had been born on 1st February 1882 at Goodrich in Herefordshire, the son of Thomas Rudge and Clara née Watkins. Meanwhile, living at 2 Park Villas on Glandwr Street was Albert Bowles, a 22 year-old Motor Car Conductor, who stated he was employed by the G. W. Railway (Ref: RG14 Piece 31832 Schedule )214). Albert Edward Bowles had been born on 13th October 1888 at Stanton in Gloucestershire, the son of Albert Bowles and Sarah Ann née Cummins.

The excessive charge of the motor service from Abertillery to Cwmtillery was discussed at a meeting held on Monday 3rd April, when it was agreed that the Company should be written to with a view to reducing their fares. It was suggested that instead of paying three pennies for a journey, it should be divided into three parts, each costing a penny. Later the same month, it was hoped that the Council would again urge the Company to reduce the excessive fares they were still charging on their motor service from Cwmtillery to Aberbeeg. Shortly afterwards, the Council received a reply from Charles Aldington of the Great Western Railway Company, in which he confirmed that their letter regarding a revision of the fare stages was under consideration.

On the morning of Friday 18th August 1911, the first day of a two-day national strike by railway workers, the Great Western Railway motor bus service between Llanhilleth and Abertillery was halted at Aberbeeg by the striking men. After making sure the passengers had disembarked, they eventually persuaded the driver to take them and the bus back to its shed at the Abertillery station, and the service was suspended for the remainder of the strike.

On the evening of Monday September 18th, a little lad named Preece, whose family lived at Cwmtillery, was involved in an accident. While trying to get out of the way of the G.W.R. motor bus, he fell under a coal cart. He was trampled on by the horse, and received serious injuries to his chest.

At a meeting of the Abertillery Ratepayers’ Association, it was pointed out that the motor service of the Great Western Railway Company in Abertillery and its district could be better patronised. It appears that the GWR had decided not to change its fare structure, and so it’s likely that this had caused a decline in the number of passengers using the services.

Sir James Charles Inglis passed away from an attack of pneumonia at the age of 60 on Tuesday 19th December 1911 at The Dene, Rottingdean, near Brighton in Sussex. He had served as the General Manager of the Great Western Railway Company since Thursday 25th June 1903. He was laid to rest at the Hanwell Cemetery in Ealing, London on Saturday 23rd December.

On Friday 12th January 1912, Frank Potter, who had been James Charles Inglis’ Chief Assistant, was appointed as the new General Manager of the Great Western Railway Company. Very soon after, Cwmtillery and Six Bells were once again being described as being completely isolated because the motor bus service was abandoned. It had been unpopular for various reasons, including not satisfactorily meeting local travel needs.

Later that year, at a meeting of the Abertillery District Council on Monday 3rd September, it was proposed that an application should be made to the Great Western Railway Company to reinstate the motor service to and from Cwmtillery. Some members thought that it would not be wise to proceed with this proposal, while others had no hesitation in supporting it for the benefit of the residents of Cwmtillery who had to walk to and from Abertillery whatever the weather. Another member said they were not much in favour of it, especially if the Great Western Railway Company used the same old cars, and charged the same fares which were described as ridiculous in the extreme. A member also stated that he had seen it as a bogey set up by the Great Western Railway Company for the purpose of trying to shut them up on the matter of a railway station for Six Bells.

By this time, the Abertillery District Council had decided to go ahead with the railless electric traction scheme, provided that the electricity was generated within the district. This was evidently not known by everyone, one member saying that he was not aware of the Council’s decision on the scheme, and that he thought they should try to get the motor service to Cwmtillery reinstated. An amendment was finally passed that the Abertillery Council would defer action on the railless traction scheme for twelve months, merely offering moral support if Abercarn Council pursued a scheme for its own district, leaving existing railway and motor bus services unchanged for the time being.

Sadly, the residents of Cwmtillery had to wait about a decade until they had their own bus service again. On Monday 16th January 1922, a daily char-a-banc service began operating from the Foundry Bridge to Cwmtillery Lake. It was a half-hourly clockwise circular service which ran from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m.

CREDITS

The painting of the Cwmtillery Valley and its three pits by Arthur Jones appears by kind permission of the Abertillery & District Museum

The AI generated image of the vintage metal panel with the lettering “GWR” was created at ChatGPT

The image of the Cwmtillery Motor Bus Time Table is edited from the South Wales Gazette of Friday 20th January 1922. It is Copyright by D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., and was created courtesy of The British Library Board