Five Transport Systems for Two Seaside Resorts
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THE passenger transport system in the neighbouring North Wales resorts of Llandudno (population 18,000) ad Colwyn Bay (23,000) is unusual as facilities are provided by one of the largest nationalized bus undertakings, two of the smallest municipal transport departments, one -of the only two conipany tramways in the British Isles, and the last cable line (if cliff
lifts and the like be excepted). .
Of the existing operators. the tramway company— officially the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway—was early in the field, its line having been opened in 1907 from West Shore, Llandudno, to Station Road, Colwyn Bay; in 1915 it was extended another two miles to "The Queen's Head," Old Colwyn, but most of this section was abandoned in 1930 owing to bus competition. The present route from West Shore to Greenfield Road, Colwyn Bay, via Rhos-on-Sea, is about 6i miles in length, nearly half of it being on private roads. ,
New Estate Cut Off from Buses
At Penrhyn is an example of the sort of thing which it is to be hoped the new Town and Country Planning Act will be able to stop. An estate has been built, the only approach to which is along the ballasted tram track: the residents expect a good road to be made for them . but, naturally, neither the tram company nor the local authority is prepared for the expense., The tram depot is in Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea, and here are stabled the fleet of 23 cars, The standard frequency on the through tram service is 15 minutes, but extras are put on as required. One unusual feature of the time-table is that only one minute lay-over is allowed at the Llandudno end and none at all at Colwyn Bay For the end-to-end journey, 35 minutes are allowed, and this is also the timing between West Shore and Station Road, Colwyn Bay, of the Crosville bus service, the distance in this case being about 61 miles. During the war the trains were heavily worked because of the great influx of civil servants and B2
evacuees into the dis.iet; at the same time, of course, arrears of vehicle and track maintenance piled up, so that the company is now faced with heavy expenses t a time of falling receipts. Passengers in 1947 numbered 4,735,564. There is no co-ordination with the buses, but fares are the same; the whole journey costs 7d., and there are ld. stages; returns are issued up to 9 a.m. The company's general manager and engineer is Mr. W. G. Hamilton, A.M.I.E.E.
Four-in-hand Coaches When the trams started, the only other local transport was by four-in-hand coaches and two-horse buses, among the operators of which were the Llandudno Coaching and Carriage Co., with a depot in Oxford Road. In addition to coaching, they ran horsed buses front Gogarth Abbey Hotel to the Little Orme via the Promenade, and from the Pier to Penrhynside. In 1914 the company, as a preliminary to launching out with motorbuses, bought the firm of Jarvis and Woodyatt, which ran motor taxis and two motor coaches. This business itself had been started as a coaching concern by Mr. G. Woodyatt as far back as 1887. Mr. Woodyatt went over to the Llandudno Coaching and Carriage Co. and its successors and was at work until past his 80th birthday
In 1915 the British Automobile Traction Co., Ltd_, took a financial interest in the coaching company, for which the fleet name of" Royal Blue" was adopted, but owing to the war little could be done except to 113T) three J-type Thornycrofts on charabancs tours. In 1921 a regular service was started to Colwyn Bay and, a year later, one to Conway. Later extensions were to Penmaenmawr, Caernarvon via Llanrwst, and Abergele. The B.A.T. obtained full control in 1923 and in 1924 the Midland Red S.O.S.-type buses were introduced. Early in its history the'" Royal Blue made arrangements with the L.M.S. to issue circular tickets, enabling tourists to travel out by bus and home by train, or vice versa. In 1928 the Bangor .Blue. Co. was bought and this brought " Royal Blue" into conflict with the U-Need-Us system, operating, from Caernarvon and Llangefni, • Ccosville Motor Services had begun to
extend into Wales in 1924, and on January 1, 1930, they took over U-N-U.
Simultaneously with the development of the " Royal Blue " came that of the North Wales Silver Motors, Ltd., originally founded in 1911 as the Llandudno Automobile Touring Co., Ltd. They started services to Penmaenmawr, Llanfairfechan and, during the first world war, to Llanrwst and Kinmel, as well as two local routes in Colwyn Bay. By 1930 they had 31 vehicles but, having insufficient capital, they also decided, in August, 1930, to sellto Crosville Absorbed by Crosville The "Royal Blues " (by then 80 buses) became part of the Crosville organization as from February 18, 1931, The vehicles were numbered 501 to 538, 547, 548, and 555 to 594 in the Crosville stock list. Two of the S.O.S.Q.L.C. type were still shown on the list in December, 1948, Nos. 587 and 588, renumbered Q1 and Q2.
Present Crosville services in the two towns are shown on the accompanying map. These services are worked from garages at Llandudno (36 vehicles), Llandudno Junction (59), Llanrwst (16) and Rhyl (89).
In 1926 the Corporation of Colwyn Bay decided to run its own service along the Promenade, which, being a private road, had up to then been closed to public service vehicles. Three Guy toastracks were bought and two more were added later. One is still in service, but it is now run as a closed vehicle; the deep windows, however, have been so. made that they will slide up into the roof if desired. The other five vehicles in the present fleet (which is the smallest municipal undertaking in the British Isles) are Guy Wolf petrol 20-seaters in green and cream livery. They are used from about May 15 to October 2 on a service from College Avenue, Rhos, along the Marine Drive and Promenade to Beach Road, Old Colwyn (about 3 miles). The journey, for which a fare of 5d. is charged, takes 21 minutes. The headway at the beginning of the season is usually 14 minutes; it is then stepped up to 11 minutes, and later to nine, extras being run if necessary. Usually the service is suspended at lunch and tea time, but this summer some buses may continue running without intervals. The vehicles are garaged in Grove Road, where the mechanical staff also undertakes the repair of other corporation vehicles, and even of lawn mowers for the Parks Department. Hitherto the buses have been under the control of Mr. N. S. Jeffrey (engineer and surveyor) and his assistant, Mr. Hesketh. This year,
however, they are to be supervised by the pier manager, Mr. J. E. Neal.
The Urban District Council of Llandudno decided to follow the example of Colwyn Bay and in July, 1928, put on a service along its private drive round the Great Orme's Head. In the first year, 22,642' passengers were carried; in 1940 the total was 62,478. The service was suspended in 1943-45, but on re-opening the numbers increased amazingly. In the 1948 season the total was 195,263. The route starts from Prince Edward Square and goes round the Great Orme anti-clockwise, past the Lighthouse, to West Shore, thence along Gloddaeth Avenue and back to the starting point. The distance is about 51 miles; the journey, which is extremely picturesque, takes 30 minutes, and a flat fare of Is. (6d. children) is charged. The service (which usually operates from Easter to the end of September) starts at 10 a.m. and goes on as long as there is a demand, with a break of about an hour at lunch time. There is no timetable but buses are dispatched as required.
The vehicles do not carry a conductor and to save time an inspector issues tickets at Prince Edward Square and the driver punches these as the passengers board the bus. The present fleet, which is in maroon and cream livery, consists of four 19-seater Dennis toastracks (1929-30), one 1937 Commer and five Guys (one bought in 1948 and two in 1949). At the time it obtained parliamentary powers for the Great Orme service, the Council also obtained powers to run along the Promenade to the Little Orme and to provide a service passing round the south side of the town. It is, however, unlikely that these powers will be exercised, but the Council intends to embark on a much more useful and interesting experiment.
Britain's Last Cable Tramway
It has bought, as from January I, 1949, the Great Orme Railway. This is the last cable tramway in Great Britain. It is in two sections, the lower having been
opened on July 31, 1902, and the upper a year later. The total length is 1 mile 9.24 chains, and it rises to a height of 650 ft. above sea level, the summit of the Great Orme being 679 ft. The gradient in the lower section averages 1 in 6 (at the worst part 1 in 4.7); in the upper section most of the route is easy, except for one stretch of 1 in 8. There are two 48-seater cars for each section, one travelling up as the other comes down; three trailers were originally part of the stock, but these were scrapped after an accident. In the season of 1946 the line (which is open only from April to October) carried 225,000 persons.
The council was empowered by the Gt. Orme Tramway Act, 1898, to buy
the line at the end of 28 years, and did
so for £8,407. A considerable sum of money has been spent on rehabilitation, and the line was re-opened at Easter.
Surprisingly enough, there is a centre of population on the Head which has no transport at all in the winter, and even more surprising, perhaps, the ancient mother church of the town, St. Tudno's, and the cemetery, are also on top of the
Head some distance away from the cable-car terminus The council intends to kill two birds with one stone by starting a bus servicewhich will give the permanent residents on the Head all-the-year-round facilities and be a tourist route to St. Tudno's. Applidation has been made for permission to operate a new route which will start from the Town Hall and travel via Chapel Street, Arvon Avenue, Tudno Street, Ty-gwyn Road to Liwynon Road, then past Tyn-y-Coed Road to the Halfway Station on the tram route; it will 'then follow the tram track for a short distance before turning off north-westward to St. Tudno's. The pro
posed service would run daily during the summer, whilst in the winter it would run daily to Llwynon Road, with an extension to St. Tudno's on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting. Two 35-seater Fodens with Gardner engines are to be employed and these are being fitted with sprag gear such as is used by the West Monmouth Omnibus Board on Bargoed Hilt.
As at Colwyn Bay, a centralized transport department is run at Llandudno with Mr. W. E. Dowell as manager. The present garage at Builder Street is quite inadequate for the buses and new premises are to be built as materials become available.