“MEMORIES OF 1930s BUS TRAVEL – Merthyr – Pontypridd –Cardiff”
by ARTHUR HUGHES
How many of you now regret not having kept a record of the buses you travelled on in your youth? Fortunately, there are a few enthusiasts who have meticulously recorded their everyday journeys and one of these was Arthur Hughes.
Arthur Peter Hughes was born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1915 and in 1933 he was able to obtain suitable employment in Cardiff. For the next four and an half years he commuted from home to work but he was fortunate in that a fairly fast service between Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff had been introduced in 1930 as a joint venture between Cardiff Corporation, Merthyr Tydfil Corporation and Rhondda Tramways.
In later years, Arthur Hughes approached the late Chris Taylor to request his help in preparing his recollections of this period for publication but sadly no publisher showed any interest. Many years later, Chris encouraged Viv Corbin to adapt the 140 page foolscap draft into a series of articles for the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group “Bustler” journal and this was done over a couple of years with the final chapter published in the January 2016 edition.
It was felt that the story deserved a wider audience, so it was decided to reprint copies of the articles in a single publication. This nostalg
ic 40page A5 booklet also contains period photographs from the Chris Taylor collection, together with maps and diagrams. The result is a very detailed record of a very interesting route corridor in a period immediately after the 1930 Road Traffic Act. He describes the route in detail as well as recording competing services and the types of buses used by the various companies. This little booklet is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the social and transport history of the area.
Profits from the sale of this publication will assist with the restoration and continued preservation of the Group’s fleet of buses at The Bus Depot, Barry.
Copies will be available at our events or can be ordered at £6.00 post free from the CTPG at 8 Springfield Rise, Barry, CF63 1RE.
