The Barry heritage bus group held a special Twilight Event running restored classic Welsh buses last Saturday (2nd November) to mark 50 years ago when local government in Wales was changed completely. Several councils used to run their own buses, and the event saw several restored examples providing free trips from daylight to dusk. In Twilight and the dark old fashioned lights gave an atmospheric orangey tinge to the inside of the buses and of course the side and headlights.
The idea is to give a different atmosphere – buses with lights on in the dark goes back to the days when buses were still very frequent at night, when there was limited TV and everyone went out or to the cinema. We run free bus trips to allow people to remember and give younger generations an experience of the older times. We have a unique collection of buses representing the Valleys of SE Wales. Fifty years ago, the Urban District Councils were very proud of their civic identity – Caerphilly had green buses whist Bedwas & Machen had blue and being just two miles apart they were very proud and protective. We have original buses from these communities, as we have from the 1974 created District Councils such as Islwyn or Rhymney Valley. One Caerphilly visitor was in tears as she travelled on a bus her dad regularly drove. It is remarkable how we provide something quite unique in visitor attractions here in South-East Wales.
– Mike Taylor (Group Chairman)
It is different, we are not a business, we are all volunteers, and we only ask for donations to continue our restoration projects, so we don’t charge fares. We had a good number of visitors, and I am pleased to have met several families from a variety of places and backgrounds. We ran every 20 minutes with buses from 1950s to the 1980s. In addition, as we know we also attract teenagers who never knew any of these Councils, we decided last minute to operate our former 2006 Cardiff Bendy-bus which no doubt surprised some Barry motorists on Saturday and it proved popular.
– Mike Taylor (Group Chairman)
Fifty years ago, there was significant change: In 1974 gone were the medieval 13 Counties of Wales with 8 new ones splitting Glamorganshire into West, Mid and South and a new Gwent. Urban District Councils (UDCs) which had existed in Wales from the industrial revolution as coal mining towns grew, such as Aberdare, Pontypridd and Caerphilly lost their own Councils, gone often merged into District or Borough Councils. Corporations in Merthyr Tydfil and even Cardiff and Newport all ended becoming District Borough Councils. Today These are now County Boroughs whilst others like Aberdare and Pontypridd have submerged into Rhondda Cynon Taf. Several of the UDCs started with their own trams and ran their own buses, all unique with their own colours. Other UDCs were happy for private bus firms to run their local transport such as Barry UDC, Ebbw Vale UDC, Risca UDC, and Tredegar UDC.
The Cardiff Transport Preservation Group based at Barry are still looking for volunteers; to help on restoration projects, those with car truck or bus mechanics and coachwork skills are always welcome. For those who are retired can come along on a Tuesday, Thursday or Friday and we have volunteers who come on Saturdays too. Our next public event will be in the Spring next year.
