An Amble Along The Dunns by John Powell

A view of The Dunns, between 1877 & 1890


A closer look into the photo above, 1890s

At a time when horse and cart was the order of the day, women wore ankle length dresses and children were allowed to play in the street among piles of manure.

The Independant order of Rechabites met at the Oystermouth Coffee Tavern,

The Dunns and a sailor returns home, 1890s

Sanders Corner, 1922

The Junction of Mumbles Road and Newton Road was known as 'Sanders Corner.'  On the seaward side of the section of Mumbles Road, known as 'The Dunns, trading at no. 2 was John Eley, butcher; later John Bailey, butcher;  at no. 4 was Sam Harris, barber;  at no 6 was Lloyds Bank, with manager Trevor Bellingham;  at no. 8 was Tucker's Mumbles Press Offices;at no. 10 was  Johnson Dyers Ltd. and at no. 14 was William John, tobacconists.

The extended White Rose, now dominates this corner. The upper window on the right is the same in both pictures, the premises on the seaward side having been demolished around 1970 and the road widened

Many of our younger readers would not remember this row of shops on the seaward side of the Dunns, seen here in this 1922-2007 blended photograph.

J. Eley Butchers, The Dunns, c1910

A glimpse down the Drangway to the beach, as John Eley and his Son (Stuart Eley's  Grandfather) William David Eley. William worked in the shop prior to going to the War in 1914. He had been gassed and when he returned in 1919, he was bedridden in a room above the shop until his death in 1922. 

Libby's Travel Agency, The Dunns, c1965

The 'Drangway', is a right of way, which before 1960, went under the Mumbles Railway Tracks, onto the beach.
Later, road traffic from the bus station at the square continued to pass over the Drangway.  The buses were diverted, as much as possible, away from the very narrow road on The Dunns. It was the very narrow pavements which made it more dangerous for pedestrians.

I often used the Drangway to get down onto the beach, from the time I went to Oystermouth School, from 1948, but have no memories of the time it was filled in.  Some say that the Drangway was not filled in until the 1980s.

The photo shows, J. WILLIAMS'S WHITE ROSE, on the pub, after he moved there in 1856, confirming that the name was in use even before the building was extended.

The  two pictures above show the the first of the three shops to be built which,as shown in the two photos below, were also the first three buildings to be demolished before 1970.

A view from Clements Quarry, after the extension of the Mumbles Train over the Horsepool and incudes The Elms as well as more shops in The Dunns. 

A later view from Clements Quarry, incluudes the Fairground and Jones The Post Office at the entrance to Newton Road, around 1915. 

This view  from Clements Quarry to Mumbles Pier, includes the Elms as well a glimpse of The Tiviloi Cinema, after 1940. Photo Ronald Studden

The Dunns and Sanders Corner, Autumn 1970

The Dunns, after the first three shops had been demolished, before 1970

The Police 'Panda' car is parked in front of the site of Libby's Travel Agency, which was the site of Dunns Mansion, featured below -

It's a sunny afternoon in The Dunns, 1922

Notice the narrowing of the road in The Dunns near The Garage in this 1970 photo and The Nagg's Head Public House is featured. In later years, the parking space on the right hand side, would be taken over by yet another extension of the White Rose Public House.

n 1972, the Nag's was renamed The Oystercatcher, before changing back to The Nag's head in 1995. Over time, its small rooms were merged to become a more modern open-plan style.

June 2012, after changing into a Costa Coffee Shop.

Then the Dark Horse Restaurant, Oct 2020

Dunns Garage, 1960s

 Grandpa was a Grocer by Carol Powell  Taylor's Provision Merchants in The Dunns, 1922  


My Grandpa, George Bladen worked at their store in The Dunns in Mumbles. this is his story. 

The Dunns on the corner of Oystermouth Station Square .  A site later occupied by Jenkins, Ironmongers.

 Thomas The Draper, The Dunns, Mumbles .

Thomas The Draper,advert.

The premises in the centre, was then occupied by Jenkins, Ironmongers. Later, Fortes rebuilt it and in 1936, opened the famous Ice-cream parlour. 

The demolition of Fortes and the other buildings on the seaward side of The Dunns, was completed in the early 1970s. 

Going - Going - Gone!

Dunns Mansion >

by Carol Powell

Which lives on through stories passed down through the generations.

Helps to IIlustrate the history of the building.

This site also features in:

A Trek: Part Seven >

by Stuart Batcup

'The Maddocks family was clearly prosperous as they were able to live in the three largest houses in the Village: Dunns Mansion, the Elms alongside and Thistleboon House.'