Pa, take us to the Mumbles by Kate Jones
More: Articles by Kate Jones >
“Pa, Take us to the Mumbles”
by Kate Jones
In August 1875 a new publication appeared on the Welsh literary scene: The Usk Gleaner and Monmouthshire Record. This monthly magazine (price 3d) was to be: ‘A Local Register of Events and Magazine of Information.’ It would report local news and articles of current interest, biographies and stories and also items from the past which the editor felt should be preserved for the future. Editor James Henry Clark (1818-1913) was a well-known printer and publisher, who produced other newspapers including the Chepstow Weekly Advertiser and the County Observer.
The Usk Gleaner was a ‘local’ publication, for the inhabitants of the county of Monmouth, so it is perhaps a little surprising to find, on page 5 of its first edition, a long article about Mumbles. James Clark (I assume it was he) wrote that travel, particularly to the seaside:” was invigorating to the spirits and healthful to the frame. … and where can there be a more pleasant trip than to the Mumbles. … For a quiet and romantic retreat, give me the bluff headland of the Mumbles with the smooth sand and cosy bays of Langland and Caswell.” What was more – such a trip could be accomplished by train! A detailed description of the journey covered 3 pages of the magazine. This is a summary:-
From Monmouth to Mumbles in 1875
Departing Monmouth’s May Hill station, (“inconveniently small” in the Editor’s opinion), opened in 1873 by the Great Western Railway, the train soon leaves the valley of the river Wye, passing through the “neat village” of Raglan with its magnificent castle ruins, to reach the “pretty town of Usk”. Here more passengers join the crowded train and continue to Pontypool. “On rattles the ponderous train, through ravines in the mountains, past fish-ponds” before it slows down to cross the Crumlin Viaduct.
Crumlin Viaduct: “The dizzy height, reared on lace-like pillars, more than 200 feet above the valley” causes travellers some concern. “Few can pass over this work of art and look down on the house tops and canal below without something like a shiver – what if it should give way?”
Another viaduct, Maesycwmmer, over the river Rhymney, leaves Monmouthshire behind. Entering Glamorgan the train passes through Mountain Ash, Aberdare and stops at Hirwaun, which the writer describes as “one of the bleakest looking parts in South Wales” despite being surrounded by “gigantic hills”. The train enters a tunnel and emerges in the “lovely Vale of Neath”. The splendours of the countryside with its “luxurious woods, deep ravines, high mountains, cascades and waterfalls, fine mansions and quaint bridges over shallow streams” are described in detail. So is the town of Neath with its ruined Abbey and Castle.
On from Neath towards Swansea and another viaduct, Landore, “a long, lofty structure on wooden piles”, is crossed before passengers must change trains. This is a “miserably bleak” station enveloped in dense smoke of “copper sulphur and arsenic”, surrounded by hills stripped of greenery. But Swansea is only a few minutes train ride away and here, at High Street station waits an omnibus for Rutland Street station to catch the train for Mumbles.
Unfortunately, the writer does not describe the final leg of the long journey. But, almost certainly, the (no doubt) tired, thirsty and dusty travellers were carried to Mumbles by horse-drawn coach on the Oystermouth Railway. ‘Trains’ ran every hour but they were not steam hauled in 1875.
At last, and the writer does not say how many hours the entire journey took, the weary travellers, having viewed the beauties of mountains, valleys, industrial landscapes and crossed three wonders of Victorian engineering and construction, reach their destination. “As a rustic watering place the Mumbles is much frequented and lodgings during the height of the summer are scarce… The sands and heathy fields, the romantic lanes and headlands about the Mumbles are all attractive.”
Just in case readers are unconvinced about the delights of Mumbles and Gower, the Usk Gleaner publishes this poem:-
II.Pa, take us to the Mumbles,And show us Swansea Bay,And all the hills that flank it roundIn picturesque array.Then show us tiny Langland, The cozy quiet cove,With Headland soft and green,a haunt for young or old to love.
III.Pa, take us to the Mumbles,And show us Caswell fair;The loveliest gem on earth you say, --Pa, haste to take us there.We’d taste its cooling fountains,We’d hide us in its caves,And “peer” among the rocks, all wornand fretted by the waves.
IV.Pa, take us to the Mumbles,And show the Castle grey,And all the charms which gird aroundThe splendid Oxwich Bay:The Tors both great and littleWhich frown upon the floods,The shaggy sylvan scene, and allThe glories of the woods.
V.Pa, take us to the Mumbles,And show us all the show,The turf-drive green on Cefn-Bryn, And Penrice Park below;The wondrous rocks in Mewslade,And, last the sailor’s dread,The snake which in Rhosilly wildLifts high its threatening head.----------------------
Any parentwould find it difficult to resist the plea, “Pa, take us to the Mumbles.” The peace and unspoilt tranquillity of the small oyster-dredging village and adjacent beaches was the perfect place to visit – and to stay awhile, before making the long journey back to Monmouth! Over the following decades Mumbles established itself as a popular tourist destination. With its quaint little streets, crammed with fishermen’s cottages, the picturesque castle ruins, bathing at several beaches, a pier (from 1898) with steamer trips to Devon, cafes, oyster stalls, regattas and plenty of hotels and boarding houses, Mumbles had plenty to offer visitors in the early years of the 20th century – and still does.
The Oystermouth Railway introduced steam in 1877. It became known as the Mumbles Railway and in 1929 electric tramcars replaced the steam engines. As we all know, the line was closed in January 1960 – sixty years ago.
‘Thank you’ Dr. Beeching! Monmouth’s May Hill Station closed in 1959; Crumlin Viaduct was closed in 1967 and was demolished. Maesycwmmer Viaduct was closed in 1964, but re-opened to the public in 2000 and forms part of the National Cycle Network. Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s original viaduct at Landore has been greatly altered but still carries Great Western Trains across the river Tawe as they come into Swansea. It is no longer enveloped in dense smoke, as it was in 1875.
The Usk Gleaner ceased publication in 1878, but James Henry Clark achieved one of his aims (that of preserving the past for the future) in that the poem, Pa Take us to the Mumbles, was re-printed a century ago in the Swansea and Mumbles Illustrated Guide of 1920. But he could certainly never have imagined that his monthly periodical would be digitised by the National Library of Wales and read on a computer in 2020! He is described on his family website as being a most remarkable man – a printer; publisher; newspaper founder, proprietor and editor; local historian; author; botanist; leader in local government; pioneer of the Usk Gas Company … the list goes on. I would also add that he thought Mumbles a marvellous place.
Kate Jones, February 2020
[Acknowledgements: The National Library of Wales; Clark & Mullin Family website; Rock & Roll to Paradise, Ron Gittins; The Llfe and Times of the Mumbles Railway, G. Gabb; Illustrated London News; Wikipedia]
More: Articles by Kate Jones >