A History of Mumbles - A Nostalgic Walk Along The Track from Blackpill by Carol Powell

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A History of Mumbles

The Mumbles Railway
A Nostalgic Walk Along the Track

By Carol Powell

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A Mumbles Railway Commemoration Brochure

A Nostalgic Walk Along the Track

From Blackpill to the Pier

The Mumbles Train at Blackpill.

The Train approached Blackpill Station, now The Junction Coffee shop.

Our walk will point out some of the present-day points of interest and some, which existed in times gone by. In its earlier days, the Mumbles railway track hugged the seaward side of the road as far as Castle Hill terminus (now the dairy car Park) but from the 1890s until 1960, from Blackpill to Oystermouth, it ran along what is now the prom. 1) We start our journey at the Junction Café, which is housed in one of the only remaining Mumbles Railway buildings—an Electricity Sub-station built in 1929. Outside, the display boards record the history of this, the world’s first passenger railway and, in the tarmac nearby we can see the indentations of the remains of some of the railway sleepers.

2) As we walk along, we pass the petrol garage, the site of which was the home of Lloyd’s Garage and a row of cottages—Brookside Terrace, the birthplace of the railway’s longest-serving driver, Mr. Frank Dunkin.

3) The neighbouring green was once bordered on the road-side by several cottages—Beaufort Terrace. This adjoined a market garden, which had been run by the father of Melville Clare, a photographer, who later could often be seen travelling by bicycle and carrying his tripod, to capture many of the local everyday scenes of yesteryear. Also on this site was an electricity booster station for the railway, dated on its fascia as 1939 and opposite on the seaward side, a World War two pill-box.

4) Moving along, we come to some gaps in the stone topping of the sea wall. In these were placed the massive concrete blocks, which were war-time anti-tank defences. Also we can see a NO WAY sign, fronting a flight of steps to the beach, which during that time had been out of bounds to the public.

5) Beyond this, opposite the ramp to the beach was the site of one of the oldest buildings in the area—Lilliput Hall and its adjoining cottage, which was described in M. Mathew’s Swansea Guide of 1830 as ‘the whimsical home of Thomas Deering . . . the area of the whole house was 20 feet by 16’. This was demolished in the 1960s/70s as part of the sea front landscaping scheme.

6) On through the ‘Cutting’ past the site of another very old cottage, whose apple tree is now the only sign of its existence.

7) At West Cross Station, there was a passing loop and the stream Washing house Brook. On our right hand side in the early 19C stood a marble works, when the hotel was called the Currant Tree. In the sea wall on our left can be seen the remains of one of the poles which supported the overhead cables.

8) Between West Cross and Norton XXX

9) From the Dairy Car Park to the beach ramp opposite the Antelope, we are walking on reclaimed land, as in the 1890s, the Mumbles Railway Co. constructed an extension to the line out across the Horsepool, a natural harbour, which had sheltered many a fishing boat and oyster skiff through the years, when the sea came in as far as the Mumbles Road. Today we can see the remains of several skiffs on the beach, which lie as testament to one of the area’s former main occupations.

10) At Oystermouth, the original Victorian ticket Office still stands, occupied until recently by the TIC and a taxi firm.

11) From Oystermouth, there were twin tracks, which ran as far as Southend where a high footbridge crossed to the sea. Along this stretch, many children once built their oyster grottoes and, hoping to earn a penny or two, called ‘Please patronise the grotto’ to passing travellers on the train.

12) In the Knab rock car park, stand the remains of two limekilns, evidence of another of the Mumbles’ main occupations. Up some steps on to the road, which now brings cars to the Pier, but was once part of the railway line. It passes the old lifeboat station on the right hand side and the new inshore station on the left. The line came to an end at the Pier entrance, the focus of many an excursion on the magical Mumbles Railway.

This page is The Trails previously published as Part One and Two combined

The Mumbles steam Train at Southend Station during a Mumbles Regatta, c.1925

The Mumbles Train at Mumbles Pier. early 1950s

The Swansea Museum Tramshed

Mumbles Train Cab from car 7.

This is the last remaining section of Mumbles Railway rolling stock in existence. It is in fact the cab of the car which made the last service run in 1960. The tramcars, with their distinctive livery, were built in 1928 by the Brush Electrical Engineers Company of Loughborough. They were the largest tramcars in service in Britain, being 45 feet long. They could carry 106 seated passengers and covered the journey to Mumbles in 19 minutes.

The Swansea Museum Tramshed contains the last Mumbles Train, car number 7.

The website editor, Carol Powell, viewing The Mumbles Train.

Check opening times with Swansea Museum, Phone: 01792 653763

The Swansea Museum's tramway annexe > [Check opening hours] is located in Dylan Thomas Square (photo) and houses a 1924 Swansea street tramcar and the last surviving section of a 1929 Mumbles Railway electric car, fully restored. Car No. 7 (see photos) was one of the last pair to operate on the railway when it closed on January 5th., 1960. Access to the section is permitted and you can even sit on the front seats on the upper deck! Other exhibits include a replica horse car built by SWT in 1954 to celebrate the 150th anni versary of the railway. Archive material and photo graphs add to the display. A continuous video shows the railway in action, as it once was.