An Amble Along The Dunns by John Powell
The Dunns, is a local name for a section of The Mumbles Road, from the corner of Newton Road, to what is now The Co-op, supermarket.
A view of The Dunns, from near Clements Quarry, between 1877 & 1890
Mable Higgs used to graze her donkeys in the field in the foreground.
Oystermouth Coffee Tavern on the entrance to The Dunns, is now occupied by part of The White Rose.
The seaward side of The Dunns, taken from Mumbles Hill, between 1877 & 1890.
On the left are Claremont Villas, Fern Cottage and the third Methodist Church, opened in 1877.
Next door is Taylor the Grocers, The Christadelphian Chapel.
The next building still exists and now holds Solo and Joshua's.
Shops, flats and Oddfellows Hall occupied the seaward side of The Dunns which were demolished around 1970.
The Elms is the house on the right.
This earlier view, before shops were constructed on the seaward side of The Dunns. shows the ruins of Dunns Mansion, on the extreme left, which was demolished in 1855.
This earlier view, was taken from the opposite direction to that shown above.
This later photo shows the first of the three shops to be built on the seaward side of The Dunns. They were also the first three buildings to be demolished around 1970, during a road widening scheme. J. Williams's, White Rose, sign is on the pub, after he moved there in 1856.
A view of The Dunns from Oystermouth Castle, between 1877 & 1890
Oystermouth Coffee Tavern on the entrance to The Dunns, is now occupied by part of The White Rose.
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 Dunns and a sailor returns home, 1890s
The Independant order of Rechabites met at the Oystermouth Coffee Tavern,
A view from Clements Quarry, after the extension of the Mumbles Train over the Horsepool and incudes The Elms as well as shops in The Dunns.
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 readers may 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.
A later view from Clements Quarry, includes 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.
In 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
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.
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.
My Grandpa, George Bladen worked at their store in The Dunns in Mumbles. this is his story.
The demolition of Fortes and the other buildings on the seaward side of The Dunns, was completed in the early 1970s.
Going - Going - Gone!
The seaward side of The Dunns is demolished
The upper part of The Dunns today. Taken from the site of Forte's Ice Cream Parlour and looking up the first part of The Dunns, to the entrance to 'The Square'.
Fortes, the famous Ice-cream parlour was demolished around 1970, (the road and pavements widened) and was replaced by a gardens.
We continue 'The Amble'
Lowther's Pharmacy, at the entrance to Oystermouth Station, looking down to Kemps The Drapers.
H R Lowther MPS Pharmacist Mumbles
A glass bottle from collector Robert Hall
Claremont Villas, the third Methodist Church and Davies the Baker
Now, the shops, Mumbles Post Office, the third Methodist Church and Davies the Baker, Dec 2014.
Mumbles Post Office is on the left and 'Kemps' on the right, with a glimpse of the 'New' Cinema at the end of The Dunns.
A E Kemp, Drapers, The Dunns
An advert from The Mumbles News, 1972.
Oystermouth Castle overlooks the village and will have observed many changes over the years. Previously on the site were Fern Cottage and the second Methodist Chapel, replaced in 1877.
A reminder of how much the view from the tower of All Saints' Church has changed, since the 1880s. The Methodist Church is on the seashore, but soon new land will be created fo the Mumbles Railway.
The Methodist Church is now a little distant from the seashore and a Cinima, shops, houses, Tennis Courts and Bowling Green have been built on the reclaimed land.
This view from the tower of All Saints' Church shows all of the Dunns, after so many changes.
And even more changes have taken place. Photo: Tony Roberts.
The New Cinema, Mumbles. Replaced by the Tivoli Cinema in 1939.
The Tivoli Entertainments, followed the cinima.
illustrates the history of the building.
by Carol Powell
Which lives on through stories passed down through the generations.
by Carol Powell
It was 4.10am on Thursday 12 February 1914, when passer-spotted flames and smoke emanating from the premises of WH Jones, grocer (and erstwhile post office), on the junction of Newton Road and The Dunns.