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Oystermouth Station Square Explored
Oystermouth Station Square Explored
The Centre of Oystermouth
The Centre of Oystermouth
In the centre of this photo, there is a fine view Clements Quarry and in front of this is the old sea wall, which bordered the Castle Hill Terminus of the Mumbles Railway, now the Dairy Car Park. Photo: post 1880.
The site of the future Oystermouth Square
The site of the future Oystermouth Square
Today, when you pass Mumbles Methodist Church, on the left of this photo, you will note that it is about one hundred yards from the sea wall. But, until 1892, the sea came up as far as the road in front. Photo: post 1880.
In 1889, the Mumbles Railway and Pier Company was formed to lay a line one mile and 22 chains long from a new station and to construct a Pier.
The new station, named Oystermouth Station, was 50 yards to the south of Mumbles Station and constructed on reclaimed land and this is shown next..
Castle Hill Terminus - later re-named Mumbles (before it was closed)
Castle Hill Terminus - later re-named Mumbles (before it was closed)
The two horse carriage ready to leave for Swansea, fully loden. The driver is seated and there is a policeman alongside,. Photo: . 1865. Due to competition from horse drawn buses, the station closed in 1827. The line reopened on 11th November 1860.
The railway carriages and carriage house are situated at the current terminus, known at Elms, which continued to be used, after the new station was opened. The site eventually closed in December 1895. It was later the site of Jones Dairy, Mumbles.
Castle Hill Terminus
Castle Hill Terminus
Above the left hand red arrow, is The Elms, next to the earlier sea wall. In the centre, hidden behind the trees is the carriage house featured earlier above. The Castle Hill Terminus and passenger shelter are situated above the right hand red arrow. The tall terrace on the Mumbles Road is named Clements Row .
Then
Then
Clements Row can be seen on the top left. On 23 May 1892, work had already began on the project which will was to extend the railway from Castle Hill Terminus to Mumbles Head and open in May 1898. The railway carriages and shelter are situated at the current terminus. On the left is the old sea wall, noted above, which today borders the Dairy Car Park.
Now
Now
A closer view of the same scene. The taller house in the earlier photo is on the right of this view.
The old see wall on the left is now the Dairy Car Park. The sea wall buildt in 1892 is the new sea wall.
The sea wall, completed in 1892, is now under repair as a part of a flood prevention scheme.
Then and Now
Then and Now
Oystermouth, before the Railway extension to the Headland, which began in c1892 and was completed with the opening of Mumbles Pier .in 1898.
The timbers are on the sea wall ready for work to begin. In the background it can be seen that the sea came up as far as the Mumbles Road.
The wall pictured in the earlier photo, shown here in the foreground.
This reclaimed area was named 'Oystermouth Station' or 'Station Square', but is now named 'Oystermouth Square.' Photo: August 2015, Tivoli Amusements is recorded before its change to The Oyster Wharf development.
The project begins to cross the beach, eventually reclaiming a large are of land, sold for shops, housing and a park, so changing the coastline.
The Elms, a residential building in the background, is on the site of today's Dairy car park.
Oystermouth Station
Oystermouth Station
When the new Station moved 50 yards south and opened on 6th May 1893, it was called Mumbles Station, The stations name was changed to Oystermouth on 2nd November 1895.
Another stage in the development of Oystermouth Station, The tunnel under the railway runs under the lower centre of the photo.
A steam train at the new Mumbles Station, later named Oystermouth, which is met by several horse and carriages, c1895.
The tunnel under the railway runs under the lower centre of the photo.
A hundred year later, a similar station building is being used by Mumbles Tourist Information. In the background, the old Tivoli Cinema, then a venue for playing slot machines and other entertainments
Tunnel or 'Drangway' at Oystermouth Station
Tunnel or 'Drangway' at Oystermouth Station
Two glimpses of the passageway or 'drangway', leading from The Mumbles Road to the beach.
Eley Butchers, The Dunns, c1910, with John Eley and his Son, William David Eley.
Eley Butchers, The Dunns, c1910, with John Eley and his Son, William David Eley.
Libby's Travel Agency, The Dunns, c1965
This passage or 'Drangway' is an ancient right of way, which before 1960, (when the railway closed down) went under the Mumbles Railway Tracks, via a short tunnel, onto the beach, from opposite the bottom of Newton Road.
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, as the very narrow pavements which made it more dangerous for pedestrians.
I often used the Drangway to get down onto the beach, from 1948, when I first went to Oystermouth School, but it was filled in after 1960, probably due to the heavy busses now passing over it. The the right of way was continued by constructing steps onto the beach, which were later updated as a part of the new sea wall, completed in 2026.
A silver 72 seater bus, passing over the 'tunnel', later replaced with steps to the beach.
A modern view of the area, showing the finished 1892 sea wall and modern steps.
The steps to the beach replaced the 'tunnel' which went under the railway line, to allow horse and carts access to the beach, so as to travel out to the nets in the bay, to collect the fish.
Also shown in this photo (lower middle-right) is the base of one of the poles, which carried the cables carrying the electric current to the carriages. Two such poles survive alongside the station waiting room and are being refurbished. Information Boards will be added by MDT.
The Mumbles Railway-the route from Oystermouth to Mumbles Pier
Where did the railway go?
Around 1900, Jenkins, Ironmongers and General Stores was situated at the entrance of Station Square, Oystermouth.
A site later taken over by Fortes Ice-Cream Parlour in 1936 and featured later.
An open cab AEC S type double deck bus, typical of many operated by the South Wales Transport Company in the late1920S. The bus waits for passengers alongside Bater & Son, Coal Merchants, at Station Square, Oystermouth. Photo: colourised by Jeff Stewart, researched by Mair Norris Ellery.
Bater & Son, Coal Merchants, was situated at 'Station Square' also seen above.
The premises behind the bus was ocupied by Fortes Espresso Coffee Bar, run by one of the family. Photo: late 1950s.
Kay Davies commented on Facebook - 'It was a very popular coffee shop with a great juke box it was a brilliant place frequented by the motorbike fraternity,I used to go there with friends at weekends.'
Oystermouth Square: The 77 bus ready to go to Limeslade or The Pier. George mason the grocer and Fortes Ice Cream Parlour . Photo: late 1960s.
Fortes Ice Cream Parlour, c1970
Oystermouth Square, a 'Gower Pony' minibus and a topless no. 71 Limeslade Bus, pictured after the buildings shown earlier were demolished around 1970.
Oystermouth Square, a City Minibus in the snow.
Oystermouth Station in the Edwardian era, the Station Master at Oystermouth Station was Bob Millard, dressed in a frock‑coat and a peak cap, who would ring a huge hand-bell to signal the Mumbles Train to leave for the Pier. The other staff included two porters, Jim and Fred Martin and a van driver, Reg Hoyle.
In the foreground is Absi Peachy, one of the carriage drivers who met the trains at Oystermouth Station. Kitty Horsley (née Ladd) said that he had the nickname, the ‘Saluting Sergeant’ as he would invariably raise his whip to his hat in salute, probably hoping for a fare to take to the bays.
After the photo above was taken the building was converted, once again, into a Cafe (which soon closed).
'The Square Cafe', 'The Tivoli' & Boots The Chemist, April 2012. The red cross shows the site of the old British Legion Hut at the square.
The poles are refurbished in 2025
The poles are refurbished in 2025
Once this building was part of the Victorian Waiting Room, it was later used as a Tourist Information Centre. Note the two of the rusty poles, which once carried the overhead electricity power cables for the trains.
Oystermouth Station, around 1959. The short post with the number TWO was to show the driver where to stop the front of the train if he had two carriages. Part of this carriage, number 7, now resides in the Tram Shed, next to the Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
It's marvellous that the poles, which were slowly rusting away over the years, have now been restored and will complement the new Station name sign and the information board, installed alongside the Old Waiting Room by Mumbles Development Trust, now that the Mumbles Coastal Protection Scheme is completed, as a part of the Mumbles Railway Trail project.
Many locals will remember that two of the poles supported the cables which carried the electric power to each train carriage. One pole near the old Waiting Room, was used as a light standard, illuminating Oystermouth Station platform and the Square.
Oystermouth Railway Station sign, a part of The Mumbles Railway Trail
2025 - Oystermouth Railway Station sign installed by Mumbles Development Trust, as a part of the Mumbles Railway Trail project. This will be finalised when the the new Sea Wall project is completed.
Oystermouth Station, 1951
Henry Charles Harvey, with his dog, Brucie, is chatting to a friend, near the number 85 SWT silver bus at Oystermouth Square, which had replaced the Mumbles Train service.
In those days, everyone travelled with a shopping bag. On the back left is Tony Macari's Coffee Bar, which was a popular meeting point for teenagers at the time.
The silver 72 seater buses which replaced the train service and it took three buses to hold the same number of passengers as two railway carriages. Various bus companies around the country experimented with unpainted vehicles to save paint costs. SWT had 13 of these vehicles in 1958/59. However, the experiment failed as the buses soon lost their 'silver' charm and became very unkempt. Therefore, they were all eventually painted in fleet livery in 1966,
Caswell and Limeslade buses wait in the Square
Oystermouth Square, 1994
Crowds watch as the final train passes through Oystermouth Station on its way too be scrapped, 5th January 1960.
A view of Oystermouth Square, with the Land Train on the promenade, April 2010
They are giving away free ice-cream at Forte's by Grafton Maggs
'Our generation was expert on ice cream in the thirties and with some justification as the days of the great mass producers had not arrived.'
Fortes Ice-Cream Parlour, a bus in the Square and 'The Tiv' Tivoli Entertainments, c1965
by David P, Panorama and colourised by Ronald Studden.
The Tivoli Cinema was always called 'The Tiv' by locals.
'Another favourite pastime in the 1930s was ‘Going to the pictures.’ It was a special occasion with an excitement far exceeding that of a visit to the impersonal, sterile cinemas catering for today ...'
The Tivoli is going
The roof is taken off the Tivoli
The New Oyster Wharf takes shape, April 2016
Oyster Wharf is completed, July 2017
View to the Pier with the Land Train on the promenade, April 2010
Visiting 'The Nets at Oystermouth'
by Ivor J. Hockingfrom the collection of Ron AustinFishing Weirs in the Parish of Oystermouth
By Carol Powell MA'Many remember the sight of fishing nets way out in Swansea Bay, comprising a series of nets / weirs stretching across the bay from Blackpill to Mumbles. For a generation of boys, it was a delight to swim the several miles to the net poles and back.'
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