Bush Hotel (Dowlais) – The Melting Pot

Dowlais through German eyes….yet again

In January, I published an article regarding the Prince of Saxony’s visit to Dowlais (https://www.merthyr-history.com/?p=8138). Here is a transcription of another German visit from “Dawlais Works, die Eisen- und Schienen-Walzwerke des Hauses John Guest, in London, 1844” by Carl Klocke.

Anticipation mounts and, finally, at the end of the valley, where the mountains close in, lie the Dowlais works, and to the left and across the top of the peak is the hamlet Dowlais with a few protruding small churches and chapels. As we approach the place, our coachman identifies one of them as Sir John’s chapel, for it was Sir John Guest himself who had it built, then there is Sir John’s market hall and his estate situated directly above the works; next, the garden for Sir John’s horses and the three horsemen on an outing who are passing us, are none other than Sir John’s surgeons. Our omnibus terminates in front of a small, neat guesthouse on the High Street of Dowlais and we are finally at the end of our journey. One can hear the steam engines at work and the roar of the bellows; from the windows on the upper storey one can see the flickering flames of the blast furnaces which, like a nearby fire storm, then illuminate the bedrooms at night and it takes some adjustment in order to fall peacefully asleep. …

Yet, one would not have seen Dowlais properly without having gone for a walk over the surrounding heights during the late evening hours. At Dowlais, Sir John can offer his guests illuminations and fireworks every evening. By comparison, the famous fireworks of the Surrey Gardens in London (where they fabulously depict the Great Fire of London in the year 1666) are but child’s play. The blast furnaces resemble a burning city, whereas further below, the fires and forges, together with the illuminated tall chimney stacks of the steam engines, looks like a city which has just recently burnt down. In the evening light, the not quite extinguished slags gleam like glowing lava; raised up to towering heaps, here and there on the outermost edge of tall mountains, they flow to the valley like burning streams of lava. … However, to witness one such sight, one must never come to Dowlais on a Saturday or Sunday, because Sir John Guest not only quotes Nelson in saying ‘that he expects every man to do his duty’, but he also adds ‘that he likes to see every man enjoy his Sunday’.

It is for that reason that – except for the blast furnaces which, naturally, cannot suffer any disruption – at a fairly early hour each Saturday afternoon, all other fires and steam engines cease their groaning, and the workers and drawn carts swarm from the near and far factories towards town.

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

After Dowlais House there was, I think, a house, but it was enlarged for Mr George Martin, who lived there some years after. Then came the surgery, and the entrance to the furnace yard beyond. The railroad for bringing the limestone from the quarries crossed the turnpike here, and cottages continued for some distance on the road to Rhymney.

The road to the Ivor Works runs alongside the old limestone road, and just on the corner is the residence of Mr E. P. Martin, his brother, Mr H. W. Martin, occupying the smaller one adjoining.

An extract from the 1851 Ordnance Survey Map showing the two houses in question.

The first was built for Mr John Evans, and occupied for some years by him, but Mr Joseph Lamphier, who occupied the smaller, moved to Cwmavon, and both he and his sister (for he was a bachelor) rest in a grave there. My first visit to Mr John Evans’ house was when he resided at Gwernllwyn Isaf. His brother, Thomas, lived near, and also the rector, Rev Thomas Jenkins. There was also a school there – small, very small in comparison with the present, but there it was.

A short way further, and the Ivor Works are come to, but a road crosses leading up to the houses behind the works. These were built just after the starting of the works in ’33 or ’39, and several of them were the quarters of the military stationed there after the Chartist Riot at Newport. The captain had been abroad, and brought a coloured nursemaid back. This girl was was an object of curiosity to the tip girls, and, they being so much so, took an opportunity of inspecting if that was actually the colour of her skin beneath her clothes.

Instead of turning to the right, if we turned left we should be on the continuation of the road which is mentioned as turning up the side of the Dowlais Inn. Proceeding along this, we come to the stables on one side and the Market House on the other. The church is a short distance further on the same side as the stables.

An extract from an the 1851 Ordnance Survey Map showing the area in question

With the introduction of the railways, no doubt there has been some improvement, but the impression yet existing is that there is more squalor – perhaps less care for appearances. That some feeling of this kind did exist is shown by what was done when a great personage was there.

There was a large order for rails in the market, and the high position of the firm stood them in good stead. To understand my meaning, it is proper to state the town residence of Sir John Guest (8 Spring Gardens) was celebrated; it was here the episode of the balance-sheet took place as described in Roebuck’s “History of the Whigs”. The order was secured, and a Russian prince was coming to see the works. Between the entrance to the works, opposite the Bush and Dowlais House, on the left side of the road going up, were a lot of cottages. They were somewhat above the average at that time, but the gardens in front were not tidy, so Mawdesley, the engineer of the Ivor Works, was called on to design and erect an iron railing which was done.

To be continued at a later date…….

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

A little way down was the Owain Glyndwr Inn, of which a Mr Thomas Williams was host. He was a brother to the David Williams, Angel. He had a son whom some of your readers may remember as a druggist; his name was John Teague Williams.

There were several roads and streets leading off from this, the High Street, to the road from the Dowlais Inn up to the church; one was called Horse Street from the fact that horses always went up that way; the one on the upper side of the Bush was Church or Chapel Street, I forget which, and would have been a nearer way, but it was exceedingly steep. One of the six shops mentioned was used as a reading room.

An 1851 map showing some of the areas mentioned.

The caretaker or librarian was Mr Henry Murton, a remarkably clever man. To illustrate the character of the man let me give some anecdotes. He was engaged in the Works to carry the patterns to and from the moulders. He had a failing, and was told he had been appointed to a better position on condition that he give up the cup. Expressing his gratitude, of course, the promise to do so was made, but alas broken before the day passed. He was clever too. In Basil Hall’s voyages, reference is made to the earthquakes in South America. Murton designed and made a model of a house that would not be affected by them – this I well remember.

If I may interpolate a personal matter I would say it was in this reading room in the Athaneum the first account of sun pictures was read. It was Fox Talbot’s paper read on the subject before the British Association at the sitting just concluded.

Necessarily Murton’s occupation brought him into connection with master moulder, who, although a man of substance, peculiarly was not a man well informed, and interrogating Murton as to how vessels went across the Atlantic, obtained information as to the mariner’s compass. “Well” said the moulder, “I thought a big ship took boats, and then somehow the boat would guide the ship that way again”.

Passing the entrance to the Dowlais Works there were no cottages on the right hand. The small building with their back to the road were used for store houses for the necessaries of the works. The Police Station was not built, but there was a dwelling inside contiguous to the office. A David Phillips lived there, and two or three generally had lodgings there. George Cope Pearce was one, Edward Davies (we called him Ned) another; he was a brother of R P Davies, an old Dowlais man, but whose name can be seen on the base of the clock in the Circle at Tredegar. R P Davies was for a while the London agent of Messrs Guest, Lewis & Co.

Poor Ned! The last time I ever saw him was a chance meeting near the Tower of London. He had been down to one of the docks to see the ship in which he was going to California. There was no lack of substance in him for he was desirous of making a bet that he would go to any three persons that I pointed out, and persuade them he was known to them. Finding the cause for this, its necessity was avoided, and I parted from him as he went into the City Club to see his brother.

Two others sailed with him, one, Cox by name, and assistant doctor from Dowlais, and another, I think it was a Bramwell, from Penydarren, but they never reached their destination, the ship was wrecked.

To be continued at a later date…….

Memories of Old Merthyr

We continue our serialisation of the memories of Merthyr in the 1830’s by an un-named correspondent to the Merthyr Express, courtesy of Michael Donovan.

We have now entered Dowlais – yes, to some extent, truly called dismal and dirty. No doubt it has redeeming traits, but from personal recollections I do not consider it had even the amenities that existed in Merthyr. It was, or seemed to be, more brusque, more aggrandising, but if Merthyr was truly a village in the early thirties, Dowlais was somewhat less. “Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice” shall be my guide.

Up the brook a short way there was a brewery, erected by a Mr Powell of Abergavenny, whose father was a church dignitary there. The hill before us is steep, and the first road is one that doubles back in front of the Dowlais Inn, and then turns up to the right to the Dowlais Church, stables and on to the Ivor Works. This was kept by a James Henry, who went thence to keep another public house in Rhymney.

The Dowlais Inn. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Keeping the coach road, another public house on the other side was the Vulcan. There were steps alongside down to the tramroad, and the lowest entrance gates into the works stood just there. Some short distance further there was another public house, whose name has slipped. It was, however, some four steps (nearly three feet) lower than the road. Mr David Williams and his aunt, Miss Teague, kept it awhile after leaving the Angel in Merthyr, but it was taken as the station of the railway from the Taff Vale, and used as such at the time.

Following this on the same side was a row of workmen’s cottages having their back to, but the ground floor much lower than the road. About six of what were then the best shops in the place being passed, the main entrance into the works and office was come to.

The shop nearest the entrance gates was, or had been, the old Company shop. It had, however, ceased to be carried on upon the truck system as far as can be recalled. A Mr Parnell was the manager, but there is some hazy idea of Mr Williams, the father of Mr Joshua Williams, of Aberdylais (sic), being connected with it. Mr Jenkins, the druggist, had a branch shop in the row; also a Mr D Lewis kept another druggist’s shop, and Mr Lewis, draper, of the London Warehouse, also had a branch. Immediately opposite to the entrance gates was the Bush Hotel, kept by Mr Richard Henry who had been a contractor in the works some years before.

The Bush Hotel in Dowlais c.1885. Photograph courtesy of the Alan George Archive

At the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, Merthyr was made a borough, and privileged to send one member to Parliament. Sir John (then Mrs) Guest was returned, but he had previously been member for Honiton, and upon one occasion ordered a large number of pairs of boots and shoes there. They were dispatched to Dowlais to the company’s shop there, but Mr Parnell decline having anything to do with them. “He had not ordered them”, and knew nothing whatever about them.

Richard Henry was sent for to the office, he being then a contractor and having a great number of persons under him. “Dick I want you to sell a lot of boots and shoes for me” was said by Mr Guest. “Well, but master, I don’t want them, and how am I to pay for them?” was replied. “Oh that shall not trouble: you can pay when you sell the last pair”, was the rejoinder, and ‘Dick’ took them all but never sold the last pair. It is not possible to vouch for the strict accuracy of it, but I can vouch for having the narrative from Mr Richard Henry’s own lips.

To be continued….

Merthyr’s Trams

78 years ago today saw the last tram journey run in Merthyr. To mark the occasion, local historian Keith Lewis-Jones has provided the following fascinating article.

The first thoughts of a tram system in the Merthyr area were in 1878, when a scheme was proposed by Messrs. Taylor, Forester and Sutherland, to construct a horse or steam tramway between Merthyr and Dowlais. In 1879, a public meeting was held at the Bush Hotel in Dowlais for the three promoters to explain their plans and to canvass support for the proposed system. The tramway failed to materialise for a variety of reasons, both financial and fear that the toll on the horses hauling trams up gradients, as steep as one in eleven, would make the tramway unprofitable to work.

By 1890, the population of Merthyr was 60,000, and the service of horse cars and brakes was wholly inadequate for the transport needs of such a large population. By this time a large section of the working population was employed at the Dowlais Works, with many living along the Brecon Road corridor and in Cefn Coed

It was therefore proposed to lease out, to a private company, the right to construct Light Railways between Cefn Coed and Dowlais, with a branch running to the centre of Merthyr at Graham Street. As is always the case with such progressive ideas, a great deal of vigorous and influential opposition was forthcoming from vested interests. It was decided to set up a commission to hear evidence and propose a way forward.

In May 1898 the Merthyr Tydfil Electric Traction and Lighting Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of British Electric Traction (BET), made an application for a Light Railway Order under the Light Railways Act of 1896, and the order was granted on 16 May 1899.

The Light Railway Order authorised the construction of three railways.

Railway no. 1 was to be 3 miles 1 furlong 2.8 chains long and was to run from opposite the Morning Sun public house in Cefn High Street via Cefn Bridge, Brecon Road, Pontmorlais Road West, Penydarren Road, High Street Penydarren, New Road & High Street Dowlais to a terminus opposite the Bush Inn.

The section from the Morning Sun to the Merthyr side of Cefn Bridge was not to be constructed until Cefn Bridge had been re-constructed or replaced.

Railway no. 2, 3 furlongs 3.5 chains in length, was to run from the north side of the Owain Glyndwr on Pontmorlais Road West to Graham Street via High Street, terminating at the west end of Graham Street.

Railway no. 3 was 1.7 chains in length and formed the third side of the triangle at Pontmorlais, joining railway no. 1 with railway no. 2 on the east side of the Owain Glyndwr.

The Tram Depot, known as the Traction Yard, was constructed on the site of Penydarren Ironworks and was reached by way of a branch line which left the Dowlais route at the Trevethick (sic.) Street Junction. As well as providing facilities for tram maintenance, the site also housed the generating station for 550 volts direct current. As can be seen in the Company’s name, not only was it set up to operate trams but also to provide lighting within the area.

For the opening of the system, thirteen single deck and three double deck trams were obtained. The single-deckers, nos. 1-13, were built by the Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd., of Shrewsbury. They seated twenty-six passengers.

The open top, double deck trams came from the Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works Ltd. (ERTCW), of Preston – part of Dick, Kerr & Co. Ltd. They were numbered 14-16 and seated forty-eight passengers.

The first passengers were carried 6 April, 1901 with Dowlais route trams displaying a triangle and Cefn route vehicles a square on the front. The trams ran between 5.15 a.m. and 10.15 p.m. Passengers fares were one penny per mile or part thereof. Some examples being – Merthyr to Dowlais 2d and Cyfarthfa to Merthyr 1d. The fare for a journey from the Morning Sun in Cefn to the Bush Hotel in Dowlais would be 4d.

A tram outside the Bush Hotel in Dowlais

1903 saw the only serious accident to affect the tramway. On 22 January car number 10 left the rails while descending New Road, Dowlais causing no serious injuries, but the tram was badly damaged.

Passenger numbers had declined to 2,086,684 by 1936. The 1930’s had seen a decline in the number of passengers carried, partially due to the high rate of unemployment in the Borough – 41.7% in 1936.

The Corporation had been prevented from competing with the trams under the provisions of the Merthyr Tydfil Corporation Act of 1920 and so the tramway was eventually purchased by the Corporation for £13,500 in 1939, and abandoned on 23 August, leaving the Company to continue electricity generation until 1948.

During its life, the tramway carried an estimated 85 million passengers and the tramcars covered a distance of around 8 million miles. Apart from the system in Cardiff, Merthyr’s tramway was the longest lasting in South Wales.

A fuller account of Merthyr’s Tram system by Keith Lewis-Jones can be found in Merthyr Historian volume 20.

All photos courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

Death of an Evacuee

The following tragic story appeared in the Merthyr Express 72 years ago today: