Castle Square 1959, Caernarfon
Castle Square 1959, Caernarfon Ref: C33083
Memories of Castle Square 1959, Caernarfon
Castle Square Bus Terminus
Castle Square of the 1950s and 60s had a vibrancy that is absent nowadays. This was because all of the local bus services terminated there and a constant stream of people dismounted to go about their business throughout the day. People from the hillside communities came to town to do their shopping, buy food, clothing, hardware etc. Families arriving from Liverpool on the coach would change here to local buses to Dinas Dinlle, Nantlle or Waenfawr if revisiting their relatives and places of birth.
There were buses in every colour of the rainbow. Mr Williams's Whiteway vehicles were the most noticeable, but Motorcoch (Clynnog & Trefor) in red and cream looked most dignified. (They served Pwllheli on a service of over an hour's duration.) Silver Star buses in reds and blues vied for position with Express Motors' mainly red vehicles that ran to Rhostryfan and other, maybe less exotic destinations in the hills. Dominant upon the bus 'stance' were the Green buses of Crosville Motor Services who operated more... Read more
Rock
Walking around the square time and time again to have a piece of Numer 8 rock off the Welsh Lady. What a treat and it was free.
Deiniolen
I was born in Deiniolen in 1932 in Tabernacle Street, we then moved to Tan For, before moving to the new house in Pentre Helen. I enjoyed my time at the village school. My father was a quarryman as were all his brothers.
Caernarfon & local memories
Read and share memories of Caernarfon and Gwynedd inspired by Frith photos.
Brown Bus to Beddgelert
Castle Square in the 1930s was the terminal point for a bus service to Beddgelert run by the Brown Bus Service. Memory has it that the bus ran every two hours or so and had a garage (now a mountain-climbing gear retailers) on the right hand side of the main road entering Beddgelert.
The bus shown, a brown and cream Daimler of early 1920s vintage, was ramshackle and dilapidated by the late 1930s, a 'local lad' of the time says that he could crack walnuts in the gap which opened up between the interior panels when the bus ran over a bump in the road.
There was a 'civilised understanding' between the brown bus's owners and O R Williams's Whiteway Buses and their co-ordinated service ensured a minimum frequency of at least an hourly bus from Waunfawr and Caernarfon. Of course, there was the alternative means of travel into town by the narrow gauge railway, but that ran indirectly and involved a change of train at Dinas Junction,... Read more
William Titterton's Butcher Shop
William Titterton and his son had a Butcher Shop on this street. He was a pork butcher.
Inside The Walls
This about the time my mother, Lysbeth Nielsen, was born in Caernarvon.
