Mochdre, c1960

1959 to 1964

In the bottom left corner of the photo is a row of four white bungalows. My father --Ron Bartlett built these and several others on the estate from about 1959 onwards. We lived in the top one. The house immediately to the right of ours was owned by the Williams family. This was a husband and wife who had retired from the family butchery in the Midlands. Next to them lived Margaret and Ron Hankey. Further up the street at No3 (I think) lived Bill and Rhian Trench and their son Allan. The Llangwystennin church and graveyard is just out of view on the opposite side of the valley. Both of my maternal grandparents (William and Jane Jones) are buried there.

Mochdre in those days was a quiet village - one pub (Mountain View??) and a row of shops on the main road. I had previously been at John Bright Grammar School in Llandudno, but had to move to Colwyn Bay Grammar when we moved from "The Junction". There was some light industry around Mochdre - the shirt factory, a large dairy and a company that made industrial diamonds. In about 1964, the Welsh Mountain Zoo was opened on the hill above the village by the Jackson family - I went to school with Chris Jackson. I left the village in 1964 and joined the Royal Navy and shortly after my parents sold up and moved to Adelaide Australia. I later transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and retired as a Lieutenant Commander in 2002. I now live in semi retirement at Lisarow NSW, about 50 miles north of Sydney.

Pwll-y-Crochan woods

My late father was born in Colwyn Bay and his father and some of his relatives resided in Grove Park.  Every year my parents and my siblings had to visit the relatives, especially one we called Aunty Polly who I think was really called Mary but because she was always polishing and cleaning, my mother referred to her as 'Polly Panshine' and the nickname stuck. She had a huge bowl of false waxed fruit in her hallway and used to love offering us an apple, pear or orange, knowing we always forgot it wasn't real! We loved going for walks in the beautiful, and magical (as we children thought) Pwll-y-Crochan woods. We used to be very quiet whilst walking because then we saw rabbits running here and there, and could hear the birds twittering in the trees. We used to frighten ourselves to death believing there may be ghosties around in the darker parts of the woods, but of course, it was all a figment of our own imaginations!  I have lovely memories of Colwyn Bay itself too which will always remain with me.

Little Green Buses Along The Prom.

For many years, Colwyn Bay U.D.C. ran a bus service along the promenade from Old Colwyn to just beyond the former pier at Rhos on Sea. Commencing in 1926, a small fleet of 5 'Guy' BB type vehicles with covered top 'toastrack' bodies ran in service during the late spring to early autumn tourist season. While the normal requirement was for two vehicles to maintain a half-hourly service, when the weather drew tourists to the beautiful beach in their many thousands, all of the vehicles were pressed into service.

Five conventionally sided small buses, (of 'Guy' Wolf type) were taken into stock in the period 1934/7 with another in 1949. By 1954 all of the pre-war vehicles were in a 'tired' condition and they were replaced by three Bedford OLAZ type with bodywork of a spartan nature by Spurlings. By 1960 the last of the old 'Guy' vehicles was on its last legs (wheels ??) and the opportunity was taken to purchase two further lightweight Bedfords of similar specification of type J2LZ2 with bodywork by Spurling. All of the Bedford fleet could carry 21 passengers on very basic brown leather 'dunlopillow' seats. An attractive feature for small boys was that the seating layout placed a double seat directly opposite the driver. This allowed a 'front seat view' and many were the hours on which my twin brother and I rode on the vehicles enjoying talking to the drivers. From the first day onward, the drivers had the additional duty of fare collection using 'Williamson' make 'bell punches' of the 1903 variety.

In the mid 1970's, other Bedford vehicles were purchased to replace the OLAZ and J2LZ2 vehicles; these principally being of mini-coach (as opposed to basic bus)appearance. There was one exception to this; a Strachans bodied Bedford with an even more utilitarian body which seated approx 25 passengers ran for about 8 years.

The service was varied in the late 1950's when certain journeys deviated from the promenade by taking the quite steep roadway to Eirias Park pavillion. The last of the 'Guy' Wolves could not be relied upon to make the journey without it's exhaust spitting and backfiring but the new Bedfords had little problem. (The council's buses also ran on another service from the former council offices to the Flagstaff Gardens (later the Welsh Mountain Zoo). This required vehicles to surmount several sustained and steep hills above the town, very narrow tree lined roads with tight clearances; quite an experience to ride upon ! )

In later days the council altered the basic route to perform a circular function in the Rhos area but this was not the significant success that had been hoped for.

Some of the vehicles in the early days were painted in red with their roofs in cream. Immediately pre the second world war, some of the older vehicles were painted in differing colours, one was yellow, another was blue, another was green.
In the early 1950's the writer clearly remembers a 'Guy' in service wearing black and white - the next year when seen it was in use as a St John's Ambulance caravan at Eirias Park.

There was nothing in those days to beat a ride along the prom, seated at the front of one of these buses. Bouncing and swaying over the undulating road surface, the vibrations and tintinabulous resonations within the vehicles which often carried far above their official capacity (47 on one occasion during August 1962 ! ) could make for quite an interesting experience....

In those days, a summer afternoon could see almost every inch of the promenade being occupied by cars of all types, modern, old and sometimes downright ancient. Clearances were tight, vehicles boiled over, hot weather caused some windscreens to shatter but somehow Colwyn Bay seemed a much happier place to be. The town was enjoying a 'golden period' of prosperity long before the 'Motorway on Sea' concept had ever been thought of.

Those were the days..................