The Railway

A Memory of Upper Killay.

I was born in 1941 in Cefn Coed House, Pentwyn, Upper Cwmtwrch. The house I was brought up in was one of five my grandfather, Richard Lougher, had built for his chiidren.

At that time there was a road, a railway, and the River Twrch, passing thrugh the village. In Upper Cwm the road crossed the river in three places and the railway crossed the road and river in one place. At the bottom of our hill was Gwys Railway Station. From here we would get on the train going up the valley to visit my grandparents in Brynamman, a village about six miles away. In summer our parents would take us on the train to Swansea. From the station we walked to the seaside and got on the narrow guage tram to the Mumbles.

As well as passenger trains there were the goods trains taking coal from the two local collieries, Brynhenllys and Cwmllynfell (the Clinc) down the valley to Swansea Docks. The sight and sound of these steam engine trains were a regular daily feature of my childhood. With the closing of the two mines and the increased use of buses and cars, the local train service ceased in the 60's.

Cwmtwrch is divided into Upper and Lower. I lived in Upper Cwm for about eight years and then moved to the Gurnos in Lower Cwm, only to move back again when I was sixteen. In Upper Cwm there has always been a rugby team - in Lower Cwm a soccer team.

In my mind's eye I can still see the steam engine puffing its way up the Cwm leaving a trail of white smoke behind it. Those days have gone forever.