by
Enys Thomas (Piytherch) formerly Gwndwnwal, Llanfihangel
Bom 1934
Refreshment Room - I
believe the entrance from the platform was a double door. l seem to
remember there was also a side door between the booking office and the
refreshment room. Drinkers tended to sit one side of the room and
passengers the other side. Two drinkers I remember were Mr. Jones
Brynllici and Mr. Fred Morris Brynderwyn (June’s old home). Mr. Jones
brought milk chums to the train and Mr. Morris had a local milk round
run by his lame son, Gwilym. My grandparents at Rockfield found the milk
delivery wonderful.
During the Second World War the refreshment room was used as a meeting
house for the Home Guard. The men guarded the tunnel and took it in tums
to sleep on camp beds. The guarding did not continue for long as one man
( Mr. Rees Powell, Pentwyn, Llanwem ) got his finger stuck in the
mechanics of the bed and ended up in hospital. I think that was the end
and the Home Guard fnished. My father( Howel Prytherch, Gwndwnwal,
Llanfihangel ) was one of them but never got his uniform.
The Booking Office had a fire in the comer. Tickets were given from the
hatch. There was a door into the office for the staff.
The Station Master was Mr. Skey and he lived in the end house over the
tunnel. He met with an accident while travelling on the footplate to the
lower platform - he was hit by a train. The lower platform was on the
Newport/Merthyr line (Cobstown ). Mr. Skey then finished as Station
Master and a Mr. Thomas. booking clerk at Brecon. came to Talyllvn as
Acting Station Master.
The Booking Clerk at Talyllyn was Peggy (Samuel ) from Brecon. She later
became Peggy Powell when she married local farmer, Tudor Powell, of
Hemley Hall, Llanfihangel. Waiting Room This had a glowing fire in cold
weather. In fact all the places at the station had fires in the winter.
There was no shortage of coal.
Porters ,I remember two women: Kathleen Jones from Gwndwnwal Cottage and
Lal? from C arlisle. Also two or three men: Harold Williams, ? Parry and
Don Shutt. Kathleen Jones was our neighbour at Gwndwnwal and was very
pleased to get the job of porter. Her husband, Jack, had gone to the
war. I remember her telling my mother about the uniform. The women had a
choice of skirt or trousers and Kathleen decided on trousers. I believe
the first shifi for the porters started at 6 o’clock in the morning and
finished at 2 or 2.30 in the afternoon. The next shift lasted until the
10.10 train came in from Hereford.
Signal Man, I recall Clem Jenkins from Llangorse. I think he stayed in
the signal box all night if the weather was particularly bad. In his
spare time he was good at cutting hair.
Trains on a Saturday came from South Wales packed with families visiting
patients at Talgarth in the Sanatorium and Mental Hospital. They would
change for the Hereford or Moat Lane train.
Tuesdays and Fridays saw farmers going to market. The last Friday of
each month, when it was cattle sale in Brecon, the goods trains were
full of cattle going to the Midlands and London.
During World War 2 troop trains carried soldiers to the Front Line from
Derring Lines.
Farmers brought their milk chums for the 8 o’clock morning train to
Newport. They always had to wait for one farmer from Llangorse. He would
arrive late but they never left without his milk.
The trains from Merthyr could be heard coming from Torpantau especially
on a clear still night.
Local playwright T.C. Thomas wrote about taking black market food to
South Wales in Davy Jones ‘s Locker. lt has been on T.V. with local
actor Jack Walters of Llanfiynaeh. T.C. Thomas had been Head of
Llanfihangel school and lived at Heddfan, Llanfihsmgel.
Pigeons came in crates from South Wales and were released at Talyllyn.
They would fly around the station before making off back to South Wales.
Saturdays saw dozens of men—miners with their greyhounds coming up from
South Wales on the train at mid-morning, Some would stay in the
refreshment room all day, others would make for the Royal Oak and Black
Cock in Llanfihangel. Some would collect butter and eggs to take home.
I remember a Mrs Pound running a refreshment room. In later years it was
run by Mrs Violet Davies. She had one daughter, Pat, who was my age. Pat
worked at Tudor and de Winton, the solicitors in Brecon. I think the
Davies family were the last to run the refreshment room.
There was a letter box on the station, either on the wall of the
refreshment room or on the booking office wall. Also there was a machine
for chocolate.
My mother used to order day-old chicks from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire
and they would arrive (perhaps a dozen of them) at Talyllyn in a
cardboard box. We would have to check at the station for their arrival
as we had no telephone. Sometimes the porters would give the chicks
water.