Across South Wales in the Heat: Part 2
30 August 2022
ABOVE: First Cymru Enviro E200 44592 (YX63 LHL) arrives at the Cymmer Turning Circle on route 71, and will be leaving as a route 70 service back to Bridgend. All pictures in this article were taken on Thursday 11th August 2022.
I am working my way across South Wales, from Swansea to Cardiff, on a blistering hot Thursday afternoon. Having travelled via Neath and Port Talbot (see Part 1), I have shunned the straight-forward route to Bridgend (the X1) in favour of a ‘quick’ detour via Maesteg.
And now I’m on the wrong bus. I thought I was boarding a route 70 bus to Bridgend, but that has since pulled in and out of the adjacent bay. I’m on the equivalent service heading in the opposite direction. It’s a Streetlite DF carrying me into territories unknown.
I do of course have the option to get off this bus, or to ‘save face’ and just ride a couple of stops. But a quick check on Traveline confirms that it’s only a 22-minute journey to the destination at Cymmer. So it’s worth a punt, especially as I want to discover new places.
ABOVE: First Cymru Wright Streetlite DF 47685 (SL15 XXA) pulls into Maesteg Bus Station on route 70 to Cymmer, which is where I’m heading, even if it isn’t what I had in mind!
I spent the whole of the journey from Port Talbot seemingly climbing. That continues as we go on up, and up, and up. It’s a lovely drive, through the village of Croeserw; mainly residential, but with rolling hills – and wind turbines – thrown in…
We get stuck in traffic in Blaencaerau (I say ‘traffic’ – it’s one lorry taking its time reversing off the tight road into a construction site), and our arrival at the Cymmer Turning Circle is about five minutes behind schedule as a result, for which the driver apologises.
ABOVE: Cymmer
This is one of those routes where I had been expecting to be the last passenger on board, with the last traffic objective having been passed, and this last onward stretch being just to reach a space big enough to turn around in.
ABOVE: 47685 again, leaving the Cymmer Turning Circle and heading back to Maesteg and on to Bridgend
But I’m not. There’s another man on board to the end, and he tells me, as we alight, that he is catching another bus, the number 83 to Blaengwynfi, that was due at the Turning Circle at about the time we arrived. It only runs every two hours (he says; Traveline says it’s hourly) and he hopes it hasn’t already gone.
If he has missed it, he plans to hitch-hike, which apparently he was able to do successfully (and often had to do) on many occasions until Covid hit. He says that people have finally started picking him up again now.
It sounds like something that he has had to do quite regularly but, just as he steers the conversation round towards Putin, the 83 bus turns up and he is on his way.
ABOVE: First Cymru 44590, an ADL Enviro 200, leaving the Cymmer Turning Circle and heading for Blaengwynfi on route 83.
I have a few minutes to appreciate the countryside around me, which is delightful. I send the picture at the top of this article to a friend of mine with the message “Here’s where you end up if you go to the back of beyond and just keep on going”!
It’s not quite as remote as it looks, of course, as the Builders Merchants business testifies, but it is the sort of place that I wouldn’t want to come to too late in the day, for fear of missing the last bus out. In 33 degree heat, one would not be wanting to walk too far…
The bus stop at the Turning Circle has out-of-date timetables and advice on how to find “the most up-to-date information on the services we are running during lockdown”.
Lovely though this spot is, it’s not a long wait for the bus out. The 70, with its stablemate 71, provides a service every 20 minutes. The driver greets me with a cheery “warm enough for you?”, and we’re soon on our way. I get the impression that these buses don’t often pick people up at the Circle itself.
A couple of stops into the journey and we pick up a couple of youngsters. Down behind them, in the valley below, is a building that cannot possibly be anything other than an old railway station. You can even see the platform edge and, if any doubt remains, it’s on a road called Railway Terrace! (Have a look on Google Streetview.)
This vehicle is an Enviro 200, complete with bilingual audio and displayed “Next Stop” announcements.
ABOVE: Dyffryn, on the outskirts of Maesteg
Back into Maesteg, there’s a (still active) railway station behind the Asda supermarket, and it’s interesting to see the priorities of the respective signage.
ABOVE: Combined signage for Maesteg’s supermarket and the railway station doesn’t quite feel like a meeting of equals…
I’ve lost an hour and 20 minutes on my unplanned detour, but I feel enriched in many other ways for the trip to Cymmer. The remainder of the run to Bridgend is busy, but uneventful, and we arrive on time.
After a break for an ice cream I am back at Bridgend station for the run back to Cardiff. I could use my First day ticket on the direct X2 service, which would take 94 minutes.
ABOVE: The quick way from Bridgend to Cardiff: First Cymru Optare Versa 49309 stands at Bridgend Bus Station, awaiting its next run to Cardiff on route X2.
But, as you may have realised, I’m always on the lookout for a more interesting variation, and I certainly find one here…
So I’m boarding the Adventure Travel (previously New Adventure Travel or NAT) service 303 towards Llanwit Major, which is broadly south-east from Bridgend (Cardiff is broadly due East). From Llantwit, there is a connecting route 304 to Cardiff. The whole run will take about three hours. What’s not to like?!
It’s a busy departure from Bridgend at 1700, with about 15 passengers on board. The vehicle is an Optare MetroCity. As is customary for me on a single-decker (when I have a choice), I sit on the left-hand side (better view through the front windscreen).
But this is the wrong move on this occasion. A few miles on and we turn right down Ogmore Road, towards Ogmore-by-Sea, and come across the most stunning views, on the right-hand side, of the Bristol Channel. With the hot late afternoon sun high in the sky, the water just glistens.
I manage to get some snaps through the right-hand window, cropping out the people sitting there…
ABOVE: Looking out across the Bristol Channel from somewhere near Ogmore-by-Sea
Further along we are momentarily delayed by a herd of sheep wandering in the road.
As we get closer to Llantwit, the roads start to become extremely tight and I’m amazed that the bus can squeeze through. We’re dropping people off on this area, though, so it’s worth being here.
ABOVE - Tight roads: the bus is turning left onto this road. However will it get through?
By the time we get to Llantwit Major, there are only two of us left (the other man has come all the way from Bridgend, and will follow me onto the Cardiff bus). It’s about 1750, five minutes later than scheduled. The 303 is quickly heading back to Bridgend.
There’s not much to tell about Llantwit Major interchange. There’s only one bus stop – which seems perfectly sufficient – plus a couple of parking bays, outside the railway station. The rest of the immediate vicinity is given over to car parking.
ABOVE: Adventure Travel Optare MetroCity YJ15 AON has just dropped me off at Llantwit Major Interchange, after its run from Bridgend.
The connecting 304 service, also operated by Adventure Travel, is due at 1805. At the due time there’s no sign of it, but I am able to get reassurance from the Adventure Travel website; not only that it’s coming, but also exactly where it is right now:
The fare of £4.20 is similar to that of the 303, but feels like good value as the route is twice as long (the end-to-end journey will take just eight minutes short of two hours). This is another Optare MetroCity. The seats on this one have the initials “GHA” on them, recalling a former bus company that collapsed a few years ago.
With the driver having forgone his break, we leave Llantwit Major six minutes down, with two passengers on board.
Initially we explore the residential streets of the town, before venturing into the countryside for some more impossibly-tight roads. We reach the South Wales Aviation Museum, where there’s a jumbo jet in BOAC colours parked up.
The 304 clings to the coast. There are interesting contrasts to be experienced as rural country lanes suddenly break to reveal giant factory machinery, reminding me that this is the industrial south of Wales.
ABOVE: The "Tarmac" site near Llancadle Cross
We call into Rhoose Airport, but there’s nobody there for us. A short time later we’re in the vicinity of Barry, where my companion from Bridgend leaves us. We still have nearly an hour to go and I wonder how the journey can possibly take that long (Barry to Cardiff is less than 10 miles).
A lengthy double-run down to the local Morrison’s store passes a few minutes, whilst a further lengthy double-run around the grounds of the Llandough Hospital also adds to the transit time. And all of this is just for me. There’s no-one else left on board now and no-one else joins.
ABOVE: Early evening sunshine in Barry
We have one final detour, through Cardiff Bay. This is a dockside development area that has been turned into a modern and cosmopolitan parade of shops and eateries, surrounding a marina and a wetlands reserve. A lovely place to visit and eat, but be prepared for your eyes to water when the bill arrives.
Despite all of these indulgences, we’re still a few minutes early into Cardiff, and the bus has to wait for time on the road up from the Bay. I’m the last customer by now, but there must be people about for the return trip as the hourly service continues until late evening. It’s 1957 -the scheduled arrival time – as I am dropped off in a back street near Cardiff Central station.
So ends my bus journey from Swansea to Cardiff. With intended and unintended deviations, it has taken a quarter-hour shy of 10 hours from end-to-end. It can be done in 55 minutes by train, but that’s far less interesting!