100 British Bus Routes: Route 100
Pontypridd to Royal Glamorgan Hospital
5 March 2023
ABOVE: Edwards Coaches YW68 PDO is an ADL Enviro200 MMC. It is pictured here pulling into its stand at Pontypridd Bus Station, in readiness for the run to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. All pictures in this article were taken on Friday 10th February 2023
Operator: Edwards Coaches
Runs: Daily
Weekday frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: five buses
Off-peak journey time: 43-44 minutes
Estimated route length: Eight miles
Runs: Daily
Weekday frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: five buses
Off-peak journey time: 43-44 minutes
Estimated route length: Eight miles
I'm in Pontypridd, in South Wales. It's about 11 miles north-west of Cardiff, and about half-way along the road to Merthyr Tydfil. The River Rhondda flows into the River Taff just south of the town. Pontypridd was on the main drovers' route from the South Wales coast to Brecon, which Wikipedia suggests may have been how the town came into being in the first place.
Bridge Street, Pontypridd, crossing the River Taff.
Suffice to say that we're in the heart of the Welsh Valleys, with rolling hills visible in every direction. Buildings of all varieties, set into the hills, remind me that this is the industrial south. This town has, in the past, supported all of the coal, iron and steel industries.
Another view looking down Bridge Street, Pontypridd (veering to the right). Turn left for Berw Road, which clings to the riverbank for many miles north
It's a pretty chilly morning at Pontypridd's bus station. A temperature gauge display suggests that it's minus one, and I'm quite willing to believe it. The bus station has a café, and toilets; there's an overall roof, but not much at ground level to protect one from the cold air.
An Adventure Travel Enviro200 awaits departure from Pontypridd bus station on route 111 to Ty Rhiw
Fortunately, route 100 runs every 20 minutes, so I shouldn't be hanging around for too long. This service takes a broadly south-westerly route to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Ynysmaerdy. It's only a few miles away but this is going to be a lovely drive. We are in Wales, after all.
Edwards Coaches (no apostrophe on its website or vehicles, so I assume it doesn't use one) is, as the name suggests, largely a coach operator. It's a family-owned business with a significant number of National Express coach service contracts and a busy holiday and touring business. The bus operation, by comparison, is small, comprising of three routes.
Route 100 is the biggest of those three routes, needing five buses. By my estimate, the other two (90 Pontypridd to Beddau and 400 Cardiff to Beddau) only need five buses between them.
Edwards Coaches YW68 PDO, an Enviro200 MMC, in Morgan Street, Pontypridd
The bus is a smart, 68-reg Enviro200 MMC, mainly blue but with some pink markings. It carries simple but effective branding for the route.
The bus arrives at Pontypridd bus station about eight minutes before it is due out again. The friendly driver is happy to let people board and wait; he opens and closes the doors as necessary to preserve some heat.
On the dot of 0930, we're on our way with seven passengers on board. Another three join at the next stop. We wend our way through the town, passing the River Taff on one side and, beyond it, the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, which houses the National Lido of Wales. On the other side, Pontypridd station is elevated above the road.
Once we leave town we're climbing steadily for the first part of the journey, still close to the riverbank. We pass through the village of Treforest, home to a campus of the University of South Wales. Earlier in the day, I had approached Pontypridd via the main A470 road, on the opposite bank of the river. The university building had been visible from over there - I even tried to take a picture, but it was too blurred to use - but now I'm right outside the place!
A man who boarded in Pontypridd with three suitcases alights here. He had help when he boarded but he doesn't now. He has to drop off two cases and get back onto the bus to collect the third one. How he's going to manage from here I have no idea. He's still sorting himself out as the bus pulls away.
Also in Treforest, I spot a striking business called World of Groggs, a ceramics company specialising in caricatures (known as Groggs, for obvious reasons) and based in a former public house. According to its website, Dame Shirley Bassey once sang there (when it was a pub). It looks like a fascinating business - it's worth reading its history on the website.
High above the river now, the views allow one to see for miles around, but again the vista reminds me of the roots of this region. It's not rolling hills and valleys but busy industrial architecture.
Looking east from Main Road, just prior to a right turn into Tonteg
We deviate from the river to enter the village of Tonteg, or Ton-Teg (some signs show one form and some the other). The name translates as "beautiful hill".
We're deep into a residential area now, and there's a fair bit of passenger churn - this is a busy route! We serve a stop called "Lloyds Bank", but I can't see any sign of the bank itself. Researching this afterwards, I find that the bank is (a) over 400 feet back down the road from where the stop is, and (b) "permanently closed".
It's somewhere round here that we pass a "South Wales Police Specialist Search Unit" vehicle. I must admit to being slightly un-nerved about why such a vehicle is out on the road. Let's hope it's just being taken for a spin to keep it mobile.
There's some music playing on the bus and I have the distinct feeling that it's coming from the driver's cab. It barely audible, though. Sadly, 'barely audible' is a description that also has to be applied to the "next stop" announcements.
An unidentified ADL Enviro200 MMC en route to Pontypridd, passing my bus at Gwaun Miskin in Beddau
We come to the former mining village of Beddau, where we take a double-run to Beddau Square, the focal point of which is a clock tower, which we drive right round. I'm sitting on the wrong side of the bus to get a picture, but you can see a good one here.
In Llantrisant, we descend a narrow 16% hill which also twists around a very sharp bend. Part of the town is spread out below us; if this driver, or any other, gets it wrong here, we could arrive down there faster than any of us expect!
Not a good photo, I admit, but I did want to illustrate the very sharp descending bend on High Street Llantrisant. This is just beyond the junction with the wonderfully named Heol Sticil-Y-Beddau.
Not really any risk of that, though, from our driver. He tackles it with care and experience. Must be a tight and demanding climb ahead for him on the return journey, but I'm sure he's used to it.
We come into Talbot Green. There's a huge retail park on one side of the town, and more traditional shops alongside the bus station that we call into.
Talbot Green Bus Station
It's a short double-run to serve the bus station, and this is where I leave the 100. It has a few minutes more to go to reach the Hospital, now heading north again for this last mile. Whilst I would love to stay to the end of the route, it could cost me an hour if I were to do so, as I have another bus to catch.
At Talbot Green Bus Station, looking north-east
It's lovely to look at the rolling hills as I wait at Talbot Green bus station. Route 100 is by far the most prominent service passing here, although I do spot a service 122 (Tonypandy to Cardiff) from Stagecoach. I'm waiting for route 63 to Porthcawl, though. I'll talk about that trip another day.
Stagecoach South Wales 26091 (YX66 WHV) is an 11.8m-long ADL Enviro200MMC. It's branded for route 132 (Cardiff to Maerdy), but is working today on route 122 (Cardiff to Tonypandy). The bus is undertaking a tight u-turn to get onto the stop in the centre of the picture here
Ironically, my route 100 bus comes back from the Hospital before my departure, so I could have gone to the end of the route and back. Something for another day, perhaps, when I come back to do the 122.
There's a final opportunity to photograph the branding for route 100 at close quarters. My notes from the day describe the Enviro200 MMC on this route as "a short one". This photograph suggests that I was a bit short-sighted when I wrote that - I suspect it's a 10.2m model.
YW68 PDO again, showing off the unobtrusive but effective branding for route 100
As regular readers will know, I'm not doing my 100 British Bus Routes in numerical order (in fact, I'm not even a quarter of the way there). But I thought I should do route 100 at this point as this has been my 100th article overall! Whether you've been with me from the beginning or have just found me today; I am very grateful for your interest.
Where will the next 100 articles take us, I wonder? We'll all find out soon!