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Cardiff Clarence Road station


Jongudmund
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In recent years Currans made bath tubs - enamelled, for the use of !

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However, several years ago now, whilst researching the local industries alongside the GCR, Hywel Thomas (of this parish) sent the following re Currans :-      ".. Most interesting traffic was in Centurion tank track segments which were made by Currans &, almost certainly, moved by rail (via the Riverside branch) probably to a factory in Lancs & possibly elsewhere. They did a huge amount of work in WW2 including building the mine flails for Sherman tanks for D-Day! ...."

 

Brian R

Thanks, Brian. I did wonder if they'd been set up in anticipation of WW2, given the dates.

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Currans also made white enamel bowls, buckets, jugs etc.

 

IIRC their former employees include Shirley Bassey, whom my Aunt taught in Splott Girls Secondary Modern School.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

 

Combined with allegedly singing in the old 'Bomb and Dagger' removes Miss Bassey from 'Tiger Bay'

 

Brian R

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Combined with allegedly singing in the old 'Bomb and Dagger' removes Miss Bassey from 'Tiger Bay'

 

Brian R

Ah, the Bomb & Dagger in Portmanor Road. Remember taking pictures  in the area whilst demolition was taking place - mid 70's

 

Dave

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Curran's first apparent loco was 'Leighton' 0-4-0ST P 968/1902 aquired from A.R.Adams sometime between 1935 and 1943., their last steam loco 'Phoenix' was hired a couple of times from A.R.Adams between 1950 and 1959.

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Their last loco was "Edward Curran" 0-4-0DM JF 4000012/1947.

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Brian R

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Currans......I worked as a lab tech in 1980/81 and we produced enamel ( and acrylic) baths for Twyfords as by then we were part of the REED group.

 

Also made spin cans etc for,Hotpoint and anything else that could be vitreous enamelled.

 

There were loads of left over books and manuals in ex lab, along with masses,of testing equipment for when hey made munitions and heavy engineering.

 

The works even had it's own railway system, sadly out of use when I joined.

 

There was also a foundry, and a glass furnace etc.

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Wow, there's such a lot of information there and so much detail in those photos. This is all fascinating to me as a comparative newcomer to Cardiff (only 20 years!)

 

I know some people who live in Century Wharf, which is a gated community of flats right on the Riverbank. I will have great pleasure telling them they are living on what used to be known as Rat Island. 

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How far north is Century Wharf likely to come then? Last time I was down that way the southernmost set of buildings had a roller-shutter door manufacturer, and a shotblasting company.  Mind you, I was despatching twenty quid out of a brown envelope to get a set of Rostyle classic car wheels blasted "out of hours" by a friendly chap who had earlier (whilst the boss was in) told me to come back and see him whilst he was working the night shift on overtime.  Needless to say I think his beer fund was boosted than night rather than the company accounts!!!!

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Late 1980s view of the site of Clarence Road station, looking towards 'the blocks'.

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The road running acrposs the picture from left to right is James St. to the left and Clarence Road to the right.

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The Cardiff 4mm club occupy premises down the street opposite.

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The building with the ornate tower was formerly the Avondale Hotel.

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Brian R

post-1599-0-07062700-1407796653_thumb.jpg

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In my mis spent youth, I was the dock messenger at King's wharf cold store and called into CDM's offices at West Bute Street on a daily basis.  My one regret was that I didn't see much of Clarence Road, which was only a few hundred yards away.      The road outside Clarence Road station was served by tramcar in the period prior to trolleybuses, which was route number 9 from Gabalfa to Pier Head.

The Greenwood and Batley Locomotive was stabled in a wooden shed and was plugged into the mains each night to charge the batteries.    An identical locomotive was at one time in the Canal Museum at Leeds and I understand that it is now at the Heritage Railway in Preston.      Whilst it was at Leeds, I measured it and produced a kit in 7mm scale and later a batch in Gauge one.

In the recent past, I built and exhibited a 7mm model of Clarence Road.  Its last outing in my ownership was at the Cardiff Model Railway exhibition in 2012. It was bought by a Gentleman from Portishead and has been exhibited at the Gauge 0 show at  Bristol, last year.

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(a)

The Greenwood and Batley Locomotive was stabled in a wooden shed and was plugged into the mains each night to charge the batteries.    An identical locomotive was at one time in the Canal Museum at Leeds and I understand that it is now at the Heritage Railway in Preston.      Whilst it was at Leeds, I measured it and produced a kit in 7mm scale and later a batch in Gauge one.

(b)

In the recent past, I built and exhibited a 7mm model of Clarence Road.  Its last outing in my ownership was at the Cardiff Model Railway exhibition in 2012. It was bought by a Gentleman from Portishead and has been exhibited at the Gauge 0 show at  Bristol, last year.

 

(a) - Oh ! how  wish I'd known that, I could have laid my scratchbuilt 'GreenBat' to rest - seen off by an undoubtedly superior model.

 

(b) - Yes, I stood and watched your layout on both days.

 

Brian R

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Two more photos from research material acquired by our club when we built a 4mm layout of Clarence Road.

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(i) - 82044 runs around its train at Clarence Road. The photo bears the date 29/03/1956. It is working Barry Duty "BF" - one of seven jobs rostered for Bary Cl.3 tanks at the time, five off Barry and two off Merthyr. This is one of the later batch delivered 1955 (?) with an enlarged bunker.

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(ii) - 6438 stands at Clarence Road. The rear of the photo reads 31/08/1956. I would hazard a guess and say this may be Abercynon Duty "JB" aka 'The St.Fagans Pullman' which during its perambulation around Pontypridd, Cardiff and Penarth visited Clarence Road 8 or 9 times on a weekday, less on a Saturday.

 

I don't know the provenance of these photos which we acquired many years ago - but if I've trodden on anyones toes by reproducing them here, please let me know and I'll either remove or credit them accordingly. 

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Brian R

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post-1599-0-23090400-1407880115_thumb.jpg

Edited by br2975
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Apologies for being late to this party - the thread started while I was away on holiday.

 

The incoming train powered by 82044 would have been the 4.0 pm from Barry Island, forming the 4.55 pm to Llantwit Major.

 

Definitely the St Fagans Pullman, which it is always a pleasure to see.  In addition to shuttling between Clarence Road and Penarth it paid a visit mid-morning to Coryton until the so-called economy cuts of 30th June 1958 which had it sitting at Penarth for over an hour instead of earning money!

 

Chris

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A couple of historical points which I don't think have been mentioned:

 

The branch was built by the GWR for goods traffic the passenger station being an afterthought [1896 I think].  It was not used by GWR passenger trains until the Grouping, when the Barry and Taff Vale Railways, for whose trains it was provided, amalgamated with the GWR.

 

The other oddity,which it had in common with the Bute Road branch, was that passenger trains did not run down it on Saturday afternoons, reflecting the five and a half day working week so common in those dear dead distant days.

 

Chris

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Late 1980s view of the site of Clarence Road station, looking towards 'the blocks'.

.

The road running acrposs the picture from left to right is James St. to the left and Clarence Road to the right.

.

The Cardiff 4mm club occupy premises down the street opposite.

.

The building with the ornate tower was formerly the Avondale Hotel.

.

Brian R

 

That building's gone. It was rebuilt a few years ago as sheltered housing, I think. I remember it being knocked down and replaced. The new building has the round turret bit.

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In my mis spent youth, I was the dock messenger at King's wharf cold store and called into CDM's offices at West Bute Street on a daily basis.  My one regret was that I didn't see much of Clarence Road, which was only a few hundred yards away.      The road outside Clarence Road station was served by tramcar in the period prior to trolleybuses, which was route number 9 from Gabalfa to Pier Head.

The Greenwood and Batley Locomotive was stabled in a wooden shed and was plugged into the mains each night to charge the batteries.    An identical locomotive was at one time in the Canal Museum at Leeds and I understand that it is now at the Heritage Railway in Preston.      Whilst it was at Leeds, I measured it and produced a kit in 7mm scale and later a batch in Gauge one.

In the recent past, I built and exhibited a 7mm model of Clarence Road.  Its last outing in my ownership was at the Cardiff Model Railway exhibition in 2012. It was bought by a Gentleman from Portishead and has been exhibited at the Gauge 0 show at  Bristol, last year.

 

I went to that show and must have seen it! Damn it, this is why I've started taking photos of layouts at exhibitions.

 

I don't think I realised that 'Clarence Road' meant the Clarence Road I regularly drive on!

Edited by Jongudmund
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Definitely the St Fagans Pullman, which it is always a pleasure to see.  In addition to shuttling between Clarence Road and Penarth it paid a visit mid-morning to Coryton until the so-called economy cuts of 30th June 1958 which had it sitting at Penarth for over an hour instead of earning money!

 

And a pleasure Chris, to read your contributions on the subject in Denis Dunstone's book of Alan Jarvis' photographs.

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Brian R

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A couple of historical points which I don't think have been mentioned:

 

The branch was built by the GWR for goods traffic the passenger station being an afterthought [1896 I think].  It was not used by GWR passenger trains until the Grouping, when the Barry and Taff Vale Railways, for whose trains it was provided, amalgamated with the GWR.

 

The other oddity,which it had in common with the Bute Road branch, was that passenger trains did not run down it on Saturday afternoons, reflecting the five and a half day working week so common in those dear dead distant days.

 

Chris

According to Cooke, the station opened on 02/04/1894, whilst the branch opened on 14/09/1882, and doubled by December 1994. For some reason, he's noted " 'closed' 03/01/1924", as well as the 16/03/1964 final closure for Clarence Road station. I wonder why?

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Not a million miles from all of this was the New Sea Lock public house at the end of Harrow by street. It was here, as a young and impressionable 16 yrs old member of the Llanederyn model railway club I first sampled proper beer.We used to meet in an old Victorian barracks behind the pub and adjourn to the pub afterwards.

 

A much earlier view shows the sea lock itself.

 

Rob

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Edited by nhy581
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"Gunny" - I think the old barracks building is the one whose gable end can be seen above and behind the pub in your photo.

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In the 80s I spent some time photting the remaining industries along Dumballs Road and down to the New Sea Lock - research for a 7mm Glamorganshire Canal Railway layout (the stock survives, as do 4 or 5 Polaroid snaps..

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I'll have to find them and fire up the scanner

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Brian R

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