Steam memories

George Webborn of Village Lane was another of the village youngsters who, in the 1920s, made oyster shell grottoes. As the old Puffing Hilly steam train trundled past, they would call out the words 'Patronize the grotto please?'

The passengers always responded by throwing them coins from the top of the open carriages, which they soon gathered up.

On Regatta Day, there would always be a competition for the best grotto, which was usually judged by the Mayor.

Mr. Frank Dunkin, the longest-serving driver on the Mumbles railway recalled that 'I always wanted to be a whistle-boy. The job was to sit on the front of the engine and blow the warning whistle.

"I was born in Blackpill and the trains went right past. I was fifteen when I started work and stayed on the railway for 57 years (1903-1960) moving on to firing, cleaning and by 1911, driving the steam train

"I liked the steam train better than the electric, where we just stood there with the controls. I took the train on its last journey'.

Dinner on the train

His daughter, Hilary Lewis, "Everyone has memories of the Mumbles train, but my many special ones are of a much more personal nature, as I was his eldest daughter. He was a popular man whose beaming smile greeted all who boarded the train.

"During the lunch hour, it was my job to go down Cornwall Place from our home in Park Street, Mumbles and along the back of the bowling-green to give 'Dada' his dinner, which he would eat on board the steam train at Oystermouth Station.

"It was always a cooked, gravy dinner, which I would carry in a basket, lined with newspaper.

"My younger sister, Gwen, would then sometimes accompany him for a ride to the Pier and I, being older, would have to walk up Dunns Lane to attend afternoon school.

"Even now, I can still hear the 'toot' of the steam train and smell the acetylene of its lamps'.

The 'Saluting Sergeant'

Kitty Horsley (née Ladd) was fascinated when visiting Oystermouth Station, to watch Mr. Peachey waiting to pick up passengers from the steam train

They gave him the nickname, the 'Saluting Sergeant' as he would invariably raise his whip to his hat in salute, probably hoping for a fare to take to the bays.

Edward Solomon lived alongside the railway at Lilliput Cottage near Blackpill in the 1920s and recalled that 'A particular event, which sticks in my memory is the annual tea given for the pensioners by Mr. Folland in the grounds of his home, Llwynderw house.

In those days, the steam train stopped outside my home and I can still see the people alighting all dressed up in their best clothes, walking up Lilliput Lane and along the main road to the entrance of the long wooded drive to the house.

There, they would have a grand day, returning later to pick up the train at Lilliput Halt.'

Esther Edwards (née Flowers) lived at Southend and many years later wrote her autobiography. This extract records one memorable journey home from school.

"Sometimes we used to make the trip home more interesting by finding a different route each time. One day when I was about six, we decided to have a ride home from school and got on the train, climbing into the end carriage and hiding under the seats.

Unfortunately, the Guard saw us and shouted, "Come on, out of it!" But he was laughing; he was very amused as we thought he couldn't see us, as small children do. "Come on, stand up!" he said, and we got off. We didn't try it again'.