SILCOX MOTOR COACH Co Ltd
PEMBROKE DOCK
Silcox Motor Coach Co
Ltd, were for many years Pembrokeshire’s largest passenger vehicle operator, at
their peak operating no less than 74 vehicles on local services, contract
services, private hire, tours, excursions and holidays extending to all parts
of Great Britain and Europe.
The humble beginnings of
this well renowned family concern began in 1882 when William Luther Silcox
migrated from Trowbridge, Wiltshire to open a saddlery business at the new
military town of Pembroke Dock. The business at Water Street slowly expanded to
occupy adjoining buildings when he became a cycle agent and later a motor cycle
agent.
W L Silcox’s eldest son
Luther John Watts Silcox joined the thriving business and qualified as a cycle
repairer after training at the BSA cycle factory in Birmingham. The business
steadily expanded to include a taxi service, car hire, and a motor car agency,
with car sales and repairs.
When W L Silcox passed
away in 1911, his fourth son William Howard Silcox joined his brother Luther to
run the family business which continued to expand taking over a local bus
company previously owned by John Rowline Ford of Pembroke in September 1933.
This was an ambitious step taken by the Silcox family during the economic
depression of the 1930s, with an exceptionally high number of unemployed in the
area after the R N Dockyard’s closure.
However, the business
prospered during World War 2 due to a large military presence in the area, and
in the early post-war period, an acute shortage of new buses prompted the
company to build their own ‘unique’ bus and coach bodies, most of them on
Bristol chassis – the General Managers preference.
Expansion continued,
absorbing the businesses of E C James, Pembroke in 1948, G B Rees, Angle in
1949, The London Road Garage, Pembroke Dock in 1952, D J Morrison and Grey Garages,
Tenby in 1958, with contract work arriving from the construction of three oil
refineries and oil terminals in the area during the 1960s. Additional contract
work came in later years with the construction of Pembroke power station and
the L N G terminal.
The limited company –
Silcox Motor Coach Company Ltd, was formed in December 1960.
Throughout their
existence Silcox had gained a tremendous reputation, having reliably served the
travelling public of south Pembrokeshire with an excellent transport network
for almost a century. However, the much loved company with a name that had
become a household word in south-west Wales, suffered serious financial
difficulties which culminated as the directors attempted to source a buyer for
the business. Their attempt failed, resulting in the company’s sad demise,
being placed into administration on 6th June 2016.
The Silcox business was
split between five operators, the largest part passing to Edwards Coaches of
Llantwit Fardre, with First Cymru Buses Ltd, taking a share along with
Taf-Valley Coaches of Whitland, Edwards Bros of Tiers Cross and Alun Phillips
of Trecwn.
This publication gives a
succinct history of the business which has previously never been told. Its 300
pages are illustrated with 430 photographs and other informative memorabilia
covering the period, and has been produced as a tribute to the Silcox family
and their devoted staff.
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