A History of J. James & Sons Ltd., Ammanford,
including
Jones Bros, ‘Brynteg’ Upper
Tumble, Llanelly.
The name of J. James & sons Ltd.,
Ammanford was synonymous with a high quality reputable omnibus service in the
Amman, Gwendraeth and Swansea Valleys. Founder of the business, John James
first became involved with public transport in 1900 when he purchased a mews at
Ammanford, diversifying from his grocery and provision merchants business at
Wind Street, Ammanford. Operating horse drawn traps and brakes, he became a
posting master; his clientele were the best-known commercial travellers in
South Wales. Goods were also carried, and a successful undertaking business
carried out.
Moving on to
motor vehicles in 1912, James became Ammanford’s first bus operator.
Inaugurating a service to Pantyffynnon and Brynamman, they successfully
competed against a passenger railway, and literally fought off numerous
ambitious competitors. Securing regular clientele the business expanded rapidly
to include a motor repair garage along with a dealership for cars, vans and
tyres.
Also included is
the historic 6-week Ammanford bus strike and riot of 1935, and the turbulent
history of the notorious Jones Bros., omnibus company known as ‘Brynteg’ from
Upper Tumble near Llanelli. Brynteg were once Carmarthenshire’s largest
independent bus operator; a company absorbed by James in the 1930’s.
Illustrated with
112 photographs*, and other informative memorabilia covering the period, the
book is a limited edition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
revolutionary Leyland ‘Atlantean’ double decker bus, (the first in the world
entered service with James in December 1958).
Sadly, the much
loved company, with a name that become a household word in the West Wales
mining communities, was absorbed by The South Wales Transport Company in 1962,
ending a fine story of enterprise and achievement.
The book is a
fitting tribute to the memory of a well-respected Ammanford family, at one time
Carmarthenshire’s largest public service vehicle operator, running 54 buses on
21 services to Neath, Swansea, Llanelli, Burry Port, Lampeter and Aberystwyth.
* (mostly locally captured views)
A review of the book can be found online for the South Wales Guardian.
A review of the book can be found online for the South Wales Guardian.
SAMPLE
(from the Introduction)
INTRODUCTION
For the reader, who may not be familiar with the area, we start the
story with a brief history of Ammanford, which is situated in the Amman Valley
district of rural East Carmarthenshire.
Previously known as Cross Inn, it was a village well known to weary
travellers in the by gone days of stage coach and mail coach travel. Travellers frequently used the village
staging post called the ‘Cross Inn Hotel’ for refreshments, and if necessary, a
change of horses. The village had been
named ‘Cross Inn’ after its location; a name derived from ‘cross-ing’ – the
crossing point of two important South Wales coaching routes, and the crossing
of the river ‘Amman’, which happened to be the county boundary between
Carmarthenshire and neighbouring Glamorganshire. The river ‘Amman’ crossing, in
those days, was made by means of a ‘ford’ (a crossing through the river bed),
saving travellers some 20 miles on a journey between West Wales and Neath, or
beyond.
With a population of around 200 in the early 1800’s, the village
inhabitants had earned their living mainly from farming and coal mining, until
the Industrial Revolution took place changing the village scene virtually
overnight. There were numerous heavy
industries opening up across South Wales producing iron, steel, copper,
tinplate, bricks etc., which demanded huge quantities of coal. The whole Amman Valley area, having massive
reserves of top quality anthracite coal, soon had numerous collieries
constructed, and working to full capacity, producing the coal required. Transportation of the coal was by means of an
elaborate rail network set up in South Wales, linking all parts of the country.
Within a short space of time, these railways began carrying
passengers and goods, after a large goods depot was constructed one mile from
Cross Inn at Pantyffynnon Railway Station (Pantyffynnon Junction). At this location, trains from North Wales and
the Midlands to Swansea; operated by the London & North Western Railway
Co., (L.N.W.R.), connected with local Amman Valley trains running to Brynamman;
operated by the Great Western Railway Co., (G.W.R.).
The Industrial Revolution, however, brought with it a huge influx of
people into the area, brought in specifically to work the community’s numerous
collieries. This inevitably created rapid growth to the village of Cross Inn,
and neighbouring Amman Valley villages.
In November 1880, however, the village inhabitants, unhappy with the
name ‘Cross Inn’, held an important and historical meeting, at which they
unanimously decided to rename the village.
Adopting the name of AMMANFORD, it was an appropriate description of the
village at the time, another name derived from its ‘famous’ river crossing
‘Amman-ford’ as mentioned earlier.
Over the next 20 years, Ammanford village rapidly expanded, becoming
a market town for the Amman Valley, with the population increasing to just
under 6,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. The collieries soon became Ammanford’s
largest employer, and in fact, Ammanford’s wealth and prosperity came from the
‘black gold’ mined in the community.
HOW JOHN JAMES’ BUSINESS
STARTED
John James, the pioneer of public transport in Ammanford, was born
at Llywel, Breconshire in 1863. Llywel
was a small agricultural village situated on the main West Wales to London mail
coach route, known then as highway number 40, which eventually became
designated trunk road A40.
At the age of 14 he left the sleepy Breconshire village to begin his
working career as a labourer at Swansea Docks.
Moving on from the docks he entered the grocery trade, and at the age of
21, became manager of a business owned by Messrs. Thomas & Evans (of Corona
soft drinks fame) at Treherbert, Glamorganshire.
Returning to the grocery trade in Swansea, John James met Elizabeth
Ann Fletcher, a butcher’s daughter, and eventually married her in December
1888. It was his marriage to Miss
Fletcher that brought him to Ammanford, where he opened his own grocery and
provision merchants business at the Golden Eagle Stores, 16 Wind Street,
Ammanford. This was opposite his
mother-in-law’s coffee tavern at 15 Wind Street (previously the butcher’s shop
owned by the Fletcher family).
His establishment could be regarded as a village store as he stocked
china, earthenware goods, ironmongery and collier’s oil, in addition to other
commodities. He also provided a home
delivery service for the provisions with his horse and cart, and then began
door-to-door selling of salt, for which he became known locally as
James-y-halen (James the salt).
Salt was a much used commodity in those far off days before the
invention of fridges or freezers. Commonly used in butter making, salt was also
widely used as a preservative for pork and for curing ham and bacon by many
people who “bred” and killed their own pigs in back garden pigsties.
However, eleven years later in October 1900, the James family moved
from the Golden Eagle Stores to new larger premises approximately 200 metres
away at Bancyrhin on the Ammanford to Llandilo road. Their new home, ‘Brynderwen’ a double fronted
house with lean-to cottage had great potential with its huge back garden,
stables and outbuildings. From here, John James opened a ‘mews’ called
‘Brynderwen Mews’, situated only 80 metres from the famous village cross roads
and Cross Inn Hotel.
Continuing with the provision merchants business, he then began a
haulage business with his horse and cart, and subsequently conducted a very
extensive business as posting master.
However, as the community expanded, John James’ business equally
expanded, firstly with the carriage of goods and later by carrying mail and
passengers. Hauling goods by horse and
cart or flat wagons, commonly known as ‘gamboes’, passengers were carried in
horse-drawn wagonettes, dogcarts, traps and brakes for all occasions including
weddings. Family picnics and parties
were also catered for, with outings to Craig-y-nos Castle, Carreg Cennen
Castle, Dryslwyn Castle, Llygad Llwchwr, Llynyfan reservoir and other places of
historical and geological interest in the neighbourhood. Additionally, Mr. James bought a horse-drawn
‘Shillibeer’ hearse and started a funeral business.
Meanwhile, in the early 1900’s, Ammanford received its Town status
and all the town streets were given names by the Ammanford council. John James’ premises Brynderwen Mews then
became number 25 College Street, and the lean-to cottage, number 23
In 1910, John James ventured into a separate business that had no
connection with the Mews. Forming a
partnership with local haulier, David Evans, they had plans drawn up in March
1910 to build a roller skating rink at Margaret Street, Ammanford. Two years later they submitted another plan
to the Ammanford council to alter the building into a cinema and roller-skating
rink complex.
The partnership however, dissolved after a very short time and the
building was sold as a going concern to Mr. J. R. Pooles of Edinburgh, from
whence it was known as ‘Pooles’ Cinema.
One
of John James’ horse and carts delivering goods around the Amman Valley district
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Very much like the
Killarney ‘jaunting cars’ of today, this ‘brake’ owned by John James, seated 12
passengers.
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If I may take this opportunity to comment on what is a really excellent book. I was amazed at how much insight this book gave into the local area and it's history. Absolutely stunning pictures as well. I can tell a lot of work must have gone into this book and the author deserves applause. I also bought Colin Scott's book The Western Welsh Story which set me back £30 and although I was paying for hardback, Colon Scott's book is nothing on James of Ammanford, and the Western Welsh Story doesn't go into nearly as much depth. But it is still a nice book and I would also recommend. Please will the author Vernon Morgan release more books soon because I have thoroughly enjoyed the James book.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
Thank you for leaving a comment. I am very happy that you enjoyed reading my book, and thank you for the praise. The book is the result of eight years of research and many hours spent in libraries. But it was worth it and I have enjoyed every minute of writing the book.
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