HOLIDAY COACHING IN SOUTH WALES.
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Many Proprietors in Cardiff and Swansea Run Tours to New Destinations and Secure Gratifying Public Support.
WHITSUNTIDE coaching in the main centres of South Wales was of a satisfactory nature, there being a good demand for seats, both by prebooking and starting-time applications, for long as well as short tours. No falling off in the usual holiday demand for road tours was experienced by proprietors as a result of the recent general industrial stoppage, and this was extremely gratifying to owners of fleets who are dependent, to a great extent, on the state of the mining industry.
Vehicles run by coach owners in the mining valleys, whilst being booked to some• extent for carrying private parties, were not employed to the same degree on standard tours that is usual at holiday times, but proprietors had anticipated this slackness and counteracted it by tendering their surplus vehicles to coach proprietors at Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.
Cardiff proprietors state that, as a result of this arrangement, they had more accommodation for passengers wanting ordinary tours than for several years. There will probably be less pooling of resources this season by proprietors than has been the case for the past two or three years, particularly in respect of outings arranged by clubs, business staffs and the like, when large numbers of coaches-are usually demanded and a " pool " is often necessary. Providing that excessive keenness of competition does not result in heavy pricecutting, it is not likely that proprietors will regret the prospect of greater opportunities for individual action.
A feature of 'Whitsun coaching in South Wales was the public response to certain experimental tours arranged by proprietors.. Coach owners in both Cardiff and Swansea decided to run tours to new areas and thus overcome the seeming circumscription imposed on their activities by the geographical location of the centres from which they operate. Except on rare occasions, or when meeting the demands of private parties, the tours arranged by Cardiff and Swansea proprietors have been worked to what amounts to a routine, the chief ruas being to the 'Wye and 'Usk Valleys, Llandrindod (at rare intervals), the Glamorgan coast resorts and, in the case of Swansea, to Tenby and the Brecon Beacons.
The hilly country beyond these inland centres, -and the fact that resorts in Devon and Somerset (which are only 30 or 40 miles away) are rendered impossible as rendezvous for coaches by reason of the lack of facilities for crossing the River Severn nearer than Gloucester have introduced difficulties for proprietors who desired as much as possible to vary the destinations for their coaches.
In addition, it seems to have been thought that distance and, consequently, charges which would be involved in breaking away from routine journeys would make road touring prohibitive to the vast majority of the public. This has now been disproved, and the experience of some proprietors during the recent Whitsun holiday shows that fares up to 25s. were willingly paid by some passengers who were anxious to visit new districts farther afield. In view 'of the low ebb of industry in certain South Wales districts this success was certainly deserved by proprietors who had the courage to experiment at such a time.
It is intended by a nuMber of proprietors to maintain long-distance tours as a part of their general programme en Saturdays, Sundays and at holiday times throughout the summer. This will counteract to a great extent the move of the railway companies in offering day tours to resorts which have hitherto been considered beyond the scope of road vehicles working from 8 out IrWales centres.
Examples of the tours arranged by Cardiff and Swansea companies at 1Vhitsun are given below:— Messrs. Hinton and Britton ("Bluebird Tours ") Castle Garage, Cardiff, arranged the following tours :— Aberystwyth, via Brecon Beacons and Llandovery ; returnover Plinlimmon and via Builth Wells and Abergavenny —leaving Cardiff at 6 am, and returning at midnight; six hours in Aberystwyth. Fare, 25s. .(it may be noted that formery Brecon Beacons, BuiIth Wells and Abergavenny have each con stituted the rendezvous of day tours from Cardiff.) Stratford-on-Avon, returning via Worcester, Malvern (leave 8 a.m.). Fare, 20s.
Brecon Beacons, return by way of Wye Valley. Fare, 15s.
Portheawl (day or half-day). Fare, 7s. 0d.
Tours from Swansea were run by South Wales Transport Co., Ltd., to Aberystwyth, for a fare of 18s. (the highest priced tour) ; Cardigan Town ; Tenby; Wye Valley; Llanwyrted Wells and short trips to Porthcawl, Gower resorts, etc., a marked extension of the company's radius of activity.
These tours may be taken as fairly typical of the policy of expansion which appears to be common to proprietors in the area.