COACHING IN THE WELSH ALPS:
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A Lancashire Company which is Doing Much to Room Motor Coaching.
I F YOU are in business and have a
good thing to sell, there could be no wiser precept than to tell the public all about it. The difficulty in the motor coach industry is that, whilst vehicle owners in all parts of the country are "
working" tours of undoubted merit so far as the speptacular interest of the excursion is concerned, the great silent public have no means of knowing what they are missing—excepting by publicity. More than once has The Commercial Motor emphasized the desirability of booming the motor coach, and, without question, the lay Press is a means to that, end.
• Realizing this, the directors of the Lancashire United Tramways, Ltd., and Tourist Hotels, Ltd., a few days ago escorted a party of representatives of the daily and weekly Press over one Of their most popular routes in North Wales. A Fiat 14-seater coach (with pneumatic tyres on the front wheels and twin N.A.P. cushion tyres on the rear wheels') was used, and the ostensible purposes of the tour were : (1) To demonstrate the capabilities of the modern motor coaph
for extended touring, and (2) to show the facilities for accommodation which North Wales affords.
The suitability of N.A.P. types for coach work was amply demonstrated. The 200-mile journey was made in good time—as a matter of fact the time-table was anticipated—and, as showing the tastes of discriminating Pressmen, a preference was expressed for travelling by coach rather than by the semi-covered touring car which accompanied the party.
The Manchester Pressmen travelled by ,coach to Warrington, where the Liverpool contingent was picked up, and the journey was then continued via Frodsham, Chester and Roasett to Llangollen. Here the Teurist Hotels, Ltd., an associated company of the Lancashire United Tramways, Ltd., own the Ponsonby Arms Betel, which is a popular rendezvous for day tourists from south-west Lancashire and Cheshire. The kitchens have a capacity of 800 luncheons daily, and seating accommodation is provided for 450 persons.
The run from Llangollen to Beddgelert via. Corwen and Bettws-y-coed takes one through mountain scenery the aweinspiring splendour of which is quickened by the contrast with the placid and silvery waters of the lakes in the valleys. Winding and circuitous roads up the steep hillsides yield wonderful panoramic views.
Beddgelert was the destination, and the Royal Goat Hotel, another of the establishments of the Tourist Hotels, Ltd., was reached in excellent time. It is appropriate to mention here that it had been intended to have a " listeningin" entertainmentby wireless in the evening, but, owing to G.P.O. licensing delays, this treat had to be postponed. One of the L.U.T. coaches has been fitted with wireless, and we hope to be able to publish an illustration of the vehicle in any early issue.
Beddgelert is simply an ideal centre for -holiday-making passengers from the illdustrial centres wanting to hustle through North Wales in a 'week-end or a
few days longer. The Tourist Hotels, Ltd., establishment is near the beginning of the Aberglaslyn Pass, and the other two Welsh passes are within very easy reach. Over the Whitsuntide holidays the Lancashire United Tramways, Ltd., ran two four-days' tours, embracing the routes traversed by the Press party, and the fare of £6 per passenger (including first-class hotel accommodation at Beslelgelert) was very cheap for an outing yielding so _many spectacular delights.
The Press party left Beddgelert on the Sunday morning, journeying via Llanberis Pass to Bangor on to Llanf air fechans•where luncheon was served at a third of the establishments of Tourist Hotels, Ltd.—the Queen's Hotel—from which special day tours are run.
After lunching at Llanfairfechan, a town hemmed between the sea and the mountains, the coach pursued its way via Conway and Abergele to Hawarden. Altogether the tour—an account of which will (if it not already has) appear in journals read in tens of thousands of homes, impressed one with the wisdom of coach owners letting the public know what they are missing by not booking a motor coach holiday.