On Saturday (August 7th 2021) I was privileged to be able to enjoy a fantastic day out on the Crosville Enthusiasts Club’s routes tour around Bala, Dolgellau and Blaenau Ffestiniog. It was of course the first such tour since the pandemic began. Our principal tour bus was the 48 year young Bristol RELL6G / ECW ERG280 (YFM 280L) one of the magnificent preserved members of the fleet of Clive Myers who also joined us for part of the day. This, as the others of the fleet, are a credit to him and it is always a great pleasure to be able to ride on such vehicles bringing back so many memories. It was well driven throughout our tour by David Jones
The day was very much enhanced by the work of Tony Moyes who painstakingly prepared our route visiting so may old countryside routes and termini that were typical in the great days of Crosville. We visited many villages, hamlets and chapels which formed part of the early network. Some of these places having not been served since the 1950s. Tony’s commentary on the old routes and the general history of the area certainly made the day.
To visit the remoter country areas we were delighted to have also used a more modern vehicle, namely an Optare Solo YJ67FZM, belonging to Lloyds Coaches and we were honoured to have Wyn Lloyd join us for this part of the tour. The driver of the Solo was Wendy Overton who faced the daunting task of having to drive this wide vehicle to places that have not seen a bus for years being watched closely by not only her boss but a number of former bus drivers. She passed this test with flying colours and demonstrated her great skills much to the admiration of all of the club members.
Y Parc near Bala
Destination displays had been prepared by our friend Charlie Williams that showed the name of the hamlets termini etc. we visited together with the appropriate route number – this was a brilliant touch.
The arch of the Nannau Estate near Llanfachreth.
During
the day we managed a couple of visits to the depots of operators and
were able to observe the working of the TrawsCymru network at the hub
and interchange point of Dolgellau.
Interchange at Dolgellau
A brilliant day shared with good friends and fellow enthusiasts who were happy to share their memories of their experiences involving the so interesting company that is Crosville.
Dolgellau
