THAT REMINDS ME

I've had a fair amount of Neyland based feedback after last week's TRM, so I'll get straight down to business with this email from Harry Bennett: "Hello Jeff..re Eddie Setterfield's comments on fish trains through Milford Station reminds me of my time on the fish market, as a 14 year old. I worked for Billy Whittow of Picton Road, 1945 -48.

"We were a staff of 5. Older man Billy Greenish, Billy Picton, Harry Scott David Llewellin, myself.

"It was always a dash to catch the first train at 3pm. Cleaning, weighing and boxing the fish for shops along South Wales and the valleys. Orders had come in by phone and telegram.

"I soon grew muscles stacking the boxes in the rail vans (in the right spot for the right destination. Marked on the side with chalk.) There was also a smokehouse by Grimsby Stores and braiding room re-opened, and that was Harry Scott's job, with my help, though sometimes I would be on my own. I was eventually paid off.

"Mr Whittow always had a cough, I believe he had been gassed in WW1, and was not well, so was downsizing. I was the longest serving staff, but, because I was a "boy" I had to go first.

"Hard work, but I survived."

Thank you Harry, and here's a photo of the trawl market-train loading platform, plus one of those muscle building days.

Then, from Peter Radford, came this email:

"Hi Jeff, I've been puzzled by the photo of the what appears to be a 51 class tank bunker first on that seemingly 2 coach train.

"All up trains with the exception of the stock of the down 11.55 from Paddington, arrive Milford 7.01pm which returned to Neyland tender first having run around its train in Johnston, arriving at 8.14 in Neyland, all other trains left with the engine facing the proper way.

"The only possibility is from the timetables 1960-1963 which show a 7.55 from Carmarthen to Milford in the morning, which is the down sleeper from Paddington, but the sleeper seems to have been sleeping passengers only til Carmarthen, and the continuation to Milford is in a different column.

"But the up train at night carried ordinary passengers from Milford according to the timetable.

"Any reader have recollections of this ? These two coaches may have been added to the down train at Swansea, and this could be the 7.55 Carmarthen to Milford hauled by a tank engine.

"It returned at 9.13 as far as Clarbeston Rd. What happened to the coaches later that day I don't know. I can't remember them coming into Neyland later that day unless they were attached to the Cardiff parcels which arrived at 5.10.

"I was only in Neyland, August holidays and Xmas, because I lived in Swansea. I stayed with my grandparents. I remember travelling down from Swansea one summer on the 8.55 from Paddington, and after Johnston, mother said to me, go through the train and collect up any newspapers. But alas, when I got to the front coach, the guard told me off for this (another young guard or porter was with him) and took the papers from me.

"I told my mum and she wasn't surprised because this was Danny Mathias!

"That train could be the 9.35 to Clarbeston Rd which had arrived at Milford at 9.13.

"The carriages were a Hawksworth brake compo (1947-1950) and a later Collett second class (built 1937-40).

"There is a photo in Richard Parket's book on the Neyland railway which shows a parcels train having arrived at Neyland 1960 beyond a county class engine, and Ken Cannings on the footplate (Ken was remarkable in that he had become a driver in his twenties, a remarkably early promotion as he later told me.)

"For the record not to bore you too much, Barrie Jacobs, Neyland, formerly of Burton, told me that when he was staying at his grandparents' farm near the railway line near Johnston, there were all sorts of different locomotive types used on the down sleeper, including the type of tank in the photo...used more commonly on the Pembroke Dock line.

"He also thought the sleeping cars went down at that time, but I'm not sure. He did tell me there was a problem in the freezing winter of 62/63 where the locks of the carriage doors were frozen and had to be thawed open."

Thank you Peter.

And there's more to come next time from Peter's email, including a few details of the Locke family history.

Before we leave Milford station story, Larry Robinson informed me that he worked there for 10 years, and it was in 1966 that it stopped being a manned station. Austin Davies took over the booking office. It was demolished in the 1970's.

Cheers Larry.

Now for our teasers. Last week's answer was a LIBRARY and the gang who got in touch with that answer were..Larry Robinson, Joyce Layton, Mike & Travis at Todaros, Ian Ginty McCarthy, Elinor Jones, Anne and Jets Llewellyn, Les Haynes, John Glover, Marie Parr, Charles Weatherall (get well soon) and grand-daughter, Pat Farrar, Vernon Gwilliam, Joan Earles. Cheers everybody.

No teaser next week, but back soon.

That's all from me, I'm just gonna sit in the corner and moan!