Stuart’s Photography

There are several stations along the old Taff Vale Railway that provide park and ride facilities – most notably at Trefforest and Taffs Well. Sadly, despite being one of the major towns along the route (arguably the most major other than Merthyr at one end and Cardiff at the other!), Pontypridd does not provide such a scheme.

What we have instead is the car park at Sardis Road. It’s a pay and display car park, but the all-day parking charges are pretty reasonable. And, on Sundays and Bank Holidays, car parking is free. There’s just a couple of problems with that.

First of all, the car park is only open from 7am to 7pm. If you’re a commuter who needs to be heading into Cardiff before 7am, you can’t park here. And if you’re a commuter who can’t be sure of making it back to rescue the car on time, you can park here, but you’ll have to come back the following day to rescue your car.

Secondly, as the sign says, the gates are locked at 7pm Monday to Saturday. So how exactly are you supposed to park for free on a Sunday if the gates are still locked …? Just to be certain that it wasn’t a mistake on the one sign, I popped down to the other sign and checked that too. They are consistent. The locked gates on a Sunday also means that the recycling bins hosted in the car park aren’t easily accessible if you’re too old or otherwise infirm to carry the waste from the road.

I’m sure that Rhondda Cynon Taff council must have good reasons for these restrictions, but they are very commuter unfriendly. Commuters needing to drive to the railway station are probably much better off driving to Trefforest or Taffs Well, especially if you’re likely to have to work late unexpectedly or if you need to commute on a Sunday.

Copyright (c) Stuart Herbert. blog | twitter: (photography) (all) | facebook: (Merthyr Road project) (all).

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.

In the foreground is the fencing on the western side of Cathays Railway Station. Across the tracks is the bold red ‘Cathays’ railway station sign.

It’s pleasing (to my eye at least) that although Arriva Trains Wales has painted the rest of the station in their hard-on-the-eye turquoise, they’ve left the pole of the station sign in the original Valley Lines green colour.

Copyright (c) Stuart Herbert. blog | twitter: (photography) (all) | facebook: (Merthyr Road project) (all).

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I noticed this sign appear at Taffs Well railway station. Has there been a problem with train crews forgetting to stop at the Treforest Estate railway station, I wonder, or is it simply that we do have dragons in Wales after all that Treforest Estate is where they lie in wait to snack on passing trains?

Copyright (c) Stuart Herbert. blog | twitter: (photography) (all) | facebook: (Merthyr Road project) (all).

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.

Opened in 1983, Cathays is (I believe) the newest station on the old Taff Vale Railway (opened in 1983) and the only station opened on the line since the demise of the coal mines that the TVR was built to service.

On the right of this shot is the hut holding the new ticket barriers that Arriva Train Wales installed. When the station is manned, the passageway beside the hut is gated closed, and passengers must pass through the hut to enter and exit the southward-side platform (aka the down platform).

Immediately to the north of here, on the east side of this surviving track, used to stand a large rail yard, complete with several impressive railway sheds. I don’t know when the yard’s track was ripped up, but the sheds were only demolished a few years ago.

Copyright (c) Stuart Herbert. blog | twitter: (photography) (all) | facebook: (Merthyr Road project) (all).

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.

I shot this to symbolise what has been a growing trend in the UK over the last few decades … publicly-owned facilities (in this case, Cathays Railway Station in Cardiff) being fenced off so that private operators (in this case, Arriva Trains Wales) can charge us taxpayers for access.

With such disenfranchisement, is it any wonder that no-one feels a sense of civic duty any more?

Copyright (c) Stuart Herbert. blog | twitter: (photography) (all) | facebook: (Merthyr Road project) (all).

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.