Brothers, Buses, Pirates and Belles. The Thomas Bros Story

Brothers, Buses, Pirates and Belles provides the story of Thomas Bros. (Port Talbot) Ltd, told for the first time, alongside that of the pre-Second World War local bus operators in and around the town. In the 1960s Aberavon Beach was an important leisure destination for the people of South Wales with the local authority harbouring aspirations for it to become the Blackpool of South Wales. Although low-priced holidays in southern Europe soon eclipsed their efforts, recent events have shown that there may still be a market for ‘staycations’. People are at the heart of every bus operator, whether they are the company’s drivers, conductors, engineers, managers or the paying passengers and they are all represented by photographs, via their memories or in the memories of those who worked alongside them. It is dedicated to those who kept the wheels turning at Thomas Bros as well as those who used their buses for travel to school, work, the cinema, the shops or for a plethora of other reasons.