2011 – Issue 2 of 4

MORE PHOTOS FOR CTPG;
Recently Mr. Ken Aubigne of Cardiff presented the group with his father’s photograph
collection. Well over 100 of these were amassed from the 1920s to the mid 1950s and
mounted on stiff card.
Alf Aubigne had over 45 years in the bus industry. (We also have his 45 year long service
badge in our museum room.) Mr. Aubigne started in 1919 at the age of 14, as a
conductor on his father’s bus at Barry. In 1926 he moved to Whites Motors as a driver,
a position he also held with Western Welsh until his death in 1967. In the 1950s he was
instrumental in encouraging our own Chris Taylor to become a transport historian.
In the collection was this impressive bus, new to Thomas White & Co. (Cardiff & Barry)
Ltd. in March 1933. It was an AEC Renown 664 with a 60 seat lowbridge body by Short
Bros. It featured an 8.8 litre diesel and preselector gearbox. Later numbered 599 with
WWOC it spent much of its life at Barry until withdrawal in Oct.1950. KG 2176
languished in a field adjacent to Ely Works until sold for scrap in April 1953.
Your editor recalls one occasion when travelling to the Barry Grammar School on this
bus one wintry morning, sitting upstairs on one of the long seats. Turning from Park
Avenue into St. Nicholas Road, a steep with an adverse camber, the driver missed a gear.
At once there were screams from almost 90 children as the bus began lurching as it slid
backwards towards the railway embankment. This outcry turned to cheers as the
second attempt to climb the hill was successful. But enough of my ramblings!
On behalf of the CTPG I thank Ken Aubigne for his gift to our group. Ed.
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