Locations - Wales

BANGOR. W.O.Williams (high-class tailor), 348-350a High Street. "All are invited to inspect the new cash railway system at W.O.Williams, Bangor. No more waiting for your change; there are several stations on this line for your convenience. North Wales Chronicle, 16 Sep. 1899

BRIDGEND, Glam. Shufflebothoms, drapers. Cash carrier in 1940s. (D. Crook)

CAERNARVON. Nelson Emporium. "O'r Dinas a' i chysylltu a 'Lamson's Cash Railway' prif Fasnachdy Gogledd Cymru." [Translation: Of the city with its connection with Lamson's cash railway, the first shop in North Wales] Y Genedl Cymreig, 6 Jun. 1888

CAERNARVON. Pierce & Williams (household goods) Afr Aur [Golden Goat]. "Rheilffyrdd mewn masnachdai!. Dyfais newydd ryfeddol" [Translation: Railways in shops: a new remarkable device. We are alerted to the revolution in convenience, time saving and security in a business as is attested by the shopkeepers, assistants and customers about the marvellous American device which is called LAMSON CASH RAILWAYS. The public from Anglesey to the district round Caernarfon and the surrounding shires are invited .. to see the LAMSON CASH RAILWAY in full operation in the Golden Goat next Saturday. The truth cannot be hidden that PIERCE & WILLIAMS is the first company to make a contract with LAMSON CASH RAILWAY COMPANY to install their new equipment in North Wales.] Y Genedl Gymreig, 14 Mar. 1888
•"We understand that Messrs. Pierce and Williams, of the Golden Goat establishment, will, in a day or two, have the interesting and remarkable invention known as 'Lamson's Cash Railway' in full work." Carnarvon & Denbigh Herald, 23 Mar. 1888

CARDIFF. George Hopkins, Hayes. "Introduction of a novel invention to Cardiff... The 'cash railway system' opened on Saturday by Mr. George Hopkins, of Cardiff, at his Hayes shop... The idea is a Yankee one, the proprietors of the patent being the Lamson Store Service Company of 1, Charlotte-street, Bedford-square, London, who have already erected a similar system in Swansea for Mr Evans. Mr Hopkins has provided himself with a triple system, each of the three lines having, of course, a duplicate return track, and on Saturday evening these were all in full swing, keeping the two clerks at the desk hard at work, and as much .. to the amusement of large crowds of people gathered outside." Western Mail, 10 Jan. 1887

CARDIFF. David Morgans. Pneumatic tube system. P. Roderick in posting to Bristol_and_Somerset_L list, 19 Feb. 1999

CARDIFF. Reese & Gwillim. Hired Lamson equipment for 10 years, expiring in 1905. In 1904 they signed a contract with BCPC for 5 years but the equipment proved unsatisfactory. Lamson offered three or four Rapid Wire stations at 45 shillings per station per annum. One of the locations involved in the court case British Cash and Parcel Conveyors Ltd. v. Lamson Store Service Co. Ltd., 1908.

CARDIFF. Woods grocers, Radyr. Cash carrier (pneumatic tube?). (Sarah Hall)

LLANELLI, Carms. Puddies. Wire system. "And other shops as well." 'Ronaldaro' in posting to Whriligig message board, 21 Nov. 2004

LLANIDLOES, Mont. Co-op. "The money went to the tills in overhead pulleys and your change came back that way too." Now the New Indian Restaurant. The Knowhere Guide

LLANDUDNO, Caern. Hooson (Italian warehouseman and wine merchant), Mostyn and Gloddaeth streets. "The Lamson cash railway. Mr Esmoor Hooson.. has just fitted up in his large establishment the above ingenious system for transference of cash... Instead of the impatient enquiry of the tired purchaser: 'Where is my change?' the tradesman hears the favourable comments of pleased customers, as they amuse themselves watching the ball containing their payment, swiftly rolling to the desk, and quickly returning with the change." North Wales Chronicle, 27 July 1889

LLANRWST, Denb. Williams, London House. Rapid Wire system operating in 1975 according to article in This England and in 1977 according to Daily Mirror, 21 July, p.20. (Also David Holt.)

NEWPORT, Mon. Bashams, Commercial Street. "I can remember one [Lamson Cash Ball system] in a drapers called Bashams in Commercial Street, Pill, Newport, S.Wales after the war." Daily Mirror, 5 Aug. 1977, p.20
• Presumably the same shop: "A shop in Newport, Mon, in the 1930s which had a rather different system for handling the change. The money, presumably with the bill, was put inside a hollow wooden ball - the two halves screwed together - which was put on to a sloping ramp set just below ceiling level, where it rolled down to the cashier, who in turn sent it back along another ramp which sloped in the opposite direction!" (Howard Fuller in posting to GEN-TRIVIA-ENG-L list, 10 Jul. 1999)

PENARTH, Glam. Howells, drapers. Lamson wire system. (Peter Moon)

PORT TALBOT, Glam. Co-op. Overhead cash carrier at time of WW2. (Eric Perry)

SWANSEA, Glam. Ben Evans department store, Castle Bailey Street. Wire system, destroyed by bombing in 1941. Perhaps the inspiration for Dylan Thomas' mention in Under Milk Wood. A Mr Evans of Swansea had possibly the first system in Wales installed by January 1887 - see CARDIFF:Hopkins above.

SWANSEA, Glam. Lewis Lewis drapers. Wire system. (Cwmgors and Gwaun-cae-gurwen website)

TENBY, Pemb. T.P.Hughes, High Street, Upper Frog Street and South Parade. "Cash registers too were introduced to replace the old pressurised Lampson [sic] tube system, whereby cash and invoices were sent through a tube to a central cashier elsewhere in the store, sometimes in a different building... Since we occupied a number of buildings, the tube system ran right through the market." (Western Mail, 16 Nov. 2002, p.7)

WREXHAM, Denb. C.D.Jones, Hope Street. "I was reminded of shopping in the 1950s with my mum. One shop I loved to visit was CD Jones' in Hope Street... It was a really old fashioned shop which sold mainly ladies' things. As a child, I was fascinated by the overhead wires which ran from the various counters to a single cashier. The shopping assistant would put your payment along with a receipt into a small canister attached to the wire, would pull a handle and it would be sent whizzing overhead to the cashier's box. The cashier would then sort out the change if necessary and send it whizzing back." BBC website