Subject: Stagecoach Rhondda 704 (A14 RBL)
Chassis: Volvo B10M-50
Body: East Lancs DP53F
Location: Maindy, North Road
Date: 15-Jan-1998

704 is just passing the end of Maindy Road and about to cross the former Taff Vale Railway route to Pontypridd and beyond.

To the left and behind the photographer was the centre of one of Cardiff's lost industries, the production of Patent Fuel. This was produced from a combination of small coal and pitch moulded into 'bricks'. These were easily handled and well-suited to the steamships of the 19th Century. The Glamorganshire Canal played a key role in shipping this fuel to Cardiff docks. The industry declined in the early part of the 20th Century, killed off ultimately by the move to oil for shipping.

Photograph by courtesy of John Jones