Royal and government letters were delivered for hundreds of years by special messengers, but the Post Office really began in 1481 when a system of posts was established in England and postmasters were appointed. Their business was 
confined to furnishing post horses to the carriers of the State Mail. The royal messengers were often away from London for as long as a month, and were reimbursed by direct order of the Monarch.

Charles I established a letter office for the transmission of letters between London and Scotland, but this only extended to a few of the principal roads. This establishment was not successful and great difficulty was experienced in 
the transmission of letters until Oliver Cromwell instituted a national establishment for the weekly conveyance of mails to all parts of the country.

In 1660 Charles II re-established the service and at the same time there was a reduction in the cost of sending letters. For all towns in Wales this meant a charge of 3d. instead of 6d. for a single sheet to London.

One of the post routes to Ireland passed through South Wales, and a broadsheet of 1669 shows Aberavon being served by the post stage at Cardiff. Aberavon is also included in Richard Blome's Britannia, published in 1673, but the town,
however, has little significance in early postal history, being totally overshadowed by Neath. Early letters from the Aberavon area are found with Neath hand-struck marks. The earliest Welsh handstruck mark recorded to date is a 
Cardiff one for 1705, though it is likely that marks for other South Wales towns were in use at about the same time.

The letters were carried by Post-boys, who changed horses at fixed points on their route. In the early days this was an honoured position, but by the latter part of the 18th century, the Post-boy had a sad reputation of dishonesty 
and laziness. Because of their old and worn out horses, they only travelled at three or four miles per hour. Of course, being solitary, and often travelling at night, they were easy prey for thieves and highwaymen.

The Post-boy carried a large pack on his back and in it were put as many bags as there were post towns on the road, each bag having, "a brass label with the name of the town engraved on it." All the town bags were then put "into one
great Maile, safe and made up", that is, buckled and sealed. When the first postmaster on the road received the mail, he took out the bag for his town, re-sealed the mail and sent it onwards. Postmasters were forbidden to open any 
bags but their own, and "with each Maile there goes a Bye bag, which is carried by the post-boy about his middle in which all the by letters are put, that is such letters as are sent from one Towne to another upon the Roades which do
not reach London." These were called By or Way letters.' From 1765 there was a daily postal service, (except Sunday) from London through South Wales to Swansea.
The horse continued as the vehicle for transporting the mails where road and economic conditions permitted; elsewhere in the furthest parts of the kingdom, post-boys on foot carried letters to and from the more remote communities.
The shortcomings of the postal service is illustrated by a letter of 1776 from William Williams in Essex to his sister Bess at Margam. William writes that he had written twice without reply, to which his sister Bess replied, "My dear
Billy, with great pleasure I received the favour of yours, and do assure you I wrote twice to you before this, and had not one from you but yours of April 18th ever since you left us which is very near a 12 months."
These conditions prevailed until the coming of the mail coach era, commencing in 1784, when John Palmer of Bath devised a plan to supplant the post-boys with mailcoaches. He considered the coach offered much greater security for the
mail, and could travel at an average speed of about 10 miles per hour. In 1784, after overcoming much opposition, John Palmer's first experimental mailcoach made the journey from Bristol to London in sixteen hours, and soon the use
of mailcoaches spread quickly over the country.
The first South Wales mailcoach contract was signed at the New Passage in June 1787. Mr. John Palmer, who was by then Comptroller General of the English Post Office, in company with Capt. Thomas Owen, met Mr. Bradley of Cardiff and 
Mr. Calvert of Swansea, and contracts were signed for the conveying of the mails by coaches from London through Bath and Bristol, and thence over the New Passage through Swansea to Milford Haven and back six times in the week. The
journeys were to commence on 5th July, 1787.

Postal rates were charged by the distance the letter travelled, and by the number of sheets in the letter. For example a single sheet letter from Taibach to London in 1801 cost 9d., 1805 10d. and in 1812 11d. It was unusual for 
letters to be prepaid, the recipient of an unpaid letter being obliged to pay the postage before the letter was handed over. Although the carrying of letters was a State monopoly, many people avoided the high rates of postage by 
using private carriers, such as drovers and hauliers.
The great difference between the mailcoaches and the stagecoaches was that the proper and speedy delivery of the mail was the first consideration of the mail guard, the comfort of the passengers being of secondary importance. Infact, 
the guards were instructed that if the passengers delayed too long at meal times, they were, after a warning, to be left behind. The mailcoaches were required to keep to a time-table, but the South Wales road had a bad reputation 
with the Post Office for time keeping; so bad, in fact, that there were threats to suspend the service. A 1797 Timebill shows that 27 hours were allowed for the journey from Bristol to Milford. The coach left Bristol at 12.15 noon, 
the passengers taking dinner after being rowed across the New Passage; Cardiff was reached at 7.25 p.m., when 30 minutes was allowed for supper. Four hours and forty five minutes were allowed from Cardiff to 'Tybach' so that the 
coach came through this district about 1.30 a.m. Two hours and twenty five minutes later, the coach arrived in Swansea for breakfast and the journey ended at Milford at about 4.15 p.m. It may be seen from the foregoing account that 
a time of only two hours refreshment was allowed in twenty-seven hours travelling; the only additional stops allowed were for horses to be changed or watered.
For the greater part of the mailcoach era the coaches did not have to pay at the toll gates. J. O'Brien has recorded that the Aberavon toll gate was at the bottom of the Causeway, named Westgate; later it was moved 200 yards beyond 
the top of Pentyla Hill. Others were situated near Bethany Square, Taibach and at Tollgate Road. The Mailcoach had the right to travel the road without hindrance, and the toll gate-keepers had to have the gates open, day or night, 
whenever the coach approached, the guard heralding his approach with blasts on his horn.
As the mailcoaches established their routes, others started services between provincial towns, the Newport to Swansea Royal Mail being typical of these. The expansion of the service led to the mail being collected more frequently 
than formerly with the daily Up and Down coach. There was still dissatisfaction, however, with the uncertain delivery of letters, and although by

1838 there were two free deliveries of letters a day locally, a letter from Mr. Griffith Llewellyn of Baglan complains of "the uncertain and defective delivery of letters" from Neath Post Office to Baglan and Briton Ferry. 4
It is possible that before a post office was established in the area, that Margam received its mail through Cardiff. There was a penny post from Cardiff to Margam during the early 19th century, for letters up to as late as 1835 were
headed Margam, Cardiff, and mail with the Taibach handstamp also had the Cardiff handstamp applied. Early letters from the Aberavon district have Neath handstamps, Baglan and Tonmawr remaining under Neath until as late as 1914.
In 1768 there were but six houses between Groeswen and the River Avon, taking a line west of the Chapel of Ease. Two houses were sited at Taibach, and others were the Upper and Lower Court Farms, the Plough Inn, and a house by the 
riverside. 6 But by the beginning of the 19th century Taibach developed rapidly and was soon of sufficient importance to support a post office. The first Taibach handstamp was issued to Taibach in 1829; possibly the post office was
located at the Somerset House where the mail coach horses were changed. It is positive, however, that in 1847 the post office was a double fronted house in a row of five houses known as Post Office Row (Demolished in 1959 and now 
the site of the Somerset Arms car park). The post office business was conducted through a small opening in the right hand wall of the entrance passageway. 7
A notable character in Post Office Row was Peggy Cawley. Her mother was at one time a postwoman, and one of her duties was to take a mail bag to meet the morning mail train at 3.27 a.m. Sleeping late one morning, the mother rushed
off with very little clothing on, collected the mailbag, and ran all the way to the station. Peggy followed her mother with the remainder of her clothing. They caught the mail!, John Reed the Margam rural postman also lived in Post
Office Row; he was said to be so punctual that the people set their clocks by him when he passed.
Lewis Thomas was appointed postmaster of Taibach in 1847, and in his 44 years service he saw many great changes in -the local posts. By 1848 the receiving house of Catherine Jones at Aberavon Bridge was opened, and about this time a 
receiving house under John Jones was opened at Cwmavon.
On 18th June, 1850 the South Wales Railway was opened. Less than three weeks after the inaugural ceremony, the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian announced "The Bristol and Swansea mail

coaches cease to run from this day. The letter bags will henceforth by conveyed by the South Wales Railway from Chepstow to Swansea." 5 The mails then had to be conveyed by carrier from Taibach to the station. Later, as the work
increased, a horse van was used to carry the letters to Aberavon and Cwmavon, and at night to take the mail bags to meet the mail train. In 1858 Alfred Miles, Sub-Postmaster of Aberavon, and William Button, Sub-Postmaster of 
Cwmavon, were receiving three deliveries of mail a day from Taibach.
The great distance between Taibach Head Post Office and the growing Port Talbot and Aberavon communities gave rise to local discontent, which is illustrated by a memorial sent to the Post Master General as early as 1862. This 
complains of mail being held from the London Mail at Taibach and not being delivered until the next day, and suggests the letters should be given to the postgirl delivering the evening mail to Taibach from Aberavon. She could then 
deliver these to the Aberavon addresses on her return journey. Sir Rowland Hill (Secretary of the Post Office) agreed that letters arriving on the London evening mail only could be collected from the post office window at Taibach.
The introduction of the parcel post in 1884 seriously taxed the existing post office accommodation, and naturally the transport burden was also increased. This led to Mr. C. R. M. Talbot building a post office by the Port Talbot 
station, later Harris's Stores. (See our Transactions No. 3. Vol. 2 1974, Pl. 5.) Port Talbot became the Head Post Office in November 1886. It then moved to Station Road (Roath Furnishers Site) in 1895, being used until the large 
new post office was built in 1912. This was demolished to make way for the new ring road shortly after the new Post Office was opened at Bethany Square in September, 1975.
Jenkin Jenkins, the Sub-Postmaster of Pontrhydyfen was appointed about 1870, and he received letters by messenger from Cwmavon at 8.10 a.m. This messenger, who had set out from Taibach, left Cwmavon after sorting of the mail.
When Lewis Thomas moved to Port Talbot as Head Postmaster, his sister Mrs. Mary Thomas became the sub-postmistress of Taibach and remained there until about 1910, when Miss Annie Thomas took over. Lewis Thomas retired after 44 years
service as Head Postmaster and was succeeded by his nephew, Morgan Thomas, on the 6th August, 1891. Morgan was the second son of Tom Thomas of the Taibach Post Office, formerly of Dyffryn, Margam. For several years he was assistant 
to the overseer of the parish of Margam, and also clerk at the Taibach and Port Talbot post offices.

About 1890 the postal area was expanded to the east to include Maudlam and Blue Street, Kenfig. This rural post was delivered on foot and involved a round trip of about 20 miles, the pillar boxes at Blue Street and Margam being 
cleared by the returning postman. About 1895, the Margam post office opened at the bottom of Cross Hill, the sub-postmistress being Mrs. Ann Kinch, who was helped in later years by her daughter, Theresa. 1895 also saw letter boxes
provided at Groes, Bryn and Port Talbot Docks. The postman serving Bryn subsequently travelled for years in the guard's van on the Port Talbot Railway through the Goytre Valley.
The upper Avon Valley was served by Bridgend Post Office until c. 1895, but with the improved communication afforded by the new Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, which carried its first passengers in 1885, Port Talbot Post Office took 
over deliveries to Cymmer, Glyncorrwg, Abergwynfi and Blaengwynfi. Postal Authorities suggested that the letters R.S.O. (Railway sub office) be put after Pontrhydyfen, Cymmer, and Abergwynfi, e.g. Cymmer R.S.O., to expedite letters 
to these villages. Road delivery to the upper valley was not practicable because of the poor state of the road, even up until the 1920's. After 1910 sub-post offices were opened at Sandfields Road, Tymaen, and Pwllyglaw.
I realise that this account of the postal history of the Port Talbot area is rather superficial and that the subject calls for more research. Anyone with enough leisure to consult the available post office and other records would be 
amply rewarded by the amount of information available.
Sources
1. Post Roads, Post Towns, etc.; Alan W. Robinson.

2. Welsh Post Towns Before 1840; M. S. Archer. Worrall's Directories. Kelly's Directories.
3. Contemp. Portraits: Men and Women of South Wales and Monmouth, 1897.
4.    Vol. 6 Glam. Hist.
Margam Estate Management, 1765-1860; Hilary Thomas.
5. Glamorgan Historian: Stage Coach Routes and Rivalries; Herbert Williams. 6. Old Afan and Margam; J. O'Brien.
7. Wheatsheaf, Taibach and Port Talbot Co-op; April 1939. 8. Aberavon Council Minute, 1862.