The Victorian ancestors of our U3A Member, Norma Baird-Murray s family, were from 1897 onwards, the owners of the Metropole Hotel, LLandrindod Wells. Originally built and opened in 1871 as Coleman s Hotel, it was sold in the 1880s and renamed as The Bridge Hotel after the Arlais Brook which runs at the back of the hotel. In 1897 it was sold again, this time to Mrs Elizabeth Miles, the Great Grandmother of David Baird-Murray, late husband of our U3A member Mrs Norma Baird- Murray. This photo shows Coleman s Hotel, Llandrindod Wells, about 1880. In 1859, Edwin Coleman, of Howey Shop and Post Office, bought a building site and erected a semi-detached three-storey building on it. The section on the left he called Templefield House and from 1871 he let this out to a series of tenants. The part of the building on the right, situated next to Temple Bazaar, he called Coleman s Hotel. He obtained a licence and opened the hotel in 1872 Over the next few years, the hotel built up a good reputation as a family and commercial hotel accommodating about 40 guests. Food and vegetables were provided from the garden behind the hotel and from the family shop in Howey.
The Bridge Hotel A few years later the hotel was sold to John Wilding for 2,200. Already the owner of the Builder s Arms, Crossgates, and tenant of the Severn Arms, Penybont, John Wilding could see the potential of Ye Wells now that Llandrindod was growing rapidly as a popular Spa Town. He bought it for his seven children, four of whom moved into the new hotel, now renamed the Bridge Hotel but with constant movement between the Bridge and the Severn Arms on horseback, by trap, and by train. Under the Wildings the hotel flourished and a number of extensions were made, including the brick porch and the slate roofed verandah along the front of the hotel. Stables were added along with a tennis court, a second coach house, a billiard room and a laundry. It built up reputation for comfort and good food. Guests outside the Bridge Hotel in 1892
Mrs Elizabeth Miles In 1897 The Bridge Hotel was sold to Mrs Elizabeth Miles of the New Inn Hotel, Pontypridd for the sum of 7850. Elizabeth Miles was a remarkable woman, described in her obituary notice as a business woman of great ability and enterprise. Born in 1847, she was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Francis Spencer, innkeepers in Treforest, Glamorganshire. She married Mr William Miles at the age of 20 and they had two sons, Francis, born 1868 and William born 1869. She was widowed at the age of 24. In 1886 she took over the New Inn from her parents in Pontypridd, having previously been the tenant of the Bridgend Inn, Pentre. The coming of the railway in 1841 had turned Pontypridd from a village to an important industrial centre, the collecting point for the coal from Merthyr on its way to Cardiff and Barry, iron and chemical works and several stone quarries. The town grew into a busy shopping and business centre with a rapidly increasing population. Mrs Miles also owned and leased other hotels in Cardiff, Swansea and Caerphilly, including the Angel in Cardiff.
In 1897, when Mrs Elizabeth Miles bought the Bridge Hotel, Llandrindod Wells was growing rapidly and visitors were increasing yearly. Hotels in the town had increased enormously, both in number and size. In 1898 Mrs Miles began a programme of enlargement and development of her accommodation that lasted for the next 26 years, increasing the maximum number of guests from about 40 to 200. She achieved her ambition of owning the largest hotel in Wales at the time. The motor car was beginning to become an increasingly popular form of transport. In the same year that Mrs Miles bought the Bridge Hotel, the RAC was formed in 1897. Visitors began to travel to the hotel by car as well as by train. Elizabeth Miles appointed resident managers to run the hotel from 1897 to 1954. The name was changed to the Metropole in 1911 after she had bought a large quantity of linen, cutlery, crockery and carpets in a hotel sale in Norfolk. On her return she found that all the goods were marked with the monogram M. A month later The Bridge was renamed The Metropole!
Elizabeth Miles son, William, married Gwendoline Williams of Cowbridge in 1900. They had 3 children - Spencer, Elizabeth and Mary. Mrs Elizabeth Miles (seated) with granddaughters Elizabeth (Betty) on the left, Mary on the right and grandson, Spencer in the row behind. The children s mother, Gwendoline, is next to Spencer on the left with Elizabeth Miles sons, Francis on the right and William at the back. Elizabeth (Betty) later married Mr Douglas Baird-Murray and became the mother of two sons, David and Miles. In 1954 David Baird-Murray, took charge of the hotel with his wife Norma. Today The Metropole Hotel is run by Justin and Sarah, son and daughter of David and Norma Baird-Murray.