Halting Progress: Art on the Cambrian

Guest Blog by our Chairman, Neil Scott.

The Cambrian's covered in halts of all kind. I remember my first visit to the line and being amazed at how many of them flew by seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Most are pretty basic - a platform of two coaches length and a bus shelter. One or two nod back to their Great Western Railway heritage like Penhelig with it’s pagoda shelter and wooden platform and some are former stations but downgraded to halts and still have their station building but in private ownership. But most of them are simple affairs.

Deb and I popped out for the day to have a look at three of them where we are starting art projects later in the year. Through Transport for Wales’s ‘Challenge Fund’ we’ve secured funding to secure an artist-in-residence who will work with two community groups to create new station art at Dyffryn Ardudwy, nearby Talybont and Llwyngwril between Fairbourne and Tywyn.

Deb’s used her links with TfW to engage with community groups who were looking to do art projects at these halts. The groups had been engaging with TfW’s station team but they were pointed to Deb as they fitted into the Cambrian Railway Partnership’s scope more that Transport for Wales. This kind of collaboration and sign-posting is good indicator of the development the Partnership has made in the last 12 months where our capability and expertise is recognised now and we’re trusted by our partners to deliver.

So, we went off to have a look and see what will be involved. First stop was Dyffryn Ardudwy which was extremely busy with about 20-30 people waiting to get on the train when we arrived and quite a few getting off as well. The level crossing there has a Network Rail crossing keeper to open and close the gates for vehicle traffic which must be one of the best jobs in the area. The shelter, and all 3 of them, will get a community notice board with surrounding art reflecting the people and place.

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After a short wait we were back off on the next Up train and down to Talybont to see the shelter there. It’s a bigger building than Dyffryn’s one so more space for the artist and community to develop their project. Interestingly the shelter dates from Regional Railways days and was funded by a variety of different government and developmental bodies, including the EU - a relic of recent political past! We headed into Barmouth on the bus for lunch and then down to Llwyngwril where the community are very keen on yarn-bombing and the station is usually in receipt of their projects.

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Llwyngwril has an unusual shelter arrangement with one of the shelters slightly off the platform. The shelter itself will require some work but these quite basic structures can be improved, brightened and show off a bit of local character with some community art. Deb will work closely with the group to develop their ideas and aspirations.

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One of our philosophies in the Cambrian Railway Partnership is we want to be driven by the community groups. We see ourselves as helping enable and facilitate the groups and work within the boundaries of what the railway sees as possible. We didn’t advertise for groups to create these projects as we want communities to take ownership of their own stations, with encouragement, where possible. Hopefully by early next year we’ll see the projects develop and deliver their intentions and the art is installed in the shelters.

Homeward bound was a long journey, I wasn’t back until almost 23:00 but long days are good days. The more projects we do, the bigger impact we can have in our communities and show them that their railway cares about its people and places.