Mermaid Echoes: Folklore, Stories and Railways

On a cold and wet morning I met Jon Gower in Newtown, after he reached out to me about the yarn-bombing blog in Llwyngwril. Transport for Wales have engaged a writer in residence to produce 52 online articles and a book, travelling the length of Wales’ rail network to collect stories from stations and communities. Jon, formerly a BBC arts and media correspondent, is the writer behind the project, and he wanted to hear more about the Cambrian Line.

We arranged to meet outside the Pryce Jones building and walked into town to the market for a cup of tea (or two). The conversation began before we’d even passed the Pryce Jones building. Jon has lived in Newtown for many years, so he knew far more about the town than I did, and I realised I was in for an enjoyable and informative morning.

It was cold in the market as the doors kept opening and closing, but Jon kept me enthralled for over two hours and we didn’t notice it. He is a treasure trove of knowledge about Wales, arts and culture, and we talked through the stations up and down the Cambrian Line. The line is full of fascinating places and hidden gems, and Jon’s stories brought them to life, but he was looking for more. I explained I had met Heritage Hub 4 Mid Wales and that Ann was very knowledgeable about the four pioneers of Newtown and would be a good contact for Jon.

Although I’ve been meeting groups in Criccieth, I hadn’t fully connected with what Catrin, the Criccieth Town Clerk, had been telling me about mermaids and sculptures until Jon told me about a poem by Robert Graves and I listened to Richard Burton’s reading on the internet. Suddenly the mermaid story made sense. It turns out mermaids crop up in other parts of the Cambrian Line too, threaded through poems and local lore as I found out in a later meeting with Creative Hub from Aberystwyth. This will be in a future blog.

Jon is writing a series of features that will be shaped into The Great Book of Wales. He’s already produced pieces on places such as Llangammarch, Dyfi Junction, and Llandudno Junction, and has written about many other stations and communities across Wales. His work captures the small, human stories that sit alongside the rails, the memories, the oddities, and the cultural threads that tie places together.

Talking with Jon reminded me how much history and culture travel along our railways. Stations are more than platforms and timetables; they are places where stories begin, intersect, and continue. Projects like Jon’s help surface those stories and give them a wider audience, connecting readers to the everyday magic of places along the line. I can’t wait to see the articles and stories from along our line and the rest of Wales.

If you see Jon out and about on the Cambrian Line, say hello and share a Cambrian story or two with him. He’s listening, and there are more stories waiting to be told.