Travelling Through Time with Pryce Jones

I had the great honour of attending the opening of the Pryce Jones Legacy exhibition and the Premiere of the new Pryce Jones History film at Newtown Library last week. The film is funded by our Railway 200 Community Grant Fund.

When I first met Ann Evans from the Heritage Hub 4 Mid Wales late last year, I had no idea how deep her passion for Newtown’s four pioneers was. The four pioneers of Newtown are Pryce Jones, Robert Owen, David Davies and Laura Ashley. Ann isn’t just knowledgeable; she’s a social history storyteller. The kind who brings history to life so vividly that you forget you’re talking about events from more than a century ago.

Until meeting Ann, my knowledge of Pryce Jones was very limited: I knew our office sits in his former home, and I associated him with the beginnings of mail‑order catalogues.  Plas Dolerw was built by William Lutener who was elected High Sheriff in 1848. Pryce Jones bought it in 1875 and the family remained there until 1947 and the Pryce Jones Warehouse used to be like a department shop and colleagues at work used to go there as children. Pryce Jones was made High Sheriff in 1891 and it was only natural that the newly appointed High Sheriff opened the exhibition.

Fast forward to the beginning of May, and Ann has curated a remarkable social‑history exhibition at Newtown Library, complete with interpretation boards and a beautifully crafted film. The High Sheriff of Powys, William Watkins, opened the event with a warm welcome and a thoughtful speech before we all settled in to watch the film. Ann, chair of Heritage Hub 4 Mid Wales, has been working with volunteers and also NPTC Newtown College Fashion & Textile Academy, Open Newtown, Powys Together Children Services amongst others.

It was fascinating exhibition, full of stories, context, and details that deepened my understanding of both Pryce Jones and Newtown’s wider history. The exhibition also showed the strong links between Pryce Jones and the Cambrian Railway and the big influence they had on each other.

When Rebecca and I were in Aberystwyth at the Welsh Railways Research Circle’s (WRRC) publication launch of the Cambrian Railways Drawings Part 2 1893-1922 in the Vale of Rheidol a couple of weeks ago, I was very proudly shown a model of Pryce Jones’ parcel van (after I had spent 10 minutes looking around the shed for an actual van rather than a railway wagon) I saw the original on a photograph at the exhibition.

I left feeling inspired and determined to return for a slower, more detailed look at the exhibition before the end of May. It’s on in Newtown Library until the end of May, so if you are in Newtown pop along and have a look.

After meeting Ann back in the Autumn, I introduced her to Jon Gower, who was writing a ‘Making Tracks’ article on Newtown at the time. You can read the article here.