A town mural – 10 years on

Ten years ago this week, a magical piece of artwork appeared on a Welshpool wall highlighting an important part of the town’s history. 

Local history enthusiast and entertainer Alan Crowe commissioned the piece as part of the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (WLLR) Town Trail which is where the former train used to steam its way through town.

Sited on the wall near the Old Bakehouse pub, it shows the train crossing Church Street as it leaves the carpark side and makes its way past the former bake house on its back way to Llanfair.

“The WLLR Town Trail was created to show the route that the train once took through the town as it made its way from Raven Square (where it now terminates) through Woodside, Bron y Buckley, through the narrows, across roads, till it joined the mainline station,” said Mr Crowe.

The trail includes 13 information panels and two murals and forms part of an ongoing Memories of Welshpool project by local history enthusiast Mr Crowe to keep the town's social history alive and make its past a part of the present for future generations to enjoy.

To date the project has included publishing books, calendars, Christmas cards, plus organising exhibitions, guided walks, illustrated talks and much more.