Locals call for historic Welsh name of railway station to be restored

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

Members of a community in Gwynedd are calling for the historic Welsh name of its train station to be returned.

Llanbedr Station has long been known as Halt Talwrn Bach by the predominantly Welsh-speaking locals.

The station is on the Cambrian Line, which runs between Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (including a change at Machynlleth) and follows the curve of Cardigan Bay.

The Cambrian Line from Shrewsbury connects the Welsh Coast Line with the Midlands and the rest of the UK.

A number of councillors have been asking for the name change.

The matter was raised in a specific question to Transport for Wales during a meeting of the Cambrian Coast Railway Liaison Committee, last Wednesday, when Councillor Gwynfor Owen, speaking on behalf of Llanbedr Community Council, asked about the “possibility of winning the old name back”.

The station’s name will also be among matters to be discussed during a meeting of the Llanbedr Community Council, at 7.30pm, in the village hall at Llanbedr on Thursday, April 6.

Llanbedr Community Council clerk Morfudd Lloyd, said: “It has always been known by local people as Talwrn Bach, it takes its name from a nearby farm.

“These old names are getting lost and we want to save them for the future generations to know. We just thought it would be nice to keep it.

“All we want is for the name to be painted on the station – either underneath ‘Llanbedr’ in brackets below or above, it doesn’t really matter, as long as we keep the old name going.”

Gwynedd Councillor for Llanbedr, Annwen Hughes said she had lived in the village all her life and said: “It has always been known as ‘Halt Talwrn Bach’, the locals still call it that today, despite the name being changed to Llanbedr Station.”

She said she would be bringing the matter up at the community council meeting on Thursday.

Too complex

Harlech and Llanbedr Councillor Gwynfor Owen added: “Unfortunately the answer was ‘no’ as to change the name of a station, it was considered too complex a matter.

“I will now be reporting back to Llanbedr Council to see if they would like me to take the matter further.

“Old place names are very important in the history of Wales, and it would be great to see them coming back into use.”

Transport for Wales confirmed they were “not looking to progress with the name change”.

A Cyngor Gwynedd spokesperson said: “The issue of changing the name of Llanbedr station to Halt Talwrn Bach has not been referred to Cyngor Gwynedd’s Language Committee.

“However, as the Council’s Language Policy sets out our commitment to protect and promote the use of indigenous Welsh names within the county, we would be likely to support calls by the local Community Council to use the original Welsh name for the station.”