A NEW book has been published that celebrates the ties between a Midlands school and the Mawddach Estuary.

Last Friday saw the release of Marians on the Mawddach, which chronicles and celebrates the history of the Mawddach Estuary and surrounding area told mainly from the point of view of Marians – as the pupils of Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall are known.

Marians on the Mawddach recounts the memories of several generations of Marians, who have travelled every week over six decades by minibus to a former coach house at Farchynys, near Barmouth. Here they have enjoyed weekends of adventure near this famously beautiful estuary.

Queen Mary’s Grammar School first opened its outward-bound centre there in 1963, and since then, thousands of boys and girls have enjoyed exploring the rich and rugged landscape under the watchful shadow of majestic Cader Idris.

The book’s author, Oxford historian Paul Christopher Walton who himself attended Queen Mary’s, says: “The Mawddach has played such a formative role in the lives of Marians over the last 50 years, and it’s been a real labour of love to collect and curate their tales and experiences in Marians on the Mawddach.”

Marians’ recollections are interspersed with other material including poetry, geology, and local history, such as the arrival of the steam train to the Cambrian Coast in the 1860s.

As may be expected, Barmouth Bridge, which celebrates its 150th anniversary later this year, features prominently.

Walton, a regular visitor to Barmouth, decided to write Marians on the Mawddach to help Queen Mary’s celebrate the opening of enlarged facilities at Farchynys.

Looking back on the five decades he has been visiting the area, he says: “For me, and thousands of other Walsall people, there truly is nowhere quite like the Mawddach.

“Estuaries are brilliant places to grow things and it’s been an honour to capture for posterity the stories of my fellow Marians over the last 50 years and their relationship with this place and the people we have met here.

“With the opening of The Cottage and The Barn, the school is delighted that adventure, exploration and stunning natural beauty will be waiting for young Marians for many generations to come.”

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