Local author Gwyn Jenkins’s new book Cymru Ddoe mewn lliw a llun contains numerous old colourised images depicting social life in all parts of Wales in the past, including in his home county of Ceredigion.

Indeed his favourite image is that of Aberystwyth railway station in the late 1920s.

The original black and white photograph was taken by Arthur Lewis but the colour added to it for this book very much brings it to life.

"I am particularly fond of this image," says Gwyn. "There is so much detail from what was the busiest part of my home town, from the various modes of transport, to the visitors making their way into town and even the pupils by my old school."

The image of the old ladies of Llangeitho taken by John Thomas, Wales’s most prolific Victorian photographer, is also striking.

As is often the case, Gwyn discovered more about the photograph after the book had gone to print.

He found that the old lady wearing the traditional Welsh hat was indeed ‘Bet fach’, confirming his suggestion in the caption in the book.

Transport in years gone by is well-represented in the book from Trawsfynydd railway station in 1888 to a waggonette taking tourists for rides in the countryside at the turn of the twentieth century, soon to be replaced by motorised transport.

The shops in villages and small towns, such as the Post Office at Llanfair Caereinion and the ‘Home and Colonial stores, Aberaeron, also give a fascinating glimpse of rural life.

There are also photographs of workers at quarries, such as the settsmen of Llithfaen, and at factories, such as those employed at the enamel factory in Tywyn.

All the photographs, dating from the mid-19th century to the 1960s, were selected by the author from the thousands of old photographs held by the National Library of Wales.

The images were then digitally colourised by the book’s designer Richard Huw Pritchard and appropriate captions added, mostly based on contemporary newspaper reports.

• Cymru Ddoe mewn lliw a llun, Y Lolfa, hardback, £19.99.