I felt weary so I put on lots of clothes and left Newcastle Emlyn. My next stop was Lampeter – the smallest university town in the United Kingdom. I hadn’t shaved for two weeks and was already starting to grow stubble. My head was wired – literally (I ahd my mp3 player in).
Going west across Wales made me reflect on my trip so far, the places that were still to come, and the home comforts I was missing. What, oh what, would Machynlleth bring? And Bala? What is Bala? Questions I needed answering, questions the world needed answering.
Lampeter is known for having Wales’ first rugby team, so I have the town to thank for my lifelong love of the game. Indeed, I got into the sport as a baby – toothless, incomprehensible, fat and bald. I was meant to be a rugby fan!
Finding somewhere to stay was no problem. Lampeter is full of students, so there are plenty of motels to stay at. The one I settled on actually doubled as a massage parlour – presumably to service the sports injuries of all the rugby players – and the lady on the door seemed surprised when I said I wanted somewhere to stay. Even more annoying was the knock on the door of my room every thirty minutes, waking me from my nap! Very expensive though, I’ve never known a motel charge by the half-hour.
Once my nap was over I headed out to find the nearest quiz machine and finally show Noel Edmonds who’s really in charge on Deal Or No Deal. Unfortunately, the only pub entertainment I could find was a betting game involving a parrot riding a mini bicycle while toothless, bald men spat tobacco, clapped and threw money at it. Then we watched the rugby.
All in all, my experience of Lampeter was slightly hindered by the fact that the students had all gone home, leaving a quiet ghost town haunted by spectres wearing traffic cones.
When I went back to the massage parlour I shaved in order to stay respectable, wondering what my trip to BrynMawr (Welsh for ‘Brian Moore’) would bring…