Welshness is essential to the Aberystwyth experience: why I love ‘Aber’

28.05.2024 - 11:27 / theguardian.com

Along the promenade come the crowds: drag queens spouting one-liners, farmers gossiping in Welsh, a choir out of rehearsal but still singing, and a man who raps to himself and the heavens. There seem to be as many dogs as humans, and twice as many gulls, all eyeing the fish and chips. The funicular railway up the cliff has a queue of Hasidic Jewish families clutching ice-creams, and the pier is packed with good-humoured Brummies enjoying the snooker tables and push-penny machines, waiting for the nightclub, Pier Pressure, to open. By the ruined castle a party of Australian fans of TV crime series Hinterland are gazing around in bemusement: is this really a gritty murder capital? Behind the town rise the mountains of mid-Wales; out front is the sparkling sea. This is Aberystwyth on a sunny afternoon.

Far from large population centres, down a long slow railway line, and with a climate that strips paint faster than a Tom Jones audience used to remove its underwear, Aber, as locals call it, has taken some knocks. But that adversity has bred something unique among British seaside resorts: a place that is proudly cultured, often comedic and always quirky. There’s a university and a national library, but there may also be a muddy tractor with a straw-filled trailer parked outside the pub. After many visits, in all weathers, I’ve grown to love that independent spirit and eccentricity. (Those Hinterland fans might, however, get a little closer to the atmosphere they expect on a wet November Wednesday.)

In the days of sail, when ships from all points east pulled in here, halfway up Cardigan Bay, they would take on passengers and tip overboard a few tons of stone ballast. Some years later, beachcombers started to pick up semi-precious stones that had been carried in the ballast. Although the supply has dwindled, it is still possible to find treasures in the shingle.

Aberystwyth’s other gems are easier to locate. Take Ultracomida, a Spanish deli on Pier Street. Step inside and, Tardis-like, it becomes a fabulous cave of quesos, jamones and aceitunas that leads into a wine bar lined with all the artisanal and family-run vineyard bottles Iberia – and Wales – can produce. London would envy such a place. Nearby, in a similar vein, the Bottle and Barrel craft beer bar and shop hides behind an inconspicuous doorway. There’s also Little Devil’s Cafe for great breakfasts and, on another tack, my favourite secondhand bookshop, Llyfrau Ystwyth.

Welshness is essential to the Aberystwyth experience, and opposite the spectacular glass front of the White Horse pub on Terrace Road is the Ceredigion Museum, a fine place to imbibe that essence. This former Edwardian theatre is a cornucopia of local life and history. Opened in