About (page 8)

Croeso y Cymru, or Choosing a Place to Live

One of the main things I wanted to do was to work in a good area - that is, one that was lively, close to somewhere big, scenic and interesting. I turned down many interviews just on where they were for this reason. So my job is in South Wales, which suited me because I wanted to get far, far away from Stoke-on-Trent, and leaving the country seemed (and still seems to have been) a good idea. And so I move on to where to live now.

I recommend South Wales. You've got Cardiff (and Newport, I suppose), which is good for shopping and nights out but bad for finding somewhere to eat at 2am. The people are young and pretentious poseurs who walk and act as if they're gods, but you get that in any major city, and on the whole the students from Cardiff Uni make the place a little more relaxed than it otherwise would be. Newport is the run-down equivalent, which is also a good place to shop but otherwise contains the majority of the boy racers and dodgy housing estates (e.g. Ringwood, Bettws). The M4 is a good road which is free to get to Bristol on, but around �5 to get back over the Bristol channel using the same bridge. The other bridge is so much further North you'd use an extra �5 in petrol anyway. The valleys are fantastic places to walk, with numerous disused and regenerated coal mines providing amazing views and interesting walks, and they are well-known for their cycle tracks and courses, both gentle and mind-bogglingly dangerous. (The Forest Drive in Pontywaun ('waun' is pronounced 'wayne') has both sorts.) Caerphilly in general is a good day out, and its castle is the best, most interesting and cheapest I've been to in the UK. The castle massive, and it would take a day to walk around. I think it costs �3.50 a person. Compare this to �6.50 for Cardiff Castle, which is much smaller and arguably not a real castle at all (it's been rebuilt from ruins).

I can't stress enough how important it is that you find an area to live that feels right for you, if you're intending on settling down. Find the best ara you can afford without getting into stupid amounts of debt (mortgage accepted), and spend a long time poking around, visiting the shops, seeing what the people are like, and generally getting a good feel for the place. (Or not, as the case may be. Despite one particular area - Machen - appearing to be perfect, and despite there being many nice houses around there at good prices, I made the very difficult decision to go against living there simply because I didn't get the right feel. I still don't know why; it just didn't feel right.)

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