ABSTRACT
I had expected to stay in Bangor for a few years. For me it was a great place to be. Holyhead was a short distance away, and I was able to renew contacts with various aunts, uncles, and cousins. My Welsh was steadily improving, thanks to Alan Thomas, who in the process introduced me to every pub in east Anglesey. I learned to drive, coping with Bangor hillstarts that would prepare you for getting a car up Everest if you had to. I couldn’t afford a car of my own, but the house in Bryn Eithinog did have a garage. Several of the linguistics postgraduates were quite senior people, and they sometimes needed a place to leave their car while they went on vacation travels; in lieu of rent, I got the use of the car. As a result, in those two years little Steven saw the inside of more cars than most garage mechanics, and experienced more of Snowdonia than the average mountaineer.
