I promised to drop in for a cup of tea. Perhaps even a short stay at her B&B. I’d returned to Johns Information Cafe, in part inspired by my earlier conversation with Edelgard and Gerd, to get more of a measure of fellow travellers. A chance comment about the Welsh language had led to an introduction to Marge.
She’d watched a documentary about the Silk Roads over forty years ago. But only now finally able to fulfill her dream of experiencing them for herself. Heading west through China, following the trading routes to their conclusion in Turkey. Her B&B entrusted to a good friend for a few months.
Then home. A few miles from a small Welsh coastal town. New Quay. "Yes" I said, smiling. "Amusement arcade still there? Just up the hill from the Black Lion Public House?" I enquired. I’d lived there in the second half of the seventies.
Summer holidays divided between messing about in boats in the harbour, cycling along quiet country lanes, and devouring "Famous Five" books. Forty five pence each. Proper adventure. Went back there a few years ago. Brief stop, cream tea and on to Poppit Sands Youth Hostel further along the coast. By bicycle.
[To find out more about Marge’s B&B and self-catering cottage, visit her website www.llaincottage.co.uk]
