On arrival in Aberystwyth we set about doing some “housework”. Jason sat in the room pretending to do some work and Tim went to the launderette. Pier2Pier reached a new low when Tim returned with a bottle of “cider” and some welsh cheese. At 4pm August 13th pier2pier could be seen in a seedy hotel room in Aberystwyth drinking cheap cider out of mouth-wash tumblers and eating cheese with spoons.

Cheese and cider consumed we headed off for our daily pier fix. An interesting fact that we’ve just made up about Aberystwyth University is that it has the highest suicide rate of all Britain’s great educational establishments. Another interesting fact that we haven’t made up is that West Wales is the top European holiday destination for Orthodox Jewish families from central Europe.

The pier itself is little more than an arcade and bar. There’s no planks, there’s no promenading, there’s no soul. A bit like the burned out hotels that are now halls of residence, not even a free bar could tempt us here. But karaoke, now you’re talking. Originally we decided to spend the least time on this pier, but were drawn like moths to the flame of competition karaoke. Clearly too untalented to take part properly we contented ourselves with singing along to other people’s efforts and bastardising the lyrics to contain the word ‘pier’ as much as possible.