Growing Up in West Wales

For 15 years I lived in a small town on the west coast of Wales called Aberystwyth. Now that I'm finally out I feel like I'm ready to shed some light on the 'beautiful' West Wales, including the recent Lynx scandal.

Where do I start? How about the chavs? Aberystwyth has plenty of them. Some may call it an infestation and quite rightly as multiple incidents occur annually involving stabbings, robberies, and assaults in and around Aberystwyth. The worst one I can remember was back in August when a man was “stamped and kicked like a football” by some kids. The next day I overheard a conversation in school about the man. One girl said he deserved it. Chavs have not only been terrorizing Aberystwyth, but all around the world. However some of the worst can be found in the UK, not only causing a problem in public areas, but also in schools.

The school I attended (which I won't name for safety reasons) got to the point where the school was ran by groups. Every day an incident would occur like a kid getting thrown out of a window or abuse hurled at teachers. In late 2015, 300 pupils staged a riot in support of the return of a teacher who let his GSCE students smoke weed in his art classes. The end result was a total of 700 (there were 1,000 pupils) kids marching through the school, ripping up classrooms, and chanting the teacher's name. Eventually the police turned up and the chavs fought back with shouts of "f*ck the police." Whole areas, like the main entrance, were barricaded off with police officers combining shields to create a wall. By the end of the day the riot subsided, but the damage was done. To my surprise I had found out that at least ten of my friends had taken part in the riots.

Most of the chavs in Aberystwyth fail their GSCE's and are staying in the area. Over the last five years these chavs have developed into roadmen and in effect puffer jacket sales have risen by a significant amount.

The chavs (or roadmen, whichever you prefer) usually have very thick Welsh accents and sport Welsh clothing, which leads me to my next point, patriotism. Just when you think Americans love their flags wait until you meet the less than 1 million patriotic Welsh idiots. For some reason they always get into the council and feel the need to push the now useless Welsh language on us and the worst part is the anthem. Let me give you a taste real quick of what it's like:

It may be my taste in music, but the Welsh national anthem is the biggest pile of sh*t I've ever heard and yet everyday I used to hear this anthem from patriotic classmates. Speaking of classmates, these kids were the worst of the worst. For example the majority of girls I grew up with had some form of sex at the young age of thirteen. They were absolute sluts and on top of that both boys and girls smoked weed and did heroine on a regular basis. I remember sitting in History when a group of these kids talking about their drug dealer for an hour. The worst part is that the police are as bad as the ones in Detroit, which is ironic as Aberystwyth is the setting for the TV drama Hinterland. Drugs have taken the stage in Wales in the last few years and is something that could spiral out of control.

Aberystwyth has been a interesting area to grow up in. I've made friends and lost them. I've had good times and bad, however at the heart it's increasingly becoming dangerous. As a former resident, I recommend staying somewhere near like Borth (which is much nicer, but in Winter it's a ghost town) or Cardiff. If you do go on holiday in Aberystwyth make sure to look after your stuff, lock your car, and prepare to fight off the chavs. Aberystwyth has gone through lots of changes over the last decade and will continue to. Hopefully they can save it before it's too late.

Oh, also, transgender people are very common in Aberystwyth. Here's a documentary I recommend too.