"University of Wales-Lampeter" Lampeter by Krumlovgirl

Lampeter Travel Guide: 10 reviews and 66 photos

A little about the town

Lampeter is my university home. It is a small town located in the Teifi Valley and home to the oldest University in the United Kingdom, aside from Cambridge and Oxford. Several famous people have attended it, such as Lawrence of Arabia and Anthony Hopkins. We have a grand total of 1300 students, but at least we’re all friendly.

The town has an interesting past because nobody is really sure when it began. Probably a long time ago since everything around here is pretty old. Now, I've been to some old places in Europe, but not every place feels old. Lampeter does. It feels ancient. Some mornings I wake up (usually to the sounds of sheep and cows) and I completely forget which century I am in. Then my cell phone alarm rings and I’m back on track. But I digress. There are lots of myths and legends surrounding the place (it IS Wales after all) and supposedly there are various burial grounds, stone circles, and other things of Pagan interest about. One of the earliest references to Lampeter, is in 1187, when Owain Gwynedd destroyed the Castle of Pont Stephen which had been built by the King (the remains of which are in the university grounds). It is possible that there was another castle above the site of the present day church, although little is known of this. I haven’t yet decided if that has anything to do with the ghost that haunts Nikki’s room, but I’m working on it.

The Rebecca Riots

St. David's Building

Ha ha, and you thought this was going to be something about me, didn’t you? Well, it's not. In the middle of the 19th Century, toll roads provided the transport infrastructure. They were paid for by Trusts, who had the right to levy tolls for usage, and several tollhouses can still be seen in Lampeter and the surrounding area. The farmers particularly did not like the trusts since they were set up fairly close together on roads that farmers had to travel down a lot. Eventually, people got mad and rioted. They did this by dressing as women, and calling themselves the "Daughters of Rebecca.”

The night of August 1st 1843 was the first, and indeed only attack in Lampeter, and was described in "The Welshman", a pro-Rebecca paper, as follows,

"At Lampeter on Tuesday night, the Rebeccaites made a great demonstration. They mustered to the number of about 450 and were preceeded with a band of music. They demolished the Pontfaen gate about 200 yards from Lampeter and then marched therough the town to the Maesyfelin gate, which they broke into pieces, after that they returned through the town and broke the Pound Gate, errected in the Parish road leading to Llanfair, the fragments of this gate were thrown into the river Teify over Lampeter Bridge. The Cellan gate was the next to be demolished and the destruction of Gat Fach, the Cwmmann Gate, concluded the night's work. There was not much secrecy displayed in these operation, the gatemen in every instance been warned of their approach. All the demonstrators were armed and fired volleys into the air while marching. There were six gates destroyed during the night in or near Lampeter. The Rebeccaites in procession passed repeatedly through the the town without a shot fired in anger,"

The Town Today

Ah, it's so cute. And I am NOT being sarcastic. It really is a nice place. Despite the fact that we mostly sit in the kitchen in the evenings and play blackjack and drink tea for lack of anything else to do, it’s basically a good place to be. It’s about an hour's ride to the next town of any size, but we have a couple of grocery stores, quite a few pubs, and stores to do your basic shopping in. There’s about 2,000 people here and 1400 of them are native Welsh speakers. The university has a good diversity of students from all over the world. In about a week you get to know everyone in town. You either see them at the store or on the sidewalk or in the pubs. News travels fast. Heck, the people on the floor below me even know what movie I watched before I can leave my room.

Here's a good link to see what other people are saying about the place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/lampeter/pages/ilovelampeter.shtml

More Photos

To check out more photos I have taken go here. My Lampeter Photo Album

Pros and Cons

Pros:Tiny, but picturesque and stereotypically Welsh.
Cons:Well, it's small and isolated...
In a nutshell:A good place to live.

Last visit to Lampeter: Nov 2006
Intro Updated Nov 26, 2006
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Reviews (8)

Dai's Diner Restaurants (5)

This is Lampeter's local diner. If you want something that's cheap and relatively quick but you don't want takeaway then... more travel advice

Sosban Fach Restaurants (5)

Sosban Fach is the red building across from Lloyd's (the chip shop). It's a very quaint little tearoom/cafe run by a... more travel advice

Carreg-y-Bwci or Hobgoblin Stone - Lampeter

Carreg-y-Bwci or Hobgoblin Stone Local Customs (1)

I've been trying to find some information on this on the 'net and so far have found two references to it... The Modern... more travel advice

Ivy Bush Nightlife (1)

You either like it or you don't. It's a small pub with a jukebox and a pool table and mostly locals hang out in it. It's... more travel advice

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Somerfield

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Comments (6)

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monina_c Nov 25, 2007 at 7:32 PM

hello rebecca! this is the first time i've been back to your pages since you posted sam's birth! i can see sam's enjoyed his first halloween!
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moonstream Aug 11, 2007 at 2:43 PM

Great site!!!! I was a student 1985 - 1988 and stayed in the old building when I resat exams in 1987. I experienced what I thought was a ghost. Is this the same block as Niikki's room. You just got me thinking
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TheWanderingCamel May 11, 2007 at 8:53 AM

Nothing like a Welsh pub - good to see Lamperter hasn't changed - it's a while since I was there. Nice page - leyle
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mvtouring Mar 6, 2007 at 9:39 PM

Lovely page ;-)
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gkitzmil Oct 24, 2006 at 1:21 PM

Your restaurant tips made me hungry! I love university towns (it is a good thing I do)
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rachel_sun Nov 5, 2005 at 11:00 PM

Aha, I see where you are now ;-)