I'm alright and I live there. (Halls of Residence at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth)

Member Name: Insane Tommy

Product:	Halls of Residence at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Date:	24/03/02 (1894 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close Knit, Cheap, Fun

Disadvantages: Poor Buildings, Lots of Stairs

I've been living in Penbryn since September 2001 and thought it was about time to share my thoughts on the place before the next group of prospective candidates tick that little box on the application form.

I reckon I best start with the official line (i.e. the one that University officials and pre-programmed student reps band about whenever you visit). The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, has a number of halls of residence, one of which is Penbryn. Penbryn Hall of Residence is located on the main Penglais campus and accommodates over 500 students, most of whom are first years. Penbryn was built in the 1960’s and is split up into blocks, 8 in total (Rendel blocks 1-3, Davies Bryan block 4, Alban Davies block 5, Ifor Evans block 7, Thomas Charles Edwards block 8-9). It is a catered hall, the option is there to eat at Branwen’s the restaurant/canteen (hovel/gruel pit – whatever). There are television rooms, a computer room, and a music room for those budding musicians. All study rooms have the basics – wardrobe, desk etc. (bed if you’re lucky). Penbryn is made up of mostly mixed floors but you can request all female or all male accommodation (for some reason they didn’t put me on the all girls floor, even though I specifically requested it).

What a rosey picture I’ve painted, you must forgive the sarcastic comments but Penbryn really is a hovel. I’ve mentioned already that Penbryn was built in the 1960’s, I should also say that the architects obviously got the plans for Dartmoor prison and the Halls mixed up, it’s just like a bloody prison. I should also say that Penbryn hasn’t had any work done to it since those hazy days, we’ve got a lift that travels so slowly that it would be quicker to catch a bus all the way round the campus and come out at the top than to use it, well maybe that was an exaggeration.

Roughly speaking there are four corridors to ever
y block, with twenty study bedrooms to every corridor. Each corridor has one kitchen and one bathroom (3 toilets, 3 shower and a bath). The study bedrooms themselves are little more than boxes, if you come on an open day you’ll get shown round Rendel then you’ll see big rooms, the likelihood is that you’ll get a room about half the size. You do get the basic furniture that you’d expect. A nice big 1960’s desk, usually with various inscriptions carved into it relating to events before the moon landing, a wardrobe that wouldn’t fit you’re underwear let alone a pair of trousers and a desk lamp that is dimmer than me. Of course you get a bed as well, a very hard bed that is about as comfortable as a DIY enema with bits of mould sprouting from the corner, but a bed. My mates call them ‘no shag’ beds, in that they can barely fit a dwarf let alone two rampant students. The walls are thinner than my dad’s hair and if you’re after a good night’s sleep then you can forget it. The kitchen’s are rank, nothing else to say really. The communal bathrooms are something to behold. Showerheads are mouldy and depending upon your floormates you might get a nasty surprise.

Substandard accommodation, surely Penbryn must offer something else? We have a wonderful canteen/restaurant known as Branwens. Just because you are a resident doesn’t mean you have to eat there but you will have been offered a meal card package for god knows how many hundreds of pounds and during that first week of mass bureaucracy and you simply have to eat there for the rest of term. Branwens is quite simply appalling. You only need catch a waft of the delicacies that they are preparing to make you physically sick. As you queue for endless hours, like a prisoner waiting for his executioner an inconsolable nervousness sweeps you, will today be any different? Then you see the menu, Chicken Kiev again, deserts f
rom the middle ages and watered down cola. Branwens is abysmal and can’t be good for you’re health. I wouldn’t trust the TV rooms either, they always smell of urine and very rarely provide a comfortable place to watch Diagnosis Murder. The computer room is small, with about 10 working computers for the whole hall and no printer.

Me thinks I’ve done a pretty good job at putting you all off Penbryn, so why then have I given it four stars? Penbryn is in fact one of the best places to live in your first year university. It is fairly cheap, but it provides and excellent intermediate stage between living at home and living independently. You have the option of being fed, most of the communal cleaning is done by cleaning and everyone looks and the warden, Dr. Ian Tompkins, will do his best with any issue.

Penbryn is so good because it is so bad. You are thrust into a situation where you must live with up to twenty complete strangers, the fact that facilities aren’t great bonds you right from the off. For all the failings of the buildings the staff are absolutely wonderful. I must highlight Dai, one of the Porters, he’s always got a smile on a face, is always there to talk and is all round a great bloke. Everyone is there to help, they know it’s not the best accommodation, but everything is geared towards making your stay comfortable.

Immense fun is to be had on the closely-knit corridors and everyone seems to know everyone else, even if there is a degree of inter block rivalry. And hell, even if the bedrooms are a little small, you’re a student and you probably spend more time in lectures (ha ha, the pub) than you do in there anyway. Even the ‘no shag’ beds are great as you have to perfect new positions to take them into account (sorry that was a little bit too adult for a public opinion).

I don’t really think I can give an accurate depiction of the Hall i
n a little opinion like this and I apologise for the disjointed nature that it has taken. If you do decide to come to Aberystwyth the Penbryn must be a great choice. You make friends so easily and everything is so closely knit it’s just like being at home. Sure it has its disadvantages and I’ve probably overstated them but I wouldn’t change a minute since I got here. The only real problem with Penbryn is that it’s not got a bar.

For more information check out;

www.aber.ac.uk

or

www.penbryn-hall.co.uk (if it still running)

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