JOURNEY TO THE HINTERLANDS

CHRIS TOWERS REPORTS ON HIS TRIP TO SEE THE NEW SAINTS TAKE ON BALA TOWN

- CHRIS TOWERS

THERE I was waiting for a taxi, which thankfully came, for I felt lost, and my driver said, 'this is the middle of nowhere'. Indeed, it felt so.

My game? The New Saints v Bala Town, somewhere in the borders between England and Wales. He was bemused and surprised at my choice of location or at least that was the impression given.

With the game over, I was glad to be dry and heading for the sanctuary of a hotel room just outside Oswestry. And all this made me consider the value and identity of towns, not just as football clubs in the pyramid but as places within countries, or even between countries, in the borders between.

These towns can be left behind' places or the 'forgotten places', with little work, but places to commute from, if one has work that is.

'In between places' that I wrote of in my book 'Hinterlands', writing in poetic form.

Once again, I found myself there on Saturday, October 28, in the 'Hinterlands' with pen and paper.

My reason for the visit was to watch a Welsh Premier match in this English town, well just English, so near to the border of Wales. My train took me to the town, well not exactly. There have not been any trains to Oswestry since the 1960s. Instead, I landed in Gobowen, three miles away.