The kindnesses I have received in Wales during the past six years have been innumerable; indeed, much of my work has consisted of writing down (and not always improving) things told me by one of my hosts. For this and other reasons I should like to render him such acknowledgment as a Dedication may express. "Mushroom Town" is therefore inscribed, in gratitude and affection, to
ARTHUR ASHLEY RUCK
Hampstead, 1914
CONTENTS
| [The Invitation ] | 9 | |
| PART I | ||
| [I ] | The Year Dot | 17 |
| [II ] | Its Nonage | 31 |
| [III ] | The Minder | 46 |
| [IV ] | "Dim Saesneg" | 52 |
| [V ] | The Hafod Unos | 75 |
| [VI ] | The Foot in the Door | 86 |
| [VII ] | The Member | 98 |
| [VIII ] | Thelema | 109 |
| PART II | ||
| [I ] | Railhead | 117 |
| [II ] | The Clerk of the Works | 126 |
| [III ] | The Curtain Raiser | 142 |
| [IV ] | Ynys | 168 |
| PART III | ||
| [I ] | The Holiday Camp | 179 |
| [II ] | The Giant's Stride | 205 |
| [III ] | The Blank Cheque | 218 |
| [IV ] | Pawb | 233 |
| PART IV | ||
| [I ] | The Blind Eye | 244 |
| [II ] | June | 263 |
| [III ] | Delyn | 275 |
| [IV ] | An Ordinary Young Man | 297 |
| [V ] | The Dwelling of a Night | 310 |
| [VI ] | The Glyn | 323 |
| PART V | ||
| [I ] | The Wheel | 335 |
| [II ] | Adieu | 347 |
THE INVITATION
"We'll take the little cable-tram, if you like, but it's not far to walk—twenty minutes or so—the Trwyn's seven hundred feet high. You'll see the whole of the town from the top. The sun will have made the grass a little slippery, but there are paths everywhere; the sheep began them, and then the visitors wore them bare. And we shall get the breeze....