Edward King and his maps. Pwllheli, North Wales.

Pwllheli is a town of contrasts. We went for the market. The shop style alternated abruptly, middle-class delicatessens with Victorian mosaic entrances stood sandwiched between Welsh-only-speaking bric-a-brac shops piled with cheap plastic toys. There were old style cafés where half the wait staff disliked the tourists and the other half didn't seem to mind.

In the middle of the town was a tall church. Outside the church was an advertisement for what appeared to be a temporary exhibition of old maps. We walked in and turn round the first foyer of yellow prints to see a man with a handful of flowers stood in the middle of the old church pews:

"Welcome to the last outpost of the Roman Empire!"

Edward (not his real name- only we are allowed to know that) explained to us, in amongst the flow of questions and tangents of trivia, that he had sold his house to buy this collection of maps from the government. He had since moved into the old church and set-up his business taking Hi-res photographs of the maps and selling them in many creative forms.

He was passionate and eccentric (only real eccentrics don't think this about themselves) and took immense joy from the youthful and responsive company in which he found himself. In fact, he could not tear himself away to collect his wife from the hospital, not that she would have minded too much, I would imagine (or at least hope). We must have spoken for nigh on an hour, flitting through maps and discussing vegetarianism.

Meeting him was one of my personal highlights of my trip. It is always engaging to be in the company of someone who is so passionate about their knowledge and so knowledgable about their passion that it dictates the way they live.

Find him at www.vegansongs.com