Wandering Round the Castle

 This was my first opportunity to walk up the new Castle steps and through the medieval gateway.

Here's the view of the Market from the top of the steps:

Inside, the chairs were set out on the lawn for the Shakespeare performances that are taking place there this week.

Inside, the cafe was busy, and I found a book about Hay that I hadn't seen before in the gift shop - Real Hay-on-Wye, by Kate Noakes.  I'll read it soon and post a review.

Then I climbed all the way up to the viewing platform at the top of the tower - a fine view of all the tents in fields surrounding Hay, and the top of the Big Wheel and the Helter Skelter in the How The Light Gets In field near the Co-op.

The white doves are still there in the tower:

and here's a sculpted dove inside the Castle:

and a view of a lower part of the tower:

There's also an art exhibition in the Castle (tickets £3), but I'll wait until it's a bit quieter to see that.