Weapons and Arrows at Cusop Castle

 I had such fun yesterday, getting all my re-enactment stuff out (plus some from Sue from the Theatre Group) to demonstrate medieval weapons and arrows at Cusop Castle.  The audience was small but appreciative, and there was one young lad in particular who was very knowledgeable (and possibly a future re-enactor).

John Price filmed the entire talk.  Keith Hodgetts took some photos to put up on  Facebook - which is why I have a new picture on the sidebar - and Barbara Shaw did a little edited highlights video to the theme from Robin of Sherwood (I always wanted to be a Merry Man, well, Merry Person, anyway).  That's also up on Facebook, and I'm absolutely delighted at how well it all went, and how much people seemed to like it.

 

Local Election Results

 So, the results are in.

Plaid Cymru will now be running the Senedd, with Reform in second place.

Locally, Jane Dodds has become the only Lib Dem in Wales to get a seat.  The new voting method meant that each area sends six candidates to the Senedd, and for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, the new constituency since the last elections, the six are Jane Dodds for the Lib Dems, 3 members of the Reform party, which got 33% of the vote, and two members of Plaid Cymru.

Labour and the Conservatives got just over 8% of the votes each, so ended up with no-one going into the Senedd here, and the Greens were just behind them with 6.7%.

The turnout  was 53%, which is not bad for local elections.

So Rhun ap Iowerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, will probably become the new First Minister - his party got 43 seats, but there has to be a vote next week to confirm that.

Reform got 34 seats, so are the party of opposition.

Then Labour got 9 (they lost a lot of support), followed by the Welsh Conservatives at 7, the Greens with 2 including Anthony Slaughter, the Welsh Green leader, and finally the Lib Dems with one.

43 seats is not a majority - Plaid Cymru needed six more seats for that - but they do say they will reach out to other parties to form a new Welsh government. 

Dodgy Electoral Tactics?

 When I picked up my copy of the B&R from Spar this week, there was a wrap around advert for the Reform Party with it (the proper front page is inside).

"That's a bit cheeky, isn't it?" I said, and the lady behind the counter said they'd had lots of complaints, with a lot of people leaving the advert behind in the shop - she'd got a big bagful out the back for recycling.

Meanwhile, I have voted and there was a steady stream of people coming into the polling station, even that early in the morning. 

Local Elections

 Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Here in Hay, most of the posters seem to be for Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrat. 

Other candidates are available!

I think the results across the country are going to be quite interesting. 

P for Planting

 The next Cabinet of Curiosity event is on Saturday 9th May, and it comes in two parts.

The first is a walk from the Bean Box cafe under Hay Bridge to the Warren, starting at 2.30pm.  The walk will be led by Dr. Emily Warner, from the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford, and Jenny Dicker, farmer and specialist in land management.

The second is a film at the Globe about non-native and invasive plants, followed by a panel discussion.  That starts at 7pm.

The panel consists of: 

John Crellin, the County Recorder for Botany for Brecknockshire and author of the recently published Flora of Brecknockshire - he'll have a few copies available for sale.  This was the life's work of John's friend Mike Porter, who died shortly before the book was finished.

Imogen Cripps is head grower at a local walled garden, and she will come with some vegetables from the garden.

Layla Robinson is a dried flower artist who has created many beautiful arrangements for the Cabinet of Curiosities.  She also has a new book out called Everlasting Blooms. 

Beverley Lewis is the Biodiversity Liason Officer for Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Sophie Ferrier is the Director of Hay Regenerative Soils and an artist, and she will come with some of her creations and experiments. 

And the facilitator of the panel is Matthew Pryor, a journalist who trained at the Royal Horticultural Society.

The previous talks, walks and films put on by the Cabinet of Curiosities have all been fascinating.  

I don't know if I'll be able to get to the Globe, since I'm giving a talk myself on Saturday afternoon, and I might have run out of energy!

 

"Poor and Indignant Women"

 I was just putting my recycling outside the front door when two ladies waved to me from across the street.

They pointed up to the stone sign over the middle of the row of almshouses.

"We were just reading about the poor and indignant women - and here you are, right on cue!"

(It's actually "poor and indigent", but who says indigent any more?) 

A New Chapter for Chapters

 I've just seen the announcement that Mark and Charmaine McHugo are closing their restaurant in Hay after seven years.  Chapters is in part of the building of St John's Chapel, opposite Tomatitos.  They are serving their last meals on 16th May.

Taking over will be chef Matt Sampson.  He intends to serve just twelve covers (Chapters presently serves twenty two covers), and plans a fourteen course tasting menu focusing on fish and shellfish, with a few meat courses - all for £98!

Not the sort of place to pop into for a snack, then - more of a very special night out.