Trip to the Big City

I went to Hereford yesterday.

The pipeline is getting closer to Hay. For a while now, there's been a huge pile of yellow pipes, with Works Access signs, just past the Hardwicke turning. Now a long swathe of fields has been fenced off, heading parallel to the road on the downhill side, towards the river. Just past Hawkwood farm, it crosses the road (which will be fun when they actually get to the stage of laying the pipes) and heads towards Cusop Dingle. I'm not entirely sure what the pipeline will be carrying when it's finished. I think it might be gas.

The bus route to Hereford meanders, and takes almost an hour - and I could see magnolia bushes in full blossom almost all the way. I love those huge, pink, waxy flowers.

What I needed was a new ink cartridge for my printer. You can get one basic type in Hay, but of course my printer has to be different. I go to the Recycled Cartridge shop near the Dinosaw Market in Hereford, which is cheaper than buying new every time, better for the environment, and the service is excellent. For instance, I handed in my old cartridge yesterday, and the young man took it away - and then came back. "This is still half-full," he said. So he fiddled with it, did a couple of test prints, and gave it back to me, for no charge - and now it's working fine again.

There was a girl with a harp busking in the big square in the middle of Hereford. She played beautifully.

Just off the big square is a coffee shop that I used to go in all the time when it was called Elgars. They did lots of different varieties of coffee, and it was just beside the bus stop, so I could have a leisurely cup of coffee with toast and marmelade after my shopping.
Now the road has been pedestrianised, and the bus goes by a different route. Even worse, Elgars closed down and was replaced by something more trendy, with less good coffee.
When I went past yesterday, though, I saw that it's been taken over again - by Shepherds, who have the coffee and ice cream parlour in Hay.
I think I might start treating myself there again when I find myself in Hereford.