Local Solicitors

The first local solicitor being Major Armstrong, the (alleged) Hay Poisoner. A couple came into the shop today looking for the books about the case - there's one supporting the verdict that led to him being hanged, and one opposing it. There was also a fun film/mini series called Dandelion Dead, which I remember being filmed around Hay. I was hiding off to one side when they drove a herd of cattle up Broad Street for the title sequence, and I remember them erecting fake gravestones in Cusop Churchyard when they were filming up there. They also dressed up the Buttermarket with market produce, as they had the two solicitors' offices at opposite ends, where the Red Cross Shop and the bookshop are today. They couldn't use the actual solicitors' offices on Broad Street because Martin Beales believed Armstrong was innocent (it was his book that supported that view, or at least that the evidence given at the trial would not be sufficient for a guilty verdict today). There is also a modern phone box in the way, which couldn't be filmed around. He also lived in Armstrong's house in Cusop Dingle, and he wouldn't let them film there either. They used Brobury House instead.
Martin Beales is the second Hay solicitor - he died recently, and his funeral is on Friday. He was the senior partner of the practice.

The couple who were looking for Armstrong information were revisiting the scenes of their youth - they used to come on holiday to Hay as children to stay with their Trumper relations, some of whom are buried in Cusop churchyard.