Exhibitions

"This is the friendliest launderette I've ever been in," said the man who'd cycled from Lancashire to come to the Festival.
I was in there, but so was Mr Pugh, the retired postman (also a keen cyclist) who ended up telling the visitor his life story. When he did National Service in the 1950s, he was in a tank regiment, and was stationed in Germany eight miles from Belsen! He said their motto was "If you can't go round it, go over it."!

I'm being a tourist again today, so after I'd done the practical stuff I thought I'd wander round town looking at all the exhibitions that have sprung up. Practically on my doorstep is Sycamore House, which has opened the garden for a craft stall and, when the weather improves, teas. Inside the house are pictures by Louise Dear, who is apparently now so busy working for a major chain of galleries that she's had no time to sell off her older prints. She does her original work on big sheets of aluminium, but these are limited edition prints that, to me (but what do I know about art?) have a sort of Japanese print look to them.
Last year, the students of Herefordshire College of Arts came to Hay for their photography course, and displayed the results in the back of Booths bookshop. This year, they went to Kington. The space they used last year is full of builders, so this year they are right at the top of the new metal stairs with the pictures being hung from the rafters of the loft space. The quality is very high again.
Then there are the Golden Valley Crafts in St Johns Hall, and stalls right to the top of the Castle steps, with a Hog Roast outside the Old Curiosity Shop. There's a little stage in the craft centre, and Morris dancers were dancing with their hankies flying. "Now you'll be able to tell everyone back home in New Zealand that you've seen proper Morris dancers," said a man near me, to his companion.
In Athene English's garden, there's a green woodworker (meaning that the wood he uses is new rather than seasoned - not that he's green in colour), and more teas. He's a bodger called Gareth Irwin, and his business is called Penpont Green Woodwork.
Tinto House has opened the garden (more teas!) to display Dominic Clare's wooden sculptures, some of which he sets on fire to finish them!
And there's a cafe/takeaway in the entrance to the beast market opposite the Blue Boar, selling "Farmerish Foods" (more teas!).