Art, Artisans and Good Conversations

The morning was taken up by the Fairtrade walk up Cusop Dingle, which was fun - I was able to tell stories of local history to people who hadn't heard them before, as we discussed the industrial landscape of the Dingle (there was once a brickworks!), Cusop school, the electrification of Brynmelin (when the mill was converted into a small power station), Cusop Castle and Cusop Church. We also passed Major Armstrong's house - and the group's keen birdwatcher is convinced that we saw a water rail chick (but to be fair he is very little, and it was the first picture of a black bird that he saw in the book).
On the way home, I passed by the Buttermarket, where the Artisans of Hay were displaying their wares. Jackie of Castello de Haia soaps said she now has a shed/workshop where she can spread out while she works, and Shelley showed me a wooden duck on a stick toy from a neighbouring stall that had fascinated Arthur the dog.
In the afternoon, I went along to Lion Street Gallery, which was packed out! There was a Sally Matthews horse statue near the doorway, thankfully smaller than the one that was there before Christmas - or we would never have squeezed in. Eugene Fisk has been painting historical buildings; Sarah had some of her portraits up; and there were some strange, intricate pictures of people showing their internal anatomy. And some shells that looked as if they had been put together from a mosaic of smaller pictures, and some subtle landscapes - all sorts of styles, as well as sculpture that looked as if it had been put together using Dr McCoy's instruments from Star Trek, and bronzes (I liked the goats).
The lady from the Swan said that the gallery has been using the huge wall of their dining room as display space, which is working well for both of them, and they are hoping to have a marquee full of art in the Swan garden for the Festival, as well as outdoor sculpture.
I ended up in a corner talking local history with Ian, who invited me to a Local History meeting in the Blue Boar on Wednesday. He got interested because of his involvement with the Cheesemarket regeneration scheme ("Why is there a statue of Henry VII hanging on that wall, anyway? And why does he look like an angel?") and Cusop Parish Council - looking up early records he saw that the most popular councillor in 1919 was Major Armstrong!