The Cheesemarket and other History

I went down to the Blue Boar last night to find out what the new local history group is doing. They're very much tied up with the renovation of the Cheesemarket, but the interest in local history doesn't end with the history of that particular building - they want to know what it is that makes a successful market town as well. Other towns in the area set up markets in the Middle Ages, but they failed - Longtown, for example. They also want to know what the previous Town Hall looked like - some of the beams in the present building seem to have been re-used from an earlier building. And they want to know about the origin of the name. When it was built, it was called the Town Hall, and only got the name Cheesemarket later - was it because the Town Clerk, who handled the sale of the building from the Glanusk Estate to the Town Council, was called Mr Cheese?
The documentary evidence is - patchy, I think it's fair to say. When the Glanusk Estate, Lords of the Manor of Hay, were approached, they said that a lot of documentation had gone up in flames because they were lodged with a London solicitor during the Blitz! There are disappointingly few pictures of Hay in the 19th century and before - one chap has been trying to find out more about the Tannery where the new houses on Millbank now are, and has only been able to find pictures of Underhill's Garage.
A trip to the National Archive at Aberystwyth has been suggested, possibly in April - they are supposed to have some of the documents that Geoffrey Fairs consulted for his book about Hay - and his card index, which would be very useful.
It's got me excited about local archaeology again, too - so I'll be having a look for the archaeological reports of the various digs that have happened in Hay over the last twenty years or so, and before, if I can.
The history group will be meeting again on 2nd May, at the Blue Boar, at 8pm, if anyone is interested in finding out more.