Day out in Cardiff and Singing in the Evening

I'm having a few days off work this week, so I thought I'd go down to Cardiff for the day. It means getting up at the crack of dawn for the first bus to Brecon, and then catching the T4 from there. This is where the Explorer ticket comes into its own, because I can do the whole round trip for £7.50.
Of course, I'd chosen a time when all the roads in the middle of Merthyr Tydfil are being re-surfaces (they're using some very nice grey setts around the centre) so, not only did I get to see bits of Merthyr I'd never seen before as the bus went round the detour, but I also found that the bus times had changed from the timetable I'd printed out to take account of the roadworks.
Getting to Cardiff was easy, though, and I did what I always do to start with - I get off at Cardiff Castle, find the loos in Queen's Arcade, and have a coffee and pastry at the Rendez-vous cafe there. Normally, I sit out in the entrance way, but the kiosk there is now closed, so I went in the main cafe to the side. I like the way they have light fittings in the shape of tea and coffee pots, and china cups and saucers. They also do very good coffee, with lots of cream on top.
Then it was off to Forbidden Planet to treat myself to some comics.
I had thought of going down to the Bay to see the new Doctor Who exhibition, but I didn't want to miss the bus home at the new, revised time - and I also wanted to track down the Brewdog pub that opened recently, so I wandered the arcades and did a bit of gentle shopping therapy.
When I went looking for Brewdog, I couldn't find it, but I did find the new Tiny Rebel pub, just across from the Millennium Stadium, and enjoyed a half of their delicious oak smoked stout while reading my Captain Marvel comic.
I had enough time to go into the art gallery too - though I found that the historical gallery has been closed. They're moving some of it to St Fagan's, which is a shame, because there's no way I can get down to Cardiff and out to St Fagan's by bus in a day trip. Still, the art collection is impressive, and I did like the marble sculptures by William Gibson.
On the way home, the bus to Merthyr was earlier than my timetable, as the notice on the bus had said, and I had about half an hour at Merthyr to discover the delights of the shopping precinct. When I got back to the bus station, there was a group of people at the stand comparing three different time tables to guess when the bus would come in. In the end, it came at the un-revised time, and got to Brecon just right for me to step off and step onto the 39 back to Hay.

In the evening, I went over to the Baskerville for singing, and it was another good night. One chap did a marvellous unaccompanied version of And The Band Played Walzing Matilda, and there were two versions of The Diggers' Song. I sang one, and then the chap who sang Walzing Matilda did the second, with guitar accompaniment, and at about twice the speed!
And because Bob asked for them, here are the lyrics:

In 1649, at St George's Hill
A ragged band they called the Diggers came to show the people's will
They defied the landlords
They defied the laws
They were the dispossessed reclaiming what was theirs

"We come in peace," they said, "to dig and sow.
We come to work the land in common and to make the waste ground grow.
What is divided
We will make whole
So it can be a common treasury for all."

"The sin of property
We do distain
No man has any right to buy or sell the Earth for private gain
By theft and murder
They took the land
Now everywhere the walls spring up at their command."

"They make the laws
That chain us well
The clergy dazzle us with Heaven or they damn us into Hell
We will not worship
The God they serve
The God of greed which feeds the rich while poor men starve."

"We work, we eat together
We need no swords
We will not bow to the masters or pay rent to the lords
We are free people
Though we are poor
You Diggers all stand up for glory
Stand up now."

From men of property
The orders came
They sent the hired men and troopers to wipe out the Diggers' claim
Tear down their cottages
Destroy their corn
They were dispersed but still the vision lingers on.

You poor take courage
You rich take care
The Earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share
All things in common
All people one.
"We come in peace." The orders came to cut them down.

As sung by Chumbawumba and Billy Bragg - I was told the name of the chap who wrote the song back in the 1970s, but I didn't write it down....