More Book Launches

It's been a problem for years that there are all sorts of groups and organisations locally, but there isn't a central place to find out about all of them - it's all fairly randomly done though adverts in the Wye Local and posters round town and so on. So Hay Together have been putting together a directory of local groups and organisations, and on Thursday 9th October, they will be launching the new Hay Handbook at the Castle. The launch starts at 5.30pm.

I was chatting this afternoon with a lady from Marcher Apple Network, who told me about another recent book launch. The book is Herefordshire Pomona, and it is illustrated with over 400 paintings of different varieties of apples "so real you could almost take them off the page and eat them!" This was a very select gathering, at a hall that is also used for expensive weddings. Most of the main cider producing families of Herefordshire were there - the Bulmers, and Dunkertons, and so on, and the lady from the Marcher Apple Network. She happened to know Mr Bulmer, because she takes part in a Green Fair he hosts in his gardens every year, so he introduced her to some of the other people there.
The books are £400 each. The lady laughed because several copies were laid out for people to peruse, at exactly the same time as canapes in the form of tiny greasy sausages, which were meant to be dipped into mashed potato, were being passed around - so nobody wanted to touch the beautiful books in case they marked them!
One copy has been donated to the Woolhope Club, so it will be in the Woolhope Room at Hereford Library - as long as there's a library there. I said that I'd be joining her on the barricades if there was any rumour of it closing!