Wayzgoose

Highlight of the day yesterday was to stroll up to the top of town to The Story of Books, having their grand opening as Balch & Balch Private Press Bookshop.

I could hear the music from Alan Cooper and Simon Newcombe as I came along the street, and while I was there a lady got into conversation with them between songs because she was, herself, a fiddler and wanted to know more about the tunes.
Half the upstairs was open, with displays of privately printed books, and two gorgeous views of Venice on the wall. At first glance, they looked like photos, but when you looked closer the colour was in the same flat style as 1930s railway posters.
I saw a pamphlet with a poem by Alan Halsey, who once owned a bookshop in Hay, and another with works by Andrew Motion. There were books that folded up like concertinas, and others with leather bindings. More than 15 private presses are involved in the launch of the bookshop, which will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and by appointment.

Small Business Saturday

Over the winter, Tim the Gardener has been working on a new sign for his little shop at the side of Tinto House, and now here it is!
It's based on a map of Elizabethan London by John Stow.

Idyllic Childhood in Cusop

I had a lovely chat with a lady who came into the bookshop the other day. She was eighty one, and spent her childhood growing up in Cusop Dingle as one of seven children - she had five brothers older than her.
She remembered riding her Welsh Mountain pony up past Llangwathan Farm - where she also remembered that they had a toilet in the barn which opened directly over the stream!
When her older brothers went off to school, she decided she wanted to go to school too, though she was only four, and a neighbour opened up her house as a 'school', and taught her to read, as well as knitting, sewing and weaving.
But her most treasured memory was being invited to Brynmelin by Mrs Booth for afternoon tea. She was the wife of Major Booth, so the aunt of Richard Booth who started the book town. This was a great occasion for the little girl, because she'd only ever had nursery tea before - and even better, they were having tea in the room that had French windows opening onto the lawn. Mrs Booth had red squirrels in her garden, and the little girl had been invited round to help to feed them - they had become tame enough to come right up to people. Mrs Booth, she said, sent off specially to Kent to buy nuts for them.

Science Cafe

I'd been meaning to go to a Science Café for a while to see what they were like, and on Tuesday I finally got round to it (it was the same night as the Cusop History Group talk, but never mind.).

The Science Café meets once a month in the Green Room at the Swan Hotel, and this month the subject of the talk was Climate Change, given by Mike Thompson, who used to teach at Cardiff University. He mentioned trying to introduce architecture students to green and environmentally friendly issues, without a lot of success....
It would have helped if he had been able to see some of the captions on his slides, but he did give an interesting talk, and we did get the gist of the information on the slides, which was all that was needed. There were quite a few graphs, showing steep increases in greenhouse gases since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, for instance. He also explained the work of the IPCC, which collates scientific papers on climate change from around the world to give an overall picture of what the science is telling us.

Laurence Matthews, who seemed to be organising the meeting, made an interesting comment about half way through. He wrote a book with his wife Alison called Framespotting, with the sub-title "Changing how you look at things changes how you see them". He pointed out that Mike had, up until then, been framing the problem as one that could be solved by individual action - using less plastic, eating less meat, using the car less and turning the heating down, and so on - but that the problem was actually with governments and corporations rather than individual consumers. This point was touched on later in the talk.
The discussion got quite lively when it came to the politics of climate change, and what should be done about it, and was also quite wide ranging, even mentioning the recent school strikes.
We wondered whether Powys County Council still sent plastic waste to China (their website says they do for some things, but may not be up to date), and talked about the supply chain of the Co-op. Consumer choices are not enough to encourage the suppliers to use less plastic in their packaging, and putting several carrots in a sealed bag, for example, encourages waste as the customer can't buy just the amount they need. One of the ladies at the Café was from the Plastic Free Hay group, so was quite keen to see change in this area.
So it was an interesting evening.
Next month, the subject is Nuclear Power.

Independence Weekend and #Bookstagram Hay 2019

It's the 42nd anniversary of Hay Independence this coming weekend, and the celebrations will be going on over the 30th March and 1st April, and on to the following weekend.

On Saturday 30th March The Story of Books is holding its fourth Wayzgoose, a traditional gathering of printers, bookbinders and papermakers. This one is special because it is also the launch of a new bookshop in Hay, Balch & Balch - Printed Press Bookshop. It will be the only bookshop of its kind, specialising in books published by expert letterpress printers.
There will also be 'Printers Pies', ale and folk music - a lot to squeeze into a small space!
And it's all free.

Also on the Saturday is Computerella at the Parish Hall. Hay Junior Youth Theatre (ages from 4 to 11) present their latest show - who can fix the Royal computer?
Later, Hay Senior Youth Theatre (12 to 15 year olds) present Techno In-dependence, specially written for Hay Independence Day and funded by Powys County Council's Integrated Care Fund. Set in a fake TV studio, it features interactive debate with film, masks and theatre, and teenagers' views on what's good and not-so-good about today's technology.
Each show costs £2.50 to get in.

On Independence Day itself, April 1st, the Richard Booth Lecture will take place in the Globe. David Batterham, who got his start in bookdealing with Richard Booth, will share his 50 years of experience with the audience. The talk will be followed by a panel discussion on the ongoing legacy of the King of Hay.

Friday 5th April has several events throughout the day, starting with What is the Story of Your Business? at the Globe, a drop in event with business coach Helen Campbell.
In the evening there is a Launch Party for the weekend at Booth's Bookshop hosted by Adele Nozedar and Lizzie Harper (who have collaborated on books on foraging). They're also a good double act!
Meanwhile, just down the road in Glasbury Jake Hughes will be at the Chapel on the Green launching his new album with a mushroom-based feast and live music, with paintings and prints by David MacCarthy.
And in the Globe in the evening, for only £5, their regular feature Desert Island Picks will feature Dame Jacqueline Wilson, interviewed by Jasper Fforde. The author of Tracy Beaker and many other children's books will be sharing her favourite 8 records and 8 books.

On Saturday 6th April, events start at the Globe with Young Writers of Bookstagram, with aspiring authors reading extracts of their works and talking about the writing process and the challenges of getting published. The discussion will be chaired by Elke Desanghere of HarperCollins.
At 11am, there will be a Royal Procession, starting at the Clock Tower.
The Junior Youth Theatre will be doing another performance of Computerella at the Parish Hall in the afternoon, with another performance of Techno In-dependence later in the afternoon.
Also at the Parish Hall, this year's Hay Citizen of the Year Award will be given by the Mayor of Hay, in recognition of outstanding voluntary service to Hay over the previous year.

At Hay School there will be a creative writing workshop with Emma Beynon called Writing Royalty, inspired by King Richard Booth. Regal paraphernalia will be supplied to get the creative juices flowing!
Later she will be hosting a second writers' workshop called Writers Rule, for children aged between 12 and 17.
Also at Hay School will be Billie Charity, the local photographer, hosting the Photographic Grid Project. This is a project in which participants will take photos from various locations across Hay, which will then be combined into a grid to reveal a whole new vision of the town. There are 15 places only available for this project, for children aged between 10 and 16, and participants will need a camera or phone with email capability. The project is free.

While the children are making a photographic grid of Hay, there are 8 places at Radnor House to join Julia Joplin to make a picture with wire, book pages and found objects from nature. This project costs £25 each, but includes afternoon tea and home made cake.

In the evening at the Globe there's a Bookstagrammer Book Quiz, the Second Official Bookstagrammy Awards and the Hay Independence Party with DJ Max Galactic.

Throughout the weekend there will also be exhibitions.
At the Chapel on the Green in Glasbury will be Darkness at the Edge of Town by Daniel MacCarthy, and Hay Makers will be exhibiting Book Arts.

On Sunday 7th April there's a Book Art workshop at Hay School which costs £35 for half a day (three hour workshop), or £65 for the whole day, with Su Blackwell. There are 10 places available for each session.
Meanwhile at Green Ink Bookshop there will be a Booksellers' Breakfast, with an early look at this year's Hay Festival programme.

At the Globe there's a workshop on Botanical Perfume, Aftershave or Beard Oil, foraging for plants and then learning how to combine them with essential oils and other ingredients to make your own unique blend. There are 20 places for this event, which costs £30 - but you do get to take away your own creation afterwards.
Local authors Catherine Barr and Steve Williams will be launching their book The Story of People at the Globe, a look at human history for 5 to 12 year olds.

At Radnor House, there will be a singing workshop with David Bartlett with afternoon tea and home made cake - the session costs £10 and there are 12 spaces available.
And later at Radnor House is a Literary Salon - The Power of Book Clubs with Poppy Loves Book Club.

And at Hay School there's a chance to learn some Beginners' Welsh with Mari Fforde.

Places on the events can be booked through the Globe, Eighteen Rabbit, Hay Festival Box Office, Radnor House, Addyman Books, Chapel on the Green and Flow.

New Hours for the Library

Thanks to Hay Festival, the opening hours of Hay Library will be longer from 1st April.
They will be:

Monday 10.30-12.30, 1.30-6.00
Thursday 10.30-12.30, 1.30-6.00
Friday 1.30-6.00
Saturday 10.00-12.30

Becky Shaw of Hay Festival said they were delighted to be able to help with an extra 7 and a half hours every week, and Councillor Rachel Powell, the portfolio holder for Young People and Culture for Powys County Council, said she was very grateful to the Festival, and added: "This is a fantastic example of partnership working for the benefit of the community, particularly the children and young people who can use the resources after school."

And so it is - but it shouldn't be necessary, and it leads to a patchwork of services where some communities can get a 'fantastic example of partnership' and others can't.
Libraries are supposed to be a service for all the public, wherever they might live - not just for the lucky ones who live in communities like Hay, where there are organisations willing to support the library service.

Local MP Found Guilty of False Expenses Claim

Chris Davies, MP for Brecon and Radnor, has been in court about a fraudulent expense claim he put in when setting his offices up back in 2015.
It's a sufficiently serious offence that the magistrate at Westminster Magistrates' Court said he didn't consider his sentencing powers to be sufficient to deal with the case, so it's gone up to the Crown Court for sentencing.
In other words, they're going to throw the book at him.
Reading through the report on the BBC website, the issue seems to be the deliberate nature of the fraud, rather than the amount involved (£700), considering that a Member of Parliament should be held to a high standard of conduct.
This could mean that Brecon and Radnor will be having a by-election soon.

Barriers Around the Old Library

These fences went up a few days ago, around the car parking spaces for the old Library building. Of course, that land will be sold as part of the sale of the Library building, along with the little garden at the other end of the site.
I was chatting to a lady who lives opposite, who said it was a lot more difficult to get residents' cars in and out now, without that extra turning space.

Art and History in Breconshire

Not long now until the Hay History Group's AGM, which will be on Tuesday 26th March at the Parish Hall, starting at 7pm.
This will be followed by a talk by William Gibbs called Illustrating Breconshire. It's about the artists who illustrated Theophilus Jones' History of Breconshire - required reading for anyone with a serious interest in the history of the area! They include Richard Colt Hoare, Thomas Price, Charles Norris and Edward Pugh. Theophilus Jones wrote his great work (of four volumes) in 1805.
Entry is free.

Small Business Sunday

A new gift shop on Backfold, where Haystacks music shop used to be.

Transforming an Old Bank

Meanwhile, further down the street, building work has started in earnest on what used to be the HSBC (and before that the Midland) Bank building. They're cutting new doorways in the wall, and I don't know what they're doing inside, but it's a hard hat area. They've also moved the public bench from the top of the slope to the bottom of the slope, beside the old front door.
It'll be interesting to see the final results.

Gibbons' Butcher's Shop

Like the old shop across the road, the new shop is double fronted - but this one goes back and back!
The meat counters are at the back, with pies and quiches and cooked meats at the front, along with fruit and veg, and dairy products, and ready meals. Geraldine told me that they will be selling fish as well. It all looks fantastic!
The only thing I was slightly concerned about was how wide the new counters are - the staff have to really lean over to reach the customers. But I'm sure they'll find the best way to work with that in time.

Oxfam Saga

I couldn't help noticing this lunchtime, when I walked through Hay, that the Oxfam shop is closed.
I don't know when it might re-open.

What's Been Happening While I've Been Away?

I don't know - I go off for a few day's holiday, and when I come back there's a Twitter and Facebook storm about a volunteer in the local Oxfam abusing a Welsh family for speaking Welsh in the shop (which is IN WALES). Happily, Oxfam Cymru are aware of the incident, and seem to be taking it seriously (they also post in Welsh).

And the new Powys County Council budget for the year has now been voted through.
On the plus side, Hay Library is safe (for now, at least).
On the minus side, the Council tax is going up by nearly 10%.
Still, we might have lost the library and had the rise in Council tax.

More happily, Cusop History Group seem to have had a wonderful time at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford on their day out. I would have liked to go, but it was the day before I was due to go away, and I didn't feel I could do both. They got to put on gloves, pick up magnifying glasses, and examine some treasures from China, Iran, India and Japan in great detail, as well as learning about the Indus Valley civilisation, which had a writing system which no-one has been able to decipher so far.

If anyone's interested in What I Did On My Holidays, I'm writing it up on Morwenna's Tower (see the sidebar for the link).

Vintage on Broad Street

Lovely to see beautifully maintained vintage cars.

A Walk up Cusop Dingle

I went to see some of my favourite waterfalls:

And that's the bridge to Lower House.

On the way back, I met this cute little guard dragon:

Talking about the Real Lady of Hay

Dr Peter Ford will be talking about the real Lady of Hay, in other words the historical Matilda de Braose, on Thursday 7th March in the Coach House at the Swan. He has written a book about her - Tragic Matilda: Lady of Hay, available from the Castle or on Amazon.
The bar will be open at 5.30pm, and the talk starts at 6pm - and it's a free event. The idea is for Friends of Hay Castle to bring a friend, and hopefully get them interested so they'll sign up as Friends of the Castle too.

Meanwhile at Hay School, Mari Fforde has been talking about the history of the castle to the children, in a project that is introducing them to oral history and film making techniques. The children are recording interviews with local people talking about their memories of Hay - and the short films will be included on the Hay Castle website. The children have also been drawing storyboards, doing creative writing and analysing short films and commercials.
The next stage in the project is to make stop motion animations of stories from the castle's past, including Matilda de Braose, Branwell Bradley the Victorian house boy, and King Richard Booth.

And around the Castle, archaeological research is on-going. The evidence seemed to point to the tower being the original gateway into the Castle, before the present gateway beside it was built. They found a filled in arch on one side of the tower - but where was the corresponding arch on the other side?
Hay History Group took up the challenge, and excavated a trench on the south side of the tower, under the direction of the site archaeologist - and found nothing whatsoever.
Then work began inside the tower, to remove the remains of a Victorian wine cellar - and when the bricks were removed, there was the arch!
This, of course, raises more questions - why was that entrance filled in and the new one built? And when?

Small Business Saturday

This afternoon the butcher's shop on Castle Street will close its doors for the last time.

Then they'll be working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the Grand Opening of the new shop across the road on 6th March - all singing, all dancing, all new counters and new food ranges on offer. Also they'll be offering celebratory drinks to customers.
Here's wishing Geraldine and all her staff good luck for the future!

Happy St David's Day

The Northern Lights over Brecon Beacons by Alyn Wallace.