Thoughtless Visitors

Well, that was a good walk ruined.

Yesterday I went for a walk along the Offa's Dyke Path by the river. It was another glorious day with a cloudless blue sky. There was a heat haze over the barley field, and wild flowers under the shade of the trees.

Three fields along the path, there's a little pebbly beach, well below the level of the field. A family was down there, sitting on the beach and playing in the water.
There were two dogs. I was a bit concerned by this, as the first two open fields I'd walked through were full of sheep, and I'd seen a ewe and a couple of lambs in the field with the beach.
But, okay, the dogs were down on the beach and playing in the river, well away from the sheep, so I didn't say anything.

I walked as far as I felt comfortable with in the heat, and then I turned back.
In the distance, I could see one of the dogs from the beach chasing the ewe and lambs.
As I got closer, a man came up from the beach, holding a lead, and started to chase the dog. If he shouted the dog, it was too quiet for me to hear him. The dog ignored him, and now the sheep were running from the dog and the man trying to catch the dog.
Eventually, he caught the dog and put it on the lead, but he didn't seem to tell it off, or rebuke it in any way.

By this time, another woman had appeared on the path coming out from Hay, with her dog on a lead. She exchanged words with the man - again, I was too far away to hear what they said. I had got to the part of the path next to the beach, where a woman with a baby on her hip had come up and was watching the man trying to catch the dog. I spoke to her, and tried to impress on her the seriousness of the situation.
"We didn't know there were any sheep in the field," she said. "We haven't been here before."

Wales is still on lockdown.

Now, I used to have a dog, and I made damn sure that she was trained not to chase sheep. If it had been her in the place of the dog yesterday, I would have been bellowing at her loud enough to be heard two fields away - and she would have come when she was called. But since I was aware that the sheep were in the field, she would have been on a lead anyway.

I spoke to the other local lady as I went on. She was fuming, too.

So, just to make it completely clear:
Wales is still on lockdown - the visitors should not have travelled to Hay in the first place.
It is the responsibility of dog owners to keep their dogs under control - and to know where the dog is at all times. These people didn't notice their dog running off to chase the sheep until it was too late.
It is the dog owner's responsibility to make sure there are no sheep in the field.

Sculpture Theft

The wooden sculptures along the Riverside Path are a lovely addition to the walk, and most people seem to like them. The Woodland group have spent time fund raising for the sculptures, which have all been made by a local craftsman.
And in the last couple of days the two small sculptures of bullfinches have been stolen.

The Virtual Thoughtful Gardener

I wandered down Backfold this morning, as I waited for my washing to be finished in the launderette, and noticed that the Thoughtful Gardener shop is now empty. There's a sign in the window to say they've gone online.

Celebrating Hay Festival

As Hay Festival is online this year, here's a way for local people to show their appreciation of the Festival, their hopes that it will be back in the real world next year, and their support for the Library, all at the same time.
All you need is some ribbon, or anything else to decorate the big tree in the background of the picture, on the lawn beside the old Library.
A photo of the tree will be taken on Sunday, at which time, all the ribbons etc. will be taken down.

Walking to Clyro

I was looking at the map of the area to find interesting walks to go on, and I noticed a motte and bailey marked just above Clyro. Clyro has its own motte, hidden by trees just opposite Pottery Cottage (hence the title of Oliver Balch's book Under the Tump), but this was further out.
Last week I made my first attempt at finding it. I took the lane that goes past Radnor's End campsite on a gloriously hot and sunny day. I saw swallows and martens flying between Tir Mynach and Boatside Cottage - some of them were landing by the little stream to pick up mud for their nests. Further on, a buzzard was mobbed by two crows, and a young rabbit ran along the lane in front of me until it darted into the hedge.
I got to the main road, and there should have been a bridlepath leading up the hill just across from the junction, but I couldn't find it, and I didn't want to go too far along the main road because of the speed of the traffic and lack of verges, so I turned back.

Yesterday, I went to Clyro by the main road from Hay. I walked through the village and out by a lane that led up the hill. It was another gloriously hot and sunny day.
I wasn't actually expecting too much from the motte - a mound and maybe a ditch or two in the corner of a field - but what I did find delighted me. The medieval motte is right at the entrance of Cwm Byddog nature reserve, and the original bailey of the castle is now the site of Cwrt Ifan Gwyn (there are various spellings), an old farmhouse and barns.

I couldn't get far enough back to show the motte properly - it's quite a substantial one.
Later, I found out as much as I could about the castle.
It's called Castle Kinsey, and was probably built by Cadwallon ap Madog, Prince of Maelienydd, in the 12th century. It's a good place to keep an eye on the de Braose castle at Hay.
This was not Cadwallon's only castle - he was an important man in the region. He even met with Henry II in Gloucester in 1175 to confirm his title to his lands, along with his overlord Owain Gwynnedd. It was at Christmas, 1175, that William de Braose invited many local Welsh lords to Abergavenny Castle, where they were massacred.
Cadwallon was one of five brothers, three of whom were murdered by the English, which left him to inherit Maelienydd and his younger brother Einion to rule Elfael. In 1179, he was also murdered, by the men of Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, while he was travelling under a safe conduct. Roger Mortimer was imprisoned for two years at Winchester because of this, and the men who actually did the killing were forced into exile or turned to outlawry - the ones who were caught were executed.

From the motte, the path led into the nature reserve, run by the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, with little wooden bridges over the stream, and huge oak trees. It's the oak trees that make the site special. The path I followed ended up here - the perfect place to eat a packed lunch with a wonderful view over the Wye Valley:

On the way back, I stopped here to buy duck eggs:

When I got to the main road, there was a table set out under a tree, with wooden automata set out for sale by Penlan Crafts. Nearby a man in a mask was sitting reading.

Small Business Sunday

By the Clock Tower - a new Farmers' Shop coming soon (ish).

Exploring Footpaths

I've been taking the opportunity of the fine weather and plenty of free time to explore the footpaths around Hay. I haven't been along some of them for years - without a dog to walk, I got out of the habit.
Last week I went out towards Clifford along the Wye Valley Walk, as far as the old golf club. For that stretch, it goes parallel to the road to Clifford, and starts from a bend in Nantyglasdwr Lane.

The picture's a bit dark, though it was a lovely sunny day - that's the old golf club building in the background, from what used to be one of the greens. A big house is being built close to the club house.
I got as far as Hardwicke Brook, where there's a bench to sit on, but the Wye Valley Walk footpath goes on to Priory Wood and then along the banks of the Wye.

By the Wye Glamping

If the world hadn't changed back in March, By the Wye would have been opening for their first season this Easter. They've been doing a lot of work on the strip of woodland alongside the Wye, just on the other side of the bridge. A public footpath goes through the land, so I was able to go and see what they've been doing.

This is one of the tents on a platform that they've built in the woods. They've also widened paths and put in log seating and play areas, and little paths children can follow.
They're hoping now that they'll be able to take bookings from August.

Blissland Pizzas Re-opens

Blissland Pizzas will start taking orders again from the 22nd May. They've been tweaking their recipe to make the pizzas even better!

Red Indigo Re-opens

But only for takeaways and deliveries. Their first day of re-opening will be 27th May in Hay and Crickhowell. Anyone who shares their Facebook post is entitled to a free curry between 27th and 31st May, and judging by the comments section, they're going to be giving away a lot of free curry, even though they are limiting it to orders of two or more curries. They will be doing deliveries within a three mile radius of the restaurants.

Meanwhile, at the Castle

Building work has re-started at the Castle - I saw a few men in orange jackets up there when I went shopping the other day. They seem to be keeping well spaced out.

Hay Festival

It's all online now - here's the field where the tents are usually put up:

Big Issue at the Co-op

The lockdown has meant that it's impossible for the Big Issue magazine to be distributed as normal, by homeless people selling on street corners. So the publishers of the magazine have had to come up with different ideas to distribute it, so they can continue to raise money to help their homeless vendors, like the chap who's been a regular vendor outside Spar for several years.
Yesterday I went down to the Co-op to see if they had any pasta - the shelves were pretty bare, so I yielded to temptation and stocked up on chocolate instead! I was also pleased to be able to pick up a copy of the Big Issue in the magazine section.

More Re-Scheduling

The Three Cocks Steam Rally is the latest local event to announce they are re-scheduling to next August.

World War Two Weekend Re-scheduled

It's looking increasingly like things won't be back to "normal" by August.
There was going to be a big re-enactment weekend to commemorate the end of the Second World War, with pipe bands and the Surrey Police Band, 1940s songs and a Winston Churchill impersonator as well as the re-enactment groups with all their equipment.
It's been organised by Kelvyn Jenkins and the local British Legion, who were also responsible for the brilliant First World War weekend a couple of years ago.
The Weekend has now been re-scheduled for August 2021.

History Points

Thanks to ELP, who commented on my post about the war graves in Hay Cemetery about the website History Points. They have a scheme where they have QR codes at locations around Wales which can be scanned with a mobile phone to give more information about what you're looking at. There are QR codes for the war graves at Hay Cemetery, and also for other places around Hay like the Cheese Market, St. Mary's Church, the Castle, and the Warren. There are even entries in French, for instance L'auberge des Trois Tonneaux (the Three Tuns), which includes the story of the Great Train Robbers stopping there for a drink!

At the Top of the Car Park

I hadn't noticed this plant trough before.

Another Visit to a Cemetery

This time, I went to Hay Cemetery to look at the war graves there.

Most of these are the graves of German and Italian prisoners of war who never got to go home when the war had ended. The latest of these graves is dated 1948. Here's one with a photo of the deceased:

One of the graves is of a British soldier:

The most famous war grave in the cemetery is this one:

The inscription reads: "Pro Patria. Pilot Officer Lancelot Steele-Dixon RAF killed at Winforton 9th April 1940 in the 24th year of his age. Mater Luctuosa Fecit."

The sculpture was made by his mother, Christine Sabatini - she had married the novelist Rafael Sabatini.

And finally, there's this one, not from the Second World War, but of a member of the Land Army:

New Details for the Camera Club

Thanks to Dainis Ozols, of the Hay Camera Club, for the information that the Camera Club website has had a complete re-design, including a new domain! They can now be found at https://www.haycameraclub.com
They've got a full Lockdown programme of online events. On Tuesday 12th May, Peter Wesson will be talking about An African Safari, followed by a short DVD called A Passion for Pastels. It's also the closing date for the competition In My Garden.
The following week has two audio-visual presentations, on Kenya and Kent, and later sessions take members to the Isle of Man, Tuscany and Patagonia. The programme continues until the end of August.

'Johnny the Pilot'

Down by the War Memorial yesterday, there was a beautiful and dignified - and socially distanced - commemoration of the end of the Second World War in Europe, with prayers led by Rev. Luci Morriss, poems, and the playing of the Last Post.
Meanwhile, down on Bridge Street, someone had brought out their keyboard to play wartime music, with a singer.
I decided it was time for a walk up to Cusop Churchyard. When the Cusop History Group did a talk on the churchyard, earlier in the year, they mentioned 'Johnny the Pilot', a Polish airman who had settled in Cusop after the Second World War, so I went up to find his grave.
During the Second World War, my gran was evacuated pregnant to Blackpool, and ended up settling there for the Duration with her little girl, my mum, at a boarding house in Palatine Road run by Mrs. Colenso, who became her lifelong friend. They had Polish airmen billeted on them, who had been sent to Blackpool for training.
Then, when I was at secondary school, there was a girl in my class whose father had joined the Polish army when he was fourteen and taken part in their doomed cavalry attack on German tanks before he escaped to England - or so she told us!
So I've always known about the part the Poles played in the Second World War on the side of the Allies, and it was nice to find some evidence of it locally.

"In Memory of Waclaw Janek Moszczynski (Johnny)
died 22nd March 1985 Aged 64 years
Served with distinction in Polish Air Force
during campaign for North West Europe 1939 - 1945."

VE Day

The Scouts have been busy:

New Bakery Opens

The shop which used to be Gibbons Butchers, on Castle Street, has now opened for business as a bakery - Flour & Time. They have done a couple of trial runs already, and I was given a hot cross bun they made, which was delicious!

Hay Rocks

I've been seeing some decorated rocks around, for children to find. There's a Facebook page to share pictures when people find one, called Hay Rocks. This one is next to a wild garlic plant.
I'm thinking about decorating some rocks myself....

The Return of the T14

Well, sort of. Partially.
After weeks of having no bus service at all, Stagecoach started to run a partial service from yesterday, 4th May, between Hay and Brecon.
The first bus starts from Brecon at 12.30pm to reach Hay at 1.07pm, where it turns round and heads back to Brecon at 1.10pm, arriving at 1.51pm.
The second service starts from Brecon at 2.45pm, reaching Hay at 3.22pm, where it turns round and heads back to Brecon at 3.25pm, arriving at 4.06pm.
In the comments on the Hay Community Facebook page, people have pointed out that it's not much use for workers, as there is no morning service, but at least it's something for people who need to go to the bank or do shopping they can't do in Hay, as long as they take slightly less than an hour to do it.

Unicorns, Almost on the Radio

Good news from The Story of Books - the play Unicorns, Almost is coming to Radio 3 next week!
This is the one man show that has been performed in Hay and elsewhere over the last couple of years, about the Second World War poet Keith Douglas.
Dan Krikler will again be playing Keith Douglas in this audio version of the play, which will be introduced by Owen Sheers, who wrote the play.
It's on at 7.30pm on Sunday, and it's well worth listening to, for anyone who didn't catch it as live theatre.

Mouse Castle

Someone told me that the Woodland Trust have been doing a lot of clearance around the motte at the top of Mouse Castle, so I thought I'd go up and have a look.

Because I've only ever seen the motte when it's been covered with brambles before, I was surprised at how flat the top was:

They'd also taken down some trees around the edge of the site, so there was a good view of the hornwork in the next field, and beyond it all the way to Hergest Ridge:

On the way back, this was a welcome sight:

Alpacas

Someone told me that there were alpacas being kept in a field on the edge of Hay, so a few days ago I went off to find them. There's a public footpath round the back of the new houses at Birch Close, leading down to the Warren, and I found them there.

Their names are Cally, Shirley and Nicola, and the owners have put up a helpful sign to tell passers-by all about them.

Henderson's Engineering

I've often wondered what it is that Henderson's Engineering does - they have a small factory on the edge of Hay, near the doctors' surgery, and precision engineering is a term that could be used to describe all sorts of equipment. Today I saw a story from the Brecon and Radnor Express saying that they are helping to deal with the pandemic by making test equipment and equipment for oxygen supplies.
The managing director, Rob Henderson, also said that the company had made parts for Merlin and Griffon engines during the Second World War, which I hadn't known. Merlin engines powered Spitfires, of course - the sound of a Merlin engine is unmistakeable - and the bigger Griffon engine was used on aircraft like the Fairey Firefly and the Shackleton as well as in some Spitfires.