Looking Back at 2020

 

I think this sums it up - the Plague Doctor figure that stood outside Belle Books.  I took this picture about four years ago.

I'm not feeling terrible optimistic that things will be much better in 2021.

Wild Birds

 When I came back from taking a photo of Basil Brush yesterday, a red kite flew low over Broad Street, heading from the old Library to the river.  

And a few days ago, when I was delivering Christmas cards up Cusop Dingle, I saw a kingfisher fly out from under one of the bridges and along the stream.

Boxing Day

 The Boxing Day Hunt has been cancelled, so it was safe for Basil to come out to the Clock Tower this morning:

Nadolig Llawen

 

Christmas Eve

 ... and what better way to spend the evening than by choosing a book to read?

Picture by Chris Dunn

Queues Everywhere!

 On Monday, I had to go to the Post Office from work, and the queue stretched all the way to what used to be Eve's Cafe, round the corner and down the hill.

Today, I was one of many doing last minute Christmas food shopping, and there were queues at both butchers, the greengrocers, Spar, and Londis, as well as people turning up to collect their phone orders, so there were a lot of people standing patiently in the rain.

I was going to hand deliver the last of my Christmas cards, but I think I'd rather stay in by the fire!

Santa Visits Hay

 I know he was at the British Legion to meet the children, but I've just seen him again!

I heard a bell ringing, and music, and when I opened the curtains a lorry was going by, festooned with lights, and Santa was waving from the back!

Clyro School

It seems that some teachers at Clyro School are about to be made redundant - and they've been told by Powys County Council at the end of term just before Christmas!

The Chair of the board of governors, Mari Fforde, posted about this on Facebook - she's resigned in protest.

Apparently, Clyro School needs ten more pupils according to Powys' Fair Funding Policy.  Local people have pointed out that new houses are being built in Clyro, which means that families will be moving to the area in due course, so it's entirely possible that ten more children might be enrolled in the school - by which time, the school will have lost experienced teachers.

Lockdown Comes Early

 It seems that we're back on strict lockdown from tomorrow, Sunday, rather than the 28th December, with all non-essential shops closed to the public.

So today's Christmas Fayre really was the last chance to get that last minute Christmas shopping.

Snow at the Christmas Fayre

 

The snow was coming from a snow machine poking out of an upstairs window at the British Legion, and it does make the entrance look more festive!  Father Christmas is meeting children inside the club, and there's a small choir singing from the little courtyard next door, at a good distance from the audience and each other.  When I passed, the Town Cryer was there too.

Over the rest of the Christmas Fayre, the sun is shining.

The market marshals have tinsel wrapped around their 2m sticks, and only 8 people at a time are allowed in the Buttermarket, where there are all sorts of crafts on sale.  The rest of the stalls are in the market place, the Cheese Market, and up Castle Street.  There's beer, and gin, and charcuterie and jam, jewellery and Christmas decorations, chainsaw carvings (there's a lovely dragon on the back of the lorry), wooden spoons, children's clothes, baskets, quilts, blankets, and more.

The Fayre is open until 4pm.

Vigil for the River Wye

 When I first came to Hay, the River Wye was one of the cleanest rivers in the country.

Sadly, that is no longer the case.

In this year alone there has been a major pollution incident up the River Llynfi, which is a tributary of the Wye, as well as algae blooms linked with intensive chicken farming.  Nearer to Hereford, the River Lugg has also been badly affected by phosphates - and a local farmer has removed all the trees and bushes from a stretch of the Lugg, claiming the damage is for flood prevention purposes.

So, on Saturday 19th December, a vigil will be held on the Old Bridge in Hereford, and Victoria Bridge, and along the river banks, between 3 and 4pm.  This will be a silent vigil for people to spend time thinking about the river, and mourning the state it's got into.  The vigil is being organised by XRMarches, the local branch of Extinction Rebellion.

Mistletoe

 I thought I'd blow the cobwebs from my brain by going for a walk by the river.  There was a little light drizzle in the air, which formed rainbows over Clyro, and lots of mistletoe:

A Soapy Cabbage Leaf

 The latest edition of The Cabbage Leaf, from Botany and other Stories, is out now, and this issue is devoted to the letter S, for Soap and Scent - soap for Sanitation in this time of pandemic, and scent because one of the symptoms of Covid-19 is loss of smell and taste.  There's an interview with local biochemist Raphaella Hull, on flower scents, and an article on incense burners by Denise Darbyshire, who works for the Ashmolean Museum.  Suzy Branson reviews the novel Perfume and Marie-Jeanne Winstone talks about her favourite flowers from her childhood home in Belgium.

There's another S in the magazine, too - Spotty the pony, who has been trained to work as a therapy pony, and lives at Brilleywood Livery.

Christmas Fayre

 Also on Saturday 19th December, Hay Markets are organising a Christmas Fayre in the middle of town, so there will be plenty to do in Hay!

Santa at the British Legion

 On Saturday 19th December, Santa will be visiting the British Legion from 10.30am.  Slots to see him need to be booked, for £5 each - book at the Legion between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Santa will be giving out a wrapped gift and a bag of chocolate coins to all the children who meet him.

At the same time, there will be something for the adults to do, with tombola, raffle, tea, coffee, hot  chocolate and mulled wine to drink, cakes and other stalls.

Christmas Shopping

 I've done nearly all my actual Christmas shopping locally, but there were a few essential things I had to go into Hereford for, now that the non-essential shops have opened again.  Ink for my printer, for instance, which I always get from the cartridge place opposite to where Peacocks used to be.

And I had a gift voucher for Marks and Spencers that needed using up - I got a lovely grey flannel shirt.

I noticed quite a few changes in the city centre while I was there.

There's a new vintage shop, Cult Vintage, in the space where Sports Direct used to be in Maylord Orchards.  At the moment, it's a pretty bare space with a few clothes rails dotted about, but I got some good quality silk blouses for only £12 each.

Outside the old Laura Ashley shop, there was a skiffle band.  They were playing Putting on the Style when I passed, and they had CDs for sale.

I also had a look in the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which is having a closing down sale - and Bon Marche is closing down too.   There's also the threat of closure hanging over Debenhams, though I didn't get that far on this trip.

I was sad to see the stall on the market that sold ribbons and buttons and so on had gone, too, though there's another one where I got the gold ribbon I wanted.

Ley Lines

 I got chatting to a lady at the bus stop the other day, and somehow the conversation turned to ley lines, as discovered in the landscape by Alfred Watkins.  This is the idea that important prehistoric sites, and things like church steeples, can be connected across the landscape by straight lines (which may or may not be lines of mystic energy).

She asked if Hay Castle was on a ley line.  I didn't know, so I've spent an evening with the OS maps and a ruler, and I can't find any alignments that Hay Castle might be part of.

If anyone knows differently, please comment!

How to Find the Town Council

 Now that the Council Chambers are up for sale, and the Town Council have officially given the keys back to Powys County Council, they can still be found at the Brecon Road Sports Centre, where they have moved into an office.

Angel Tree at Dial-a-Ride

 The pop-up shop at the Dial-a-Ride offices is open again - this time they have an Angel Tree.  The idea is that the tree is hung with gift tags for children - anyone who wants to can choose a gift tag, which has details of a child's age and their interests, and buy a Christmas present for them.  It's being organised through Brecon Food Bank.  Presents should be returned to the office by 12th December so they can get to the children in time for Christmas.

Today they reported on Facebook that they only have two gift tags left on the tree.

There are also baubles and candles for sale.

The shop is open tomorrow, Saturday.

Grant for Hay Theatre

 The Hay Junior Youth Theatre started in 2009, and have been giving performances ever since.  I hugely enjoyed the performance of Henry V at Cusop Church, for instance - it seems strange to think that it was five years ago!  

This year has been difficult for Hay Theatre because of lockdown, but by August it was possible to hold drama workshops outdoors.  In Cusop Churchyard, they were dancing under the oak trees.

Now Hay Theatre has been given a grant from the Co-op Community Fund of £4,254 to continue their work.  The project that the money is supporting is called A Midsummer Garden, which includes a specially adapted version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and will be performed outdoors in Glasbury and Cusop Churchyard.  Members of the Hay Adult Theatre Studies group have already started a read-through on Wednesday evenings at Glasbury Village Hall, while the young people will be rehearsing every Saturday after Christmas, outdoors.  

Both Hereford Times and the Brecon and Radnor Express have articles about this, including a delightful picture in the B&R of children pretending to be squirrels under a tree.