Dial-A-Ride Drivers Needed

 Dial-a-Ride are looking for volunteer drivers to drive their minibuses or use their own vehicles to pick people up who use the service.

For more information phone  01497 821616 Monday to Friday 9am to 12 noon or email haydialaride@gmail.com

They are also having a pop-up shop at their offices from 19th to 21st August (the same weekend as the World War Two Living History Weekend) to raise funds.

Baskie Live Music Sessions are Back

 Last night was the first live music session at Baskerville Hall after all those lockdown Zoom sessions - held outside in the covered barbeque area.

I didn't get to this one, but I've seen Bob Evans' photos on Facebook and it looks like a good time was had by all.

Small Business Saturday

 

Bobbin Sisters has opened on Backfold, for knitting wool and other yarn and sewing supplies.

Digging in Dorstone

 The archaeologists are back on Dorstone Hill!

This time they've opened a trench right next to Arthur's Stone, and they're finding something really exciting:

That's a line of post holes leading up to the tomb.  Originally the timber posts were 60cm in diameter (that's two feet in old money).  

They don't know yet how far the post line extends - it may have been a processional way up to the tomb.

They've also opened another trench nearby which may have the remains of a structure in it, but that's not nearly so impressive looking as this!

Covid Testing in Hay, Vaccinations at Bronllys

 There's been a recent spike in covid cases in Hay, so a testing unit has been sent to the Playing Field Car Park on Brecon Road.  The tests are drive through, and appointment only, between 10am and 4pm.

The tests can be booked by phoning 119 or by visiting the website at https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test.

They will be in Hay until 8th August.

Meanwhile in Bronllys Hospital, they are holding drop-in vaccination sessions, no appointment necessary, for over 18 year olds who have not yet had a first vaccination.  The first session was yesterday, but they are holding more, and the website with all the information is:

Drop-In COVID vaccination first dose appointments - Powys Teaching Health Board (nhs.wales)

No Fishing on the River Wye

 Due to the weather conditions - the low water and the high temperatures - fishing has been suspended on the Warren until further notice.

Paintings and Photographs - Local Exhibitions

 John Clare is putting an exhibition of his paintings on at Tinto House, from Friday 23rd July, 11am to 5pm.  The exhibition ends on Friday 6th August.

Meanwhile at Thru The Lens, Billie Charity has an exhibition of her photographs on now.  She's been taking photos of people who sit on the bench opposite the Chemists, and has made a book of them.

Balsam Bashers

 

Here we are after a hard morning pulling Himalayan balsam - Sean, Christina, me and Jeff.

It was a very hot day, but we did manage to pull up the main patch that Jeff had been concerned about.

The field had been cut for hay, and the lady who was expecting the baler took the photo - though first the hay had to be raked into rows for the baler to pick up - quite a big job on the Warren.

Here's some of the balsam that we pulled:

Small Business Saturday

 

This is where the newsagents' shop used to be - now selling things made of wood.

Walking With the Wye

 There's a walk going on, lasting about a month, from the source of the River Wye at Plynlimon to where it meets the Severn at Chepstow, and yesterday they reached the Warren in Hay.

The walkers, a different group each day, are passing along a bottle of water from the source of the river like a baton, and there are events at several places along the way like the one on the Warren yesterday.  The Hay Shantymen were there to sing, as well as the new Hay Rebel Climate Choir.  There were swimmers with model ducks on their bathing caps and the Red Rebel Brigade - the people in red flowing robes who appear at Extinction Rebellion protests, and there were bards with poems about the Wye.

So it was a celebratory day for a serious purpose - to demonstrate how polluted the Wye has become as they travel downstream.

Here they are this morning, beside the clothes shop that used to be the HSBC Bank, setting up a stall for the transfer of the water sample to the next group of walkers:

There was a demonstration of the citizen science project they are doing in collaboration with Cardiff University - making simple tests twice a week for a six month period to determine the levels of nitrates and phosphates in the water, and to see how cloudy the water is - the tube is almost invisible in this picture, I'm afraid, but the demonstrator is holding it up!

The form on the desk, as seen above, was to sign up for more information about the Friends of the Upper Wye.  There's also a group of Friends of the River Lugg, which is experiencing similar problems to the Wye.  They are also looking for more citizen scientists to take samples of the Wye and its tributaries.

Over the next few days, the walkers will be covering the route from Hay to Hereford, and there will be a picnic on Castle Green in Hereford on Sunday.

New Temporary Post Office

 There's a story in the Hereford Times with welcome news for Hay - the Post Office van is about to be replaced by a temporary Post Office.  It will be in a corner of Country Supplies, and it will be opening on Wednesday July 14th at 2pm.

The opening hours will be weekdays 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, apart from Saturday 17th July, when there are problems with getting staff to cover.

The lady in the Post Office van has been lovely, but I'm sure Hay's Post Office customers will be glad not to have to queue all round the Cinema Bookshop car park in future.

Most of the standard services will be available from the temporary Post Office counter, but they won't be able to deal with car tax renewals, passports, or other "more complicated" services.

The Post Office will be looking for a more permanent solution to retaining a Post Office in Hay.

Soft Plastic Recycling at the Co-op

 There's now a bin at the Co-op where people can bring their soft plastic waste to be recycled.

At the moment, soft plastic has to go in the purple sacks rather than the red recycling tub for kerbside collection.

The bin will take the plastic wrappers around toilet rolls and kitchen towels, and things like sauce sachets (but clean them first!), crisp packets and pouches for microwaved rice or pet food.  Also bread and cheese wrappers, biscuit wrappers, the thin film lids of yoghurt pots and similar food in pots, and pasta bags, thin carrier bags, clingfilm, pizza wrapping film.  They will accept material which was not bought at the Co-op, but can't guarantee that packaging from other stores is suitable for recycling.

The bin does not take any compostable bags, or plastic bottles or trays.

Changes on Lion Street

 I missed the Royal Visit - the Duchess of Cornwall was doing a walkabout on Wednesday and talked to business owners and others on Lion Street, including some of the organisers of Hay Festival, according to the Brecon & Radnor Express this week.

One of the businesses the Duchess stopped at was the new one where the newsagents was - so new they haven't even opened yet, though the interior is starting to fill up with wooden statues.  The business is called Halimyco, and on the Hay Community page on Facebook they are looking for a name for their shop mascot - a statue of a lion.  Among the suggestions are 'Richard the Lionheart', Aslan, and Llew or Llewellyn.  There are also African suggestions - Munyambu, which means 'lion' in KiKamba from Kenya, and Ubuntu, which means 'I am, because you are', which I believe is a word in the Bantu group of languages.  Another African-themed name suggestion is Tim - short for Timbuktu and, for people who have fond memories of the children's series Daktari, Clarence!

Meanwhile, next door to Halimyco, at Eighteen Rabbit, the appearance of the shop isn't going to change - it will still be dedicated to Fairtrade goods, but behind the scenes it will all be different.  Louise Davies and Andrew Williams, who started the shop, are now working at other things so they made the decision to give the shop to their staff.

Manager Ruth Hayden has signed the new lease with the landlord, and will be running the shop with her assistants Szilvia and Layla.

Balsam Bashing Postponed

 Rain is forecast for Saturday 10th July, so the bashing of the Himalayan balsam has been postponed to Saturday 17th July.  Volunteers should meet at the gate to the Warren at 10am, preferably with gloves and wearing long trousers to protect against nettles and other spiky undergrowth.

Small Business Saturday

 My pocket watch stopped working, and I thought I'd have to go into Hereford to get a new battery.  The last time I needed a new watch battery I went to F Hinds, by All Saints Church.

Fortunately, I noticed the sign outside Artizan Creations, the jewellers opposite the Blue Boar, first.  It only took him twenty minutes to fit a new battery, rather than spending half a day on a trip to Hereford.

Half a Day in Talgarth

 The bus to Talgarth came at about quarter past nine this morning, and I had plenty of time to wait before my doctor's appointment.

The good news is that my mole is a benign mole.

I then had about two hours to wait for the bus back to Hay.  

I had a parcel to post, and my water rates to pay, and it seemed sensible to take those with me to Talgarth rather than keep my fingers crossed that the van would turn up in Hay on Friday.

The post office counter is in the Co-op, and there was a story in the Brecon and Radnor Express this week about the Co-op wanting to build a new store on some derelict land on the outskirts of Talgarth.  I can see why - the present shop is quite cramped.

Then I went to the Tourist Information shop and had a pleasant chat with the chap behind the counter about local walks.  There's a hillfort just above Talgarth that I've been wanting to visit for a while - it didn't feature on any of the walks in the booklet I bought, but there's a lot of variety in the walks that were chosen.  I didn't have time to go on a five mile hike, though, so I just wandered around Talgarth, and read my book in the Riverside Garden.

The Talgarth Woodland Group seems to be very active - I'm not sure if they are responsible for all the gardening, but I did notice their name here and there.  There's even a container of fruit and veg plants beside the old Nat West bank (now the Wye and Usk Foundation offices), with a sign telling people to help themselves.

The John Gwynne Centenary Garden

The Riverside Garden

The War Memorial Garden

I went for a coffee at the Strand, and on the way I noticed that Talgarth has a Museum now:

And there were red kites overhead all the time, some of them swooping quite low.

Back at the bus stop, a lady who was waiting for the next bus to Brecon showed me that there is now an electronic bus timetable next to the bus shelter.  However, it was still displaying the time 12.05 for the T14 to Hay, when the new timetable is 12.25.

The bus came at 12.25.