I've been looking through all the pictures I took this year around Hay, and I think this one sums up the year the best. It's the citizen scientists who have been testing the waters of the River Wye to campaign for it to be cleaned up, taken on the beach at the Warren:
.JPG)
As is tradition, I went for a long walk on Christmas Day - or at least, longer than I have been managing in the last few months. I'm a bit out of practice, so I only got as far as the waterfall at Papermill Cottage in Cusop Dingle.
(Basil Brush was safe, though - I took him into work with me!)
According to Welsh Water's website, the milky water some of us have been getting is safe to drink - it's caused by tiny oxygen bubbles.
The brown water isn't so nice, and a lot of people still don't have any water at all.
Water is off across the whole area - my boss who lives in Clifford was filling containers at work this morning, and even in Hay the water was looking rather brown for a while. There's also no water in Clyro, Llanigon, from Longtown to Peterchurch, Cusop and Dorstone and Hardwick, according to people checking in on the Community Facebook page.
Apparently, Welsh Water hasn't been able to say how long the problem will last. On their website is a message saying that the burst water mains are due to the sudden change in temperature between the last few very cold days and the much milder weather now.
It's not just in this area, either - they're talking about problems in Ceredigion, and they've been giving out bottled water at Newcastle Emlyn and Llandysul.
It's been a good weekend for craft stalls. They were crammed in everywhere at the Castle - the entrance hall, up on the balcony above that, and in the Clore Learning Room - leather goods, wood, wreaths, tie dye clothes, paper bunting, art, jewellery and lots more. In the corner of the entrance hall while I was there, three chaps with guitars were performing (I intended to go back for the Village Quire, but was too tired in the end).
Down in town, the Buttermarket and Cheesemarket were full as well - baskets, blankets, cider, Antur Brewery, and lots more.
It seemed fairly busy - I hope they did well!
[Edited to add: Santa and some elves have just passed by, in a trailer drawn by a decorated car - they're going all round the area to wave at children (and anyone else!)]
The Cinema Bookshop Christmas party was at the Three Tuns this year.
We were a bit late to start because Greg had been to the school performance of Aladdin - I think I gathered that one of his grand children had been a handmaid to Princess Jasmine. We started off the evening with drinks from the bar - I tried the Wye Valley Nutcracker, which is this year's Christmas beer from the brewery, and very tasty it was, too.
Then we were seated in the back room around a long table - a bit cold occasionally when the patio doors opened, but that didn't happen very often.
About half of us had soup for starters - carrot, honey and ginger, with a swirl of creme fraiche and home made bread. It was delicious! The rest of the table had the prawn cocktail, which was enormous, and came with a spicy sauce. We ordered a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine to share, though some people were still sipping their gin and tonics from earlier, and others stuck to lager.
For the main course we went for either turkey or beef, with lots of vegetables, including cauliflower cheese. We got extra gravy too. By this time we had pulled our crackers, which contained a rather small paper crown and several cards with party game ideas and jokes and trivia (apparently Japan has square water melons). It was a bit too noisy in the bar for the "hum a famous tune" party idea, but there were some book related questions which we gave intentionally wrong answers to.
I was the only person to stick with tradition and have Christmas pudding, which was lovely. Other people had panna cotta or chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake, and Deb went for the cheeseboard. The sweets were laid out beautifully on rectangular black plates, decorated with little pieces of fruit and dusted with icing sugar.
We waddled out of the pub at the end of all that! I only had a little way to walk, but others live further away, so a taxi was waiting for them.
It was a very enjoyable evening, and I didn't feel hungry until the following lunchtime!
Hay Castle is going to be busy over the weekend - they're holding a Christmas Fayre on 17th and 18th December, and the Snow Queen is going to make an appearance!
Also making an appearance will be the Village Quire. They will be singing carols at 5.30pm, after a lunchtime concert at St. Mary's, Brecon.
Today there was snow, so it seemed like a good idea to mention the useful leaflet that has been printed by Hay Festival, giving details of all sorts of help available in Hay this winter.
First of all, for people who need help but don't know how to get it, Helen Quinlan is the PAVO Community Connector, and she visits Hay Library on the first and third Thursday of each month between 10.30 and 11.30, as well as being available by phone on 07599 110 315 or 01597 828 649.
For the Herefordshire side of the border, there's the Herefordshire Talk Community Helpline on 01432 260 027.
Dial-a-Ride provides local transport all year round - it costs £10 to become a member, with trips starting at £2 - and they'll even deliver prescriptions.
Hay Youth Club provides free activities and free hot dinners for school years 7 to 13 (ages 11 to 18), every Tuesday in term time from 6.30 - 8.30pm at the Pavilion on Brecon Road.
Hay Library is a warm space (with lots of books, and free Wifi).
The Hay Repair Cafe will fix things for free - small electrical items, textiles and clothing, and they'll even sharpen knives. They're open from 11am to 2pm on the last Saturday of every month at the Pavilion on Brecon Road - contact hayrepaircafe@gmail.com
Bethesda Evangelical Church has free activities for all ages, including a Baby and Toddler group, Tea and Chat, and Crafts. They also provide a free Community Meal, to eat there or take home, every Thursday at 6pm. Contact Jane Dodds on 07758 318 772 for more details.
Zero Waste Hay has a table at the Cheese Market on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10am with free food for whoever comes along - this is usually stuff the Co-op can no longer sell, which would normally go to landfill, but someone brought walnuts from their tree last Friday, and someone else brought apples, so there's always something different.
Advicelink gives help applying for welfare benefits and other Government support. For Wales the number is 0808 250 5700 and for England the number is 0800 144 8848.
Age UK gives free home energy checks for the over 65s, and can help with fitting draft excluders and so on. For Powys contact 01686 623 707 and for Herefordshire the number is 0800 008 6077
Susie Wood is the Energy Advocate for Powys, who can help with managing energy debt, find the best tariffs, and help with energy efficiency. Her email is advocate@severnwye.org.uk
There are food banks in Brecon and Hereford, but people need to be referred to them. In Hay this can be done through Haygarth Surgery, Hay Primary School, Dial-a-Ride, any of the churches, and a variety of other organisations.
And if you need to talk, there's always the Samaritans on 116 123.
Powys also has a website to provide help at powys.gov.uk/costofliving
and Herefordshire has something similar at talkcommunity.org
Also mentioned on the weekly rundown, on the back page of the leaflet, is the Mothers Union, which meets on the second Tuesday of each month at Cusop Village Hall from 2 - 4pm, for tea, chat and guest speakers.
The British Legion also has Tea and Chat from 11am - 2pm on the third Thursday of each month
and St Mary's Church in Cusop has a Tea and Chat at Cusop Village Hall on the fourth Sunday of each month from 3 - 4.30pm.
Some stalls were still setting up when I went round town this morning. There are 60 traders today, in the Memorial Square, down by the Clock Tower, in the Buttermarket and the Cheese Market, and in the Castle Gardens. They're selling high quality gifts - wooden bowls and spoons, vintage garden tools, antiques, woollen goods, beer and gin and cider and smoked meats and bread, and even horse bridles.
I did like the name of one stall - Emily Found A Thing. I asked if they were Bagpuss fans, and he was delighted that I'd recognised the reference. They've come all the way from Ludlow and, like Emily and the toys in Bagpuss, they take old, broken things and transform them into something beautiful.
I went to the Zero Waste stall today at 10am. There were two tables today, with quite a lot of fresh fruit that needed using up.
In an effort to control the queue, Zoe was giving everyone a number as they arrived - and then she came round with an Advent calendar, and let each of us open the door for our number, which was a lovely little treat!
The Parish Hall was packed when I got there - they'd laid out chairs for 52 people, and over 100 turned up! There was also mulled cider being sold at the back at £3 a Green cup, proceeds going to Friends of the Upper Wye, who organised the evening.
The main speaker was Oliver Bullough, and the subject was the possibility of getting the River Wye at the Warren designated for bathing status.
The various statutory bodies which are supposed to monitor the cleanliness of our rivers are not doing their jobs. In fact, the funding to enable them to do their jobs has been drastically cut over the past few years, just as the discharge of sewage into waterways by water companies has increased. I wasn't quick enough to note down all the numbers, but Oliver mentioned sewage discharges at Glasbury and Talgarth, and in Hay sewage was discharged into the Wye for 559 and a half hours over 183 days. This is a huge amount, and certainly not in "exceptional circumstances" as the law states.
Partly because of this, and partly because of the worries about all the chicken farms in the Wye watershed, there is now a network of around 200 volunteer citizen scientists testing the water all along the Upper Wye, doing the job that the statutory bodies are failing to do. They are testing for phosphates and nitrates - so for the sort of pollution caused by chicken farms and manure washing into the river because of agricultural practices. That's because it is cheap and easy to test for these things.
Applying for designated bathing status wouldn't do anything to change the appearance of the Warren. Nor, Oliver believes, would it attract more visitors to the Warren, which is already listed in all the Wild Swimming books and websites anyway. What the designation does mean is that Natural Resources Wales would have to test the quality of the water throughout the bathing season (basically over the summer months), publish the results, and take action to improve the quality of the water if the quality is poor.
This doesn't only benefit swimmers, but also fishing, canoeists, walkers and wildlife. Hay depends on tourism, and a clean river can only help in that regard.
Also, by designating Hay as the spot to be tested means that all the river above Hay into Wales will have to be clean too.
The Welsh government are keen to designate bathing spots, and both Jane Dodds, MS, and MP Fay Jones are in favour of keeping the river clean. Aubrey Fry, who owns the land opposite the Warren, is also in favour, but the Warren Trust itself has members who are doubtful. They are worried about their legal liability in case of accidents.
(This has come up before with the Warren Trust. I can't remember which group it was now, but a local group wanted to hold a mass picnic on the Warren, possibly with a few people providing music with guitars, and they were told they had to take out public liability insurance. All they wanted to do was what members of the public do on the Warren anyway, just all together on a specific afternoon. The event never took place.)
Oliver said that the bathing designation would make no difference to the legal liability of the landowners. He also said that the landowners' permission was not needed to apply for the designation.
In the question and answer session, Oliver went into more detail about what Natural Resources Wales would be required to test - they test for two bacteria, one of which is e.coli and I missed the name of the other one. These bacteria can come into the river from manure or septic tanks.
The legislation on water quality was originally EU law, but since we are no longer in the EU, it was brought into UK law before Brexit happened. Mostly the legislation has been used to clean up beaches, but Ilkley and a section of the River Thames have also been designated so far.
He was asked why the Friends of the Upper Wye want to take this particular course of action to clean up the river - and it seems to be the only tool that exists to force the statutory bodies to act. If they don't take action, legal action can be taken against them.
The Friends of the Upper Wye have already been collecting data on the numbers of bathers, paddlers, canoeists, fishermen, dog walkers and others who use the Warren, so all that evidence is ready to be presented to the Welsh government.
Apparently Welsh Water is happy for bathing designations to go ahead, but on lakes and reservoirs rather than rivers, which prompted the comment from a member of the audience that people aren't supposed to swim in reservoirs anyway!
Usually it is local government that applies for the designation, but Oliver has been trying to get hold of someone in Powys County Council for a year now without success. This seems very familiar to me from the days when I went to the Town Council meetings - it was incredibly hard for them to get Powys County Council to do anything!
A chap from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales was there, and he said that CPRW will back the Friends of the Upper Wye. They have also been funding some of the citizen science. He was the one who made the point about the massive funding cuts that have made it impossible for the statutory bodies to do their job properly.
The news story about all the dead fish in the River Llynfi was mentioned. When the tester finally arrived at the scene, it was too late to test the water - it had all flowed away down the Wye. He was late to the scene because he had been in North Wales, testing at another incident - and he was the only tester for the whole of Wales! The fish in the Llynfi were never tested to see if they had been poisoned or whether they had died of oxygen depletion in the water.
Asked why the citizen scientists didn't test for e.coli, it was pointed out that the tests are quite expensive, and volunteers shouldn't be expected to take on that sort of expense. Also, Natural Resources Wales can choose to ignore tests that are done by other bodies.
At the end of the meeting, a show of hands was asked for to see whether there was enough support for Oliver to continue to try to get bathing designation for the Warren. Sean O'Donoghue was against, on the grounds that what was needed was a complete change of government, but nearly everyone else was in favour.
The Friends of the Upper Wye are also crowd funding at the moment for a Manager, so that there can be one person co-ordinating their efforts rather than a group of busy people trying to fit it in around their day jobs.
Lucky 7 brewery in Hay have brought out a special ale.
To quote the label: "On the 1st of April 1977, Richard Booth proclaimed Hay an 'Independent Kingdom' with himself as King. To celebrate home rule for Hay, Monty Python's Terry Jones brewed the first Independence Ale. In 2019 we sadly lost our King, Richard Booth, and also in early 2020, Terry Jones. This beer has been made as a homage, with very carefully selected local Herefordshire hops, malted grains, and yeast."
The hop varieties are Emporer, Jester and Harlequin. The beer strength is 4.6%, and it's full of flavour.
The label has a crown and a jester's hat, which seems fitting for the reign of King Richard.
Also, it's a Vegan friendly beer.
I went into Hereford last week, and I had thought I might get some cash out of Lloyds Bank while I was there. The cash machines are inside the branch - and the door was locked.
I went to the main entrance, and that was locked too. Odd, I thought.
So when I was back in Hay, I looked at the bank website to see why the branch was closed. It didn't say.
I tried contacting the bank via the website. There was a list of questions to ask, but why a particular branch was closed was not included. I tried writing in a question, and got back an answer about Covid precautions, which is not what I had asked about at all.
So, how else could I contact the bank?
I remembered that they have a Twitter account, and will answer questions there.
So I asked.
They didn't know.
I found an article in the Hereford Times which told me more than the bank did. Apparently, work was going on to put a new safe in, and to remove some of the customer service counters, and two of the ATMs.
I kept asking the bank when the branch would reopen, once a day.
On the fourth day, I started to wonder about how the bank is organised - surely someone at Head Office would know that a major branch was closed, and why? The manager of the branch wouldn't have just decided to close on their own. I imagined the manager of a branch clearing out the safe and fleeing to the South of France - from the response I was getting, the Head Office wouldn't find out about it for weeks!
On the morning of the sixth day of asking, I finally got an answer!
The bank is due to re-open on Tuesday, December 20th - just in time to close again for Christmas!
All this emailing to and fro could have been avoided if someone at the branch had thought to sellotape a notice to the door.
[Updated to add: whoever is responsible for the Twitter account helpfully sent me a link to find the next nearest branch - of the Halifax! So I assume from this the Twitter account is outsourced to people who are not part of Lloyds Bank. When I queried this, I got the right link]
On the first and third Thursday of each month, Bethesda Church (opposite the dentists) will be open from 2pm to 4pm for coffee, cake, tea and chat. There will also be crafts, games, activities and support. And it will be warm!
Entry is free, and the church can provide transport for anyone who needs it - they can be contacted on 07891 491726 or s.illingsworth@gmail.com
I don't use my iron very often. My mum bought it for me when I went away to college, so when I noticed that the flex was fraying last time I used it, I worked out that I'd had it for forty three years!
So I went down to the electrical shop by the Drill Hall, to see what they had in stock. I admitted to the chap there that, although my old iron was a steam iron, I never put water in it.
"We've got a dry iron!" he said, and picked one out for me for £20.
If it lasts as long as the last one, I'll never need to buy an iron again!
My Young Man was here last week (hence no posting on this blog) and one of the things he really wanted to do while he was here was to go and sing at the Baskie's weekly acoustic session. He had the words to Ghost Riders in the Sky all printed out ready.
So I got in touch with Bob (who runs the sessions), who got in touch with Ellie (who drives to the Baskie from Hay), and we were all set.
It was such fun to be back! There isn't an interval with chips any more, and it was a horrible, rainy night, so not many people turned up, but the ones that did sang some familiar songs, and I sang some of my repertoire that I knew back to front and sideways - I didn't want to sing something that I'd lose the tune half way through for my first outing for a while.
This is me, channelling Judith Durham of the Seekers, with We'll Build a World of Our Own.
It's a long time since I saw the square so packed with people!
Quite a few of the shops in the centre of town had stayed open late - Dugan's Patisserie and Timeless Treasures on the Pavement, and others closer to the Buttermarket.
In the Buttermarket itself were local groups like Hay School and the Scouts, fundraising - there was a tombola, and home made Christmas tree decorations.
The main square had lots of small covered stalls, rather than the marquee of previous years, selling turkey and pork rolls, baked potatoes, Mac and cheese, pizza, and mulled wine, mulled cider and beer.
At the top of the square, going into Castle Street, were two traction engines, one of which had a trailer to give rides around town with Santa. Behind them was the fire engine.
In another small tent by the Castle steps the Community Choir were crammed in shoulder to shoulder, singing Christmas songs.
There was also a handcart selling toys that lit up with flashing lights.
I bought a light saber (so that was me, and a bunch of seven year olds). It's a red, double ended one, like Darth Maul has in the Star Wars films. I showed it to a friend in the crowd, and he said he always knew I was evil!
Michael Morpurgo did the honours this year, and the square was completely packed for the count down, with people on every terrace around the Castle as well.
The Hay Shantymen were performing at a concert in Hay Castle the other night, and during the performance they were presented with one of those giant fundraising cheques.
They have raised over £7,000 for the RNLI with their singing, with performances under the bridge at the Bean Box, and elsewhere.
They were joined at the Castle by another group, from London, the Bellows Fellows.
The guest of honour at the Great Switch On will now be Michael Morpurgo, as Sally Phillips can't make it.
Off to Bronllys on the bus for my booster Covid jab this morning.
I've been offered lifts, but this time it was so easy - the 9.15am bus from Hay, and the 10.20am bus back from Bronllys.
I got off the bus at the roundabout by the hospital gates with a chap I know slightly, and we went in together. There were no queues, and the hall has been re-arranged. They don't have the blue tents any more - you get injected at desks spread across the room. There's a line of chairs near the exit if anyone wants to sit down, but you don't have to wait for five or ten minutes any more. You can go straight out.
I wanted to have a look at the bookshelf in Bronllys bus shelter, and found a copy of The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. While I was looking, I was chatting to the chap from the bus, who was telling me all about his family, who have been farming in this area for generations. He talked about his grandmother, who used to sell poultry on Hay Market, and the way various members of his family took in evacuees during the War - there was a big family of kids who were split up to go to different farms, but they all belonged to his relatives, so the kids could stay together.
He is also very interested in public transport in the area, and would love to see Hay become a hub for more routes up and down the Marches - or failing that, at least get an electronic board for the Hay bus stops to show when the buses are due, like the one they have in Talgarth.
We chatted all the way back to Hay.
The cherry picker has been trundling round town, putting up the Christmas lights - the Great Switch On will be on Friday, November 25th, as part of the Winter Festival, and the celebrity switching on the lights this year is Sally Phillips. I'm not familiar with her work, but she's been in the Bridget Jones films, Smack the Pony, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!
There will be several Christmas Fairs, too - the Fairtrade Christmas Fair is on Sunday 27th November, as part of the Winter Festival, with old favourites like Tools for Self Reliance and Love Zimbabwe as well as new stalls.
The Globe is hosting a Christmas Fair on Sunday 4th December, and Hay Markets are holding a Christmas Fair on Saturday 10th December. The Hay Shantymen will be singing.
There will be a public meeting about the pollution of the River Wye at the Parish Hall at 7pm on Monday 5th December.
I'm sorry I missed today's U3A talk - it was Denise Darbyshire on The Wonder that was Syria. A few years ago now, there was a day trip to Oxford organised by the Local History society, where Denise gave us a private viewing of some of the artefacts at the Ashmolean Museum, where she is a curator, and in the afternoon guided us around the exhibition - I forget the title, but it was all about religions re-using the statues and artefacts of the religions that had gone before, and it was totally fascinating.
U3A meet once a month in the Music Room at Baskerville Hall, which is a beautiful space, with coffee served from 10am and lunch from 12.15. Admission is £5 for members and £7 for non-members.
They have a website at https://u3asites.org.uk/hay/welcome
and they're holding their Christmas Lunch on Tuesday 13th December, also at Baskerville Hall.
Geoffrey Meadon died earlier this year, and someone has kindly sent me his obituary - he had a fascinating life!
Geoffrey Noel Meadon was born 23 December 1944 and sadly died on 31 July 2022, aged 77. He was the son of a civil servant and he and his younger brother, John
grew up in North London. His mother died during his childhood.
He was a pupil at St Paul’s school, London, where he proved to be an exceptional scholar.
He was admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge at the early age of 17 where he graduated in History.
During his time at Cambridge he famously captained his college on an early1960s University Challenge contest.
He won a post-graduate scholarship to Harvard, USA, but his studies were cut short when his previously undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes began to manifest itself and he became unwell.
Back
in London, Geoffrey was encouraged by his father to join the
civil service and soon gained employment at the Admiralty.
He
lived in the Resident Civilian Duty Officer’s Quarters in a
suite of rooms on the first floor of the Admiralty Main
Building.
This residence was full of Edwardian baroque furniture and was staffed by three messengers and a servant.
Geoffrey later moved to St James’s Place in a flat previously occupied by ‘Bosey’, Lord Queensbury’s son and lover of Oscar Wilde.When Richard Booth invited Geoffrey to become his Publicity Officer, he moved to Hay-on-Wye where he remained for the rest of his life.
He worked in the Performing Arts section of the Cinema Bookshop and later ran his own music shop, selling mainly records and sheet music.
He subsequently turned his talents to indexing books, mostly on shipping and music.
Geoffrey
was a Hay institution, a superb conversationalist with a unique
sense of humour which endeared him to everybody he met.
He was a gifted musician and was a founder-member of the Augustus Hare Piano Trio of Hay-on-Wye.
The trio had ‘a pleasing repertoire of 19th century light music’ and performances were always rapturously received. He was a bass baritone and sang with gusto in several choirs.
Geoffrey held a lifelong passion for Brigitte Bardot, Dan Dare of the Eagle comics, Victor Herbert and Vincent Price. He was also partial to the verses of W S Gilbert, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.
One of his favourite saying, particularly in the last year of his life, was:
‘I thank whatever gods there be
For my unconquerable soul’
(from Invictus by William Ernest Henley)
He was great company and is sorely missed.
I got an alert on my phone to say that EE are doing work on the mast in Glasbury from 14th November for three days. They say it should be possible to make calls and texts during that time by enabling WifiCalling on the phone.
I arrived at the war memorial just before the Last Post sounded (a recording this time), and in time for the two minute silence. Then Gareth Ratcliffe and Fiona Howard, for the Council, laid wreaths, followed by a little boy and girl from the school, and a couple of others.
The main service will be on Sunday, when there will be a procession from the Clock Tower and more wreath laying.
Lots going on at the Castle over the next few weeks!
To tie in with their exhibition, The Printed Line, Aiden Saunders (who runs Prints of Hay at the Castle gate) is doing a workshop on lino printing on 16th November.
Then on 24th November Kate Kato is doing a book art workshop, and a book journal making workshop on 11th December.
And on 7th December Hannah Firmin will be giving a masterclass on printmaking in the morning, and running a workshop in the afternoon.
There will be events at the Castle over the Hay Winter Festival, too.
The Castle is also running a series of local history talks on Wednesday evenings. They started on 2nd November with a talk about the Burney brothers.
On 16th November, Tim Hoverd will be talking about the Herefordshire Viking Hoard
and on 30th November Stephen Bates will be doing a talk on the Armstrong Trial - he's written a book called The Poisonous Solicitor on the case.
Events can be booked through the Castle gift shop or on the website, and they are also asking for ideas for future events.
There's another Hay Music concert on Sunday 13th November, at 4.30pm in St Mary's Church (sadly I'll be at work).
This one is the mezzo-soprano Lore Lixenburg, accompanied by Bartosz Glowaki on the accordion, and the music ranges through the centuries from Hildegard of Bingen in the 12th century, through the Baroque era of Purcell and Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, right up to date with Cage, Polwart and Aquaviva.
That's quite a range of styles!
Tickets are £12.50, or £6.25 for under 25s.
Alan Cooper was a noted jazz musician locally. He died a few years ago, but his widow still lives locally.
After his death, she discovered a portfolio of his art works, and has decided to mount an exhibition of them at Ty Tan Arts. The exhibition starts on 19th November.
It was one of those "only in Hay" moments. I went into the Farmer's Lavender shop by the Clock Tower, looking for inspiration for Christmas presents.
As I went in, I could hear big band music. A group of people were clustered round the counter, watching something on a laptop, and I recognised the tune.
"Come and watch with us if you like," they said.
The film clip they were watching was black and white, and 1940s vintage, and the big band was playing Kalamazoo. We sang along with the vocalists, and watched the tap dancing sequence in awe at the skill of the dancers, wincing occasionally as they did the splits and bounced straight up again.
The lady behind the counter said that one of the customers watching was from Kalamazoo.
I didn't get any ideas for presents, but I was humming the Girl from Kalamazoo for the rest of the day!
Griots Arts is putting on an event!
On Sunday, 13th November, at 7pm, Clifton Joseph will be performing at the Globe, with a Q + A session afterwards. The cost is £10. Clifton Joseph is an Antiguan Canadian dub poet, and he's been doing readings in London and Southampton. He's also doing a poetry workshop at 3pm, cost also £10.
There's a possibility of the evening performance starting with an open mic session - anyone interested should contact Griots Arts for more information.
Meanwhile, the Poetry Bookshop is also putting on an event, on Friday 18th November at 7.30pm. This is called Pebbles on a Child's Palm. This is a tribute to Czech poet Jan Skacel in his centenary year.* The poems, in translation, will be performed by local poet Simon Pettifar, with music from cellist Sonia Hammond and pianist Rod Paton, who was a neighbour of Jan Skacel in Brno for a time.
This is a free event, but donations to the Prison Phoenix Trust are encouraged.
*there should be an accent over the 'a' of Skacel.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Unusually for Hay, they are selling new books!
I did like this, displayed in the window (I'm pretty sure it's by Jackie Morris):
.JPG)
The Mad Hatters craft fair was in the Buttermarket on Saturday.
The stall holders always have an awesome array of hats, but this time there were some witches and a seven foot tall Frankenstein's monster with a green head!
Tonight it's raining heavily, but kids are still going out to Trick or Treat.
.JPG)
To mark the occasion, Kelvyn Jenkins had asked Simon Addison to come and play his bagpipes. Simon is the official piper for Hereford, and pipes at official occasions there, as well as being a member of a pipe band. This was the first time he'd been invited to pipe in the middle of Hay, though - and not only in the middle; right up on the viewing platform at the top of the Castle!
Here he was playing Amazing Grace.
.JPG)
It's been beautifully re-decorated inside - but watch out for the Very Low Beam across the middle of the room!
I had a lovely chat with Aidan Saunders, who makes the prints, and has also illustrated some stories of the Mabinogion for children. He told me that, although he grew up in Wales, he had never heard of the legends until he moved to London, at which point he became fascinated with them.
[Edited to add: he also stocks Pollock's Toy Theatres, as mentioned in the blog Spitalfields Life - from their famous Covent Garden shop]
I went to an open day at Salem Chapel yesterday. The new owners have been doing extensive renovation, and it's now opening for business as a yoga studio.
The entrance is through the old chapel schoolroom, which is where the model railway layout used to be displayed. They've opened it out so it looks much bigger, with the reception desk as you come in and a kitchen in the back corner. The toilets are at the back.
From the reception desk, there are steps up to the main chapel building, and a sign to take off outdoor shoes before entering. They've put a beautiful new floor in. The pulpit area is still there at the far end, but the organ and harmonium are long gone.
I talked to Pete, one of the owners and teachers at the yoga centre. The style they teach is called Iyengar yoga, and apparently beginners start with standing poses, and gradually move on to sitting and stretching.
The chapel will also be available for workshops and special events on the afternoons of Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
They even teach yoga online, via Zoom!
[Edited to add: I looked back at previous entries in the blog, and I really hadn't realised how long ago Geoff Evans died - it was 2011, and he had been working on a dream to turn the chapel into an arts centre]
.JPG)
They're selling cakes and kitchen and home items.
Velvet Fern still have a shop in Ludlow.
Hay Castle is celebrating on Sunday - from 2pm to 7pm there will be lots going on, including guided tours of the Castle and the Printed Line exhibition, which are not so unusual, but there will also be a 15 piece brass ensemble in the Great Hall, a wizard making balloon sculptures, a hunt for Matilda's emeralds for the kids, a pop-up exhibition, an illustrated talk on Hay's independence, and previously unseen photos from the Richard Booth archive! Plus a fire show, hot dogs and mulled wine. Everything except the hot dogs is free, and the drinkers decide what to pay for the mulled wine.
This is to celebrate the completion of the work on the Castle.
Earlier in the day, Brecon Boujies will be in the Buttermarket, with vintage clothes, jewellery and gifts.
I really enjoyed the harp concert at St Mary's Church last night.
Ruth Wall was playing three different harps over the evening. Her main instrument was the Scottish lever harp, a modern black instrument with a mellow sound that she and the composer Graham Fitkin could do incredible electronic stuff to, like layering the sound so that it seemed as if several harps were playing. He composed some of the music played during the evening, or arranged traditional tunes.
Ruth Wall also played the Scottish clarsach, a round bodied small harp which is wire-strung, so is played with the fingernails plucking the strings, rather than the pads of the fingers.
And then there was the Renaissance bray harp, which was strung with horsehair and had a little piece of holly at the bottom of each string to make a buzzing noise when the string was plucked. This sort of harp was common all over Europe, and would probably have been the type of harp played at Hay Castle in the Middle Ages.
So the three harps sounded quite distinct from each other.
Most of the music was from the Scottish Highlands, but one tune played on the bray harp was from Iran, in honour of Yalda Night, when the days start getting longer in the depths of winter, and it was interesting to hear such a different style of music from the medieval tune that had been played earlier, on the same instrument.
Some of the traditional harp music had been shared with bagpipers - one of the tunes that Ruth Wall had composed was based on pibrochs, which are normally played on the bagpipes.
The theme of the evening was migration - of homo sapiens through our entire history, starting with early humans migrating out of Africa. The theme also covered animal and bird migration, like the skuas passing over the isle of Uist in one of the modern pieces (based on an old Gaelic air).
And straight from a complex electronic piece, Ruth and Graham went into one of the most basic types of music possible - rhythmic clapping, and hitting other parts of the body. In the second half, this body percussion was combined with whistling and words in I Swear, I Swear, I Swear, which was based on a conversation Graham had overheard on a train, between a group of young women.
The church was beautifully lit for the performance, but unfortunately the central heating wasn't working, so only Ruth on stage had a small electric heater! In pride of place just behind the performance area was the wooden statue of Our Lady which was floated down the Wye earlier this year, complete with a light up halo!
Up coming concerts from Hay Music are:
13th November - Lore Lixenberg, a mezzo-soprano, with Bartosz Glowacki on accordion
2nd December - HEXAD, an eight voice a cappella choir giving a Christmas concert entitled Music for Queens of Heaven and Earth. This concert will be at Hay Castle, and the narrator for the evening is Peter Florence.
Next year, Jayson Gillham will be playing piano at St Marys on 22nd January, and Toby Carr will be playing theorbo and lute with an early music ensemble and two sopranos at St Marys on 26th February.
We had good weather on Tuesday for sightseeing, and I had to take my family round Hay Castle. They hadn't seen the renovations before, and they were very impressed.
As an engineer, Peter wanted to know where the grey bricks came from, that are used in the modern rebuild part of the renovation. They also rather enjoyed the little film in the old wine cellar - we arrived just as it started. They also enjoyed the costumes - especially trying on the crown!
Life drawing was going on in the educational room on the first floor, and the exhibition space at the top of the building is hosting a free exhibition of Printing Art. There are some famous names among the artists - Picasso, Lucien Freud, Bridget Riley - but my sister's family are not fans of contemporary art, and we were taking it rather less seriously than we might have done. One lady who was obviously taking it very seriously looked quite disapprovingly at us! We were all fascinated by the Tube map near the door, though - where the stations had been replaced by philosophers, comedians, Chinese leaders, and people like King Zog of Albania!
Unfortunately, building work was still taking place at the top of the Castle, so we couldn't go up to the viewing platform this time.
Then it was off to Hereford, and I got to see the road that isn't the bus route for a change! We parked at the leisure centre and walked into the centre from there.
I intended to take them to the Koffie Pot for a coffee before we started walking round, but it's completely changed since I was last there. It's become a noodle and sushi bar! It was also still using a lockdown method of ordering and paying, by scanning a QR code, which none of us felt like working out how to use. Peter (engineer) noticed the new pumps that had been put in after the last big flood came right over the wall and flooded the Koffie Pot and the courtyard, and the slots for extra hoarding to be put up to raise the height of the wall if it was needed.
We didn't fancy noodles, so we went on to the Cloister Cafe at the cathedral and sat in the sunshine to eat sandwiches and drink coffee, which was very pleasant. Then we wandered round the cathedral itself. I showed my sister the Treherne stained glass, and the SAS window, but - not a big fan of contemporary art. She was fascinated by the deeply carved gravestones round the back of the high altar, though, which were similar to ones she had seen on holiday in Holland, and they liked the bright colours of the shrine to St Thomas Cantilupe. There was an art exhibition there, too, of pictures inspired by the Holocaust, and although it was modern art again, those pictures were very powerful, and were appreciated. They also liked the knight with three legs!
Our last visit of the afternoon was the Old House, which costs £3.50 to get in, apart from the teenager, who got in free as a student. This has been renovated since my last visit, and they have done a wonderful job. There are cloth wall hangings in the bedrooms, including one set that tells the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, and as you go round you can pick anything up, and sit on the beds. They had a lot of costumes to try on, too, and they had great fun with the seventeenth century hats! One of the beds has newly embroidered hangings, and a sampler gave the names of all the embroiderers, and how many hours they'd spent on the work.
On the way back to Hay we drove along the Golden Valley, and tried to find Arthur's Stone, but we missed the side turn and ended up in Bredwardine instead (to be fair, we were being quite optimistic in thinking the camper van could make it up those back roads).
The first evening that my sister and her family came to visit, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in Hay. As we walked up throught town (it was a Monday) we found that Tomatitos and Kilverts were both closed, but the Blue Boar was open, so we went in there.
The new menu is a little bit pricey, but the portions are generous, and we all enjoyed the meal. The teenager had a cheeseburger and fries, Peter and I had the Italian meatballs, and my sister (who has a cheese allergy) had the venison bourguignon. They are not real ale fans, so stuck with the Stowford Press cider and Perroni, and I drank Timothy Taylor Landlord, which was very good.
Strange to think that, the first time I took the family out to eat in Hay, the teenager was a toddler, and now he's old enough to drink alcohol!
There was a good crowd at the Blue Boar yesterday afternoon to remember Mollie Lord after her funeral at the Humber Woodland of Remembrance. Tea, coffee and sandwiches, cake and quiche were available along one side of the bar, where there's a raised area at the back with tables. Some of the people there had known her in London or Brighton, before she came to Hay. Sara shared a lot of similar interests with Mollie, Lyn had mentored her writing, John ran the social dreaming group that she contributed to, and I saw Janine from the Hay Theatre Group, and Sean, and several other familiar faces.
There were some spare orders of service that were given out, and the reading that had been chosen was typical of Mollie, who was devoted to all the dogs she had over the years. It was from The Journey by Crystal Ward Kent, and was about how much you can learn about life from your dog. (Mollie's latest dog has been taken by her daughter).
Father Richard shared a story about Mollie, when she said she had met God on the Warren - to which he replied: "How's He keeping?"
She said she had been sitting on a bench, and a sheep came up to her and laid its head on her knee, and she felt that she had met God.
John Clare said that she was the most prodigious dreamer he had ever encountered, in all his years of running the social dreaming group. She kept notebooks full of her dreams, and he recounted a couple to us (in one, she was knighted for services to lobster-kind!). John is also an artist, and encouraged her in her work - she held an exhibition of her work at the Globe.
We also learned that she had had a difficult childhood, as both her parents committed suicide. The third person to speak had grown up with Mollie - they had played together, and gone to night clubs together, and she said she felt that she had lost a sister.
My sister has been visiting with her family.
They have a camper van, and usually they stay on the edge of town in Mr Like's field - but this time they have upgraded to a larger van, and they were worried that it might sink in the field, so they looked for somewhere with hard standing.
They chose Ashbrook camp site, a little way outside Hay on the Brecon road, and they picked me up on the way out to it.
The view across the Wye valley is beautiful, and there's a wooded hill behind the camp site.
It wasn't very busy, but there were a few caravans there. While I was there, we used the toilet block, and it was spotlessly clean and well kept. The chap in charge also offered the use of a cable if the cable they had with the van didn't reach the power point, which was a little way off at the edge of the field.
We decided, perhaps foolishly, to walk back into Hay. There is a narrow verge, but it is quite a busy and fast road, so it was a bit of a relief when we got to the edge of Hay where the footpath starts. They stayed in Hay all afternoon, and we had a meal out in the Blue Boar, so it was dark by the time they were ready to walk back again. They had torches and a flashing bike light with them, and the road wasn't very busy by then, but they didn't think they would try it again.
But the night was clear, and the stars overhead were magnificent.
Mollie Lord was well known around Hay, usually seen out walking with her dog. I remember going to her book launch at Booths a few years ago, and she also exhibited her art in Hay.
She died last month, and her family have announced on Facebook that they are holding a quiet family funeral, but after that there will be a gathering to remember Mollie at the Blue Boar, at 3.30pm on 19th October. There will be refreshments, and they have asked people to wear something bright.
The EE phone mast is up and running again!
So I was able to phone my Young Man last night, rather than relying on brief messages on Facebook.
The EE mobile phone network has been down in the Hay area for about a week now, and as far as I can see, there's still no signal.
To be honest, I didn't notice for the first couple of days, but then I saw people talking about it on the Hay Community Facebook page. Some of them said that they'd contacted EE and got a discount, but the only way to contact EE seemed to be by phone. I only got a mobile because there is no landline to my new flat, and I can't phone from work - some people said they'd had to stay on the line for an hour before they got sorted out.
So this lunchtime I went into the EE office in Hay, to see if they had a way of contacting EE that we lesser mortals don't have access to.
It seems that they do not. The only advice they had was to phone EE - all they do is sell the products. They aren't able to pass information from customers back to EE. When I explained that I couldn't phone EE, the only suggestion they could offer was that I should borrow someone else's phone.
It isn't the fault of the girls in the office - the fault lies with EE, who should have given them some information to pass on to customers.
Talking about this later to my colleague at work, she said that she is with Three, and they don't have a signal either, and a passing customer said that he's with BT, and he can't get a signal, either - so it isn't even as easy as borrowing someone else's phone!
So that's the situation at the moment.
They set up the table at 10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and never know what they'll be given to give away - but whatever it is, is saved from going into landfill.
It's a long time since I made it into Brecon, but there's a new exhibition coming up that looks very tempting. The Found Gallery on the Bulwark are putting on the exhibition, called Coming in from the East, and one of the featured artists is Richard Greatrex, from Hay, with a collection of photographs he took in Japan, inspired by traditional Japanese art. He also has a book of the photographs available, price £20.
There are also oil paintings by Sue Vaughan Williams, pottery from Pamela Thorby, wood carving by Chris Pye, textiles by Jennie Jackson, and geishas in mosaic by Maureen Richardson - another well-known local artist. She no longer makes paper, which was her career for many years, as she is now in her nineties, so she has turned her creativity to making mosaic pictures instead.
There is also jewellery from Chrissie Nash and wooden Christmas ornaments by Faye Lavery Griffiths.
The exhibition opens on 18th October.
This is Geddes Gallery, in the spot near the Clock Tower which was once part of Rose's Books, and most recently was a small gym. It was also, briefly, a gin palace! I had a brief look inside, and there seems to be a wide variety of art. They're still unpacking, and the owner said he was getting shelving in the side room to store the spare stock.
Scrolling through Facebook, I discovered a scheme to prevent food waste in Hay.
Zero Waste Hay pick up food from the Co-op and other local shops that would otherwise be thrown away. They are also looking for spare homegrown produce. They set up their stall in the Cheesemarket at 10am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and anyone can come along to help themselves, to stop good food going to landfill.
The first time I can get there is Friday - I wonder what they'll be offering then!
It looks like 22nd October will be busy with good things.
Yesterday, I popped into the Tourist Information Bureau to buy a ticket for Harpland, a concert at St Mary's Church. It starts at 7pm and features harpist Ruth Wall and composer Graham Fitkin - the tickets are £12.50 each, and £6.25 for the under 25s. The music is based on old Gaelic tunes found in bagpipe and fiddle books, and will be played on Ruth Walls three harps, the Renaissance bray harp, Scottish Clarsach and Scottish lever harp. I adore harp music, and the clarsach in particular, so I'm really looking forward to this. Graham Fitkin will also be talking about the stories of migration related to the music, especially the Highland Clearances.
And in the afternoon of the same day, at 3pm, the Poetry Bookshop is hosting an afternoon with Brian Bilston, who is on tour promoting his new book Days Like These, with a poem for every day of the year. I've seen some of Brian Bilston's poems come up on Twitter (or possibly Facebook), and enjoyed the humour of them. Here's a taste from The Cost of Loving:
I love you more than life itself
but I swear I'll love you better
if you let me turn the heating off
and you wear another sweater.....
I won't be able to go, though, because it seems that tickets have already sold out, at £5 each or £20 with a copy of the book. The Poetry Bookshop has partnered with the Globe for the event, and it seems they will need the extra space!
Briar already had one cat, a ginger called Colin, living in her yurt with her, but where she is living at the moment, she gradually became aware of more - and they needed her help.
She estimates that there are about twenty five cats and kittens in the colony, and they all need either neutering or treating for ticks, fleas and worms. She has got a grant from the Cat's Protection League to neuter nine cats, and she's asking for donations to treat the others.
Donations can be given at Hay Vets on League, or to Hay Animal Rescue.
The last car boot sale of the season is being held now in the little car park next to Hay School - there aren't many boots there, but there's still a fair amount of interesting stuff to look at (I was quite tempted by a CD cabinet which would consolidate my varied stacks of CDs into one place).
Not much else has happened around town this week, though I did have a lovely chat with the lady who spins in the Cheesemarket - she also exhibited the natural dyes at the Cabinet of Curiosities last week.
The Mad Hatters Craft Fair was on in the Buttermarket today as well, and as usual there were a lot of high quality items on offer, from bows for pets to wooden bowls and art and crocheted shawls.
[Updated to add: I went back to the car boot sale, and caught the couple with the CD cabinet just as they were packing up. They even offered to deliver it for me, which I was very grateful for because it's a solid piece of furniture - proper wood. Even better, all my CDs fit in it, which is great because they had been scattered around in four different stacks]
It's been a strange day in Hay. Almost all the shops were closed - The Cinema Bookshop and Addyman's were the only bookshops open, and Spar was closed between 10am and 2.30pm. A few bemused tourists wandered around looking for somewhere to buy a coffee - I think the Swan was open for that. The bell at St Mary's rang at midday.
This evening I went to the cash point, and it actually had money in it.
This will also be the only chance I get to mention an event at the Green Ink Bookshop. It's at 5.30pm tomorrow evening, Tuesday, and it's free. Local author Bridget Ashton will be there, and she wants people to bring their grandmothers' and mothers' favourite recipes.
.JPG)
I did take some photos of the information signs, but none of them came out well enough to share. There were quotations from Rachel Carson, and information about Earth Overshoot Day. This is the date each year at which global consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate. In 1970 the date was 25th December. This year it was 28th July.
Other signs talked about dark skies, and pollution in the sea, and the decline of many types of insects, including butterflies and bees.
I was at work today, when someone came in to ask if we had a copy of Rachel Carson's book on the sea. They'd just seen the exhibition, and been very impressed.
Yesterday evening, the British Legion organised a short service of wreath laying in remembrance of the Queen at the cenotaph. It's the sort of thing they're very good at.
All the scouting and guiding groups were involved, down to the littlest ones in bright red tops, and the standard bearer of the Beavers took his place in the line of flag bearers.
When I went out shopping this morning, I noticed that Golesworthy's will not be the only shop to be closed on Monday for the Queen's Funeral.
Also closing are the Post Office and Londis.
And there was a camera crew going round the market today - the sign on the railings of the Cheesemarket said that it was the BBC for a new show, and that if anyone didn't want to be filmed, they should inform the crew. I was quite happy to buy onions while a cameraman zoomed in on the rest of the vegetables on the stall.
They also filmed George the Town Cryer, but I only arrived as he was ringing his bell at the end, so I didn't hear the announcement.
I missed the Proclamation of the new King, which was on Sunday at 4pm by the cenotaph.
The next event will be a two minute silence and laying of a wreath at the cenotaph on Friday 16th September at 7pm, organised by the British Legion. Some people have already laid bouquets there, and the cenotaph itself has been decorated with a black gauze bow.
On Sunday there will be a Remembrance Service at St Mary's Church at 6pm
Then on Monday 19th September there will be a two minute silence at 11am, for the day of the State Funeral of the Queen.
Golesworthy's by the Clock Tower will be closed for the day of the funeral. I don't know if any other shops in Hay are following suit.
I'm looking forward to the exhibition in the Buttermarket next weekend. It's called The Cabinet of Curiosities, and it is being staged by Botany and other Stories.
The idea behind the exhibition is to portray a combination of Beauty and Science, inspired by quotations from Rachel Carson, who is most famous for her book Silent Spring. It's about appreciating the beauty of nature and trying to demonstrate why it needs to be preserved.
Botany and other Stories has been working with local artists to fill boxes, in their Travelling Botanical Box Project. Some of these boxes have already been on display in the window they used to rent in the middle of Hay. The boxes have been filled by painters, stained glass makers, ceramicists, wood carvers, printers, weavers of wool and weavers of words.
There will also be information about the danger the natural world is in - which is very timely as COP 27 will be starting soon in Cairo, to discuss the world's response to climate change in a year when the evidence for the changing climate is undeniable, with rivers drying up all over the world while there are devastating floods in other countries, such as Pakistan and here in the UK there were the highest summer temperatures ever recorded.
The Buttermarket will be open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 17th September and from 10am to 2pm on Sunday 18th September.
There aren't many occasions where one can confidently say "This is the end of an era," but this is one of them. There aren't many people alive now who remember the time before Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. Most of us have spent our entire lives in the reign of a single monarch.
The Town Council have placed a Book of Condolences at the Sports Pavilion on Brecon Road, so that anyone who wishes can pay their respects. The Pavilion will be open from 12 to 4pm daily until 17th September (except Sunday).
It will also be possible to leave flowers at the Cenotaph - but please take the cellophane off first!
There's been a bit of consternation on Facebook at the news that the Castle will be closing in September!
First of all, it's only for around twenty days from 12th September, while some essential work is done that couldn't be done before it opened in May this year. Also, the lift needs repairs.
Secondly, the Cafe and Gift Shop will remain open throughout.
Unfortunately the only access for this period will be via the steps from the Honesty Gardens, which means there will be no level access to the Castle. This is because scaffolding will be going up around the back of the Castle and they are doing work on the gravel path.
Since the Castle opened to the public in May, there have been 40,000 visitors, which shows what a popular venue it is.
One of the things they are considering now is whether to start to charge an entrance fee. Entry to the Castle has been free so far, apart from the art exhibition - and that was only £3. They may have to start charging a small fee to cover their costs.
The consultation document is at Hay Castle Entry Fee Survey (google.com)
I went round to De Braos Court earlier to have a look at the h.art exhibition there, to find that there's a note on the door saying that the exhibition has been moved to Cabalva Ceramics, on the other side of the river.
It's not far from the Rhydspence Inn, which is a wonderful historic building.
While I was up that end of town, I checked the ATM. To my amazement and delight, it actually has cash in it at the moment!
This year's Herefordshire Art Week will be from September 3rd to 11th, and amazingly, it's their twentieth year!
Venues will be open all over Herefordshire, including artists' studios, shops and galleries, and special exhibitions in places like the Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford. On display will be paintings, ceramics, jewellery, weaving, glass and steel sculpture, glass engraving, textile crafts, printing, photography, woodcraft, and more.
There are four different trails to follow, for the north, south, east and west of the county, plus Hereford itself. Hay is part of the Western trail, at the shop Oil and Oak, on Castle Street, which has work by a variety of local artists, and at 13 De Breos Court Emily Hedges is exhibiting contemporary ceramics, textiles and mixed media pieces, including work based on traditional embroidery techniques.
Near to Hay, Crispin Thornton Jones is exhibiting his art at Michaelchurch Escley, and at Longtown the Skirrid Studio will be open for Helen Arthur's painting and prints, while Sophie Harris is exhibiting her copperwork and antique restoration at the Old Court. At Little Llanafon Farm near Dorstone, there's ethical sustainable clothing, bags and waistcoats made from ties.
Across the river at Cabalva House is a working pottery studio with exhibits from a variety of potters, as well as a walled kitchen garden with flowers, tea and cake.
I checked the ATM on the way to the Car Boot Sale at Hay School this morning. Still no cash.
The little car park next to the school was full, though, with a wide variety of car boots - children's toys, books, plants, clothes and so on.
There will be one more Car Boot at the school this year, on Saturday 24th September.
Hay History Group are having a History Day at Hay Castle on Sunday 4th September.
Everything is free, all day. There will be a Photogrammetry Workshop from 10am to noon, which sounds fascinating now I've looked up what it means! According to Wikipedia, photogrammetry is the science of extrapolating a 3D image from 2D information such as a photograph, and it's used in mapping and archaeology amongst other things.
There will also be a pop up museum from noon until 4pm, with a slideshow of historic Hay, a display from the Hay History Group Archive, a display by Eric and Tim Pugh, and new research on Llanigon and Clyro from Alan Nicholls.
From 4pm to 5pm there will be a talk by Julian Ravest about his work with drones around archaeological sites, featuring Abbey Cwmhir, Strata Florida and Painscastle.
Anyone attending the History Day is also encouraged to bring their own artefacts and photographs along, and to share their own memories of Hay.
I was sorry to hear that Geoffrey Meadon died a few days ago. He was well known around Hay, most recently zipping up into the centre of town on his mobility scooter from the alms houses where he lived.
I first knew him when he lived in the flat over Hay Deli (now Eighteen Parrot - the Deli moved into larger premises across the road). This was the same flat that was occupied by a police marksman during the infamous dentists' siege about thirty years ago - the dentists' surgery was across the road back then.
Before I came to Hay he was involved in running the Performing Arts Bookshop, and of course he had dealings with Richard Booth during the early days of Hay as a Book Town.
I only heard that the wake was happening about an hour before it started, so I went down to Kilverts with a couple of colleagues straight from work. I slipped away before they started showing the slide show/film of Geoffrey's life, though. A good crowd had gathered, and there was a spread of sandwiches and other nibbles in the back room.
I went up to the cash machine to see if there was any cash in it yet this evening - and cash is still not available.
It's getting beyond a joke now.
When I was in Hereford, I walked through the market hall to see if the Gwatkin Cider stall had any mead. They didn't, but I did notice Charcuterie-Hereford, which sells all sorts of salami and sausage.
I've had venison before, but I'd never tried beaver! In fact, it's such a rich salami that it's only 30% beaver, the rest of the meat being pork and beef. The enthusiastic young man behind the counter told me that their more exotic meats mostly came from Hungary.
The second time I passed by, a week later, he kindly cut a sausage in half for me so I could try the elk - if I'd bought the whole thing I'd be eating it for the rest of the year!
I'm not sure when I'll be going into Hereford again, but next time I want to try the moose!
They also had flyers for Hereford Indie Food festival, on August 27th and 28th. As well as food, they've got a line up of DJs providing music. Daytime entry to the event is £1, from 11am to 5pm, with under 12s free, and the evening tickets are £18 for 6pm till late (includes daytime entry). In the evening it's music plus street food and beer, and during the day there are produce stalls. Shepherds Ice Cream and Wye Valley Brewery will be there, as well as the Beefy Boys, Hundred House Coffee, Ludlow Gin and lots more.
I'm sorry I missed this, but I only noticed it was happening on Friday, when I saw the sign at the top of Cusop Dingle, and the last performance is tonight, free, but you have to book a ticket through their website at www.haytheatre.co.uk
Hay Theatre Company have been putting on performances of Alice in Wonderland around Cusop Churchyard, and it looks like it was a lot of fun. The costumes look brilliant!
Back at the end of July, they held a Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Llangoed Hall, too.
One of the few things I know about people in Afghanistan is that they like to fly kites.
Today, from 10am to 3pm, there's a workshop at Hay Castle to make Afghan kites and share Afghan snacks and music
It's part of an international event called Fly With Me, to mark a year since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, and to call for equal and fair treatment of asylum seekers. A donation of £3 is suggested for the day.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday 23rd August, Hay Music will be holding their first concert at the Castle. The A4 Brass Quartet, formed from musicians from top brass bands around the country, will be playing from 7pm to 9.45pm, with the bar on the terrace open from 6pm. Tickets are £15, with under 25s £7.50 and under 12 with an adult free.
The bands that the players come from are Black Dyke, Brighouse and Rastrick and Fodens - if anyone remembers that brass band programme that used to be on BBC2, Top Brass, they were some of the best bands featured.
I went up to the Craft Centre yesterday, full of optimism, to get some cash out of the ATM - and it was empty again.
I do hope they get this sorted soon. We're in the middle of the holiday season, after all, when demand is likely to be higher.
Somewhere around twenty five years ago, I was given a second hand record player to play my collection of vinyl. Just before I moved house, the record player died, and I decided to wait until I'd moved to get a new one, so I'd have one less thing I needed to move.
So last week I headed into Hereford, and walked out to Currys. The cheapest turntable they had was £89, but the sales assistant refused to sell me one because they only had the display model left. I think he was hoping I'd buy something more expensive, but I just shrugged, said I'd have to wait a bit longer to listen to my records, and left.
There's a secondhand electrical place on Eign Gate (I got my camera from there) but they didn't have any turntables in stock.
I wasn't sure where else to try when I came out of there - until I looked across the street at a shop which sells vintage stuff, and there was a turntable on display in the window. It was in a bright red carrying case, and it cost me £25. All I needed to do was to buy a lead to plug it in (and the nice young man assured me that, if it didn't work, I could bring it straight back).
So the next day I went to see Tim Pugh, on the Pavement, and he sorted me out with the correct lead. The built in speakers don't seem to work very well, but I had free standing speakers which plugged in the back and work just fine - and for a lot less than £89!
