Dydd Sant Dewydd Hapus

 

Happy St David's Day

(seen on Heol y Dwr)

and a bonus slope covered in snowdrops from Cusop Dingle, because I missed posting the first snowdrop of spring this year.

Repair Cafe

 

I wandered along to the Sports Pavilion to see what was going on with the Repair Cafe yesterday.  There were several people in the room, sitting at tables with various small electrical appliances and I saw one lady leaving with an upright vacuum cleaner.  

The next Repair Cafe will be at the end of March and they have a Facebook page called Hay Repair Cafe.

Small Business Saturday

 

Kutz Barbers has moved from the Blue Boar to the shop near the Clock Tower which was most recently occupied by Wye Fret guitar shop.  There are rumours that Wye Fret will be moving to a larger premises in Hay - I'll be keeping an eye out for them.

Borderlines Film Festival

 The Borderlines Film Festival runs from Friday 4th March to Sunday 20th March, all over Herefordshire.  Most of the films will be shown at The Courtyard, Hereford, and Malvern Theatres, but there are twenty venues, from Brilley Village Hall to Presteigne Assembly Rooms - and Booths' Bookshop Cinema.

They will be showing three films:

Hive, on Friday 11th March, is about Kosovan women starting a business together.

Benediction, on Saturday 12th March, is about the life of Siegfried Sassoon, the First World War poet, including his love affair with Ivor Novello the song writer and actor in the Roaring Twenties.

and Compartment No. 6, on Sunday 13th March, is set during a winter train journey across Russia in the early 1990s.

A note in the programme adds that the organisers don't know what the Covid restrictions will be during the Festival, so it's best to check with the venue.  As the Bookshop Cinema is in Wales, Welsh rules apply, which are that face masks must be worn at all times, and members of the audience must have a valid Covid Pass or evidence of a recent negative test in order to enter the cinema.

Michelin Star

 Well, it looks more like a five-leaved clover in the picture, but that's the accolade that Chapters Restaurant has just received.  That's because it's a Green Star, awarded for gastronomy and sustainability.

When Chapters first opened (and gosh, was it really only in 2019?) their aim was to support local producers and small independent businesses locally, with a seasonal menu.  They offer a set menu, to reduce the possibility of food waste (always a big issue for food outlets), and booking is essential - and if there is anything left over, it is either eaten by the staff, taken home to eat later, or as a last resort, put into the compost bin to go to their restaurant garden, which they work with a no-dig approach and a commitment to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  The garden is eight miles from Hay, and includes fruit trees, interesting vegetables (they want to use heritage varieties, and are fans of Jerusalem artichokes), and they don't use chemicals (though they do seem to have a slug problem!).  They have also incorporated wild flowers, and are trying to grow vegetables for winter storage, as they have found it more difficult to source these from suppliers.

They also recycle as much as they can in the restaurant - plastic, glass and tins are collected by the Council, and soft plastics are collected by a company called Capital Valley Plastics, where it is turned into roofing tiles.  Corks from the wine bottles go to Wine Corks, a social enterprise which re-uses the corks and sends a proportion of their profits to charity.

At the beginning of this year they also signed up to the Business Wales Green Growth Pledge, which helps businesses take steps to improve their sustainability

That approach has certainly paid off for them.  The Michelin sustainability award was only created last year, and so far only thirty one restaurants in the UK have been given it, only two of those being in Wales.

St David's Day Concert

 

I'm looking forward to this - good fun, and for a good cause.

Avian Flu

 I got a letter I wasn't expecting a couple of days ago - from the UK Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales!

Apparently, I live in an AI protection or surveillance zone, and they're writing to everyone in the area on the off chance that some people keep chickens in their back gardens  - or other sorts of birds.  They also mentioned pigeons, ducks or geese and game birds.  People who own fewer than 50 birds don't have to register, so if I had been keeping a few chickens they would have no way of knowing.  

I have, in the past, looked after chickens - half a dozen black bantams and a cockerel.  We called all the hens Matilda after real medieval women (Matilda de Braose, Queen Matilda, Empress Matilda, Matilda of Scotland - I don't remember the others) and the cockerel was William de Braose.  But that was many years ago, when I worked for Richard Booth (he also had a pair of peacocks - we called them Darius and Roxanne).  

Because of the outbreak of avian flu, DEFRA needs to know where all the domesticated birds are, so they sent a form to fill in.  People who do not keep birds can also assist, by keeping a lookout for dead wild birds.  They should be reported to the DEFRA helpline on 03459 335577, and there is more information on the website at https://gov.wales/report-and-dispose-dead-birds

Another Casualty of Storm Eunice

 Sadly, Hay Music had to cancel their concert again, as the soloist couldn't manage to travel to Hay, because of the stormy weather.

They are, however, planning a concert on 1st April in St Mary's Church called Miri it is - medieval music for a castle from the Sirinu Ensemble.  This will be to celebrate the re-opening of Hay Castle.

Meanwhile, Storm Eunice seems to have morphed directly into Storm Franklin, and the rain is pelting down again.

Down on the Riverside Paths, the fallen trees have been removed, but it's windy enough for more damage to be done, as the waters rise in the river.

Riverside Paths Closed

 A few trees came down in the high winds yesterday, so the Riverside Paths have been closed until someone can get out to clear them.

I don't suppose it will be done today - the rain is pelting down!

Social Housing

 I took advantage of the sunny gap between Storms Dudley and Eunice yesterday to walk over to Clyro.  A friend had told me about the new houses that Powys County Council are building for social rent.

The County Council have a commitment to building 250 homes for social rent as part of a scheme called Vision 2025.  This is for the whole county, and 13 of them are being built in Clyro.  This is in the area between the Castle mound and the main road - the older buildings in Clyro are on the other side of the main road.

They were due to be finished last August, but Covid has meant that the work slowed down.  They seem to be pretty well along with the building work, though, so maybe they'll be finished by this August.

The homes range from one bedroom flats to four bedroom houses, and they look lovely, with wood cladding on the walls.

I was also pleased to see that the buildings are low carbon and energy efficient.  There are solar panels on the roofs, too.

I would have taken photos, but I forgot to pick up my camera when I went out!

Watching the River

 With the heavy rain over the last couple of days, and more forecast, people are watching the river carefully, especially the Gliss, where cars are parked.  If the water rises much further, everyone parked there will have to move their cars.

Repair Cafe

 Repair Cafes are places where people can bring things to be repaired by volunteers, for free.

A Repair Cafe is being started in Hay, on the last Saturday of every month, at the Pavilion on Brecon Road from 11am to 2pm.  The first one will be on 26th February.

Typically, people can bring electrical items, clothes, PCs and laptops, ornaments and toys, bikes - anything that needs mending.

The Repair Cafe is also looking for volunteers who are good at mending things, from bike maintenance to sorting out a PC, to sewing on a button, to gluing pottery together.

They also have a budget to train people to do PAT testing (that's Portable Appliance Testing, for small electrical goods) - they have funding for one more person to be trained for this.

Tea, coffee and cake also available!

The Repair Cafe can be contacted on hayrepaircafe@gmail.com

Poetry Prize

It's time for the Hay Writers' Circle poetry competition again.

The competition is open to all, with a first prize of £100, and smaller cash prizes for second and third places.

The poems must be original and unpublished, a maximum of 40 lines, and on any subject.

Closing date is 15th March.

The judge this year is Dr Jack McGowan, the Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Head of Department of English, Media and Culture at the University of Worcester.

For full details visit https://thehaywriters.wordpress.com

Art in Brecon for Refugees

 The Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees group are holding an art exhibition at the old Oxfam shop on Bethel Square in Brecon from now until the 14th February, from 11am to 3pm.

They were allowed to use the space by the Brecon Rotary Club - the President of the Club officially opened the exhibition on Friday.  

The art on display is by both professional and non-professional local artists.

Black Mountains Lions

 I hadn't really taken much notice of the local Lions Club before, but it seems I've been missing out on a group that does good work for the local community.

After a chat with their new President, Chrissy, I found a booklet in the Launderette that gives a lot of information about them.  For instance, I'd always thought they were a British thing, but the first Lions Club was actually set up in Chicago in 1917, and spread to the UK after the Second World War.  There are Lions Clubs in 200 countries worldwide, and the set up is very flexible, so they can do more or less whatever they choose to do to help their local community.  They can also work together with other Lions Clubs to help internationally.  

Here in Hay, they have sponsored a guide dog, planted trees at the Doctors' Surgery, have helped with the provision of defibrillators, and they're responsible for collecting old spectacles from drop off points like the Opticians in Backfold to send out to Medico France and Unite For Sight, to be re-used around the world.

They've also got a new initiative in association with Brecon Food Bank.  They have funding to provide £10 vouchers for people who need to use the food bank, which can be spent at a variety of local shops.  The vouchers can be used for general groceries, meat, veg, and pet food, and also go towards things like heating fuel, shoes and socks, and children's clothes - and it's benefitting local businesses, rather than big supermarkets.  The Brecon Food Bank already offer £10 vouchers for Spar to people who need to use their services.

There's a lot of hidden poverty in this area - visitors get the impression that Hay is a prosperous town, and it is, but there are also a lot of low-paid jobs, and it can be very difficult for families on benefits (which includes families with adults who have jobs).  The British Legion also started collecting food to help those locally who are in need when the lockdowns started.

Their website is at Black Mountains Lions Club - Lions e-Clubhouse

Botanical Art

 

A display of books of botanical art from Botany and Other Stories.