Out With the Old!

 

I think my favourite picture from this year has to be this one - the statue of a stag in the grounds of Hay Castle.

Wishing everyone all the best for 2024.

The Return of the Water Works

 The road works up near the Blue Boar to replace the water pipes packed up just before the Winter Festival - but they'll be back soon, bigger and better than ever!

The sign has already gone up next to Belmont House to say that Belmont Road will be closed from the 2nd January.  The trench will be dug all the way down the hill, along Broad Street and down Newport Street over the coming weeks, in sections.  There will be diversions, and all the businesses will remain open.  Occasionally, they may need to cut off the water for a short time, but they will text people in advance to warn them.

Water, Water Everywhere!

 I needed to go into Hereford, to go to the bank and do some shopping.  I bought a lovely pair of pillow cases at the Red Cross shop - but they are square, so I needed pillows to fit them.  Which I did find, eventually, after schlepping round every shop I could think of that might sell bedding or cushions (I knew I was starting to get desperate when I looked at a pile of dog beds and wondered if I could use one of those!).

The bus home was late, and when we got as far as the Golden Valley, I could see why.

There was water running offf the fields everywhere - it was a bit like seeing Herefordshire by canal!

However, we made it through the floods.

When I got off the bus at the top of the car park, Gareth Ratcliffe was checking the drains to make sure they weren't blocked.  He said there was flooding across the Brecon Road, too.

Boxing Day Hunt

 I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the Golden Valley Hunt meeting at the Clock Tower yesterday morning, but I did make sure that one particular fox was safe. (There is usually an announcement before the Hunt sets off that they will follow the law i.e. not kill any foxes. I assume they made the same announcemnt this year):

Basil Brush spent the day at the Cinema Bookshop.  Sadly, we didn't have a copy of his favourite book Basil de Farmer, the Man in Shining Armour!

Christmas Trees at Cusop Church

 The weather wasn't brilliant, but I set out on my traditional Christmas Day walk anyway.

I usually head up Cusop Dingle, and this time I noticed belatedly that there was a Christmas Tree Exhibition at Cusop Church.

There are seven trees in the church, all beautifully decorated, but it was a bit dim in there for me to take any photos.

Outside in the churchyard there had been some changes since I last visited:

I thought this was a lovely idea - it's just outside the main door, under the yew trees.

They've also put in some information boards along the path to the lych gate.  They've been mowing the churchyard to encourage wildlife, and one board showed the sorts of wild flowers in the churchyard, and the other was for animals and birds.  Then, nearest the gate, was a historical information board for the church, and features like William Seward's grave (he was the Methodist martyr who was stoned to death on Black Lion Green in Hay).  There's a booklet about him available in the church, too.

Nadolig Llawen

 

Merry Christmas (this is part of the chained library at Hereford Cathedral).

Christmas Meal in the Granary

 It's the first time the staff party has been in the Granary.  The food was provided by Trigg Food, a gourmet catering company which had taken over the Granary kitchens for the occasion.

I stuck to soup - a creamy winter squash, apple and shropshire blue, which was very nice, while the others went for the pate or the scallops.

The main course came with plenty of vegetables - far too many for us to eat!  I had the turkey, others had beef, and the vegetarian option was celeriac, lentil and mushroom wellington.

The crackers came with paper hats and trivia/things to do questions (how do you mime Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?  But the attempt was made, and somebody got it!).  I'm starting to feel out of touch with the youth of today, though, as one of the suggestions was to hum something by Taylor Swift, and I have never knowingly listened to any of her songs!  

No Christmas pudding for dessert, so I went for the chocolate delice and coffee icecream, with hazelnut praline (I'm not keen on nuts, but I could work round them).  The trifle option included prunes, which I really am not a fan of, and the third option was a cheese board (and I'm not fond of cheese).  Still, the main course had filled me almost to the brim, so that was all right.

The wine and Baileys flowed freely, and we finished with coffees, though the Granary isn't really a place to order spirits, as there was no whisky for Irish coffee and the lady who asked for brandy was told that the bottle had been taken home for Christmas!

Blustery Market Day

 The weather forecast was for high winds, which have, indeed, materialised, so the organisers of the Market decided not to put the stalls out today.

Instead, they managed to accommodate some of the stalls that would normally be on the Square in the Parish Hall, and the usual stalls were also there in the Cheese Market and Butter Market.

There was a long queue across the Parish Hall for the cheese stall!

I also managed to get a lovely piece of mistletoe from the plant stall, who were set up by the war memorial out of their van.

Woodpecker

 I was lucky enough to see a great spotted woodpecker along the riverbank path this morning, before the weather got too bad.  It had the red flash on the back of its head, so it was a male.

Too far away for a photo, unfortunately.

Random Thoughts

 I saw Santa coming down Broad Street on the evening of the 17th - in a trailer pulled by a landrover, with an elf and the Grinch walking in front and what looked (from my high window) like someone dressed as a Christmas tree in the trailer with Santa.  Some people had been waiting by the old bank for them to come, and sang carols while the kids ran up and down.

The Post Office has run out of second class stamps!  But I think I've sent all the cards I need to send now, so I can relax in the run-up to Christmas Day.

I usually do a long walk on Christmas Day, but this year I think I'll just take the next fine day that presents itself - it's far too damp to be enjoyable on a day like today.

Glorious Hay Madrigals

 What a wonderful concert yesterday afternoon!

(and this time I very decadently got myself a glass of red wine before the performance began!)

Before the music began, Michael Eccles said a few words about the Citizens' Assembly he's organising in the New Year.  As recently as the 1960s, Hay was more or less self sufficient in food, and he thinks we can be again.  So there will be a meeting at the Swan on 27th January from 2pm, to discuss local self-sufficiency.  I'll mention it again nearer the time.  The event is free but ticketed, because the space is limited, and tickets are available from bit.ly/HayFoodAssembly

Lucy, one of the founder members of the Hay Madrigals group, announced that this concert was dedicated to the memory of Michael, another founder member, who died two weeks ago.

And the opening organ music by Father Richard was the Shepherd's Farewell by Berlioz.

Then it was straight into some glorious seventeenth and eighteenth century music, much of it in German or Latin (or both) for voices, violins, cello - and there was a keyboard and spinet, and a flute player who sat very quietly until it was his turn to play, when there was a scramble to find him a light to see his score by - it was a candle lit concert, so the performers were using those little clip on lights to see by.  The cello player turned out to be my neighbour - I knew he was musical, but I hadn't known he played the cello!

Buxtehude was, apparently, much admired by Bach.  Perti wrote a rather beautiful setting of the Magnificat.  There was a version of O Dulci Jubilo, and I knew all the medieval carols they sang - Lully, Lully, and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.  They finished with a piece that had a lot of Alleluias at the end.

Mistletoe

 It was such a lovely, sunny morning that I decided to go for a walk along  the Offa's Dyke Path by the river this morning.

By the Wye Glamping always does something with seasonal decorations, and this year they had a small herd of log and twig reindeer down by the table and log seating area.  The bushes along the Offa's Dyke Path are decorated with big Christmas baubles, mostly red, with a few white and gold.

Every time I pass through, I notice some new addition they've made.  This time it was high backed wooden settles on the verandahs of the glamping tents, and I'm sure the fire pits are new, too.

There is no longer a fence between the last glamping tent and the field - the fencing to keep the sheep out, and the gate, are at the edge of the next field along.

I saw an egret flying towards Hay Bridge, and a few ducks sitting on the little island off the third field - not that there's much of an island there at the moment.  The river is just high enough to cover most of it.

And a little further along, I found this tree full of mistletoe:

Don't Miss Santa!

 Santa Claus is coming to Hay!

On Sunday 17th December, Santa will be visiting Hay, Llanigon and Cusop.

He'll start at Cae Pound at about 4.50pm, and head up the Brecon Road to Llanigon.  He'll turn round at the community centre and come back to Hay at about 5.30pm, visiting the Meadows, Birch Close, Wyeside, Warren Close, Gypsy Castle and St Mary's Road.  He'll then head to Castle Street, High Town and round to Bear Street and Heol y Dwr, taking in Booth Gardens and Bookers Edge - then up Broad Street to Carlsgate, turning at the Clock Tower into Lion Street, up Oxford Road to the top of Cusop Dingle and then back round the centre of Hay.

They are raising money for the Hay Summer Show.

I got all this information from Gareth Ratcliffe's page on Facebook.  He doesn't say how Santa will be travelling, but on previous years a traction engine and trailer have been involved.

Christmas Fayre

 Sadly, the main part of the Christmas Fayre, in the square, was cancelled because of weather reports of high winds.  Some of the stalls were accommodated inside shops - pottery in Gay on Wye, tea towels and prints in Eighteen Rabbit, and Artistraw Cider, Pobl Bakery, and some more pottery and perfumes in Chapters Restaurant.  They were also selling their own Penodau Gin, distilled by Hay Distillery for them with their own botanicals.

The brass band, down to four hardy members, was standing by the Castle Gates, where the sound could reach all round the middle of town.

I didn't see the reindeer - I don't suppose they could make it due to the weather either.

The Castle was crammed full, on every floor, with the most marvellous things.  Hand forged goods from keyrings to candlesticks, pottery, jewellery, olive oil and vinegar, prints, sheepskin waistcoats, crocheted shawls, decorative lanterns, and much more.  I bought some wooden Christmas decorations from Laura at Bolgoed Crafts (a heart decorated with bees and sprigs of leaves) and Brittany Davies - she had a range of little shop fronts to hang up.  I bought a Bookshop, of course.

The Fayre is on until 4pm - so I might go round again later!

Hay Madrigals

 One of the many musical events in Hay in the run up to Christmas is this candlelit concert on Saturday 16th December from 3.30pm.  Tickets are £10 on the door of St Mary's Church.

After opening organ music by Father Richard, there will be a variety of music by Buxtehude, Schutz and Perti (who I'm completely unfamiliar with), Telemann (who I have at least heard of!) and medieval carols.  I do like the style of music that Hay Madrigals perform, so I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever they choose to sing.

The concert will be followed by homemade seasonal cakes, tea, coffee and wine.

Wildlife Calendar

 Stewart Roberts, who often posts wildlife pictures on the Hay pages on Facebook, has some of his wildlife calendars in the Red Cross shop at the moment for sale to raise money for the Red Cross.  They're £10 each (and they'd make a nice Christmas present!).

Christmas Post Box Topper

 

Appeal for Children in Gaza

 I went straight from the Hay Forum in St Mary's to the Parish Hall, where the Appeal for Children in Gaza was taking place. 

They were just starting the presentation by Neil Stone, of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine, and about 20 people were there to listen.

I grew up in a Jewish area of Manchester where some of our neighbours had very strongly held views about the State of Israel (they were in favour, obviously), but over the years I've found myself far more in sympathy with the Palestinians, as I've followed what has been happening there.  The videos coming out of Gaza now are harrowing to watch, and despite protest marches around the world the Israeli forces are continuing to bomb civilians, and kill people who work for the UN, journalists and medical staff - and children. 

 There doesn't seem to be anything ordinary people can do to stop the killing, but at least I could buy a few cakes to show my support.

Hay Forum - the Camino Santiago de Compostela

 This is the first time I've made it to one of the Hay Forums, and I had a very enjoyable time.  (The cost was £5 on the door.)

The format was a main talk, with musical interludes and shorter talks, in this case about the famous pilgrimage route the Camino Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain, 800km of mountainous terrain, but with places to stay for the pilgrims scattered along the route very close together, so the walkers or cyclists could travel for as long or as short a distance in a day as they felt comfortable with.

We started with Father Richard playing a short piece on the organ, about the Lord calling Elijah.

Then Pete and Mia started their talk.  Pete cycled the Camino, because he wasn't able to take too long away from his work to do it - it took him about two weeks.  He decided to make the trip because he'd seen a film that included the cathedral at Compostela, with the giant swinging thurible!  Later he showed a short film of the thurible being used during a service, trailing clouds of incense and swinging right up to the roof!  There's a man who has the job of jumping out to catch the chains to stop it swinging.

Mia had no fixed time to walk the route, as she'd just finished University, and was using the time to figure out what she wanted to do next.  She had some awful weather towards the end of the journey, but everyone in her photos - and she had a short video, too - seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Both of them had started off alone, but as Pete said, you tend to meet up with the same group of people for the communal meals in the evenings, because you're all going at about the same pace, and by the end of his trip he was sitting down to dinner with 14 friends.  He also arrived in one town on the day of the annual running of the bulls, where the young men either bopped the noses of the bulls and then ran off to dive behind a protective screen, or had to throw something over the bulls' horns. 

There was music from Father Richard on the organ accompanying Terry singing a version of Ave Maria (I think it was Russian?).  It wasn't hard to learn the words, as it was just Ave Maria repeated throughout.

Then Christina talked about what Christmas was like in her Polish household as a child, and sang one of the carols the family used to sing round the Christmas tree, with guitar accompaniment.  She'd dressed for the occasion, too, in an embroidered blouse and waistcoat, and floral head dress with ribbons.

After the videos, Father Richard said a few words about pilgrimage, and mentioned a time when he was a young priest in Cardiff, visiting a school once a week.  He managed to track down one of the children, now an adult, who told him that he couldn't remember the thought provoking questions he asked, but he did remember that all the children loved Father Richard.

I was sitting next to a lady who grew up in South Africa, and she told me that a priest had visited her school when she was a child, too.  "His name was Father Tutu, and he went on to be quite famous!  And we all loved him, too."

Then Lucy from Hay Madrigals sang a piece from the Messiah (which will be performed in St Mary's later this month) with Father Richard this time accompanying her on the piano, and finally he went back to the organ so the whole congregation could sing O Come All Ye Faithful.

And then there were mince pies to take home.

Beehive

 

I should look up more often!  I don't know how long this beehive has been on the Castle grounds, across from the Yoga Studio/Chapel.

County Councils Work Together

 Four county councils along the Welsh Marches have agreed to work together to secure funding support from both the UK and Welsh governments.  They'll also be looking for more investment in the region and exploring ideas for new large projects that will benefit the whole region.

The County Councils are Powys, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Shropshire.  They all have similarities, being mainly rural areas, and I think it's good to see collaboration between the authorities instead of them each competing for funding individually against each other.

The common issues they all have include transport, skills and housing, energy, climate change, tourism, and internet connectivity.  Between them, the four authorities have a population of around 750,000.  For comparison, that's more than Manchester (553,000), but less than Birmingham (1.15 million) and both those cities have mayors who are able to act on the behalf of all their populations, so it should be a good thing for the Marches Forward Partnership to speak with one voice to government, too.

Appeal for Children in Gaza

 I just saw the poster for this event today.

It's at the Parish Hall on Saturday 2nd December, from 3pm to 8.30pm, and the suggested entry fee is a £5 donation.

In fact, it's several events rolled into one.

From 3pm to 3.45pm, there will be a guided meditation with Graham from River Flow Yoga.

From 5pm to 6pm, there will be a presentation on the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine, with Neil Stone, who is a member of the organisation.  There will be a Q + A session after the talk.

Then from 6.30pm to 8pm there will be a screening of a documentary about how violence has transformed the lives of ten Palestinian children after the 2014 war.  There will be a discussion afterwards.

In between these events, there will be art workshops for all ages, including postcard printing with Prints of Hay, a bake sale fundraiser, and stalls with educational literature and information on other intitiatives.

The poster ends by saying there will be zero tolerance of any kind of hate speech, or antisemitism, or Islamophobia.

I'm hoping to get along to at least part of this event.

Enchanted Wales - Cauldrons and Miraculous Heads

 I treated myself to a talk at the Winter Festival, in St Mary's Church.

The speaker was Miranda Aldhouse-Green, who has just written a book called Enchanted Wales, so this was all about the myths and legends of Wales.  She's an archaeologist, and a professor at Cardiff, and I've heard her speak before, at a Pagan Conference.  She was talking about gods in Roman Britain then, and she was fascinating.

This time she brought her own cauldron with her.  Cauldrons are important in Welsh mythology, particularly the one that Bran the Blessed gave to the King of Ireland, which would bring dead warriors back to life (but unable to speak).  In archaeological contexts, they are often found buried with treasure or weaponry inside them.  She also gave a brief outline of the story of Bran, his sister Branwen, and the war with Ireland - when Efnysien, Bran's brother, leaps into the cauldron that revives dead warriors and breaks it apart, dying himself in the process.  Bran is fatally wounded in the war, and tells his followers to cut off his head (miraculous heads are also an important part of Welsh mythology), which continues to converse with them for many years, until he tells them to bury it on the White Mound in London, to protect Britain from invasion.

In the question and answer session, she was asked what her inspiration for becoming an archaeologist was, and she talked about the books of Malcolm Saville, especially Lone Pine Five, set around the Long Mynd in Shropshire (in fact, set so securely round the Long Mynd that a fan of the books used to lead walks to places that were mentioned in the text).  One of the characters finds a Roman spoon in a cave, and that was the moment she decided she wanted to be an archaeologist.

Someone else asked if she'd had a 'silver spoon' moment, and she said she had.  She was a student on a dig in Usk, and she found a Claudian coin (minted during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, so very early in the Roman period in Britain).  She knew that nobody had touched that coin for 2,000 years, until she picked it up again.  It's a very special kind of excitement, and I know exactly how she felt, because I felt it too when I was an archaeologist - mine was a Saxon pot that hadn't been touched since the Saxon housewife threw it in the rubbish pit because it had a hairline crack in it.

Up until that point, the other speaker for the evening hadn't said much at all, but now he took over.  He was the storyteller Daniel Morden, and he was spell binding!  He told the story of Gwion, who stirred the cauldron with the potion of inspiration in it for a year and a day, and accidentally got the inspiration for himself, instead of it going to his mistress's son - which sets off a wonderful chase sequence, with Gwion and Ceridwen changing form again and again, eagle chasing hare, otter chasing salmon, until finally Gwion changes himself into a grain of corn, and Ceridwen becomes a hen and eats him!

"And that's the end of the story!  No!  Stories don't end like that!"  So he went on to tell of Ceridwen becoming pregnant and giving birth to Gwion, who then became the great poet Taliesin.

The last time I heard a really good storyteller like that was Hay's own local storyteller Rob Soldat, who sadly died a few years ago.

Daniel Morden went up to the Castle later that evening to tell more stories there.

Exhibitions at the Castle

 Yesterday I went up to the Castle to have a look at the new exhibitions.

There are three of them.

On the first floor, around the printing press, there are delicate pastel prints by Sue Hunt, done while she was on a residency in Osaka, Japan, at cherry blossom time.

Upstairs again, there's The Humble Mug - hand crafted mugs from a variety of potters, and all for sale.

Then in the art exhibition space is Dark Skies.  The room has been kept very dark, apart from illumination for the photographs, most of which are of the night sky, taken by Judy Goldhill.  There's also a recording playing in the background of ambient noises on the Brecon Beacons during a star gazing session.  Not all the pictures are local, though - one is of the Milky Way above Namibia.  I spent quite a bit of time in there - I like stars.

The exhibitions are all free, but you need to buy a ticket for the Castle to get to them.  They run until 7th January.

As a local, I can get a special discount ticket for £3, which lasts for three years!  I hadn't got round to doing it before, but I did it yesterday.  Unfortunately, they had run out of the passes temporarily, so I'll have to go back to pick mine up.  In the meantime, all the details were recorded with the highest technology - written in a school exercise book!

Outside on the Castle lawn were the tents for the Winter Festival, so I also slipped in there to look at the Festival bookshop, and came away with Sacred Britannia by Miranda Aldhouse-Green, who I was seeing later that afternoon.  She was talking about Welsh legends, but this book is about the gods and rituals of Roman Britain.

Winter Festival Weekend

 The lights were switched on very successfully last night - the square was packed full of people, there were two traction engines with trailers (and Santa) and a fire engine, and the edges of the square were lined with food stalls and stalls with local beers and ciders.  In the Buttermarket, the school was raising money with tombolas, and there was a bucket collection for the Christmas Lights.  There were choirs on the Castle steps, and George the Town Cryer was up there too.

I don't watch TV, but I understand that this year's celebrity, Hamza, was on Strictly Come Dancing.  He seemed happy to be doing the honours.

Several shops around town opened late, too, from Oil and Oak at the end of Castle Street (which was blocked to traffic for the evening) to the Childrens Literature Laboratory by the Buttermarket, so I had plenty of opportunity to do a bit of Christmas shopping, too.

And today, the Fairtrade Fayre is in the Buttermarket, with usual stalls Love Zimbabwe and Tools for Self Reliance, Zaytoun selling Palestinian olive oil and nuts and other foods, jewellery from Timbuktu, cakes from Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, and more.

Tomorrow, Hay2Timbuktu are running fund raising events at the Globe.  Tickets are available from the Poetry Bookshop.

There's Welcome to Wild Town! a poetry show for kids with AF Harrold; The Star Whale, and interactive poetry and painting adventure with Nicola Davies and Petr Horacek (I'm sorry - I can't do the accents on his name); and Jackie Morris and Cathy Fisher will be in conversation with Nicola Davies about the making of the picture book The Panda's Child.

Facebook Tutorial

 I've had a couple of conversations over the last week or so with people about Facebook, and both of them seemed to think that Facebook was a really scary place.

That may have been true once, but honestly, these days Facebook is one of the safest social media sites in existence.  All the ranty people seemed to move to Twitter, and the youngsters do TikTok or Instagram (and the wierd people do Tumblr - I like Tumblr!).

I find Facebook invaluable for local community information.  If you follow the Hay on Wye Community Notice Board page, you can find out about local events, or someone will post about a lost dog and a couple of hours later it will have been claimed by the owner, or you can ask what's happening about the roadworks, or see vintage photos of Hay.  The Hay Woodland Group posts information about the path by the river and the Warren, and wildlife photos.  

I also keep in touch with friends in different areas of the country through Facebook, and I follow pages about archaeology and books and Star Trek and Doctor Who, and some of my favourite authors like Dorothy Sayers or Ben Aaronovitch or Mary Stewart. 

*

If you haven't tried Facebook before, you first have to join the site (as usual with these things, you need a password).  Once in, you have a Feed, and your own Home Page.  Both of these will be empty to start with because you haven't posted anything, and you haven't made any friends yet.  

So you start to search Facebook (there's a handy little search bar at the top of the page).  Facebook will also suggest people or groups that you might know or be interested in, and you can look at those or ignore them as you choose.

For local information, I recommend:

Hay on Wye Community Notice Board. 

(there are also pages for Talgarth, Clifford, Cusop, Llanigon, Three Cocks, Hay and Brecon Chat, Glasbury and so on).

Hay Woodland Group

Hay Pride

Hay Castle Trust

St. Mary's Church, Hay on Wye

Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe News and Updates

The Globe at Hay

Fairtrade Hay

Hay Music

Richard Booth's Bookshop Cinema

Stuff for FREE in Hay on Wye and Surrounding Areas 

(I was going to include a Hay Library page, but none of them seem to have updated recently).

There are more, but I think these are plenty to get started with.

Once you have some of these, you'll probably see the names of people you know posting there, and you can ask them to be your friend by hovering the cursor over their name and then clicking on the box Add Friend.  When you do this, you see all the things they post on your Feed, and you can make comments if you like.  If you post something, then your friends will see it on their Feed, and can chat about it with you.

You can also send and receive private Messages that are not seen by anyone other than the person you want to contact.

If you see something you don't like, you can block that person so you never see anything they post again, or you can Unfollow them.  You do this by clicking on the three little dots on the same line as their name.

And that's really all there is to it.

Events at the Castle

 Three exhibitions are opening at the Castle on 24th November, just as Hay Winter Festival starts.  

The Humble Mug brings 150 mugs together from a variety of potters.

Dark Skies is a photography exhibition by artist Judy Goldhill.

And Reflections is a range of etchings made by artist Sue Hunt, when she was in Osaka, Japan for cherry blossom time.

Then on Saturday 2nd December at 7.30pm, Maritimum Wind will be playing Christmas music, with mulled wine and mince pies.  The concert costs £12, or £5 for a child, and 10% of the ticket price will be going to Shelter Cymru.

And on Saturday 9th December, it's the Hay Christmas Fayre, with 30 stalls in the Castle and the rest in the Memorial Square and surrounding areas.  There'll be over 100 traders altogether, with mulled wine, street food, carols - and a reindeer!  The perfect time to get those last minute Christmas presents!

Jo Lord's Pottery at North Books

 I stopped in at North Books on Saturday to have a look at Jo Lord's display of pottery - and came away with a lovely blue jug.

While I was there, I had a look at the bookshelves.  North Books sells new books, and I was pleased to see the Neil Gaiman Reader there, as well as Mary and Bryan Talbot's graphic novel Rain (it's about climate activists in a Yorkshire village).  There were also some picture books telling stories from the Mabinogion for children.  So that gives a general idea of the sort of books they stock.

Brave Potatoes

 The other night I didn't feel like cooking, but I did feel like some Brave Potatoes - or patatas bravas, one of the dishes in the tapas menu at Tomatitos.

It was quite a busy evening, but they found me a table in a corner where I could read my book in peace (Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt - a look at the history of space flight through the women who worked at JPL and Nasa).

I paired my brave potatoes with pork meatballs, and that was quite enough for a light meal, and had a half of the Lucky 7 Sipa which was on tap (a bit on the 'grapefruit juice' end of the beer taste scale, but refreshing, and went well with the meal).

It made a nice change to my routine - I must do it again soon.

Roadworks

 Welsh Water have packed up for the moment, and Belmont Road is open again - but they'll be back to dig their trench along Broad Street in January.

Meanwhile, there are still traffic lights on the bridge at the end of Cusop Dingle, where they seem to be completely re-building the bridge over the stream.

No Boots in Hereford

 Well, there are plenty of boots in Hereford, but none of them were what I was looking for - and I went into every shop that sold boots!

I thought it would be fairly easy to fulfill my requirements - I needed a pair of light brown, tall boots with a low heel.  I didn't care if they had zips or laces or were pull on.  They could be plain or decorated.  The important thing was light brown, and low heel.

I'd tried in Hay, first of all.  There's a lovely pair of boots in Golesworthy's that I tried on, but they were obviously made for someone with stick-like legs, because I couldn't get the zip to fasten all the way, and I don't have fat legs.  I just have healthy calves from doing a lot of walking.

So I assumed I'd have more choice in Hereford - and I was wrong.  There were plenty of black boots, and a few dark brown boots.  The only boots that came even vaguely close to what I was looking for were either nearly thigh length (which would just be silly) or, again, too narrow for the zip to fasten.

So I came home, logged onto ebay, and found a suitable pair for a reasonable price in two minutes.

No wonder our shopping centres are dying!

Muffins

 Just by chance, on Thursday, I passed Bernie's cake stall in the Cheese Market when there was only one pear and chocolate muffin left.  It looked lonely, so I took it home, and it it probably the best pear and chocolate muffin I have ever had in my life!  All of Bernie's cakes are highly recommended (and I'll be back soon for more).

Lots of Music Everywhere!

 I'm coming the the realisation that the Christmas season is almost upon us, and there are all sorts of concerts planned in Hay.

Hay Music have got the choir of Clare College, Cambridge in St Mary's Church on Wednesday December 6th, at 7pm.  Tickets are £20, or £10 if you are under 25.  They will be singing a wide range of carols from around Europe, a mix of medieval and modern (one of the modern ones is the Shepherd's Pipe Carol by John Rutter, which I learned at school), familiar and unfamiliar (Ding, Dong, Merrily on High to O Magnum Mysterium).  It looks as if it's going to be a really good evening.

Before that, on Saturday 2nd December from 10.30am, Father Richard will be giving an organ recital with a retiring collection in aid of the church.  Tea and coffee will be available. 

Later that afternoon, at 3.30pm, Hay Forum will have a talk about the Camino de Santiago, the great pilgrim route across Spain, with music from Terry and Christina Watson, Catherine Hughes, Father Richard and Lucy Green Ford, ranging from Polish carols with guitar accompaniment to a Bach organ solo, a Welsh carol and a piece from the Messiah.  Tickets are £5 on the door and there will be mince pies and sherry.

On Sunday the 3rd December at the Globe, the Hay Shantymen will be singing from 6.30pm.  Tickets are £10 online and from Flow on Castle Street.

On Saturday 9th December at 7.30pm, the Hay Community Choir are doing the Messiah at St. Mary's (part one, the bit with the Halleluiah Chorus) along with Clyro School Voices and children from Hay School.  Tickets are £10 from Hay Deli and on the door, and there will be a licensed bar.

Also in St. Mary's, on Saturday 16th December from 3.30 to 4.30pm, Hay Madrigals will be performing a mixture of Christmas and non-Christmas songs, beginning with an organ recital by Father Richard.  Tickets are £10 on the door, and there will be tea, coffee, wine and cakes afterwards.

Jo Lord at North Books

 Jo Lord will be selling her pottery at North Books this weekend - on Friday from 5pm to 7pm and on Saturday from 10am to 6pm.  She isn't making her mugs, jugs and bowls to sell any more, so this is a Last Chance to own some of her lovely pottery.

Lunch at the Felinfach Griffin

 I thought this weekend was going to be uneventful, until a friend invited me out for lunch at the Felinfach Griffin.

It's easy to get to by bus, which is one advantage, so we got there in plenty of time for our booking at 1pm, with the next bus due back to Hay at 16.09, which gave us plenty of time for a leisurely lunch and a short walk around the village afterwards.  Felinfach is not far outside Brecon.

We have both been members of CAMRA over the years, so it was important to find out what real ales were served.  Neither of us had noticed anything on their website, but we found Butty Bach on pump, along with Monty's MPA (a pale ale) and Monty's Navigation, which is apparently the official beer of the Shropshire Union Canal Society!  We tried both the Montys, and preferred the Navigation, which is also pale, but not quite so pale as the MPA.

The wine list looked interesting - one of the titles on it was something like "Wines We Think You Should Know About".

There were also two lunch menus - a main one with starters at around £9.50 and main courses at around £20 (the duck looked interesting), and a Lunch For Less menu with two courses for £20 and three courses for £25, and two choices in each category.

We went for the main course and sweet from the Lunch For Less menu - squash risotto and lemon posset.  Both were delicious, and the lemon posset had ginger crumbs and a raspberry cream and a bit of honeycomb on top as well.

We followed that up with a pot of filter coffee.

The dining room was busier when we arrived!

View of the pub from the bus stop - the bus turns off the main road here, and turns round to go out to the main road again at the bus stop.  This is the old main road which used to carry on up the hill, but was blocked off when the new road was built.

There's also a little veg stall outside the pub - they grow a lot of their own produce.  I got some sprouts.

The pub also sells some of Adele Nozedar's foraging books, from a dresser by the front door.

There were some postcards too, of the other pubs in the group of three that the Griffin belongs to - the other two are both in Cornwall.

We went for a little walk up the hill, past Felinfach's other pub, the Plough and Harrow, until we had a good view of the Black Mountains.

Back at the bus stop, the first bus that pulled in was going to Brecon.  This was followed by a T4 that was going to Builth Wells, and finally the Hay bus arrived.  A red kite flew over quite low while we were waiting.

It was a really lovely afternoon out, and I'm very grateful to my friend for suggesting it!

Linen Basket

 When I moved house, the one thing that the removal men broke was my plastic linen basket - which was old and brittle anyway so it didn't matter.  Everything else about the job they did was absolutely brilliant.  So I got a temporary Big Laundry Bag from Country Supplies until I could find something better.

In the last week or so, I started looking for a wicker linen basket to fit in the small space in the bathroom by the sink.  The prices at Jones' were a bit of an eye-opener, but they were too rigid for my purposes.  There was nothing quite the right size in Country Supplies.  

So on Thursday I went to the lady who sells baskets and sheepskins on the market, and she had just the thing.  Not too rigid, and with sturdy leather handles.  It's not wicker exactly, more a sort of woven grass, I think, and it fits the space perfectly!

Remembrance

 

A very clever post box topper saying "Lest We Forget", at the gold post box opposite the Blue Boar.  I love the way the wool matches the post box so well, while also looking like a First World War uniform.

And poppies seen around the Castle a few days ago.

I think the stall selling poppies is still there outside the Castle.

Cult Cinema - Spaghetti Westerns

 The first Cult Cinema evening (Horror for Hallowe'en, featuring the Evil Dead) was such a success that they're doing it again.  This time the theme is Spaghetti Westerns, on November 25th from 6pm at the Parish Hall.  Tickets are £5 and I hear that the popcorn is awesome!

I had thought that I could go, and wear my Wild West costume - but it's the same evening as the Winter Festival event I've already got a ticket for, in St Mary's. 

Repair Cafe

 The Repair Cafe will have a stall in the Buttermarket on Thursday (must remember to take my kitchen knife down to be sharpened!).

Winter Coat

 The elderly Barbour that I picked up in Oxfam some years ago for £10 finally became too scruffy (and no longer waterproof) for me to wear, so I was in need of a new waterproof winter coat.

My first thought was to splash out on a brand new coat - but then I saw the prices in Rohan, and the vintage coats in Bain & Murrin suddenly became a lot more affordable!

So now I am the proud possessor of an Austin Reed waxed jacket, from the men's rack, for just under £100.  It'll last me for years, though, and it even has a hood hidden underneath the collar.

And while I was there I spotted a pair of blue Converse canvas shoes, with white paint splashes as decoration - they go very well with my denim skirt.

Baaadflockers

 I forgot to count the 'a's, but there are a lot of them!  New sheep themed tshirt shop (and socks and other stuff) on Castle Street next to the Flaming Lady.

(and it's three 'a's!)

Rainbow

 

There are some advantages to living high up - this is one of them!  I took this last week, in the aftermath of Storm Babet.

Saturday Job

 Hay Cinema Bookshop is recruiting!  (which means, after 15 years, I won't be the New Girl any more!).

They need a Saturday receptionist, to work from 9am to 6pm.

For further details, please ring Deb Clark on 01497 820071.

Maureen Richardson Retrospective

 Larchwood Studio at Racquety Farm are hosting a special exhibition to celebrate 70 years of Maureen Richardson's work.  She's a paper maker - which is a very basic description of what she does.  She has learned techniques in Japan and Egypt, and her paper is a work of art.  And as well as being a renowned maker of beautiful paper, she has practiced all sorts of other crafts over her long career.

I only saw the flyer this evening, and the first day of this two day exhibition was today, but they are open again tomorrow from 11am to 5pm, with Maureen hosting the exhibition.  A percentage of the profits will be donated to the Save the Wye Campaign.

You can find out more about Maureen's work at thekilvertgallery.com

Bongo Drums at the Red Cross Shop

 When I went into the Red Cross shop the other day, the manager was sorting out some children's musical instruments that had just been donated - and she was playing a set of bongo drums.  "These are proper drums, not kids' toys," she said.  "I'll have to do some research on what to price them."  

She went on to wonder why people always came in with donations at times that the shop was busy - last week was half term, and some of the volunteers couldn't come in because they were with their families, and they had loads of donations that needed to be sorted through, but almost none the week before, when the shop was quiet.

Then, as I was heading for home, I met Catherine.  I went down to the Bean Box to give her some knitting moral support a while ago, and now she has finished her scarf!  We're going to meet up sometime soon so she can show it to me.

Icons of Hay

 Tails of Wales has a new project - they're photographing local people in Hay with black and white photography for a new book.  If anyone would like to be involved, the details are on their website at https://www.tailsofwalesdogphotography.com/iconsofhay

They've got quite a few already, up on their Facebook page, including Kelvyn Jenkins and The Herefordshire Piper.

Events at St Mary's

 There's such a lot going on around Hay at the moment, it's hard to keep up!  (I completely missed the Quiz Night at the Cosy Cafe last week, for instance).

So, here are the things that are happening at St Mary's over the next few weeks:

On Friday 3rd November, the Sacconi Quartet will be playing, with William Howard on piano, at 7pm.  This is a Hay Music event, and tickets are £20, or £10 for the under 25s.

On Saturday 4th November, from 10.30am to 11am, there's more music - an organ recital by Barrie Magill, the organist and choir master of St Mary's.  This is free, with a retiring collection in aid of St Mary's.

On the Saturday afternoon, from 3.30pm, the Hay Forums talk is on the influence of AI on farming and food production, by David Jones, who is a retired local farmer.  He imagines a world where farms are run from offices and humans lose their connection with nature.  He is joined by Stuart Carter-Smith, from the band Gypsy Fire and jazz violinist Ben Holder.  Also performing are Christina Watson, accompanied by Steve, violinist and member of Hay Madrigals.  Tickets are £5, and the proceeds go to people in need in the local community.

On Sunday 5th November, at 7pm, Helen Ingham will be giving a talk entitled Life on a Wardrobe Truck.  She was a costumer for the British film industry for 25 years, and has worked on films like Harry Potter, Skyfall, Bridget Jones, Downton Abbey, Mission Impossible and many more.  Tickets are £10, and are available from Gay on Wye and on the door, with proceeds going to Hay Community Choir Messiah project fund.

At the end of November, the church is one of the venues for Hay Festival Winter Weekend.  The silent movie Hunchback of Notre Dame, with Father Richard providing organ accompaniment, is already sold out, but there's still a variety of talks to choose from, including Oz Clarke talking about wine, River Cottage Great Roasts, Comfort Eating and for those who are interesting in something other than food or drink, a talk about Spies, Lies and Illusion, Enchanted Wales, and How Our Biology Shaped World History.  Details from the Hay Festival website.

Events at the Castle

 Tonight looks interesting - there's a talk from 7pm to 10pm about the curlew.  Or rather, a series of talks, from a variety of speakers.  Mary Colwell is from Curlew Action, and is also an author.  James Roberts is a local author who has written beautifully about curlews in his book Two Lights.  Rachel Taylor is from BTO Cymru.  Sian Shakespear is from Curlew Life.  Lizzy Daly is a wildlife presenter and Nicky Davies is the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Ecologist.

This week also marks the beginning of Curlew Connections Wales, a project to drive curlew recovery across Wales, where the species is in a state of serious decline.

Also today is a print workshop at 1pm, making pictures of curlews, and a writing workshop from 4pm to 6pm by James Roberts, who is a very good nature writer, so that should be worth attending for anyone interested in writing about nature.

(This is all a bit short notice, I'm afraid, because I've been busy with Other Things, but more details are available on the Hay Castle Trust website).

Also at the Castle, coming up soon, is an African Dance session on Saturday 4th November with Tijesumini Olakojo - there are two afternoon sessions, costing £5, and no experience is necessary.

Then on Friday 10th November, at 6pm, the Cameroonian writer and human rights activist Eric Ngalle Charles will be performing his poetry.  Price is £7.50.

The art exhibition at the moment, which runs until 12th November, is Refugee Artists Wales, with work collected from across Wales by a variety of artists including Josef Herman.  A second exhibition shows work from people who are currently seeking sanctuary in Wales.

Hay Cult Cinema Club

 A new cinema club is starting on Saturday October 28th at the Parish Hall.  The idea is to show two cult movies, with popcorn, Polish hot dogs and other refreshments, for £5 entrance fee.

One of the organisers, Lauren Edlin, is from Indiana, where her family own a cinema, so the popcorn will be authentically American, in six different flavours!

They aren't able to tell anyone what the films will be, but they do say that the first film will be a 15 rating and the second film will be X rated.  The doors open at 6pm, and tickets will be available on the door.

They're hoping to make this a regular thing.

Bronllys Well Being Park Petition

 The committee of Bronllys Well Being Park are trying to get signatures on a petition to get on the Senedd's Petition Committee Official Agenda - they need 250 signatures and have just over 100 so far.  They want the Senedd to consider the benefits of their plans for the Bronllys Hospital site, which includes community housing, environmental projects, improved health care facilities, leisure and arts facilities and more.

In the future they will be looking for 10,000 signatures on a petition to make sure they get a Senedd debate on the project.

[Edited to add: the link to the Bronllys Well Being Park website is on the sidebar]

Crafts at the Library - Cornel Grefft

 There's now a Crafts Corner at the Library on Monday afternoons from 4.45pm to 5.45pm.  The first session is on Monday 23rd October.  The idea is for people to take their own craft projects along to be crafty in company.  For the first session, the organiser will have some knitting and crochet patterns for poppies for Remembrance - any extra ones will be passed on to the British Legion for their fundraising.  The session is free, but donations are appreciated.

Chrissy Williams has Died

 I was in the Post Office yesterday when the ladies there were talking about this, and saw it confirmed today on Facebook.

I first met Chrissy Williams when she joined the Stitch and Bitch group, when she first came to Hay - she liked knitting in bright colours.  As she settled in, she became a leading light in the local Lions Club, enthusiastically fund raising and looking out for new members.

She had health problems, but she was looking forward to moving to Hereford.  Sadly, she had only just moved when she died.

Mac Eager Retires

 Mac Eager has been working for the Council around Hay for thirty five years, and now he has decided to retire.  He's the one who has kept the bins empty, and the gutters swept, and all sorts of odd jobs done around the town.  At the moment, he is training his replacement, Stephen, to take over when he goes.

Over the years, Mac has been Citizen of the Year, and has turned on the Christmas Lights.  He was also chosen to go down to London to attend the Westminster Abbey Carol Service in 2021.

Thanks to Haydn for the photos!

Welsh Water Digs up More Road

The replacement of water pipes is continuing, and the trench is now being dug from the Blue Boar to Red Indigo, meaning that Belmont Road and Castle Street are closed to traffic.

Edward Wakeling

 I was sorry to hear that Edward Wakeling had died - his funeral was today.  He lived in Clifford, and was a renowned expert on Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland.  

He was the chairman of the Lewis Carroll Society for many years, and also wrote books about Lewis Carroll and he had a comprehensive collection of Alice books.  When I worked for Judith Gardner at the Children's Bookshop, she always tried to keep a good selection of Alice books in stock, as Edward would come in regularly with guests from around the world.

Happy Bookshop Day!

 

Repair Cafe

 The Repair Cafe was in the Buttermarket today.  Usually, they are in the Sports Pavilion on Brecon Road.  The chap I talked to said they might try the market again - if so, I have a couple of knives that need sharpening.

Ludlow Castle

 In all the years I've lived in Hay, I've never made it into Ludlow Castle, so I decided that yesterday was the day.

Not wishing to get up at the crack of dawn, I took the 9.50am bus into Hereford.  This meant that I had about an hour to wait for the train to Ludlow.  I could have done a bit of shopping, but there was nothing I really needed to get - so I was on the platform when the steam train came through!

So that was fun!

The Manchester Piccadilly train was about ten minutes late, but the journey to Ludlow was a smooth one.

I had been to Ludlow many years ago, but I didn't remember the layout at all.  Fortunately, there is good signposting from the station, and I found the castle quite quickly (unlike Abergavenny, where I went round in circles for a while before realising that the castle was further down the hill!).

It costs £8 to get in, and I got the 50p guide book.  

I was pleased to find that my archaelogical knowledge hasn't completely deserted me - I spotted the blocked up archway in the wall of the keep straight away.  This was the original entrance to the inner bailey of the castle, and was replaced in Tudor times by the gateway to one side of the keep with a bridge over the moat, which is the present entrance.  It's quite similar to the original entrance to Hay Castle, in fact.

This was a magnificent castle in its day, owned in turn by the de Lacy and Mortimer families and the headquarters of the Council of the Marches.  It was where Richard III's nephews lived before they were transferred to the Tower of London to become the Princes in the Tower, and Prince Arthur visited with his new wife Catherine of Aragon.  The castle and town surrendered to the Parliamentary forces in the Civil War, and one notice I read as I was going round said that this is probably why so many early buildings survive here.  There are something like 500 listed buildings in Ludlow.

I had great fun exploring.  There are fireplaces in the walls everywhere - the place must have got through wagonloads of firewood!

I met the dragon:

I am not a great fan of spiral staircases, but I was determined to get to the top of the keep, too.  The view of the surrounding countryside is magnificent, and there's a pretty good view of the chapel and its new roof, too:

This is the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, which is unusual for having a round nave.  You can just see the remains of two walls leading to the inner bailey wall - this was the chancel, where the altar was.  I was amused to see that the first floor was put in in 1580 - the original nave is Norman - so that the Council of the Marches could attend services without mingling with the lower orders.

After wandering round the castle, I headed off to find a pub.  I always try to find somewhere to have a half on my days out.  I came upon the Rose and Crown, which claims to be the oldest pub in Ludlow (records going back to 1102!) and possibly one of the oldest in England (though I'm sure the Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham would like to dispute that!).  The pub is built around three sides of a small courtyard, and I sat in the Mouse Bar.  This was actually created in its present form in 2016, when they installed woodwork - panelling and cupboard doors - saved from the workshop of the Mouse Man of Kilburn.  He was the chap who 'signed' his work with a little carved mouse.  The pub serves real ale from Joules Brewery, and I had the Slumbering Monk.

They also have an accessible toilet, though I went upstairs to the toilet so I could have a bit more of a look round at the building.

Then I made my way slowly back to the station.

I didn't really have time to do St Laurence's Church justice, but I did find the second St Laurence's Church, built in 1824, when the town needed a new graveyard.  The graveyard is now a haven for wildlife, and there are picnic tables.  The chuch is now a One Stop Print Shop!  Originally this was the site of a Carmelite Friary.

Nearby is the site of a chapel of the Knights Hospitallers, which later became a glovers' workshop, and a little further on up a side street is the Quaker Meeting House.

Near the station is Ludlow Brewery, which does brewery tours, which is something to bear in mind when I visit again.

Back in Hereford, I had to catch the 4.25pm bus again, with all the college students on board, but this time a lovely young lady stood up and gave me her seat.

Secret Garden

 

I was in the Secret Garden on Brook Street the other day, and found this statue of a dog.

It's a lovely, slightly overgrown garden, with seats dotted around, and a swing hanging from one of the trees.

Across the road from the garden, Brook House has a bumper crop of crab apples on the trees in their front garden, and they have signs up asking anyone to help themselves.

Nearly New Clothes Shop

 

Just opened, up from the Clock Tower, near the pet shop - the sign in the window says this is a dress agency.

Trouble in Timbuktu

 There's trouble in Mali again, as two armed groups are fighting for control of the region around Timbuktu.  People from the surrounding villages have fled into Timbuktu, but the town is almost cut off from the outside world, and food is running short.

It's the last Saturday market of the season today, and the people from Hay2Timbuktu and Jump4Timbuktu have a small table where they're collecting money to send whatever aid they can.  They have also set up a page for online giving at https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/campaign/together-for-timbuktu

Money raised will be sent to the Mayor of Timbuktu, so he can distribute it to the people in most need.

Hay Winter Festival

 The brochure is out for the Winter Festival, and today I went down to the Drill Hall to book my tickets.  Miranda Aldhouse-Green is speaking to Daniel Morden at St Mary's Church on Saturday 25th November at 5.30pm about Enchanted Wales: Myth and Magic in Welsh Storytelling.  There were only a few tickets left!

I went with a friend to the Pagan Phoenix Conference a few years ago, and she was one of the speakers there.  Fortunately, she was the last speaker of the day, because she over-ran by quite a bit - she had a lot of slides to get through about Roman Britain and their Gods, and it was all fascinating.  She's also written several books on archaeology and Celtic Gods and Goddesses.

There's a lot of good stuff over the weekend, including Father Richard playing the organ for the silent film The Hunchback of Notre Dame at 8.30pm on Friday 24th November.  This will be after the switching on of the Christmas Lights in the Town Square earlier in the evening, which is always great fun.

There are lots of other interesting guests, and craft workshops, and this year it's all going to be centred around the Castle.

The Winter Festival runs from Thursday 23rd November to Sunday 26th November, and there's an online pass for people who can't be there in person.  For more information visit hayfestival.org/winter-weekend

Civil War and Cider Apples

 The Museum of Cider in Hereford is holding an event on Saturday 7th October, from 10.30am, where visitors can meet re-enactors to talk about seventeenth century food and drink, with a display of heritage fruit.  There will also be a talk in the evening by historian Stuart Peachey.

Talk at the Library

 As part of the regular series of talks at the Library, on the first Friday of the month, this month the speaker will be Françoise Verger.  She will be talking about a picture by Albrecht Dürer, the Great Piece of Turf, and asking if it is a botanical illustration or a work of art.

The talk begins at 2pm on Friday 6th October, and is free.

The Scandal of the UK Housing Market

 Last night I was invited to a book launch at the Swan.  I was asked not to publicise it in advance, because they could only cater for a limited number of people, but it was a fascinating evening.

The book in question is called The Scandal of the UK Housing Market, and is written by local author Henry Charles Pryor. In it he lays out the roots of the current housing crisis in the UK, and offers some possible solutions.  

I'm particularly interested in the subject, because I was directly affected by the housing crisis last year, when I was subject to a no fault eviction and found it incredibly difficult to find another place to live in Hay.  I was extremely lucky to have been offered the flat where I now live.

Nearly everyone I spoke to last night had stories to tell about the difficulties they had faced with the rental market, both local to Hay and in London, though the problems are widespread across the UK.

I haven't read the book in detail yet, but it's only short - 42 pages - beautifully put together by Seza Eccles under the imprint Silent Impressions.  The author was an estate agent for many years, and has also invented a cricket bowling machine which has been used by the England Cricket Team!

[Edited to add: the first printing is now sold out - a second printing will be available soon!]

Dial-a-Ride Needs Drivers

 Dial-a-Ride are looking for volunteer drivers, with their own cars, to take people to hospital and medical appointments, or to the shops or social events.  They get re-imbursed at 45p per mile travelled, and Dial-a-Ride also offers free first aid training for drivers.  DBS, references, and other checks are required.

They can be contacted on haydialaride.com or haydialaride@gmail.com, or phone Lesley Moore on 01497 821616.

Dial-a-Ride is a service for all ages, and their vehicles are fully accessible for any kind of disability.  Membership is £10, with fares for journeys travelled starting at £2, and cares travelling free.  They need 48 hours notice to organise a journey, and the members must live within a 9 mile radius of Hay.

They provide transport for hospital and medical appointments, shopping in Hay, visiting the library, going for coffee with friends, and social trips, and there is a regular Bank Bus to Brecon.  They run a free shopping service into Hay every Tuesday, and can pick up prescriptions on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The Latest from Hay Library

 HOWLS, the Hay-on-Wye Library Supporters, have just put out a new leaflet about all the things you can do for free at Hay Library.

There are books, of course - you can borrow up to twenty books at a time!  There are also books to help to learn Welsh (or English), and 400 books in Ukranian will be arriving soon.  There are also eMagazines in English, Ukranian , Russian and Arabic.  There are apps for borrowing books, or ebooks, and eMagazines.

As well as books, there is computer use and internet access, and you can borrow an iPad for up to 4 weeks.  The library also offers printing and photocopying, and IT support.  In November they are launching a Computer and Web Literacy Course.

Then there are the free events:

Lego Club and Storytime

The Enchanted Hour - adults discussing books

Films and Talks by local authors

Welsh Conversation

Summer Reading Challenge for school children

Borrow a football

Science Boxes for 8 - 11 year olds

Boromi Bags for 0 - 5 year olds with toys and activities

Balance Bikes for 2 - 6 year olds, including helmets (as someone who needed stabilisers on my bike until I was 11, I think this is a great idea!)

Numeracy and Literacy support

And they're planning to start an Art Gallery!

The Library is open on Monday, Thursday, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

HOWLS created a CIC (Community Interest Company) - Hay Public Library.org.CIC - to negotiate a five-year contract with Powys County Council to keep the Library open, and as part of the agreement they need to raise £5,000 a year, so all donations are welcome.  Not only does this money go towards keeping the library open, but to providing all the extra things that the Library can offer.  For more information visit haypubliclibrary.org

The CIC has also launched The Hay Community Resilience Initiative, which is backed by the UN, Welsh Government and Bannau Brycheiniog.  The purpose of this initiative is to find ways to feed the entire town locally, to own our own entire renewable energy supply, and to support mental wellbeing in the face of climate change.

Day Trip to Ledbury

 I decided to take a chance on the rail network working properly this time, and planned a day out to Ledbury.

Quite by chance, I met a regular visitor to Hay on the station platform, who was heading back to London, and we chatted all the way to Ledbury.

It's quite a few years since I stopped in Ledbury, but I remembered the basic layout - it's simple enough, with the main road running through the middle and a cobbled alleyway leading up to the church from the market hall.

On the opposite side of the road to the market hall is a large and impressive block of almshouses - small flats originally built in the middle ages for poor people to live in, and still in use today.  Behind the almshouses is the Master's House, where the chap who ran the almshouses used to live.  Now it has been renovated, and houses Ledbury Library - it's an extremely impressive setting for a library.  The entrance hall is a very grand medieval hall (according to one of the information panels, at one time fencing lessons were given there!).  Work is still going on around the almshouses, so I didn't take a photo - it would just have been a load of scaffolding.

At the Southend of the town is a big black and white building, on the turning where all the main road traffic goes up to Malvern.  This time I was able to get close enough to read the plaque on the wall.  The building is Ledbury Park, and it was used as Prince Rupert's headquarters when he was in the area during the Civil War.

Heading back to the middle of town, I set off up the cobbled alley way.  There's an exhibition going on in the Weavers Gallery called Spaces to Dream, by Stitch in the Middle, the Midlands Contemporary Quilt Group.  The theme is gardens, inspired by a group visit to Packwood House, and as well as quilting there is some delicate embroidery of flowers and grasses.  The exhibition is on until Sun 1st October, free admission, and from 10am to 4pm daily.  It's up a flight of stairs, so there is no disabled access.

Across the alleyway from the Gallery is a little black and white timber framed house called Butchers Row, which houses the Folk Museum.  It was moved from its original location to here, and is full of interesting things - old cameras, musical instruments, embroidered clothes, and a boot bath!  The chap in charge was a fount of knowledge about the local area, and enthusiastic about suggesting other places of interest around Ledbury to visit.  Sadly I didn't have time to visit the Painted Room.  The museum is also free to enter.  There are some very steep stairs to the upper floor.

The Heritage Centre, once the grammar school, was closed - it opens on Thursdays and Fridays.  Beyond that is a fine Georgian house which was originally the Magistrates' Court, and a small park called The Walled Garden. 

At the end of the alleyway is the church, which is enormous, and has a detached bell tower.  There is a free exhibition in the ground floor of the tower about the bells.  They are fund raising for new bells and clock hammers, and are about half way to their goal.  They originally had 8 bells, but as part of their major restoration project they now have ten, and can also use six of those bells as a separate peal.

Then I went round the church.  New since I was last there is a huge painting of the Last Supper, which has been restored and discovered to have come from the workshop of Titian - the faces of the apostles are thought to be portraits of Titian, his family, and some other artists like Tintoretto.  The painting was brought to Ledbury in around 1775 by a local man who had been on holiday in Italy.

There's also some rather striking modern stained glass - three panels depicting the six days of Creation in dark reds.

I did remember the embroidered seat cushions, which are very well done.

At random, I chose the Seven Stars pub for a break for refreshment, and had a half of Ledbury Bitter.  It was quiet at the front of the pub, but they were pretty busy serving food at the back.

I also picked up a jar of local honey at the greengrocers.

Then I headed back to the station, expecting to have a short wait for the 3pm train - but in fact I caught the 2.24 train which arrived at 2.42!

This gave me an hour or so to run some errands in Hereford before I came back on the 4.25 bus.

This was a mistake - the bus was jam packed with college students going home, and I didn't get a seat until Belmont Tescos!

It was a lovely day out, though, and I'll certainly be going to Ledbury again soon.

New Local Business

 

Tails of Wales have been around for a while - they've had a stall on the market selling their photos - but now they have a permanent studio above the British Legion.  Their speciality is dog portraits.

Inside the Cabinet of Curiosities

 I spent this morning wandering round Henallt House, which is the stone house next door to the old Nat West Bank building.  This is a Grade II listed building dating to the late Georgian period.

The whole building has been turned into an exhibition space by Botany and Other Stories.  It's a wonderful building to begin with, full of original feature like wide floorboards, doors and a servant's bell in the hall.  It's also bigger than I thought it was - the exhibitions go right up to the attic rooms - and there's a lovely enclosed garden at the back.

Some of the walls are bare plaster, and some have fragments of old wallpaper - but that sets off the exhibits very well.  For instance, on the upper staircase dried flowers are arranged in the gaps in the walls.  

The two front rooms downstairs are full of books about plants and botanical drawings.  Everything is laid out so that there's something new to look at wherever you turn, but the effect is not cluttered at all.

Under the stairs, there's a tiny schoolroom with little chairs facing a stage.  There's even a little display devoted to Gertrude Jekyll in the back entrance hall, on the way out to the garden.  Other displays mention Darwin and Gilbert White.  There are butterflies on the first stair landing. 

One of the first floor rooms is devoted to weaving and dyeing - a length of linen is accompanied by some fascinating information on bleaching linen (white, or blue-white, or yellowish according to fashion).  Another room has a globe made with dried flowers, and a figure in a blue dress decorated with flowers.  Several artists have work on display throughout the house, and I had a very interesting chat with the dried flower lady.

I recognised some exhibits from the exhibition that was put on in the Buttermarket some time ago, like some of the astronomical pieces, but others were new to me.  There was also a lot of information on cards dotted around the exhibits about what humans are doing to the planet - an explanation of Earth Overshoot Day, for instance, or the melting of the world's glaciers.  There was even some information about the ink used in tattooing in the bathroom (and how the UK is not keeping up with the regulations for various toxic substances that have been passed in the EU).

Quite a few people were visiting the house while I was there, but not enough to make it feel crowded.

The exhibition will also be on tomorrow from 10am to 5pm (and one lady I spoke to said that she'd have to come back several times just to take everything in).

Welsh Water pipeline

 Roadworks have started opposite the Cinema Bookshop - half of the road has been fenced off between the Swan and Blue Boar for the water pipes to be dug up and upgraded.  This means there are traffic lights controlling the three way junction around the Blue Boar corner.  

As far as I know, the works will continue right across Hay, so there will be disruption for some time.  I suppose this will help motorists to keep below the new 20 mph limit!

While work to upgrade the water pipes is to be welcomed, it's a pity that Welsh Water do not seem to be doing anything about the sewage they regularly discharge into the River Wye.

Historic Oxford Road

 When I was sent the email about the Cabinet of Curiosities, they also sent me a picture of what the top of Oxford Road looked like before the bank was built:

I'm guessing that this picture was taken before the First World War sometime.

A Cabinet of Curiosities

 Botany and Other Stories have a new project.  They are turning Henallt House, at the top of Oxford Road, into a Cabinet of Curiosities.  The theme will be Nature.  Having seen their previous exhibitions, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they are doing this time.

The house will be open to the public on September 23rd and 24th, from 10am to 5pm.

20mph in Hay

 There's been some discussion in the Senedd recently about reducing speed limits across Wales to 20mph.  One of the reasons this was being considered was to reduce the severity of road accidents - a person who has been hit by a car is far more likely to survive, or at least have less severe injuries, if the car is travelling at 20mph rather than 30mph, for instance.

 There have been several trial schemes across Wales, and the results were positive enough for the general roll out of the scheme to be agreed.  There have been several petitions opposing the scheme, and the Welsh Conservatives are against it. They say it will cost the Welsh economy around 4.5 billion pounds (but this does not take into account the savings that will be made).

 One of the objections is the cost of changing the road signs and repainting road markings, but Mark Drakeford at the Senedd pointed out that the savings to the NHS far outweigh the costs, as it will save the NHS 92 million pounds a year.

The restrictions are not for every road right across Wales, of course - just the ones that have been 30mph previously, in built up areas with a lot of pedestrian activity.  Hay is one of those areas, and the new speed restrictions will come into force on midnight of Sunday September 17th.  

Brecknock History Festival

 I picked up the leaflet for the Brecknock History Festival the other day, and there are a few things on locally that look interesting.

The Festival runs over September and October.

It's a special year for Brecon Cathedral, being the centenary of the creation of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, and thus also the centenary of Brecon Cathedral being a cathedral - previously it was the Priory Church.  They've got Dr Rowan Williams to come and give a talk on Welsh Cathedrals: Past and Present on 14th September at 7pm, and on Saturday 16th September they're having a Medieval Festival, with food, events and re-enactments.

Meanwhile in Hay, the Hay History Group will be giving a tour of the historic pubs of Hay.  The leaflet says entry £3, but doesn't mention the start point of the tour.  Their website doesn't mention it either, but further information can be obtained from Alan.j.nicholls@btinternet.com

[edited to add: The tour starts from the Swan - thanks, Alan!]

On 1st October, there will be a pop-up museum at Hay Castle from 12 noon to 4pm.

Herefordshire Art Week

 It's Herefordshire Art Week this week, and I'd forgotten about it because I didn't see any leaflets around Hay this year.  Then one of my friends on Facebook told me about someone she knows who is exhibiting as part of the scheme.  Her name is Susan Parry, and her work is part of the exhibition at Warehouse 701, a converted World War I munitions shed near Rotherwas outside Hereford.

In fact, there are several venues around Hay that are part of the Art Week.  Oil and Oak on Castle Street is one of them.

Then, about a mile up Cusop Dingle there are 5Artists Playing With Fire - they are working with silver, ceramics and glass, and they're based at the Old Stables in Cusop Dingle.

Just across the bridge at Raquety Farm there is Larchwood Studio.  Artwork on display includes watercolour paintings, etchings, bentwood sculpture and furniture, willow sculpture and baskets, chainsaw carvings and pottery.  There is also a licensed restaurant, run by the lady who used to own the restaurant at St John's Place in Hay, and three other experienced restauranteurs who live locally.

Meanwhile in Clifford, at the Cowshed, Old Pontfaen, is the Channelling Gallery, where Jesse Eve Watkins has an exhibition of paintings entitled Myth and Magic.

Some of the venues need people to book in advance, so please check the Herefordshire Art Week website at www.h-art.org.uk