Snowdrop Season

 I've started to notice snowdrops coming up in local gardens - and here are some in the window of Tan Art Gallery:

Blacksmithing Exhibition

 I finally got up to the Castle to see their exhibition of blacksmithing skills, which was absolutely fascinating!

Apparently it all started at Hereford College, which runs a blacksmithing course (something quite unusual in Further Education, if not unique in the country).  The tutor issued a challenge for the students to make something - anything they liked - out of a piece of iron 150mm x 20mm x 20mm.  Which is not very big at all.  Pictures were shared on the internet under the hashtag #150mmchallenge - and it went viral.  Blacksmiths from all over the world started to take part, and post their own pictures. 

This exhibition is the result - there are pieces from all over the world, several from the USA, one I noticed from Russia, and elsewhere, as well as the UK.  The inventiveness is amazing - from tools to revolving structures to works of art.  One piece looked as if the blacksmith had just flattened his rod of iron, until you looked closer to see the anatomically correct heart etched into the surface.  Here are some of my favourite exhibits:

Passport Photo

 I went down to the Co-op to use their photo booth.

I think the last time I used a photo booth, it was in Woolworths - which shows how long ago it was.  I was even worried about whether I'd have the right change, but of course it's all contactless now.

So I waved my card at it.

Nothing happened.

I inserted the card.

Nothing happened.

I wandered over to a cashier, who summoned help for me.  Turns out you do the photos first, and pay at the end (Duh!).

It costs £9 for 5 photos.

The lovely young man pressed all the buttons for me, and then hung around outside the booth while I took the actual photos (you get three tries to get it right) - so he could point out to me where they came out while the machine was printing them.

Now all I have to do is fill the form in and send it off.

Hay Library Story Time

 Hay Library is holding storytime sessions every Monday from 11am to 11.30am.  Stories, rhymes and songs!

This will be every Monday starting from 23rd January.

Back to the Big City

 I was glad to see the new timetable stuck up on the board by the bus stop when I went up this morning, and two more on the bus shelter - with a note that more are available at the Tourist Information Office.

I needed to go into Hereford to pick up a passport renewal form - the young lady at the Post Office was very helpful, and gave me two, in case I made a mistake.

After that, I had a couple of hours to kill before the bus went back to Hay, so I hit the charity shops.  And there I hit the jackpot!

In the Cat's Protection shop there was a box full of LPs and right at the front was something I'd been looking for for years!  To give a bit of context, when I was very small I was taken to a show.  I think it must have been one of the summer shows in Blackpool, and one of the stars was John Hanson, singing songs from the musicals.  I burst into tears, and when mum asked me what was wrong, I said: "That master's singing too loud!"

Later, I discovered that John Hanson was most famous for his role as the Red Shadow in the Desert Song (a sort of early superhero).  I tried to get hold of a cast recording of the songs, but the only one that's easily available stars Gordon MacRae - so I had the songs, but not that Very Loud Voice I was looking for.

And now, for the grand total of £2, I have John Hanson sings 20 Showtime Greats, which includes The Desert Song and The Riff Song (which is hilarious!  "If you're the Red Shadow's foe, the Riffs  will strike with a blow and bring you woe!").

I shall be listening to that later.

Something else I've been listening to in the last few days is the podcast History Hits with Dan Snow, specifically the episode where Kate Mosse talks about her new book Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries.  It sounded fascinating, and when I walked into Waterstones, there it was, marked at half price!  So I was very pleased with that, too.

So, all in all, a successful day out!

Cosy Cafe

 I met a friend this morning for coffee, and she suggested the Cosy Cafe.  

I haven't been in there before, though I did visit the previous cafe at that location once or twice.  Then it was all bright and chrome chairs.  Now it seems very dark from the outside, but once you're inside it's pleasantly dim and, yes, Cosy.  There are more comfortable chairs, and even the tall chairs we were sitting on at the side counter had sheepskin over the seats.

It's table service, and the cappucino was absolutely gorgeous.  It also seems to be well used by locals - my friend saw some other friends who were meeting across the room, and I saw a couple of people I know, too.

I haven't tried any of the cakes yet, but if they're anything like the coffee they'll be lovely.  They also serve savoury food.

Snow!

 

We have snow in Hay!

This picture of the Castle is by Sara Gavin.

New Bus Timetable

 I first discovered that the T14 bus timetable had changed from a regular visitor to Hay from Peterchurch - who had found out the hard way by missing the bus that she usually took.  As ever, the paper signs at the actual bus stops are the last thing to get changed, and when I passed by the Hay bus stop the old timetable was still there.

It seems that everything has been shunted earlier.  For instance, when I need to go into Hereford I have been getting the 10.35am service to Hereford and getting the 13.55 service back.  The times are now 9.43 from Hay (departing at 9.50 - there's usually a short wait there as a bit of slack in the system, in case a bus is held up for any reason), and returning from Hereford at 13.10.  The bus after that is at 16.20, so if I hadn't known, that would have been a very long wait for the next bus.

The first bus of the day from Hay is to Hereford at 6.57 (leaving at 7.03), and from Hay to Brecon at 7.42.

The last bus of the day from Hay is 16.42 to Hereford, and 18.58 to Brecon.

So if you want to get to Hereford after 16.42, you've had it.  I've seen several customers at the Cinema Bookshop caught out by the early finish to the bus services over the years - and getting a taxi to Hereford is very expensive.

Even Higher Floods

 I went out earlier today to take photos of the river.  The first three were taken from the bridge.  The fourth shows the pillars underneath the bridge, and the fifth shows the Gliss, with one stranded car that wasn't moved before the flood waters came up.

Flood Warnings

 It's wet out there.

I saw a short video on Twitter this afternoon of the Wye breaking its banks at St George's Meadows in Hereford, opposite the Koffie Pot.

Letton is, once again, a lake.

And this was the canoe landing stage in Hay yesterday, (thanks to Anne Litterbowski).

If there's any more rain (and it is forecast) it might not be safe to park on the Gliss.

Renewing a Passport

 So I went into Hereford yesterday to do some business at the bank (yes, Lloyds is open again, all nicely refurbished) and I needed my passport as ID.  Fortunately, they accepted it, because it ran out a couple of months ago, and I hadn't got round to renewing it yet.  I'm not planning to leave the country in the near future, after all.

So I thought I'd better get myself sorted out and get the forms for a new passport.

The last time I did this, I got the forms in Hay, and Steve Like took my passport photo under the stairs at the Post Office.

This time, now that the Post Office has moved, they no longer handle passport forms.  I will have to go into Hereford to pick them up from the main post office there (or Brecon, but I don't often go to Brecon).

If I'd known, I'd have picked up the forms yesterday while I was there.  Still, it's pleasant to have a day out in the Big City!

Good News for Bus Passengers

 It's nice to start the year with some good news!

Fares on buses in England are to be capped at £2 until March 31st, to help with the cost of living crisis.  This includes the T14 to Hereford and the 39A Yeomans bus.

There's a full list on the Hereford Times website.

The scheme started on 1st January.