A Disappointing Trip to Hereford

 Well, I got the things that I set out to get, so that was fine, but otherwise my trip to Hereford was a bit depressing.

A week or so ago, I was in Hay Market, and I saw something interesting at one of the junk/antique stalls by the Clock Tower.  It's a Chinese (or possibly Mongolian) instrument with two strings - I think it's called an erhu.  I've seen them played and I thought: "It's only got two strings - how hard can it be to learn to play it?"

So I bought it.

However, it needs to be played with a bow, and there was no bow with it.  So I went into Hereford to buy a cheap violin bow from one of the music shops there.

The first music shop I tried is now a tattoo parlour.

However, the party accessories shop a few doors down is still there.  I got my long red wig to cosplay the Demon Crowley there, and I wanted to get a short curly white wig to cosplay the Angel Aziraphale.  They had just the thing, although it's labelled a "Fairy Wig" and has some decorative leaves stuck to it, which I will remove.

So I walked across town to the music shop by the bus station.  By a lucky chance, the chap behind the counter had recently done a stocktake, and found one violin bow.  He also fixed me up with some rosin for the bow, and took a look at the erhu, adjusting it so it was properly tuned.

I used to spend the rest of my time in Hereford going round the charity shops - but there just aren't as many of them any more.  There's a new one about half way down St Owen's Street, by the YMCA, where I got a few things, and one has just opened at the top of St Owen's Street near the church (something to do with helping the aspirations of disabled people), but I still had plenty of time for a half of Wainwrights at the Lichfield Vaults before the bus home.  I was going to go to the Barrels, since I was in St Owen's Street anyway, but it hadn't opened when I got there.

Other shops I'd hoped to visit had disappeared, too - Cult Vintage has gone, so no more silk shirts in different colours, and the cider and cider brandy stall in the market has gone, too.  Shops are also moving out of Maylord Orchards, as the plan is for it to be transformed into a new Library complex.

Anyway, now I've got to rosin my bow and take a look at YouTube for instructions on how to play the erhu!

Opera in Hay

 Hay Music are putting on a special concert, shortly before the Festival.  It's at St Mary's Church on Saturday 13th May at 7pm, and the tickets cost £17.50 or £8.75 for the under 25s, available from the Tourist Information Office opposite the car park.

The National Opera Studio is the leading opera training organisation in the UK, and the performers will be singing music from Rossini, Strauss, Mozart, and others.  Some British composers are included in the programme, like Vaughan Williams and Britten, and they come pretty much up to date with Leonard Bernstein, so it's a vast range of musical styles in one evening.

Repair Cafe

 The Repair Cafe will be at the Pavilion on Brecon Road on Saturday 29th April - they've changed their hours slightly, and will be open from 10am to 1pm.  They will have electrical fixers there, as well as general repairs and knife sharpening, but no textile or clothing repairs this month.

Quilting, Madrigals and Sheep Hurdles

 A busy day at the Castle!

When I arrived at about 11am, the doors to one of the outbuildings were open, and inside people were using draw knives to shape wood into sheep hurdles, as part of the Black Mountains College.

Inside, the Friendship Quilt was laid out on the tables in the entrance hall and I was pleased to manage over a yard of hemming on one side.  The quilters won't be meeting for a couple of weeks now, but there are still a few things to finish off.  Emily said that the quilt may be going on tour - the plan now is to put it on exhibition, and maybe sell postcards of some of the embroidered squares.

In the afternoon, the space where the quilting table had been was cleared, and the Hay Madrigals group arrived.  The hall was full to listen to them.  They had brought a harpsichord and cello with them, as well as singers, and everyone was costumed for the eighteenth century, complete with white wigs for the men.

It's lovely to see the space being so well used.

Muffin the Mule at the Cake Shop

 It amused me to see copies of the new book Muffin the Mule and the Passage of Time on sale at Duggan's Patisserie this morning - I think every bookshop in town was persuaded to take a few copies when the author came round the town.

Madrigals (and other events) at the Castle

 Hay Madrigals will be at the Castle on Saturday afternoon from 2.30pm to 4.30pm re-creating a domestic music making scene with music from the 17th and 18th centuries.  The event is free, and people are welcome to wander in and out.

This will be shortly after the friendship quilting will have finished - that's happening from 11am until 2pm.

There'll be more music on Tuesday 25th April, from 7.30pm.  An Evening of Musick with Mr Pepys costs £20, and is performed by the baroque ensemble Instruments of Time and Truth.  Tickets available through Hay Castle Trust.

Then on Wednesday 26th April there's a talk about Matilda de Breose by Sharon Bennett-Connoly at 7pm upstairs in the Clore Learning Space.  Tickets cost £10 via the Hay Castle Trust website or at the gift shop in the Castle.

On Friday 28th April at 7pm Professor Paul Hill will be talking about colour in the cities of Venice and Florence.  Tickets are £10, and he'll be talking about artists and architecture in the two cities.

For the evening events, entry to the castle is from the gate on Oxford Road, at the top of Backfold, and not up the steps from the Castle Street side.

Cusop Snail

 

                                                                    Sounds intriguing!

Bannau Brycheiniog: an old name for a new way to be

  

A new name (or an old name) for Brecon Beacons National Park (any excuse to listen to Michael Sheen's lovely voice!)

More quilting

 I had a really fun couple of hours in the entrance hall to the Castle on Saturday, hand quilting the lines across the completed friendship quilt.  The embroidered squares are separated by patchwork, and there are flowers and patterns - one embroidery incorporates a small twig that the embroidered figure is standing on - and there's even one of Tom and Jerry!  

Several people stopped to look and chat as we were working, and a couple of people even did a few stitches themselves.  

The quilting group will be back in the Castle next Saturday at 11am for more finishing off.

Friendship Quilt at the Castle

 There's a free event at Hay Castle on Saturday 15th April, from 11am to 1pm.

Emily Hedges organised the sewing of squares for a quilt over lockdown.  The theme is friendship, and the idea grew out of a sewing group at Welcome Days organised for asylum seekers by the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees group.  The individual embroidered squares have now all been sewn together, but the quilt needs to be finished off, which is the project for the event.  The quilt will eventually be sold to raise funds for the group in Swansea which supports refugees there.

Back from EasterCon

 Needing a few days of recovery time after EasterCon, which was awesome!!!  My brain is full, and I came back with LOTS of books.  Also, I did two very successful cosplays (my 1940s Demon Crowley was less successful, because the short red wig made me look more like Ron Weasley, so there are no photos of that).

So here is the Demon Crowley from Good Omens, and a UNIT soldier from 1970s Doctor Who (they're the part of the British Army that fights alien invasions):

A Short Hiatus

 I'm having a little break over Easter - but I'll be back blogging after Easter.  Here's a vintage car seen on Lion Street:

Remembering April Ashley

 There's a free event at Hay Castle on Wednesday 5th April, from 12 noon until 3pm, for anyone who has memories of April Ashley, the trans pioneer who used to live in Hay.  There will be films, photos and so on.

(I'm sorry I'll miss it - I met April Ashley a few times when she stayed with Richard Booth).

New extension in the Blue Boar

 After the HOWLS AGM, a few of us went for a drink at the Blue Boar, and I saw inside the new extension they added for the first time.  It's lovely, with a big stone fireplace, and stone flagged floor and panelled walls.  It used to be a little shop that they rented out, and they opened up an entrance to it from the main bar.

There was already a group sitting at another table, and they apologised to us in advance for the noise they were making - Melanie from the Poetry Bookshop was there, and Julie the Welsh Girl, and they weren't really loud, just enjoying themselves.

A pleasant end to a productive evening.

HOWLS AGM

 HOWLS - the Hay-on-Wye Library Supporters - haven't had an AGM since 2019, so it was nice to see that eleven people turned up, including the Library CIC President Barbara Erskine (one of our local famous novelists).

Due to the Treasurer moving away, there was a bit of a re-shuffle of the committee, so Anita Wright is now the Treasurer, Janet Robinson is Chair, and I am Secretary.  There isn't a lot to do at the moment, but we all agreed that it was best that HOWLS continues to exist, to keep an eye on Powys County Council, just in case we have to spring into action to save the library again.

The main responsibility at the moment lies with the Library CIC, and Michael Eccles gave us a run down of what they have been doing.  They are the body which negotiated with the PCC to keep the library open with the present hours and resources, and they contribute £5,000 a year to the running costs of the library, raised mainly by standing orders from local residents.  Hay Festival used to contribute to the library, but they are having financial problems of their own, and the personnel has changed since they agreed to the annual donation.  The CIC is looking for more people willing to make a standing order.

The CIC also has a vision of what the library can become in the community, which includes it being a hub for local community projects such as increasing local resilience in the face of climate change.  Michael has been active in trying to organise citizens' assemblies, which fit in well with the educational remit of the library.  He was at the last Climate Club meeting talking about this, too.  

So he's interested in three things: 

1. Can Hay secure its own supply of electricity?

2. Food security - this involves organising a contract between local farmers to grow the food which local people/businesses will buy.  There are already several groups working with self sufficiency and reducing food waste, such as the community gardens across the river, Our Food 1200/Ein Bwyd 1200, and Zero Waste Hay, as well as the people who make compost locally and well established businesses like Primrose Farm.  

3. Mental health - there are local mental health professionals who are working to find a way to identify people who are struggling with their mental health before they need to seek medical assistance.  Perhaps this would be because of being aware of the global and national problems in the news but feeling helpless to do anything about them.  Such people could be helped by putting them in contact with groups that are trying to make a difference, such as the groups that are growing food, or cooking meals for the hungry like Chapters and Bethesda Chapel.

Now all the lockdown restrictions are a thing of the past (though the librarians kept working, with their Order and Collect service), groups are starting to meet at the library again.

Story Time started slowly, but is now very popular on Monday mornings (with singing and percussion!)

Welsh Conversation is on Saturdays at 11am and can attract between two and ten people per session.

A Lego club has just started, and it's not just for kids - there was a suggestion that it might be a good activity for people who are beginning to have problems with dementia.

Enchanted Hour has also been popular.  On the first Friday of the month, at 2.30pm, a local author comes in to talk about their book.  This can attract around thirty people.

There is also computer help available on Thursdays.  The library would welcome more computer literate volunteers (or other volunteers).

All of these things show how vital the library is for the local community - and you can borrow books, and even Ipads now!  And there's a coffee machine.