Electricity Cut and Veg Stall Confusion

 

This was the view from my window earlier this morning, as the men from Welsh Water were waiting for the men from the electricity company to arrive to mend the cable.  They had cut the cable while they were digging the trench for the new water pipe because they hadn't known it was there - it wasn't marked. 

So far, they've come along the road outside the Cinema Bookshop, down Belmont Road, and are now heading along Broad Street.  They are going to be digging test trenches at the top of Newport Road in a month or so to find out where the pipes are, and they've had a lady with electronic equipment walking back and forth across the road outside Broad Street Book Centre - where she reported that there were three pipes in different places across the road!  It's a more complicated job than it first appears!

So we were about 3 hours without power at Y Gelli Chambers, which meant that the Old Electric Shop had to close because of the lack of lights.

It's been a day of confusion all round - when I went up to the market, the veg stall had been laid out the opposite way to normal, and nobody was sure which way to queue!  Usually the fruit is nearest to the Cheese Market and the veg is nearest to the Castle, and the queue goes from the onions to the oranges.

Borderlines Film Festival and Weekend of Mistakes

 I've suddenly realised just how close to the weekend it is, and I still haven't mentioned two events that are starting on 1st. March.

The first is at Hay Castle, and it's called Weekend of Mistakes.  It's a series of talks on money, mostly.  The Library of Mistakes is an Edinburgh based charity, dedicated to learning from the lessons of financial history.  The full weekend tickets are sold out, but there are still tickets available for individual events.  There are talks on money-laundering, financial crisis, con artists, banks, the geopolitical ramifications of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the financial plight of Sir Walter Scott - and the Leith Whisky Bubble of 1898!

More information is on the Hay Castle Trust website.

Borderlines Film Festival starts on 1st March, and runs until 17th March, with films showing all over Herefordshire, and as far north as Oswestry!

In Hay, Booths Cinema is showing Monster on Thursday 7th March at 5pm, Blackbird, Blackbird, Blackberry on 8th March at 7pm, La Chimera on Saturday 9th March at 7pm, Snow Leopard on Sunday 10th March at 5pm.

Near to Hay, at Michaelchurch Escley, Tokyo Story is showing on Wednesday 6th March at 7.30pm, and Past Lives on Tuesday 12th March at 7.30pm.

At Brilley, the films are The Eternal Daughter on Thurday 7th March at 7.30pm and Past Lives on Thursday 14th March at 7.30pm.

Monster is a Japanese film with English subtitles, and is described as a coming of age film and thriller.

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry is a Swiss/Georgian production, in Georgian with English subtitles, and is adapted from a novel by Georgian author Tamta Melashvili.

La Chimera is an Italian/French/Swiss production in Italian and English, with English subtitles, and involves a British archaeologist in Tuscany.

Snow Leopard is a Tibetan film, in Tibetan and Chinese with English subtitles, as a family disagrees about what to do with a snow leopard that has been mauling sheep.

Tokyo Story is a Japanese film with English subtitles, about an elderly couple visiting their children in Tokyo.

Past Lives is a US/South Korean production, in Korean and English with English subtitles, and is a love story that crosses continents.

The Eternal Daughter is a Welsh film, starring Tilda Swinton, about a hotel with a mysterious past.

Many films for the festival are showing at the Courtyard in Hereford.  

More information can be found at borderlinesfilmfestival.org

Welsh Architectural Awards

 Hay Castle has been shortlisted for the RSAW Welsh Architecture Awards for 2024.

From this angle, the modern rebuilding looks quite brutalist, but what you can't see are the window shutters that were all individually made to fit, and the etching on the glass panels along the edges of the balconies.  Then there's the art gallery room, and the way they've reconstructed the roof.  It really does work - and it's a lot better than the ruin at that end of the building that they started with!

Lots of Bananas

 This Wednesday, there were boxes of bananas at the Zero Waste stall.  When I went on Friday, one of the ladies in the queue said that there had been so many that they couldn't get rid of them all at the stall, so took them down to the school, where there were enough for every child in Hay School to get a free banana!

Gaza at the Globe

 

There will be an evening of events dedicated to the situation in Gaza and Palestine at the Globe on Sunday 25th February, from 5pm.  This includes talks about the current situation in Gaza, music from Shark Bait Art Collective, Johanna Warren and Charlie James, arts and crafts and meditation from River Flow Yoga.  Also there will be a raffle.

Changes for the Cheese Stall

 This week, the Cheese Stall moved from its usual position with its back to the Castle to the end of Kieran the greengrocer's stall along the side of the market.  He has taken over the running of the stall, so he's now a greengrocer and cheesemonger.  There's only a small selection of the stuff the original Cheese Stall had at the moment, but he's planning to expand.

Japanese Events at Belmont House

 There are two interesting events coming up at Belmont House.

The first is a Sashiko workshop.  Sashiko is the Japanese style of embroidery, usually done in white on a dark blue background.  This will take place on Sunday 25th February, from 1pm to 4pm, and costs £32.  All the materials to make four coasters will be provided, and the tickets are available from Booth's Bookshop.

On the following Sunday, 3rd March, there will be a Hinamatsuri banquet and tea ceremony.  It is Japanese Girls Day, and is open to ladies only.  The cost is £50, and it begins at 6.30pm.  As Belmont House does not have a drinks license, anyone who would like to have an alcoholic drink with the meal should bring their own drinks.

Refurbishment at Spar

 Spar has closed for a major refurbishment this week.

Last night I forgot the date and went in after work for a pint of milk, and the cooler cabinets were already empty (though someone was buying a bottle of wine).

This evening there are lorries from Yorkshire, taking advantage of the closure of Belmont Road for the water pipes to park at the top of the road without any danger of other traffic trying to pass them (though I suppose there might be one or two cars trying to get in and out of Carlesgate).  As I passed, a sort of forklift on caterpillar tracks was lifting a cooler unit into the back of one of the lorries.

It'll be interesting to see how much they change the layout of the store - I remember when the present shelves went in, and it seemed more cramped than the previous layout, though everyone got used to it pretty quickly.

Beware of Toads

 It's breeding time for toads at the moment, being so mild, and there is a danger that they will be squashed on the roads on the way to their breeding ponds.  People have been stepping in to help, by carrying them across in buckets, but drivers should be wary, especially up Forest Road.

New Books in Hay

 My mum sent me a request for the latest book in the series she's reading, and my first thought was that I'd have to go into Hereford and look in Waterstones.

Then I remembered that we now have a perfectly good bookshop selling new books in Hay - North Books on Castle Street.

When I went in on Friday morning, they were in the middle of their weekly coffee and cake session, but I didn't really have time to stop.  I did find the book mum wanted, though.

Update on the River Wye

 There's a full two page spread in the Brecon and Radnor Express this week about the River Wye.

The first story is about the legal case brought by River Action against the Environment Agency.  They are arguing that the Environment Agency has failed to enforce important environmental regulations (which is, after all, its job), and therefore has acted unlawfully.  They also argue that the Environment Agency has failed to protect the Special Area of Conservation along the River Wye from the agricultural pollution that has caused so much of the recent ecological collapse of the river.

The case was being heard in Cardiff, and a group gathered outside the court with Save the Wye banners.  Feargal Sharkey was among the crowd - he was a member of the Undertones, and he's been campaigning for clean rivers across the UK.  Also in the crowd was the ten foot high puppet of the Goddess of the River Wye - and there was a steel drum band.

Much of the pollution which is going into the river comes from chicken farms which supply Tesco with meat and eggs.

The legal costs of bringing the case are estimated to be around £60,000, so River Action have set up a Crowdfunder to raise the money.

On the facing page, the story is about the bid for bathing status for the Warren.  I was at the meeting in the Parish Hall at the end of 2022 where the decision was made to go for this, but the wheels of bureaucracy grind very slowly, so it hasn't happened yet.  Oliver Bullough, who is leading this initiative, makes the point that the bid for bathing status is the only tool the public has to get Natural Resources Wales to test the water in the river regularly (at least between May and September, the bathing season), and to do something about it if the levels of pollution are higher than the legal maximum.  

The bid is supported by Hay Festival, Radnorshire Wildlife Trust and local businesses like the canoeing firm Places to Paddle.

The public consultation runs until February 19th, and there is a form to fill in at 

www.gov.wales/bathing-water-review-wales-2024

Meanwhile in the Hereford Times, the ten foot puppet of the Goddess of the River Wye turned up at the Herefordshire Council's offices in Plough Lane.  She was escorting a container of water from the River Wye to display in the atrium of the building - a reminder of the importance of the health of our rivers, for the councillors to take into consideration when they are making decisions.

Golden Plovers and Other Rare Birds

 Ellie Spencer, on Facebook, shared a post from the Radnor Bird Blog which is quite concerning.

It seems that Powys County Council plan to use some of their "Levelling Up" money to improve the surface of the Monks Trod path up the Elan Valley to make it suitable for motorised off roaders (such as 4x4s and scrambler bikes).

The funds are usually used to improve roads and public transport rather than footpaths across peatland which is home to a number of rare birds - golden plovers nest there, as well as curlew, merlin, ring ouzels and red grouse.

Motorised transport was banned on the Monks Trod in 2002, because of the damage it was causing, but in 2021, motorbikes were again allowed.  The byway crosses a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation, so it's one of the most legally protected areas in the country.  Theoretically.  Before 2021, and the opening up of the byway to motorbikes again, a Habitat Regulations Assessment was carried out by Natural Resources Wales, and they recommended  that the path should not be resurfaced at the moment.

The Monks Trod was originally built by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, so they could walk from Abbey Cwm Hir to Strata Florida Abbey, a distance of about twenty miles.  A blog called Exit Street View describes a walk along the Monks Trod last summer, when the writer took photos of the damage caused by 4x4s along the route - it's a fragile landscape, and the scars linger.  

There is a bothy along the trail for walkers to stay overnight.

There will be a meeting at Powys County Council next week about this proposal, and anyone who is concerned should contact Councillor Jackie Charlton on cllr.jackie.charlton@powys.gov.uk

Hay Pride Events

 Hay Pride are holding a couple of events over the coming weeks.

Queer Rural Connections and Queering the Wye are holding a free screen printing workshop with the Yard Print Studio at the Globe from 4pm to 7pm on Thursday 22nd February and from 4pm to 7pm on Monday 26th February.  Everyone is welcome, from complete beginners to seasoned artists, but booking is essential - contact @queeringthewye for further details.

Piano Music at St Mary's Church

 The next Hay Music concert will be on Sunday 18th February at 3pm.  Tickets are £17.50, or £8.00 for under 25s, and refreshments will be available.

Emilie Capulet will be playing a range of music on the piano, including Claude Debussy, Ravel, Beethoven, and two composers I'm unfamiliar with - Henri Tomasi and Litha Efthymiou.

Then on Friday 15th March at 7.30pm at Hay Castle, the Mikeleiz-Zucci Duo will be performing Contradance, music for accordian and saxophone.  Tickets are the same price as the earlier concert.  The line up of music includes Spanish and Romanian dances, Bach and tango.

On Saturday 16th March, the Duo will be at the Globe from 8pm for Tango from the Globe.  Tickets are £12 or £6 for under 25s.  There's also the opportunity to have a pre-event supper at the Globe's restaurant.

All the details are at www.haymusic.org.

Pro-Palestine Demonstration in Hereford

 I needed to go into Hereford on Saturday, for some Important Business, and I came across a small but enthusiastic pro-Palestine demonstration, complete with samba band and placards calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

It was the samba band I heard, at first, so I wandered over to the corner by the HSBC bank to see what was going on, and had a short chat with one of the ladies involved.  They weren't specifically targetting HSBC - they were doing a circuit of the town centre.  There were a couple of placards naming HSBC, but I didn't get close enough to the people holding them to find out what the bank's involvement might be.  

So I did the things I needed to do, and caught up with them again outside Barclays bank, where I had a lovely chat with one of the chaps involved.  Here, they were drawing attention to Barclays bank's complicity in the situation in Gaza.  To quote their leaflet: 

"Whether intentionally or not, Barclays has helped facilitate Israel's indiscriminate killing of more than 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza."  They are also calling for a boycott of Barclays until the bank ends its support of Israel, and more generally are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

I hope the governments of the world listen to all the calls for a ceasefire, and do something to stop the Israeli government, before even more people are killed (many of them, of course, children - half of the population of Gaza is under the age of 18).

Happy Chinese New Year

 

                                                                It's the Year of the Dragon!

Vampires and Valentines

 There's a special event at Hay Castle on Saturday 17th February, at 7.30pm.  It's a performance by candlelight, in the Great Hall, based on the novella Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu, a tale of vampiric infatuation!  Or rather, the supernatural being in question is an oupire, from Slavic myth, a living being who has been cursed or possessed by evil spirits - but like classic vampires, they have a weakness to sunlight and can be killed by a stake through the heart.

Laura is played by Gemma Aukett

The Book is by Graeme Hobbs,

and the music is written and performed by Dafydd Roberts and John Whatling.

Tickets are £10.

Judith Gardner and the Children's Bookshop

 Yesterday was the funeral of Judith Gardner, of the Children's Bookshop, at Hereford Crematorium, with tea and sandwiches afterwards at the Parish Hall in Hay.

Judith and her husband Bob set up the Children's Bookshop in 1978 (Bob repaired clocks), so they were among the first booksellers to be attracted to Hay after Richard Booth launched the town as the world's first Book Town.  Initially, the shop was in Lion Street, where Addyman's is now, but they soon moved out to a new building next to their home at the Toll Cottage on the Clifford road, where the shop still is today.

Judith's son Colin will be keeping the shop going in the future.  He's been working there for many years.

Some of the longest established booksellers in Hay came to the Parish Hall - Derek Addyman and Ann Brichto were there, and Marijana Dworski came down from Presteigne.  It's a sad fact, which was commented on at the time, that other booksellers who knew Judith well have already died, like Paul Harris (who moved to Spain, where he died), Peter of Boz Books, and some of the original staff of Booth Books. 

Deborah Rose in Concert

 Deborah Rose is the lady with the beautiful voice who has sung at Hay Forum a couple of times.

She's holding a concert at St Mary's Church on Saturday 24th February, at 7pm.  Tickets are £10 in advance and £12 on the door, tickets available through Eventbrite (there's a QR code on the posters) or by emailingdeb@deborahrose.co.uk

Performing with her is Sonia Hammond on the cello.

Deborah has performed with folk singing greats like Judy Collins, and was on Radio 2 to commemorate the anniversary of Eva Cassidy, who is one of her inspirations.  She has a new album coming out soon, and her single I Lift My Eyes to the Hills won the national Totally Psalmic competition, to write a psalm as a song for a modern audience.  She recorded the song at Capel-y-Ffin, in front of the window engraved by Eric Gill which inspired the song.

Hay Forum - Icons

 

It was lovely to go into St Mary's yesterday to see this exhibition set up, with Gregorian chant as background music.

These are just a few examples of Christina Watson's work.  On the other side of the church she had the Roman style portraits that were put in tombs in Egypt, and she'd also brought examples of the pigments she uses, the rabbit skin glue, linen, and the white paint (gesso?) for the backgrounds.  Some of her paintings were on off cuts of laburnum from Alan Powell's carpentry workshop, and others were on boards from art shops.  The linen is glued to the base (it's the same glue that is used in bookbinding), and then painted white 12 to 15 times.  Then it's sanded down to a very smooth finish and only then is the artist ready to trace the lines of their picture onto the base.  She also uses egg tempura to fix the paint onto the board.

Before an icon painter begins work for the day, there are special prayers that should be said - it's a contemplative process, especially when the icons are intended to be used as a focus for prayer when they are finished.  Christina went on a course about ten years ago to learn the art properly, after a holiday in Cairo.  She was already an artist, and has painted many signs for shops around Hay.  She said she wants to continue painting icons (or 'writing an icon') forever! 

Christina will be holding an exhibition of her work at St John's Chapel over Hay Festival this year, along with Ukrainian icon painters.

To keep us in a contemplative mood, Jenny Bullough came along to do another humming session with us.  She was talking as well about how birds are the motion in a garden and bees are the voice of a garden, and quoted a line about "a buzzing with a bee in it".

There was also some live music from Father Richard, Christina, Terry and Jill, who sang a chant for the dead from Kiev, which is used at funerals, with Fr Richard at the organ.  His organ recital that morning was highly praised.

There was no news from Primrose Farm this month from Hawk and Louise, because it was Hawk's birthday, but they will be back in April to talk about what vegetables are in season.

There will be no Hay Forum in March, because Mary Ann will be in South Africa (she is the organiser).  The next Hay Forum will be on Saturday 13th April, at 6.30pm, because the nights will be lighter, just after Evensong, which is at 6pm.  Peter Ford will be talking about his new book Weston Hamlet, in which he has discovered some little known facts about Hay's history.

News from the Swimming Pool Meeting

 I wasn't able to go to the meeting, but I did see the post about it on Gareth Ratcliffe's Facebook page (the Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe News and Updates page).

It seems there is support for the swimming pool to re-open, but the upgrading of the facilities will be expensive, and what they really need are new trustees to carry the work forward.  They also need people who can help in the day to day running of the pool.

If anyone is able to help, they should email hayswimmingpool@gmail.com

Meanwhile the present trustees are looking into how much the various renovations will cost.

They are hoping to have another meeting on 29th February, so any interested parties are urged to contact them before the 19th February.

Valentine Post Box Topper

 

                                                    Love is in the air for Valentine's Day!