Nadolig Llawen

 

Happy Christmas!  I thought I'd share two of the magnificent libraries I was able to visit this year.

This is Duke Humfrey's Library at the Bodleian in Oxford, and this is John Rylands Library in Manchester (though his wife Enriqueta did all the work!)

 May the New Year be filled with books!

Charter of Rights for the River Wye

 Following on from yesterday's post, there's a new article in the Hereford Times today with some good news for the River Wye.

Herefordshire County Council have voted to put in place a charter to protect the river.

It grants the river:

the right to flow and maintain it's natural course (so no digging to make it flow in a man made channel)

the right to biodiversity

the right to be free from pollution (this one is going to be hard to enforce!)

the right to be supported by a healthy catchment feeding it (so extending the protections to tributaries)

the right to regenerate through natural processes, supported by intervention where necessary

the right to be represented and have its rights recognised.

Councillor Swinglehurst said she hoped that other local authorities would support the charter, and  would “find a place in schools and village halls, parish councils, environmental campaign groups, businesses and homes”. 

It's unclear how much legal protection that the charter would give the river, but it is a clear statement of intent, and signals the importance that the Council places on the river.  So maybe it will be one of the factors that the Environmental Agency takes into consideration when deciding how to best protect the river with a legal framework. 

Latest News on the River Wye

 The Environment Agency have recently unveiled their Diffuse Water Pollution Plan for the River Wye.  It took ten years to write, during which time, pollution of the river has only got worse.

Campaigners who have been trying to get the Wye cleaned up (also for years) are, to put it mildly, disappointed.  The spokeswoman for the Voice of the River Wye, Louise Bodnar, describes the scheme as "a death warrant for the Wye" and calls for a Water Protection Zone for the Wye and its catchment area.  The Environment Agency looked at the potential use of a Water Protection Zone, which gives legal protections to the river, for the River Lugg back in 2011, and it still hasn't happened.  More recently, MP Ellie Chowns asked for the same thing for the River Wye in Parliament.

The main cause of pollution for the River Wye is agricultural, and there are farmers who have been involved in the consultations that want to improve the quality of the river water, but  the campaigners say that, even if every farmer complied with the regulations 100%, and there was a huge takeup of voluntary measures, this would still not be enough to clean up the river.  And of course there is only limited funding available.

Save the Wye chair David Gillam is equally scathing.  "How can it possibly take ten years to produce such a pathetic plan?" he asks.

River Action's head of legal team Dearnaley says: "After a court ruling and ten years to act, continued reliance on measures that have already failed is indefensible."

The Environment Agency responded to the criticism by issuing a statement saying that the problems of the River Wye are complex (we knew that ten years ago).

Herefordshire Council, meanwhile, have been doing their best to solve the problem.  They brought together farmers, land owners, environmental groups and industry experts to look at innovative new solutions to help protect and restore the river and its tributaries.  They also hosted a special conference in November, alongside national government partners and agencies, including the Nutrient Management Board, to look at ways to improve water quality. 

I hope the New Year brings positive changes for the River Wye - after all, a lot of people have been campaigning for a long time for improvements, and it's about time the Environment Agency listened to them. 

[Information from the Hereford Times] 

Come Back Quire

 The Come Back Quire gave a free concert at the Globe yesterday afternoon, and the place was pretty full.  It was a mix of songs they had done as the Village Quire and new material - carols, Welsh plygains and traditional songs, with readings from Under the Greenwood Tree, a medieval poem called This Endris Night, The Shepherd's Dog by Leslie Norris (who was present at the Nativity), and The Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796, based on Ann Hughes' Boke, a manuscript diary which is now sadly lost.  Ann was a farmer's wife in South Herefordshire.

The concert was free, but they had invited a fund raiser for Shelter Cymru along, and he gave a little speech at the beginning of the interval about the work they do, and how important it is.   It seemed appropriate, since several of the songs in the concert were about remembering the poor at Christmas.

The second half began with a real Welsh tradition - we were visited by the Mari Lwyd!  This is a horse's skull on a stick, with a white sheet draped over the performer, who is led around on a leash.

 

There was a small child up on the balcony who was leaning out to try to pat it!

I've missed nearly every Christmas Carol Concert in Hay this year for one reason or another - I'm very glad I didn't miss this one! 

Fairtrade Fair

 It's the annual Fairtrade Fair at the Buttermarket today, with silver jewellery from Timbuktu, a stall with information about the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, food and olive oil from Zaytoun, and embroidery from Bethlehem, Love Zimbabwe with tablecloths and metal sculptures, pottery, Christmas decorations, and more.

I bought two slate coasters, featuring a turtle which reminded me of Discworld and a tree that looked as if it had come straight out of Lord of the Rings (the lady who made them had never heard of Discworld!)

Also in the middle of town this week, there's a pop up Christmas shop at The Chair.  Five different vendors are sharing the space, and when I went in yesterday some jolly Ukrainian folk music was playing - to go with the gorgeous embroidered clothing from  Ukraine at the back of the shop. 

Christmas Meal at the Three Tuns

 The Cinema Bookshop had the staff Christmas dinner last night - and very nice it was too.  I went for the more traditional options of Tuscan bean soup, turkey and Christmas pudding.  Other people had the ham hock and pistachio terrine, and the salmon on bread looked very nice.  The other option was goat's cheese and salad.

The turkey was lovely and tender, with pigs in blankets, and stuffing, and parsnip, sprouts and roast potatoes, along with  extra vegetables.  The other options were beef brisket, vegan nut roast and fillet of hake.

As well as Christmas pudding, the options were mulled wine panna cotta (which wibbled on the plate delightfully),  chocolate brownie, amaretto affogato, or sorbets or ice cream.

The wine flowed freely, and we lingered after the meal over Baileys and coffee.

Oh, and this will be remembered as "the night that Brian set his napkin on fire"!  It got too close to a candle - and fortunately it didn't set off the fire alarm! 

Not Quite a Flood Yet

 I went into Hereford this morning for some last minute shopping - it's been raining (again).  The river is swollen, and the road through the Golden Valley is getting splashier all the time.

Fairtrade Fair and the Come Back Choir

 Saturday 20th December is going to be busy.  The annual Fairtrade Fair will be on at the Buttermarket.  Among the usual offerings will be some Zeytoun goods from Palestinian suppliers - who need all the help they can get at the moment.

Then, in the afternoon at the Globe - I think they start at 2.30pm - the Come Back Choir are giving a free concert.  These are members of the Village Quire who decided they still wanted to sing some of that wonderful repertoire when the Village Quire was wound up, with a few new members in the mix. 

Hay Music Christmas Concert

 

This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.  And they really are performing music from across the ages - from Hildegard of Bingen to Vaughan Williams, John Taverner and medieval carols.

Christmas Fair

 It was the Christmas Market down in the square, and the Buttermarket and by the Clocktower, and also the Christmas craft fair up at the Castle.  The town was packed (and so was the car park).

I got a Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a star with a picture of a hare on it from Bolgoed Crafts, and admired the pottery and wooden stuff, prints and cards, bags and hats and knitwear and waistcoats, and olive oil and jewellery (and more) on three floors of the Castle.

Also on at the Castle is a free exhibition called The Art of the Book, which is work by Clive Hicks-Jenkins.  He's done a lot of artwork for book covers and illustration, and a lot of that has been mythological.  He's done art for the Folio edition of the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as Beowulf.

Down in town there was a mixture of vintage goods and high quality crafts, cider and gin and even goat curry.  Also cakes and baskets and comics and vintage clothes and sheepskins and plants and metal garden ornaments and Origin Pizza....

Lauren from the comic stall told me that they would be moving into the shop in Castle Street where Rohan started out.  As well as selling comics and graphic novels, they're hoping to do things like having vintage video game nights (like Mario Kart).

I missed George the Town Cryer, but there was a choir singing in Welsh by the Clock Tower.  I recognised a few familiar faces.  They were very good.

 The craft fair at the Castle is also on tomorrow, Sunday.

And Appreciation for George

 Our wonderful Town Cryer, George, will be retiring shortly.  In fact, his last ever "shout" will be at the Christmas Market on Saturday 13th December.

It's hard to believe that he's been doing the job for sixteen years!

He's going to be a hard act to follow! 

Appreciation for Mary Fellowes

 I couldn't go to the Dial-a-Ride Carol Concert this year, because I was at a meeting of the Cusop History Group committee organising the archaeological work at Cusop Castle next year on the same afternoon.  I'll report more nearer the time, but it's very exciting to be involved in real archaeology again.

So I missed something unexpected and well deserved.  During the concert, Mary Fellowes was honoured with a certificate and bouquet for all her hard work keeping Dial-a-Ride on the road.

Mary was one of the founder members of Dial-a-Ride, and she raised money for minibuses, and did a lot of organising behind the scenes, and put in a huge amount of hard work to keep it going over the years.

It's nice to see her being appreciated like this, and I'm sorry I missed it.

At least a photographer from the Brecon and Radnor Express was there - Mary looks quite surprised in the photo! 

Stormy Weather

 

I took a walk along the riverbank earlier today - the water has come over the edge into the meadow, but still within safe limits so far.  Mind you, if I'd parked my car on the Gliss, I'd be thinking about moving it.

Pigs in Blankets

 

Feeling more and more like Christmas!

Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk

 I was going to just huddle at home after I'd been to see the Craftland talk at the church - but I had noticed that there were free music events in between the Festival talks up at the Castle.  One of them was the Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk.

Anyway, early in the afternoon I decided to listen to a podcast.  Next on my list was Druidcast - and Damh the Bard was interviewing his friend Phil, who is one of the Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk group.  It was such an interesting interview that I had to go and see them in action after that.

They are influenced by Border Morris - the sort where they bang sticks together - but they put together their own dances. They wear black tatters, and each dancer has an individual hat or head dress, sometimes based on the dancer's totem animal (there was a girl with a brilliant fox mask).

I saw three dances (there was another session later that night that I didn't go out for).

They started as a choir, singing a Pagan song about the changing seasons.  Then they performed a dance based on the Skirrid Inn, where a horse skull was found under the floor (no-one knows why it was put there).  They have their own, blue, horse skull, which is not a Mari Llwyd, but an English variant - I can't remember the name.

The second dance was based on the Anemone, the Flower of Death, and the third was a solo Irish jig in honour of the Black Hairstreak moth, which only lives in hedgerows where blackthorn grows.

There wasn't a lot of room in the Castle Great Hall - the group has about fifty members, so they were only able to do a cut down version of their usual performances, but it was great fun, and a good taste of the sort of thing that they do.

At the end of the performance Nino, a stray Shantyman, passed by.  The friend I was standing with said that the Hay Shantymen's performance had been packed out, earlier in the afternoon.