Springtime and the Hay- on- Wye Festival

The day started well with good sunshine and the fact that yet another member of the slapper twitterati had been reported for spam by the time I checked out her ( for ‘her’ it always is), profile. Then the day took a downturn with our on-line banking account blocking Sian’s ID while she tried to help me get the necessary numbers to retrieve my points so we could get a nice voucher for Sainsbury’s before the points were cancelled due to old age. After 90 minutes on the phone and not being allowed to continue with my request for an ID number because I didn’t have an ID number, we were eventually told to go to our branch. For good measure someone must have thought at this point that it was a jolly good idea to take Sian’s number off the system as well!

As neither of us now had on-line banking a trip to Hay-on-Wye became essential. Normally this would not be a problem but in Festival Week? Oh dear! Nevertheless, as things turned out, we had a very pleasant sunny afternoon in the town. Our banking problems would seem to have been sorted within 10 minutes, although we have not actually tried the new numbers out on-line. We managed to get very quick service at the Post Office. ( If you go to Hereford’s new Post Office with more lights, counter numbers and service tickets, than actual service, it’s best not to be in any kind of a hurry at all) followed by two cones of sheep ice cream from Shepherds. A quick check in the charity shops for bargains and then an attempt to get a copy of Broad Sheep, the live arts bulletin. The bookshop where I regularly check out the latest second hand sheet music denied all knowledge of having held such a publication for distribution. As I have picked up quite a few editions from this establishment I left without comment and later learnt from the helpful ladies at the Tourist Information Office by the main car park that it is due out any time now. Perhaps the warm weather had brought the guy out from his dark hibernation into an unfamiliar world.

In the depths of the newly revamped Richard Booths Books ( now under new ownership) we discovered an excellent collection of photographs by students from the Hereford College of Art, entitled ‘Portraits of Hay’ with many familiar faces recorded. Chris Gibbon’s butcher’s bike featured in one of them which reminded us that we must get some of his brilliant sausages. This we duly did after calling in at Kilvert’s Hotel. Sian had a glass of local apple juice while I treated myself to an afternoon pint of Butty Bach. (Sian tells me this last sentence sounds like Mr Pooter: that can’t be true. H e would have made it in time for a ‘cold collation luncheon’.)
Chris Gibbons was coming to the end of another busy day when we eventually reached him with much of his stock retiring to the fridge for the night. We still had time to talk about his prize-winning Welsh Ponies and his planned showing of them at the Three Counties Show and the Royal Welsh. A man who clearly knows and loves his chosen breed. I told him of the many happy gallops I had had as a student along the sands at Harlech on a Welsh Cobb and how I regret having never got round to making a trip over the Abergwesyn Pass to Tregaron. I think this passed for as some idea of heaven for us both, and as I am always fond of saying, there is no harm in keeping the dream alive. It shows we are still here to appreciate this lovely part of the world.

The afternoon sun was now quite hot and the shuttle bus to the festival site was doing good business. The idea of the festival is great and it is an important annual boost to the local economy but it is very frustrating finding so many of the tickets are sold to Friends of the Festival before they go on general sale. The kind of thing we would like to go to is either on at 9 am or sold out, so we just soak up the business of the festival in the town and delight in seeing local businesses thriving. We see Hay as being on loan during this time and the peak summer months to those who, in a way, need it much more than we do. We can always reclaim in the damp days of winter and chat in the Sandwich Cellar with Sue and Mal when times are less fraught. Never can the phrase ‘gather ye rose buds while ye may’ have more meaning for those who have to make the bulk of a year’s living in a few summer months. ‘Visitors? Dont knock ‘em, we’re farming people now’, as a much missed farmer friend of ours once said.

Dacier

Country Driving: (Pt.1)

The bank holiday over, things have calmed down on the traffic front. Not so long ago some joked about a passing vehicle being the rush hour, but it is much busier now, especially at holiday times. Some of our visitors get a bit nervous as they enter the network of narrow lanes to visit us. This is not unjustified as many drivers on country roads can make one dangerous assumption. That there wont be anyone about.

This might explain why some drivers on the wider roads drive in the middle, even round bends, or go too fast round blind bends. The second assumption is that normal urban speeds can apply. To do even 30 mph on our lane is very hazardous because someone else coming in the other direction might think that there will be no one else about and not even realise that they are doing 40mph or more. After all, the national limit of 60 mph applies! Perhaps current moves to lower speed limits might eventually filter through to us, but whether ‘twenty is plenty’ will be applied to country lanes generally, seems unlikely. A 30 mph limit might be good for starters as an improvement for the amenity of visitors and locals alike. A 50 mph limit on the B road in the valley would be a good idea for both safety and fuel saving reasons Unfortunately the bikers who have discovered the joys of cruising border roads won’t observe it nor the Hay Festival speedsters.

Dacier

Hay-on Wye: Why Not?

There is no reason why you should not visit Hay-on-Wye, although during the next 10 days you might find it a bit busy. I nearly forgot to write this short appreciation but I have just got back from my 6 mile drive to get a paper and the Hay Festival convoys are well and truly on the move along the valley road. I know they are going to the festival for two reasons. Firstly, they are consistently driving at speed and most of the cars are of German manufacture. It as though the rains have come and the dessert is blooming, not with flowers, but the literary and chattering classes. There is nothing wrong with any of this but it is an interesting phenomenon to observe.

. The countryside from Brecon through to Hay is often described as the Hampsted Highlands and this week sees migrations of all kinds from all directions. Needless to say this is an excellent boost to local businesses but I have yet to see any research results which puts a figure on it like they do for the Glastonbury Festival. Perhaps the festival’s sponsor, the Guardian, has done some. Being a bit lazy and careful with the cash we need a push to go to any event. The choice is excellent, sometimes the ticket price is very high and other times they are only £5 or £8. There are also some free events. It would be nice to go by bus but as there is no evening service for us to return by. We have got the bus pass, all we need now is a bus service.

Event 222 is of particular interest as the speaker is none other than Bishop 22, sorry, Tutu. Having heard tickets were still available we checked the festival programme. This event is in fact an award ceremony for the Michael Ramsey Prize, and the present Archbishop of Canterbury will be attending as one of the judges.. Tickets cost £75 and will take place in the Oxfam Studio. Bishop Tutu is speaking in the Barclays Wealth Pavilion in the evening. Tickets for this are £50. If you feel this information has too much irony built in, you need to know that Oxfam is the Guardian’s new sponsor partner and I hope they raise a good amount of money. I can’t help thinking that there are more efficient ways of supporting good causes. So if you are at a loose end between now and 31st of May why not take a trip in this direction. Who knows you might be helping economies all over the place. On the other hand you might like to make charitable donations direct to a community through one of the smaller charities.
Dacier

Blog Trailers

If you have stumbled upon this site I thought you might like to know what will be happening here in the near future. This might encourage you to follow the site, to share it with others and to comment.

With the Mr Speaker controversy moving on. Did the Queen have something to say? Will Mr Martin resign his seat and cause a Glasgow bye-election. PM won’t want that. Watch this space for comment

The last fortnight has been filled with constitutional drama and has given the politics side of this blog to gravitate towards Westminster and in the nature of things that will happen from time to time, especially with a year of electioneering stating up. AS my recent blog emphasised the European Elections could be a useful starting point for the General Election. Although the PM can usually decide when to ask the Queen for a general Election, the five year life span of a Parliament now boxes him in and as time goes by his options narrow. So lots of fun to come.

In the meantime why not look out for some of the following blackhilltales. The list does not show an exact the order in which they will appear:

Hay Festival at Hay-on-Wye: Why Not?
Visits to local towns and markets
The joys of insulating old properties and rural poverty
Travails with the Energy Saving
Time to Update the Solar Panel

World Premier of our new folk song: details may follow, if not too embarrassing. Sorry.

Country Pubs
Fixed Penalty Fines in a not so supermarket

Occasional series: Watch out its Wildlife!
Occasional series :Briefing Notes for Debaters.

You will have noticed that articles are a bit long for a blog. Some effort will be made to keep some down to 300 words while others that need a bit of room will be not go much beyond 600 words.

And there will be more articles but various DIY jobs are getting rather urgent.