Hay on Wye

Bleary morning, breakfast of pancakes with stewed fruit again, then we eventually made off to Hay on Wye drive across beautiful country, although the pesky satnav took us through Hereford again, but not not he way back. A lovely tiny town on a hill. We pulled into a big car park, and then mooched about the little streets, popping into bookshops. Sat on a chair outside a tiny cafe and had cups of tea and a strangely delicious short, wide sausage roll each. Spent lots of time in various bookshops, including an entire shop selling only poetry books. I felt overwhelmed by all the choice but came away with books by R.S. Thomas and Rachel Boast, and had a good chat with the friendly guy running it. 

Texted again by the bank about my bogus account going overdrawn, but nothing I can do having already written to the guy who is handling my complaint. Contacted by the finance department of the bunch I have been working for in London, with a query about the account, and I had to send new account details. But as they never reply to emails, I have no idea if they are going to pay the invoice or not. Somewhat stressful, and not having a computer, I am not able to do anything about it.

We drove home, through the gorgeous countryside, a different route that avoided Hereford. Went for a wee mooch about in Monmouth, walking down by the Wye river looking at wild flowers, and stopping in a small riverside church called St Peter's. This all made everything feel calmer and happier.

In the evening, Lorraine and I had another stealthy pint of beer outside The Punch, and then walked down to the Fish and Chip shop, and shared a big bag of fish and chips, on a bench near where the Wye meets the Monnow just near the Monnow Bridge. It was all we needed. Mooched home again then, and watched Olympic things on TV and tried to identify various wildflowers with my book.

Below Lorraine sitting outside a cafe in Hay, a street scene in Hay on Wye, me keenly outside the poetry bookshop, St Peter's Church, and the silhouette of a statue of Charles Rolls, the aviation pioneer who was the first person to fly back and forth across the Channel. His name is part of Rolls Royce, but he was killed early, the first person to die in 1910 (at 32) in the UK from an aviation accident.