Alex's view on Wales

Just call me Dory; it's a good thing I have a bad memory.

I love Wales. It really is a beautiful country. Even the riding has been... mostly ok.

Hay on Wye

This one is for Kate

As James said, Book Town: a big secondhand bookshop was opened here in the 1960s, I think, and in some way that I don't entirely understand the town eventually got itself a reputation as the secondhand book capital of the country. There are apparently over 30 bookshops here, and The Guardian Book Week (I think it's called?) floods the area in May each year. I was mildly paralysed when it came to figuring out exactly how to exploit the place without being sent mad. The answer turned out to involve basically ignoring the two really big places (especially the Hay Cinema Bookshop: imagine a cinema that's converted to holding books...), and having a deliberate section of books to look over thoroughly. Unsurprisingly, for me that was the SF section, and I picked up eight old paperbacks - mostly feminist SF I've been meaning to get for ages. This was good also because I arrived in Hay with no books left to read. The horror!

Brecon Beacons



We loved this area when we were here last time, so it was good to see it again. Even if, when we announced our plan to go this way, our hostess in Hay looked slightly alarmed on our account; looking at the graph in James' post below you'll understand why. However, hopefully my photos will give you some idea as to why it was (basically) worth it.


Llanthony Priory

This was our lunch spot on the way to Abergavenny. Feels like ages since I've seen something medieval!