Hay

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older."
Tom Stoppard

K2 arrived for a weekend visit so we decided on a flying visit to one of our favourite haunts, Hay-on-Wye. Another hot sunny day but the recent rains have helped the parched landscape and dampened the fires on the hills. Just the charred black scars remain on Mynydd Troed to remind us of the widespread hill fires that devoured the tinder-dry uplands so recently. There's a WWI memorial concert going on as we enter the town, with plenty of people in period costume milling around in town. The field below the car park has an army encampment, complete with flag in the centre 'parade ground' and horse drawn wagons. The 'soldiers' tell me they are from the Warwickshires, playing their roles as infantrymen to a tee, describing their authentic military uniforms and equipment for the visitors. I find this fascinating, the connection to my grandfather's army experience deepened as they really live the experience, if only for the weekend. We head straight for Booth's, K2's favourite bookshop and a favourite lunchtime destination for me. Sitting in the open air courtyard over lunch gives us chance to catch up in a relaxed atmosphere - and the portobello mushrooms are delicious. As always a visit to Hay ends with a load of books to take back, including 'How Green Was My Valley' which I've never actually read, so I now have some reading material to enjoy in the sunshine. As we take our leave of Hay the soldiers are on parade in the next field, lowering the flag at the end of their day. The visitors and tourists have gone but they are still following their drill as soldiers and will be camping out in the field again tonight.