Last week was our ninth time visiting Hay-on-Wye. Our previous trip was in October 2023 for my 40th birthday. Prompted by my overhaul post last month, I managed to finish a couple more of the 16 books I’d bought that time, taking me to 4 read and 1 skimmed; I’ve also read the first quarter of So Happy for You by Celia Laskey. Considering it was less than 18 months between visits, I’m going to call that an adequate showing. However, I will endeavour to be better about reading this latest book haul (below) in a timely fashion!
Because we were staying four nights, there was no need to rush through all the bookshops in a day or two, though that would be possible; instead, we parcelled them out and mixed up our shopping with walks, short outings in the car, and relaxing in the comfy cottage just over the English border in Cusop. I had work deadlines to meet within the first few days, but on another evening we took advantage of the place having Netflix to watch My Neighbor Totoro.
I’ve gotten secondhand book shopping in Hay down to a science over the years. Check on opening days and hours carefully or you can miss out. Thursday to Saturday is the best window to go: the Thursday market is excellent for local produce and crafts, and it’s nice to see the town bustling. (Though I’ve never seen it at Festival time, and wouldn’t want to!)
Start with the bargain options: the Little Free Library shelves by the river, where I scored Electricity by Victoria Glendinning; the sale area outside Hay Cinema Bookshop, the dedicated honesty shop beside Richard Booth’s Bookshop (new this trip), and the Book Passage beside Addyman Books – all £1/book; and the honesty shelves on the castle grounds, where it’s £2/book. Most of my purchases came from these areas. Just call me thrifty!
Next, the mid-priced options: Cinema, Broad Street Book Centre, Hay-on-Wye Booksellers, Clock Tower Books, and the new British Red Cross bookshop, which is not cheap for a charity shop but has a good selection of relatively recent stuff. (Oxfam, however, has moved away from books and primarily sells clothes, new products and bric-a-brac.) Cap it off with Addymans + Addyman Annexe, Cinema, Booth’s, the Poetry Bookshop and Green Ink Booksellers.
I had the best luck in Cinema this time, where I found two remainder books, three bargain books (one not pictured because it will be a gift) and the Howard Norman short stories – a particular thrill as his work is not often seen in the UK. Cinema and Booth’s are the greatest pleasure to browse. At Booth’s I bought my priciest book of the trip – Fountainville by Tishani Doshi, a retelling of stories from the Mabinogion – and indulged in a bookish tote bag (as if I needed another!). It was especially pleasing to find the Doshi and the Lewis in Hay as they are Welsh authors so will cover me for Reading Wales Month next year.
I wasn’t in the market for new books this time, not having any vouchers at my disposal, but those who are will also enjoy perusing Gay on Wye, North Books, and the large selection of new stock mixed in thematically at Booth’s. All told, that’s 15 places to shop for books.
Alas, The Bean Box, where you could get the best coffee in town, has now closed. We returned to Hay Distillery for delicious gin drinks and had Shepherd’s ice cream (a must) twice. New to us on this trip were nearby Talgarth and its excellent Mill café, the Burger Me (oh dear) restaurant at The Globe, a drink at Kilverts Inn, and an evening walk down the river to a nice shingle spit.
The weather was improbably warm and sunny – as in, I packed an umbrella and raincoat but never used them. I did need my woolly hat, scarf and gloves, but only on the first morning when we climbed up a hill. The rest of the time, it was blue skies and blossom, lambs in the fields, and 20 degrees C, for which, in early April, we could only be grateful – but also, as the lady on the till at Cinema rightly observed, it’s mildly disturbing.
This was our first major trip with our secondhand electric car, which needs rather frequent charging. En route we broke the journey at Gloucester and toured its cathedral; on the way back, we plumped for usefulness over aesthetics by stopping at carparks in Ross-on-Wye and Cirencester. We now choose routes that avoid motorways, which makes for more leisurely and scenic touring.
-
- Pwll y grach waterfall
Two days after we bought the car from a local acquaintance, this creature entered our lives. I certainly didn’t intend to adopt another cat a shade under six weeks after Alfie’s death. (I haven’t even finished reading Grieving the Death of a Pet on my Kindle; I still haven’t brought myself to read your kind comments on my post about losing Alfie.) But we were deeply lonely in a way we hadn’t been expecting. I would object to the use of the word “replace” – there is no replacing Alfie; we still miss him for his predictability and dignity as well as all his own funny ways. I’ve come to realize that grief is ongoing, and all of a piece: mourning Alfie took me back to the same place of grief I inhabit for my mother, and missing them and others lost in recent years is tied into my helpless sadness over natural disasters, humanitarian crises, the state of affairs in my home country, the trajectory of the planet, and on and on.
Any road, the adoption moved very quickly: from expressing interest on a Thursday to getting a call back on a Saturday to meeting and taking him home on a Sunday afternoon. Benny (“Tubbs” as was) is only a year old and full of energy. He came home with a tapeworm but got over it within a week after a targeted worming treatment. It’s been a big adjustment for us to have a cat who doesn’t sleep most of the day and can jump up onto any counter or piece of furniture. Benny considers every waking moment a chance for playtime and mischief. But he is also so sweet and affectionate. And we haven’t laughed this much in a long, long time.
We had booked the Hay trip long before we knew about Benny and were concerned it would be too soon to leave him. But we needn’t have worried; he was settled in here from Day One. Our regular cat sitter visited twice a day and he was absolutely fine. She sent us WhatsApp updates on him and cute photos, in most of which he is a blur chasing his toy snake!
So that’s what’s been going on with me. And of course, I’ve been frantically reading there in the background (36 books on the go at the moment): pre-release e-books for paid reviews, review copies I’ve been sent for the blog, new releases from the library, and the rest of the McKitterick Prize longlist – my shortlist choices are due on the 23rd, eek! I still hope to read a couple of novels from the Carol Shields Prize longlist before the winner is announced, too.
Hope everyone is having a happy spring!
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I’ve never been to Hay, it’s one of those places I’ve always been meaning to visit but never quite get around to. I must try to do better. Lovely that you found Benny, especially as you weren’t even looking – it must have been meant to be. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would absolutely recommend Hay to any visitor!
Well … when you trawl three local cat shelter websites daily there are going to be a lot of cute cats that catch your eye. (“Aren’t you torturing yourselves?” a friend asked. Though she acknowledged she does the same for holiday options.) I had considered adopting a couple of cats in foster care with medical conditions, but in the end it felt too close to home after all the medications I gave our old cat in his last few months. We couldn’t believe our luck to find a healthy one-year-old cat, and in fact he was the only one at this rural shelter at the time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Which goes to show that you and this particular cat were meant to be. All the best for your future together. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m pleased you managed to track down a copy of Electricity, also Charming Billy, a Pam Houston and Howard Norman. A brilliant haul!
Benny looks (and sounds) a sweetie, and clearly very happily settled in. I remember the shock of two-year-old Mischief after we said goodbye to 21-year-old Squeaker. Not a replacement but a welcome new addition.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I was very pleased with a Houston and a McDermott — and £1 each from honesty areas!
Wow, 21 is very good going for a cat. I still can’t think of Alfie without tears, but having Benny eases the pain. He is keeping us on our toes for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Benny sounds a fun cat. I hope he gives you much pleasure. I worry about the battery on your car – if it’s not taking enough charge that could be awkward – but you have wheels!
The Doshani is one of the few in the New Mabinogion series I haven’t read yet. Hope it’s a good one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a 2016 car and they lose battery storage year on year — though, annoyingly, not quite enough to have gotten a free replacement from the manufacturer! We bought it from a woman in our community who was selling up to move onto a narrowboat and she gave it to us for half its value because it’s scratched up a bit. So it was a steal, really, and is good enough for local journeys, Chris’s occasional commuting needs, and our shorter trips to see friends and family and for holidays. (We won’t attempt to take it up to Scotland in June, though! Doing train + rental car for that.)
Benny is a delight but also a handful.
I hadn’t heard of the series and at first thought this was a standalone. I’ve not read Doshi’s fiction so it will be interesting to try this. I hope I don’t miss out too much from the stories not being familiar to me.
LikeLike
I’ve read around 6 of the New Mab. series – all fascinating takes on the original stories, which are summarised for you in each one, so you don’t need to be familiar with them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely trip to Hay! I love that place, although it has fewer bookshops than it used to. And I was just the same after losing my cat, trawling all the local rescue centres and falling in love with hundreds of cats until… and, just as you said, Kasper’s vivacity and climbing habits were a bit of a shock to the system, although Zoe was only 10 years old when we lost her but a lot more lady-like and sedate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still 12-15 bookshops, depending on how you count, so there’s plenty of shopping opportunities. But yes, I’m glad I also experienced it in its shabby heyday of a few dozen shops.
I knew we were being entirely nonsensible by semi-actively looking for a cat when we had holidays and redecorating planned for the summer. Nonetheless, we will deal with all those minor complications — and we get Benny in our lives!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always love reading about your book hauls. We’ll be in the area next year (we’ve just booked a lovely holiday cottage in Herefordshire) and although I’m trying not to buy too many books we always love a trip to Hay.
Benny is blessed to have found you – he’s in for a happy, fun life.
Are you back in Wigtown in June?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s admirable planning ahead, booking a cottage for next year’s holiday! Herefordshire has lovely countryside.
No, we’re doing Edinburgh on the way up and back, with the Cairngorms and Outer Hebrides (mostly South Uist, with Barra and Eriskay) this time. My husband has a field trip and conference he’s planned the rest of the travel around. I do love Wigtown and would like to go back, but it’s very much out of the way.
LikeLike
I approve of this name – my eldest is a Ben, who I used to call Benny (or even worse, one of the daycare workers called him Benny Boo Boo haha) when he was little. Of course I am not allowed to do that anymore! Probably for the best that cats aren’t aware of all the silly nicknames they get (I presume)
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’d been Tubbs for just over a year, but that name had to go! (It can still be an occasional nickname, though.) His full name is a pun, Benedicat — “may he bless” / pronounced Benny de Cat! We’d had the theoretical name in mind for a while but also considered George, which doesn’t have as good a nickname potential.
LikeLike
You’ve packed a lot in and then added Benny into the mix …. exhausting, but in a good way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great trip, and hello to gorgeous Benny—what a handsome lad!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s so nice having a wfh companion again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely idea to spend several nights there and do it at a leisurely pace. And I’m impressed you found things in the castle bargain books – they always look so damp and miserable to me, but maybe things have changed in recent years (I haven’t even bothered to look at them for the past few trips).
Welcome to Benny! He’s adorable. My cat is coming to the end of his life, and I assumed I would want to wait a long time before having another, but you never know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My husband was in need of down time after a stressful teaching term. We also thought we’d be wanting to escape a too-quiet, lonely house (oops).
Just the one book from the castle shelves this time — and they really are stretching it by asking for £2 each! I have found some great stuff over the years, but you do have to methodically scan each shelf then each bay as it’s in no semblance of order.
I’m so sorry about dear Hargreaves. It will be a wrench for you whatever happens. My aunt had said ‘the only thing for it is to get a kitten’ and we were like ‘ha ha, no, we’re going to do lots of travelling and DIY projects around the house and we couldn’t handle a kitten anyway’ … and then before you know it, we get a one-year-old cat who’s basically a giant kitten. A few days after we lost Alfie I spoke to a lady who does a lot of rescue and TNVR work in our area and she said it does help with the grief to have another cat around. Before adopting Benny, we’d spent a lot of time looking for neighbour cats on our walks and also went to a cat cafe. We were pining! But I also have a friend who had such an awful time with her two cats’ final illnesses that she vowed never to have pets again. So I can see how people would go one of several ways.
LikeLike
Benny is adorable! What a great trip you had (I love that tote!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was being sold at various bookshops around the town. At £3, it would be rude not to!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Benny is so precious and, having lost several family dogs and then welcomed new ones, I know exactly what you mean. The old pet can never be replaced but it helps being able to find joy in another one. The Hay on Wye trip sounds fab too.
Re. Carol Shields, I decided to bite the bullet and read All Fours as it’s on the Women’s Prize shortlist as well. I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would so far (I’m about a third of the way through) but I hear it takes a turn in the middle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been stuck at 67% in All Fours for a while but need to go ahead and finish as I want to use it as a comp for another bizarro work of autofiction I’m reviewing early!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad you’ve found a new wfh companion, it’s just too quiet without them isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The house just felt wrong, too empty and quiet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would never go to Hay at Festival time either, though a couple of times I’ve gone just before as I reckon they put out the best books then! I’m glad to hear Shepherd’s is still there, and Cinema remains my favourite bookshop apart from the one whose name I can never remember but had the £1 bargain basement. I know the shock of the younger cat as ours were 8 months when we got them and into everything after a sedate but very attached boy who I’d had to nurse towards the end. We have said no more after these though as Percy having a long-term health condition has been very stressful – he’s fine at the moment but having him living in the (only) bathroom is not ideal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, that’s an interesting theory. We’ve never been in May but maybe we should try it! If the bargain basement is the one I’m thinking of (on a corner, roughly diagonally across from Addyman Annexe?), that’s long gone. There was one also on a corner diagonally across from Booth’s.
Oh, poor Percy! It’s really emotionally challenging to have an ill pet, not to mention the practical difficulties. Do I remember that yours are indoor cats?
LikeLike
The Sensible Bookshop! I have a bag from there and I’ve just had it pop up in my memory! That’s the one, anyway. I haven’t been to Hay for ages as I know I need a big space on the TBR and that hasn’t happened for a while …
And yes, that’s right, they’re indoor cats (we have a three-storey house and we’re both home most of the time so they have plenty of activity and stimulation). Percy wouldn’t probably be here if he’d gone outside – he’s good most of the time as we can control what he eats (he has inflammatory bowel disease) and we have him on a special diet, but he has messy times now and then, hence the confinement in the bathroom (it meant we could keep him).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll support your “adequate showing” but i feels like a stretch; however, I know that I likely wouldn’t have read more than one (if that) hehe. The Doshi seems like an enviable find. I’ve been toying with a retellings of the Mabinogion for years but haven’t done it yet.
Bennidicat (sp) looks like a real character. I love all the photos but I especially like the “peeking from beneath the stool” photo, all eyes and attitude. Are you still hoping to have a companion for him? Maybe after you’ve been able to adjust to the new energy level required? I do know what you mean about all the laughter, it’s a shock to the system when they are so engaged and bright and active.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chris does keep saying, “wouldn’t it be nice to have one cat per lap?” 😉 I think Benny could easily adjust to having another cat around, and it would be fun to watch them interact. His profile did say that he was okay with other cats, just not dogs. He was actually previously living with his sister but she was taken to another shelter (he wasn’t fixed until a matter of weeks ago; I wonder if he’d been pestering her — eek). I’m in no hurry. Maybe we’ll wait until he calms down a little!
LikeLike
I’ve heard that showing them as a pair can deter adoptions for them separately even if the shelter indicates they could be separated, so maybe they just wanted to move that process along- cuz one adopted is better than neither. But a pair doesn’t always mean a bonded pair. I would be so curious about their story and how she’s doing, especially if she was judged the less adoptable of the two (I’m always for the underdog or, in this case, the undercat)! We had been eyeing two sisters about a year old tentatively, a couple months ago, but someone else was also interested/willing to take both so that was nice (still some adjusting to do here, yet, ideally).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, you’re thinking of going from a cat family of 2 to 4?! That would be quite the menagerie! We wonder if a female cat would be calmer and easier in a way.
LikeLike
I LOVE Benny for you. Beck, Benny, and books–how fun. We’ve been talking about getting a cat to add to our mix. We only have a dog, a very large retriever. And I was worried he might terrorize a cat, but I think it might go the other way around. We recently dog-sat for a smaller pup for a few weeks, and she ran this whole show–including our big dog. I’m excited about the possibility of a new addition. I love cats and it’s been too long since I’ve had one. Enjoy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you get the right cat, I’m sure they will be the boss! My mom’s cats always put the family pug in his place. I hope you’ll find a suitable companion soon 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hay actually isn’t too bad at festival time. Yes it’s busier than it would be normally but not crowded and the atmosphere is great. I won’t be going this year though because the programme is so weak compared to previous years. The literature component has taken a back seat and there are far more “issues” type talks. Not what I want from a literary festival
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that’s good to hear. I worried it would be so crowded it would become unpleasant.
LikeLike
Looks like a lovely trip, and Benny is adorable! ♥
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s on my lap as I write 🙂 Such a sweetie pie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always like photographs of book stacks. Thank you for sharing. I blog about literary travel and tourism to places in books
LikeLiked by 1 person