After a refreshing nights sleep it was time for breakfast. Continental breakfast (no rolls) and cooked breakfast options to order were on offer and didn’t disappoint.
We lingered at the breakfast table before walking into town to explore the bookshops. Mr C was keen to visit the Cinema bookshop to peruse its extensive military section. Currently he is interested in the Wars of the Roses, hence the visit to Tretower on our way to Hay-on-Wye. Whilst he was exploring the military section I found a tray labelled ‘Wales’ in the travel section. It was full of guide books for local attractions. As I browsed the items in the tray I noticed many that I have in my own guidebook collection including some Ministry of Works publications which I miss for their in-depth accounts of the heritage sites they covered. There was nothing new for me to add to my collection so I left empty handed, as did Mr C.
Next we visited the Richard Booth bookshop. We found that the café is currently closed so, at the appropriate time, we left for elevenses in the nearby Granary Café. Sadly the drinks were served in a takeaway cup. Suitably refreshed we returned to the Richard Booth bookshop to continue browsing their book selection. From previous visits, I remember the Folio Society Section of the bookshop and was disappointed to find the extensive collection of illustrated books was no longer stocked, although that part of the bookshop still retains the name associated with the book collection. This was easily my favourite bookshop of the day and I left with three purchases; The Book of Hay by Kate Clarke, The Elan Valley Clearance by David Lewis Brown and Wild Ruins by Dave Hamilton.
After visiting a few more bookshops including Addyman Books with its delightfully decorated themed rooms we returned to the Granary Café for lunch. I had a long discussion about sandwich options and the temptation of an extensive salad bar led me to choose a salad roll. There was a bit of a mix up with my order, when my roll arrived it was filled with smoked salmon (one of their standard options). The problem was quickly rectified and, when it arrived, the salad roll was delicious as I am sure the salmon roll would have been.
Comfortably replete, it was time to visit a few more bookshops before taking our book purchases back to the hotel. The carrying of books through intermittent rain squalls curtailed my ability to take many photographs as we explored the town. After relieving ourselves of our book purchases we returned to to town for a flapjack and tea in the Cosy Café. The Café was warm and cosy so we lingered a while before returning to the hotel to chill out before dinner, which for me included a relaxing soak in the bath.
Once again we dined in the hotel restaurant and on receiving the menu we found that a few of the options had changed to a Christmassy theme. I chose Chestnut Nut Roast accompanied with pureed butter nut squash, sautéed potato and a festive veg medley. I followed it up with a single scoop of Salted Caramel ice cream. It was all delicious.
i enjoyed your account. the photos are nice as usual, especially i like the one with the billowing cloud. the food sounds appetizing!
Thanks Ayush
You and Mark are living the high life, Cherry, and he isn’t even retired yet, right?! Just imagine what it’ll be like when he is!
I hope he can figure out how to retire sooner rather than later
Lovely to spend a day exploring bookshops
Interestingly I was checking out a book yesterday by Dave Hamilton on prehistoric sites.
Was the book Wild Ruins BC? If so, I looked at that too but not wanting to buy too many books at once I chose Wild Ruins instead knowing that Mr C was more likely to explore some of sites with me
My idea of shuffling off this mortal coil and going to heaven is to find myself surrounded by fabulous bookshops and even better coffee shops. You two achieved it!
I love books. Our house is full of them
i loved the post dear Cheri ,each bit of it
specially your search for books made me feel anxious when you left empty handed from first shop ,i can imagine how it feels when it is hard to find book we look for .glad later shops did not disappoint you 
this is nice that you found delicious roll and lunch ,good meal makes a trip perfect indeed .
you guys make a wonderful couple and i find joy and peace in your smiles which makes me happy too
blessings to both of you and loved ones!
Thank you Shabana, we had a lovely break.
I didn’t mind coming away empty handed. Books often present themselves to me. Sometimes when I have a question in my head a book appears in a random place in the wrong section of a bookshop. When this happens I know the book is there waiting for me.
So sweet of you to say our smiles make you happy too
I reciprocate your blessings to you and your loved ones.
I love Hay-on-Wye, I was last there a couple of months ago. So many interesting shops and such a nice area.
Now I have seen all the walking possibilities I am eager to explore them.
I may need different companion for that adventure. Mr C has become a reluctant walker…