2021 reviewed in 12 photographs, one from each month of the year.

For some of the months it was difficult to choose only one photograph.

The individual photos can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

1. Leegomery Pool, 2. Local Pathway, 3. All Saints Church, Wellington, 4. Hodnet Hall, 5. Ludlow Castle Walls, 6. Stonehenge, 7. Tasty Treats in Ledbury, 8. Roseway, Wellington, 9. View from Brough Castle, 10. Autumn, 11. Fountains Abbey, 12. The Swan Hotel, Hay-on-Wye

Hay-on-Wye is a little town whose northern and eastern boundaries border England. The spectacular countryside which surrounds Hay is just a few steps away from wherever you are in town. Stroll along the banks of the River Wye or in the foothills of the Black Mountains and unwind in the tranquil setting. Crossing the border, over the Dulais Brook, will take you through the fertile fields of the Golden Valley.

Across the River Wye are the rolling green hills of Radnor. A short drive away from Hay, up a single track road, will take you to the base of Hay Bluff which rises 2,227ft, and rom where there are spectacular, uninterrupted views over the Brecon Beacons National Park, Radnorshire and Herefordshire.

Nestling amidst all this splendour is Hay-on-Wye, the jewel in the crown of Wales and known throughout the world as the ‘Town of Books’. Richard Booth, self-proclaimed King of Hay, opened his first second-hand bookshop in 1962 and proceeded to create the largest second-hand and antiquarian book-selling centre in the world. *

*Information from a 2018 Tourist Information booklet

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.

We set off on our journey to Hay-on-Wye later than we intended.  Our first destination was Tretower Court and Castle, with a planned lunch stop along the way. Lunch opportunities proved non-existent. Although we weren’t expecting the Bird on the Rock tearooms to be open we made a slight detour just in case they were. We arrived at the property to find it looking both closed and derelict. I was curious so I searched on Google and found that sadly, the property is up for auction.

We stopped for lunch in Cafe Hay, Hay-on-Wye (toasted ham, cheese and chutney sandwich for me) before continuing to Tretower where we were treated to a short talk about the history of the site by a Cadw representative who also showed us the best route to enjoy it.

Afterwards we headed back to Hay-on-Wye for our stay in The Swan at Hay, stopping off at a garden centre for tea and cake and a visit to the Christmas Grotto (it just had to be done). As we travelled, we were treated to spectacular displays of Red Kites soaring in the sky.

Back in Hay-on-Wye we checked into the hotel, unpacked and chilled out before dining in the hotel restaurant. The bar area was busy due to an art sale event taking place. We found a quiet corner to enjoy our pre dinner drink before dining. The restaurant was calm and the food delicious. By the time we had finished our meal the bar area was less crowded allowing us to have a nightcap in relative calm.