Half Term: Bath to Hay-on-Wye (24 February)

I didn’t leave Bath straight away the following morning, because there was one thing more I wanted to do. I had found out that there was an exhibition of the art of E.H. Shepard, who did the original illustrations of Winnie-the-Pooh! I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, particularly the ways in which he illustrated his personal correspondence. His drawings were just beautiful!

I left Bath late in the morning and headed towards Wales. Hay-on-Wye is in England, but is very close to the Welsh border, and the most direct and interesting route was through the Black Mountains. This town had attracted my attention because it is full of second-hand bookshops! Richard Booth, who proclaimed himself ‘King of Hay’ and is the owner of Hay Castle, set up the first bookshop in 1961. He claims it is the largest second-hand bookshop in the world. Now there are over 30 bookshops, plus a few antique and craft shops. I really enjoyed wandering through the winding streets, but didn’t buy anything as I had well and truly blown my book-buying budget in Bath at the Jane Austen Centre!

I stayed in a really comfortable and beautifully decorated B&B called Clifton House with very welcoming owners. It was situated in the centre of town right near the clock tower that let me know what time it was every 15 minutes… all through the night!