Our first visit to Hay-on-Wye happened almost by accident. This time we had a reason to return, but it was everything that happened in between that reminded us why we wanted to come back.
Our first visit to Hay-on-Wye had been almost accidental.
We hadn’t gone with a great plan or a list of things that had to be seen. We simply found ourselves there, wandered around and rather liked it.
Enough, in fact, to know that we would come back.
This time we had a reason.
Work had brought us back to the area to photograph the former home of a very interesting man, Edward Wakeling, an important Lewis Carroll scholar and collector.
There is a story there, but that is for another day.
For now, it simply gave Cosi and me the excuse we needed to return to Hay.
And this time we had that most precious of things.
Time.
Just wander
There is something about Hay that makes having too much of a plan feel slightly unnecessary.
So we wandered.
No great itinerary. No attempt to march efficiently through the things somebody has decided we absolutely must see.
We walked the streets, looked in windows, stepped inside shops simply because something had caught our eye and occasionally remembered to look upwards at the buildings around us.
We wandered into the Cheese Market, stopped to read the information boards and pottered around the stalls.
The Cheese Market itself has a lovely story. The red sandstone building dates from around 1835, was built as Hay’s town hall and was subsequently rescued by the local community. Today its ground floor is once again a market hall.
It is exactly the sort of place that rewards stopping rather than simply walking past.
We spent time at Hay Castle too, where old and new sit comfortably alongside one another. The castle is now a centre for arts, literature and learning in the heart of the town.
Then it was back out into Hay.
A gallery here. Another shop there. Another street simply because we hadn’t been down it yet.
There were books, obviously.
Lots of books.
Hay is, after all, known as the world’s first Book Town.
But Hay isn’t just about books.
A latte, an almond croissant and nowhere else to be
At some point we stopped at The Cosy Cafe.
We ordered a latte and an almond croissant, found a table inside and sat down.
And stayed there for a while.
Nothing remarkable happened.
People came in, found tables and chatted. Others finished what they were doing and left. Conversations carried on around us while Cosi and I simply sat there enjoying the atmosphere of the room.
It was lovely.
And actually, that little piece of the day probably says as much about Hay as anything else we did.
Hay is somewhere you can spend time.
You don’t constantly feel that you ought to be moving on to the next attraction. You can wander around a market because you’ve stumbled across it. Stop for coffee because you fancy one. Browse a shop without knowing whether you’re going to buy anything.
You can just be there.
The books are undoubtedly part of what makes Hay special, but so are the cafés, galleries, independent shops, old buildings, markets and the people occupying all of them.
They give the town life.
And then there was Alice
There was, however, one particular thread we wanted to follow.
The photo shoot that had brought us back to the area had introduced us to Edward Wakeling and his extraordinary interest in Lewis Carroll.
And we had heard something intriguing.
A new shop had opened in Hay called A Shop Called Alice, devoted to Alice in Wonderland and offering a significant part of Wakeling’s remarkable collection.
How could we not go in?
The shop was a recent arrival in Hay, but it felt entirely at home there. Having encountered Wakeling’s story only a short distance away, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by the books and Alice-related material that had occupied so much of his life.
Wakeling wasn’t simply someone who collected books. He was a highly regarded Lewis Carroll scholar who spent years studying the person behind the stories, his correspondence, mathematics and the extraordinary world that grew around Alice.
That made stepping into the shop feel rather special.
These books had once formed part of a private collection, gathered and understood over a lifetime. Now, in the world’s first Book Town, other people could pick them up, open them and begin their own journey.
Someone else would notice a bookplate or inscription.
Someone else would become curious.
And the story would carry on.
Perhaps that’s the point
By the time we eventually headed home, we’d seen plenty.
But it wasn’t really a list of things that made the day.
It was wandering into the Cheese Market because it was there.
Sitting over coffee and an almond croissant in The Cosy Cafe.
Looking at an ancient doorway.
Finding an interesting shop.
Having conversations.
Following one street into another.
And, yes, finding ourselves surrounded by Alice and discovering another strand of a story that had begun elsewhere.
Our first visit to Hay had been almost accidental.
This one had started with a purpose.
But fairly quickly Hay took over.
I rather like places that do that.
Places that reward curiosity rather than an itinerary. Places where spending an hour doing very little doesn’t feel like an hour wasted. Places where independent businesses still give individual streets their personality and where you can discover something you had absolutely no intention of looking for.
We went back because work had given us a reason.
We’ll go back again simply because we want to.
And perhaps that’s the nicest compliment you can pay a place.
Useful links
- Visit Hay-on-Wye
The official visitor website for the town, including independent shops, places to eat, events and practical information.
- Explore Hay-on-Wye’s markets
Information about the Cheese Market Hall, Butter Market and Hay’s regular Thursday and Saturday markets.
- Visit Hay Castle
Visitor information, exhibitions, events and the castle’s programme of arts, literature and learning.
- Discover The Cosy Cafe
The café where we stopped for a latte, an almond croissant and time simply to enjoy Hay.
- Explore Addyman Books
One of Hay’s longstanding independent booksellers and the people behind A Shop Called Alice.
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