Rest day in Hay-on-Wye

Each morning we meet together in one of our rooms for devotions. Generally speaking, our bedrooms aren't spacious so finding adequate space to sit can be difficult, hence Allan sitting on the floor. Allan is our timekeeper, helping us to arrive at breakfast early. This morning, every other guest decided to eat early so our waitress was literally running.

Breakfast with The Captain, the resident concierge at Seven Stars was special. He lingered until a sausage was shared with him. Over here everyone owns a dog, or two. The dogs go everywhere with their masters. Most shops and cafes have signs saying 'dogs welcome' so that must mean the owners are also welcome. After breakfast we separated so each couple could do what they needed to do. Now I know some of you will know about Hay-on-Wye but for those who don't I need to tell you what makes Hay famous.

Bookshops! Hay-on-Wye is billed as the 'bookshop capital of the world', and a short walk around the town will help convince you that this is the case. A man named Richard Booth lived in Hay but became saddened at the decline of his beloved town in the 1950s. He hit on the idea of collecting books from libraries that were closing down in America and shipping them to Hay where he opened Hay's first second-hand bookshop.

Over time he opened six bookshops. Others followed Richard's example and by the 1970s Hay became known as the world's first book town. Hay doesn't have as many bookshop as it once did but there are still at least 20 bookshops in a town with a population of about 2000 people.