A Day in Hay

Being a self-confessed travel addict doesn’t always manifest itself in an uncontrollable urge to dash, passport in hand, to the nearest airport check in. It does however, require a sense of adventure, a full tank of petrol and a patient husband who is amenable to that inevitable mid-week question – “We’re not busy this weekend are we? Because I was thinking we could go to…”

 

Richard Booth’s Book Shop

Fortunately for me, the other half has always had a bit of an Indiana Jones complex, he is after all finishing up a Masters in Regional History. Though it must be said our adventures are more picnic in the park than Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I’m extremely lucky too that we live in a beautiful part of the world – filled with rich pickings fit for the most intrepid of explorers.

Just an hour away is the town of Hay- on-Wye, the world’s first, and most famous book town.  This small village, nestled on the border between Wales and England is the world’s largest second hand and antiquarian book centre, home to over 40 book shops, equating to a biblio-licious average of 1 bookshop per 36 residents. It is also host to the world-renowned Hay Literature Festival, dubbed by Bill Clinton as the ‘Woodstock of the Mind’, and is one of my favourite places to while away a weekend, trawling through its literary treasure troves.

No matter what your reading tastes are – you’re well served in Hay. From specialist bookshops,

such as The Hay Cinema Bookshop and the deliciously dark Murder and Mayhem- purveyors of crime and horror novels, to the fabulous Richard Booth’s Books – which lays claim to the coveted (well in this village, anyway) title of world’s largest second hand bookshop, there really is something for everyone. It is almost impossible to leave the town without an armful of books.

Over the years, I’ve had some great finds in Hay. Among them a dog-eared first edition of Truman Capote’s ‘A House on the Heights’ and my favourite so far – a first edition of Tennessee Williams’ ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, found in a dusty box at the back of one of the smaller shops, complete with the cast list from the London Comedy Theatre’s 1958 production of the play, starring Kim Stanley as Maggie (also known for her role as narrator in the 1962 film version of To Kill A Mockingbird) hidden inside.

1955 First Edition of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with 1958 London Comedy Theatre cast list

My latest visit this weekend didn’t disappoint. After a day scrutinising the shelves, I am now the proud owner of Penguin first edition copies of Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

Indiana also managed to purchase the equivalent of his own bodyweight in various history books. Happy shoppers indeed. The only problem now is finding more space on our creaking bookshelves.