Talking and walking Wales

 It was with some trepidation that I drove up to mid Wales a week ago - after depending on the internet for so long, how would an in-person workshop be once more? Well - it was wonderful. Zoom sessions simply can't replicate the experience of sharing a space with like-minded others, chatting over coffee and lunch, working in concert with one another. And the venue - Farmer's Lavender in the hills above Builth Wells - added to the pleasure of the day, though I admit I didn't take advantage of the natural pool in the grounds for a swim, as did some of the braver souls! But Helena Attlee and Emma Beynon facilitated a very interesting and thought-provoking day and it was fascinating to talk to the other participants about their current life writing projects - such a variety of biographies, travelogues, memoirs.

I was back in mid Wales again at the weekend, to at last complete our Wye Valley Walk. It had been a somewhat protracted one - we started it in 2009 and it's only 136 miles long! For a variety of reasons we had had long gaps in between stints. But finish it we have, covering the last seven and a half miles in intermittent downpours - which might explain why we met no more than a handful of other walkers all day! It's the sort of walking I love though - in spectacular wild country, with history beneath your feet (home to Celts, Plynlimon saw the Romans mining lead, Owain Glyndwr routing the English). No wonder artists and writers down the centuries have taken inspiration there.

Summer reading

It's only the first week of August but already it feels as if autumn is upon us - chilly mornings and the evenings drawing in. I'm often surprised and disappointed by August weather although I know I shouldn't be. The Welsh for July is Mis Gorffennaf - from gorffen, to finish, and haf, summer. So I suppose the dubious weather of August has long been recognised as autumn knocking on the door! But one thing that never disappoints over the summer is having a bit more time - getting back to some (non-research!) reading, seeing friends (which, at last, we can now do), taking stock before getting back into the usual September routine.

I've very much appreciated the opportunity to search out some new authors in the last few weeks and to catch up on my poetry reading. Angela France's new collection Terminarchy came out a few weeks ago with Nine Arches Press and that I have thoroughly enjoyed. She approaches the big questions, the serious issues, with a light touch that so effectively draws the reader into the natural world that is hers and ours; she shows us the urgent need to value and protect that world, she reminds us through her friend Sparrow that "no-one can mend / fractured land, no-one can replant ancient". Reading or hearing her work read always reinforces for me how fortunate we are to have her as mentor to our Women Aloud group; her support, suggestions and always constructive criticism are invaluable.