Writing travel posts is something I love doing, but is also something I've been wanting to switch up for a while now. I've always felt like travel posts should be comprehensive pieces, with a lot of writing and recommendations, however lately I've been wanting to make travel posts a little lighter and more fun to create (and read!). Enter SNAPSHOT, a new series I'm starting in order to share my travel photos from the last year, with a little writing and recommendations, but with more focus on the images (an image is, after all, worth a thousand words).
Hay-on-Wye, situated on the perimeter of the Anglo-Welsh border, is the National Book Town of Wales. As such it features numerous charming little book shops, some general, some specific, but all housed in sweet old country shops and decorated in a very individualistic manner. Having lived and grown up on the English side of the border, Hay-on-Wye certainly had a familiarity to it which I always feel upon visiting border-towns, but had a charming higgledy-piggledy nature of its own.
//SHOP//
Richard Booth's Bookshop: One of the most famous (and oldest) bookshops in Hay-on-Wye, selling a selection of the latest titles and well chosen second-hand books, with a good balance between fiction and non-fiction. There's a lovely cafe downstairs, and a cinema too, all housed in a gorgeous tile-fronted building, with plenty of windows for natural lighting, and the cosiest armchairs for a spot of reading before you buy.
Addyman Books: A maze of bookish delights, with rooms dedicated to genres all decorated in a befitting way. This shop was truly awe-inspiring, and wandering from room to room made me excited about what was to be found around the corner.
Murder & Mayhem: One of Hay's specialist booksellers, dedicated to (you guessed it!) murder mysteries. Owned by Addyman Books, this is decorated in the same manner and as you step through the door you feel instantly transported to the eerie passages of Poe or perhaps the study of Sherlock Holmes. If you love a good whodunnit, this is a must visit.
Bartrums: If you love stationery, than Bartrums is right up your street - a well stocked stationery shop with big brands, and some independent brands too, making it the perfect place to buy a gift, or maybe something for yourself...
The Old Electric Shop: An eclectic and changing mix of vintage clothes and furniture, paired with independent companies and brands makes The Old Electric Shop a truly quirky shop that you won't forget. There's also a cafe, so it would naturally be rude not to visit.
The small village of Tretower is a short drive away, nestled in the stunning scenery of the Brecon Beacons. It's a jumble of slate and large stones which feels like it hasn't changed for at least 50 years, with a few small houses and a farm or two all watched over by the remains of a castle. It's a rather small, rather rugged place, that won me over as an idyllic, isolated Welsh gem. Being in the heart of the Brecon Beacons makes it a great place to go on a walk from, but during a fleeting visit I personally just enjoyed walking along a few of the village lanes seeing where they led to. It's quite a jumbled little place, but I think rather charmingly so!
-Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post. I'm excited about working on this series, as I have got so many unpublished photographs on my camera that I want to look over, some from almost a year ago!-
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