KILVERT's Diaries in the 1870's

[Arranroots]

Keith

Thanks s much for your trouble!

Will Pm you!

Arranroots 

[indiapaleale]

Hi Keith,
So glad you enjoyed the grub at Kilverts.....my favourite meal is Profiterolls washed down with a pint of beer!! My sister used to own Tinto House, a lovely B&B opposite the Town Clock and I can't tell you how many times I cussed at the clock at 2 in the morning! Bong!
I forgot to tell you that Gareth, the fish and chip!, is also the Mayor of Hay. So next time you go just ask for His Highness!!
Cheers,
Indi

[Keith Sherwood]

Indi,
And apparently there's the self-appointed King of Hay, Richard Booth, to contend with.  The other thing is that they always photograph the Clock Tower to show just the top part, so as not to reveal the rather unpleasant-looking public loos just behind.
I thought Clyro was a special little village, too..
Keith

[indiapaleale]

Keith,
Richard Booth is a lovely man who really put Hay on Wye on the map. Prior to his arrival it really was a "Dead and Alive Hole" I was in Hay in the summer of...... hmmmm... 1978 I think it was, when Richard proclaimed himself King. Of course, by this time, he had bought the Castle and several shops. He threw a wonderful street party outside the Castle on a warm July evening. There was a live band and the fun lasted well into the night. Everyone of "his subjects" was presented with a Hay Passport and a wad of Hay money which I still have!  I remember that many of the locals thought he was stark raving bonkers! But as they got to know him, they realised how much he cared for Hay.
Richard would hang out in the Blue Boar Inn, another of my favs...and he was so interesting to talk to. He travelled all over the world buying old books, maps and such.
Unfortunately, he suffered a terrible stroke about 10 years ago or so and was not expected to survive...but he made it! He doesn't get out in the town much anymore and I miss him when I go home. Hay should be forever grateful to Richard.

I'm not going to mention the unpleasantness of the loos!!

And....I am getting homesick as I write this!!
Oh well,  must pack now...a trip to San Diego this weekend!
Cheers,
Indi

[Keith Sherwood]

Indi,
The people who owned the bookshops in Hay spoke very favourably of Richard Booth when I asked about him, however much of an eccentric he has been in the past.  They owed their livelihood to him, especially after Beeching decided to remove the railway from the town in 1963 and upset the whole balance of how one made a living.
I shall certainly soon return to Hay in search of more books, and any family history that anyone wants looking into.  But have a lovely time in San Diego, and don't get too homesick for Hay...
Keith

[mkilvert]

Is the Rev Francis Kilvert's family history anywhere in Hay-on-Wye by any chance?

And do I get a free beer in the Kilvert pub if I show them my name is Matt Kilvert?!?!?  hmmm, I hope so!

[indiapaleale]

Hi Mike,

If I was at home in Hay on Wye...I would say...yesssireee!...re the beers...but I can't vouch for the current owner of Kilverts. ......where I have spent a few happy hours....mulling history, you understand.

Rev Kilvert actually lived in Clyro ...just up the road from Hay and the bookshops in Hay are full of Kilvert stuff.  I read your other message on the Shropshire board and I would say that the odds are in your favour that there is a Herefordshire/Shropshire connection.

If you do go to Hay....please say hello to my sisters!

Best of luck with your hunt,
Indi in California

[indiapaleale]

Duh...after all that ..I called you Mike....my son's name instead of Matt...my grandson's name...!!!!

So sorry

Indi

[Keith Sherwood]

It all seems such a long time ago now since I was in Hay in August (when England were counterattacking against the Aussies on the first day of that Second Test at Edgbaston, and the booksellers were keeping me up to date with the latest score...)
It was harder than I thought to get hold of a copy of Kilvert's diary, but I finally got the Penguin 1987 edition.  The extraordinary thing about him was that he had so much energy, walking for miles and miles to visit someone, then maybe jumping on a train in Hay to travel down to London.
And he had a real eye for the women, too...
Keith