Hay-on-Wye - on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, Wales - is a magical place; as I have said previously, any town which has a ruined Mediaeval castle at its heart must be interesting, and its prominent position over-looking a crossing over the River Wye between England and Wales gave rise to conflict in this region of the Welsh Marches during the 11th to 13th centuries. However, after having been left as a sleepy backwater thereafter, where the most exciting activity was the local market in livestock, Hay burst forth as the venue for a world-renowned literary festival and home to more than 30 bookstores, mainly due to the efforts of Richard Booth, the self-styled 'King of Hay'. Truly, Hay (its original name) deserves the title 'The Town of Books'. If you look at a map of Hay you will see the way that many streets still follow their original Mediaeval lay-out, and as you walk from bookstore to bookstore, you get used to finding old buildings sticking out into the narrow streets at odd angles.
After a busy morning spent resisting the urge to buy a whole new library of books, around lunchtime you feel the urge to sample some of the excellent local cuisine - and there you are spoilt for choice, for Hay-on-Wey has almost as many eating establishments as it has bookstores!
Here we see the 'Three Tuns Restaurant & Bar', at the corner of Broad and Bridge Streets. This building - originally a dwelling dating from the 16th century, and now a bar and restaurant - is a structure under the protection of, and listed by Cadw (Building ID #7303, Grade II Listed, 2nd January, 1988). A Grade II Listed Building is 'one of special interest, which warrants every effort being made to preserve it', and Cadw is an agency of the Welsh Government, charged with preserving the historic environment; 'cadw' is a Welsh word meaning 'to keep' or 'to protect'.
The 'Three Tuns' is a 3-bay, cruck truss, timber-framed building - the cruck being a massive, naturally-curved tree trunk, two of which were fastened together to form an arch, which became the structural element supporting the roof (several of these trusses were linked, laterally, with other timbers to prevent downward forces causing them to skew). The roof was clad with good Welsh slate, surrounding a massive central chimney. This 'Last Free House in Wales' was the haunt of such notables as Marianne Faithful, Jools Holland, the Welsh Labour politician Neil Kinnock and - it is said - members of the 1963 Great Train Robbers criminal gang, when they were on the run.
The original dwelling became a public house in the 19th century, and had been in landlady Lucy Powell's family for more than 85 years, when, sadly, in February, 2005 a fire broke out and seriously damaged main parts of the structure. For a while, the building's future was in doubt but it was decided to auction the remains in June, 2006. A former 'regular' of the pub snapped it up for £251,000 and commissioned the architects Hook Mason to restore (and extend) the pub. The result was a very well presented building, as the existing Victorian fireplaces were opened up to their original configuration and flagstone floors installed, similar to those from the 16th and 17th centuries. The original dog-leg staircase to the upper floor survived.
The signs outside the building proclaim, 'Three Tuns - Cask Ales, Fine Wines and Mouth-watering Home Cooked Food' and 'Michelin Guide Pub - Food Served, Lunch 12-2, Evening 6.30 - 9'. The listing in the Michelin Guide is well-deserved, as the menu concentrates on local ingredients such as Hereford beef, Welsh lamb, Ragstone goat's cheese and salmon. The 'Independent' newspaper from London has described this as a 'gastropub...serving desserts sexily arrayed on square black plates', but it is fine food, although the presentation is a little avant-garde for an old stick-in-the-mud like me.
A very nice touch is seen in Bridge Street; to the left of the photograph can be seen the original set of three 'mounting steps'; I dare say these were used by local farmers after they had enjoyed an ale or two on market day, and their horse had been brought round from the now-disused stables behind the pub.
The Three Tuns, a splendid survivor from a bygone age.
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