It's August and, with the inevitability of a wasp homing in on a jam sandwich in a thunderstorm, our thoughts turn to the end of what passes for summer and the coming of the Bank Holiday.
As usual, I'll be spending the holiday in mid-Wales. That's where I'm writing this, listening to the lambs complaining because they've been separated from their mothers. It's a lovely part of the world and I do recommend it.
The Bank Holiday is enlivened in our county town by the Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival. The streets fill with people in Victorian costumes and the open ground in the centre of town hosts jugglers and acrobats and tents with handicrafts and vaguely Victorian themed stalls. There's a dog show where the hound we have adopted for our trips here came third in a waggiest tail competition. It's huge fun and you'd enjoy it.
There is a more serious side to things with talks about the Victorian era given in the Hotel Commodore, which acts as the nerve centre of the Festival. And on Friday 26 August, yours truly will be presenting the life of James Brooke, first White Rajah of Sarawak. If that's not exciting enough, there will also be a display of swords of the region, including a head hunters sword that has taken actual heads. If you have a spare head, bring it along and we can demonstrate the technique.
If you are in the area (and it really is a lovely area to be in) please call by and see me. Talking to an empty room can be embarrassing and if you come you might even find it entertaining as well as informative. And once you've had enough of the town and me, you can explore the staggeringly beautiful scenery around and about.
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