Hay-On -Wye

With dozens of book and antiques shops, cosy pubs and riverside walks, this Welsh town takes life at a leisurely pace

- Siobhan Dowd

Located at the northern most point of the Brecon Beacons and to the east of the Black Mountains, the little Marches town of Hay-on-Wye would have been hard pushed to have found a prettier location.

But the endearing town, which has become something of a Mecca for bibliophiles all over the world, hasn’t always been a place of such quiet reflection.

The magnificent Hay Castle has loomed over the narrow streets for more than 800 years – a reminder of the unrest that this border town has experienced throughout its history.

The castle was built around 1200 AD by William de Braose, a Norman Lord known as the ‘Ogre of Abergavenny’, and his fearsome wife Maud de Braose, or Moll Walbee to the Welsh.

Some believed Maud was a supernatural being. Local legend has it that she built the castle single-handedly one night, carrying stones in her apron. When one fell out, she threw it with such force that it landed across the River Wye in St Meilig’s churchyard, Llowes. The ancient cross carved into a standing stone inside the church is supposedly the discarded stone.

The position of Hay Castle, close to the Welsh/English border, meant that it was attacked by everyone, from Welsh patriots to English barons and reigning monarchs.

In 1231, it was even burned down by Llywelyn the Great before being rebuilt by King Henry III.