A Trip To Ponty, Which Of Course Includes A Small But Quietly Wonderful Second Hand Bookshop, Penguins And A Museum

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Though often in this blog I've made it clear that I've always admired Pontypridd when compared to Bridgend Town I hadn't been there,other to watch a rugby game in over a year and quite fancied going on Thursday if only because...well I'll come back to that later.

Unusually this week there were no issues with the weather. So no matter when wife/daughter woke up we could spend a part of the day there. Thus the Kia Picanto was fired up and the three of us arrived there just before twelve.

High Noon At Ponty

After lunch we started to wander around the town centre. In terms of comparison with Bridgend Town nothing has changed. It's still better. There is no sense of decay here. There did not appear to be many shop closures since I last visited with a noticeable exception. The Marks and Spencer was closed roughly a year ago. As far as I can work out an outlet store aside there is only one Marks and Spencer store now between Cardiff and Swansea and that's in Neath. I'll confirm that if I ever go there.

Generally though to a visitor's eye this is a town centre at ease with itself.

Are you watching Bridgend Council?

One of the highlights for me was in Pontypridd Market.

Pontypridd Market

And specifically to the bookstall selling pre owned books.

Inter Books

The ladies went off to do some shopping by themselves. I had an half an hour.

This is a small but quietly wonderful place. Even more so given the decline of bookshops, There is the sense that you as a reader have the chance of the thrill of discovery which the internet for all it's wonders can't match. If you're a reader and you're in Pontypridd give it a visit. For remember, it's sort is dying.

This is how I like a bookshop to be

I could have bought between eighteen and eighty books that afternoon. But I controlled my Penguin book addiction and just bought eight.Starting with...

1440 - John Wyndham - The Midwich Cuckoos

I am a fan of John Wyndham books. I reckon because he was able to write science fiction in the style of an ordinary novel. Thus making it relatable to his readers. 

442 - Graham Greene - Brighton Rock

It's rather surprising that this is the first Graham Greene book I've got for the collection since I've started it. I am a fan. The Heart Of The Matter is one of my most favourite books of all time.

765 - The Innocence Of Father Brown

Confession time. I've never read a G K Chesterton book. Solely because of having so many books and so little time (aka life).This also applies to this next novel.

2535 - Colette - My Mother's House

1425 - Honor Tracey -The Straight And Narrow Path

I've never heard of this writer before. So to be honest I really can't say anything yet.

There was a series of books called Penguin Specials which were about the issues of the day. I bought two of them. Firstly.

S222 - John Mander - Great Britain Or Little England

This is a book about Britain's place in the world post Empire. I bought it because it might be timely post Brexit.

S182 - Edward Crankshaw - Khrushchev's Russia

I bought this because it appeared interesting.

And finally.

Francoise Sagan - La Chamade

I think I've mentioned before how surprisingly emotionally affected I was by Bonjour Tristesse. So any chance I get to buy another book by Ms Sagan will always be taken.

Before leaving for home we visited Pontypridd Museum.

Pontypridd Museum....with added finger

This is a small place. On the ground floor there are exhibitions which this time was an art one. I won't lie this is not to my taste but each to their own. It is a converted chapel which explains this showpiece.

Impressive

Upstairs shows us more with regard to history of Ponty. It also has this which if you put an old style 10p (which they will give you in exchange for a current one) one of the trains will move around the place.

For the child in us all

As long as you don't go in expecting the British museum. I reckon you'll like what you'll see.

We left having enjoyed ourselves. It was a good afternoon,

Until the next time.

In Which I Take Kim Edwards To The Dentist And I Contribute To Murdoch's Coffers To Say Goodbye To The Boleyn

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well my long delayed appointment to the dentist eventually happened today (Tuesday). As you remember it was postponed twice when I was under the weather. I took the Penguin paperback I've been reading. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards whilst I was waiting to be called in.

Of course Dentistry has gone beyond the days where pre waiting entertainment constituted a few worn fashion and motoring magazines. Now they give you a TV to view. However it's daytime TV which means mainly something along the lines of property/emergency services/ benefit scroungers/antiques/collectables/people with domestic disputes resolved in a mock court or an emotional bear pit that make you feel you're watching prewatershed MMA/progammes you like but was first shown decades ago/ general cheap trash.

Which all meant that TV was not a distraction.

It is you know a very emotional book. I find myself more amenable to such novels the older I get. A couple of years ago I found myself surprisingly affected after reading Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan. If this was in my twenties I'd have just shrugged. Age does that to you.

Things went OK at the dentist. Especially as she had seen me make the effort to come earlier this year even though I was unwell (so that was cancelled). So when I admitted that dental hygiene was the last thing on my mind during the past month I was spared a lecture.

Rupert Murdoch is a little bit richer this month. For this afternoon I had Sky Sports added to my TV package with BT. It costs £22 a month and a month is all I want. Because tonight (Tuesday) West Ham were playing Manchester United in the last ever game being played at the Boleyn. And I had to watch it.

Before I go on, and give the impression that this is not so much a post more of a eulogy for a much loved stadium. I'm not going to make any excuses for the drunken apes that smashed the Manchester United coach on the way to the ground. It didn't matter if the result was 8-0 and gave the Boleyn a memorable send off it will be this that it will be remembered for. They've disgraced the team,the memories and the majority of the supporters. Not only that but rival fans will throw tonight at our faces for a long,long while.

That all being said. They are the team I have supported as a child. I've fond memories of going to home games. Think the one that sticks in my memory of the games I went to was the first home game after the death of Bobby Moore. It was against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Before the beginning of the match there were emotional scenes as a wreath of a West Ham football shirt with a number six on it being brought on the middle of the pitch

Remember Mike, (or was it Gavin?) Small missing a chance that I could have scored without my glasses on. Wolves scoring first. It was Steve Bull (I mean who else would it be for them in that period?). West Ham won though. One of the goals was a Julian Dicks penalty. And if there was one certainty in football at that time it was that goalkeepers never saved a Julian Dicks penalty as he kicked it with a force that I've never seen before or since. They just avoided the ball.

Also, as I've mentioned before. Friends and family aside the one thing I have truly missed about moving to Wales was West Ham United. So I wasn't going to miss this match.

I have a collection of twenty football shirts,which I'll explain about in another post (though probably twenty, to a real collector, will evoke laughter bordering on mockery). There are two rules to this collection. One is that full price is never paid and the other is that it's just one per team. Of course these rules are broken for West Ham (I've four of them). This was the one I bought for its original cost and it seemed fitting I'd wear it today.

The Legend that is Dagenham Motors

Well you probably know that West Ham won memorably after having been 2-1 down. It was a wonderful game. But the final show after the match to celebrate the history of the Boleyn did make me shed a few tears I must admit (though in a manly way of course).

Let me apologise to Manchester United and their supporters for the actions of a few drunken apes...but I'm happy we won.

Until the next time.