Day 28 - Monmouth

Another rest day - in quick succession after Bristol but having walked 42 miles in the last two days my feet need it. My little toe now has an intriguing medical condition of having a blister on top of an existing blister.! It's giving me a rather wonky gait or perhaps helps correct any wonky one I had before!

My hotel, The Punch House is slap bang in the middle of town at Agincourt Square.

The reputation of the bowmen of Monmouth and their contribution to Henry V's victory lives on. 

 

Sharing a large traffic free square with the imposing Shire Hall, it's an ideal place to sit and watch the world go by. With its South facing orientation, the tables outside The Punch House are occupied from morning to night. 

In the centre of the square there's a statue to Charles Rolls of Rolls-Royce fame. Famous for having flown in both directions the 20 miles over the English Channel, he died in 1910 at the age of 32 having set up the Rolls Royce company. He wouldn't have known the millions of miles flown by jet engines bearing his name a hundred years and more after his death.

When I peered through my curtains first thing, the market was setting up outside  in the Square.

The first stall,  run by Adele was selling the

first organic asparagus of the season and all grown within a few miles of the town.

We discussed using colour to attract the eye and how a background of a complimentary colour might show off the asparagus to its best advantage. 

Adele decided to put it to the test and try half the table in green, the other half in a bright colour 

and monitor interest through the day......

Adele explained that she was a Wwoofer (Worldwide opportunities on Organic farms) and was helping a lady who had more asparagus than she could tend.
Other than covering the cost of the pitch, she was free to set a competitive price per kilo and while we were talking she encouraged an adjacent stallholder to include her fresh asparagus in the savoury crepes she would be selling at lunchtime. Entrepreneurship in action!

Monmouth is vibrant and for breakfast there was no shortage of options. I stopped off at the (previously) locally owned Coffee No1 and got talking to sisters, Jayne and Sara.

Jayne was on crutches having damaged her knee in a recent mountain biking accident on Hay bluff. She'd had the tenacity to continue cycling home before seeing a doctor and being admitted to hospital. The plaster comes off in a few weeks.

Sara is a technical author in veterinary science and is in the process of having her first travel book published - an account of her family's travels across Africa.

We exchanged details of my blog and 

Sara suggested that I needed a snappier title - perhaps that's a challenge for next time!

Sitting in the warm sunshine, we could have been in the South of France.

Down by the river there was another market, where I met Tony who had a range of thatching tools, cleavers and axes.

In the middle of his display was a steel case.

 

Apparently, Thomas Albert Crompton had been a maritime accident investigator in the early 1900s and this box had contained some of his instruments. 

Having swapped my boots in Britol, I'd since realised that the soles weren't going to survive to Buxton when Sally will bring my next reserve pair. Having failed to have my boots repaired in Bridgwater, I thought I'd try my luck in Monmouth. Beth, Manager at Timpsons is a white water kayaker and is obviously living in the ideal place on the River Wye with Symonds Yat just up the road. Pictures of her in full throttle in white water adorn the walls.

Beth pulled out all the stops and in double quick-time my boots were re-heeled and looking like new.  A brilliant service and I'm ready to 'conquer' the next section of Offa's Dyke tomorrow! 

On the way back, I checked on asparagus sales. Adele said that customers had responded to the contrasting background colour and she was down to her last few bunches with lots of ideas for next week.

Over supper I met John from Muswell Hill (originally from Grimsby). Here we are with Vicky, Manager of The Punch House.

John is cycling end to end in memory of his wife who he lost in December just before her 60th birthday. John left Lands' End on 3rd May is cycling 70 miles a day and spent last night in Wells. He's a very tired man but sure as hell, his commitment will see him through. 

Overheard earlier this afternoon....

" We're getting a dachshund puppy - we're going to call him Bryn"

What a great town!