Market Microcosm

St David's Day is the first day of 'meteorological' spring, three weeks before the spring equinox, and what a lovely start! Bright blue sky and sunshine all day with the temperature rising from zero to eight degrees. I slept a good eight hours and found Clare was up before me, making breakfast pancakes. 

After a late start, the morning slid by while I was occupied with making the video slideshow to go with Ash Wednesday's Morning Prayer. Clare made soup for lunch as we're booked to visit The Conway for a pub supper with Kath this evening. Then we went into town by bus for a walk around to see if there were any special activities other than the St David's Day Procession, which we missed as it started while we were still at home. Apart from a few people in variants of the national costume, or wearing dragon hats or daffodil headbands, there was nothing of special interest going on. 

The Market was very crowded and buzzing with activity and a riot of colour. There were people queuing to buy Welsh cakes on all four sides of the stall, about three dozen I reckon. It reminds me of markets in Spain, except there's more variety on top of bread, meat, fish and veg stalls. In addition to the established snack bar, there are fresh fast food takeaway stalls, both British and Asian. It's the non food stalls that are of interest however. A traditional gents drapers, a haberdashery, an ironmongery, a watch repairer's, a jeweller's, an electrical goods stall and second hand stalls for records and books. 

All under one roof, which has seen the city's department stores come and go over the past 130 years, it's a microcosm of an entire city centre or high street retail offering, as varied as it was of fifty years ago. It has had its ups and downs over the years, but has changed with the times and kept its character, a cultural treasure which really is a practical amenity. It pleased me to think that my great grandmother Annie John was a stall holder there at the turn of the 20th century. It was good to recall this in telling my grandfather's story. I love the place. After a drink in John Lewis', a visit to Beanfreaks for flour, then we took the bus home, went to the Coop for fruit and veg on our way home. Then I had a short walk in Llandaff Fields as the sun was setting, and by the time I got back Kath had arrived to spend the night with us.

Our pub supper was good. I tried alcohol free Guinness for the first time and was impressed. It went down well with bacon, faggots, peas, gravy and mashed potatoes. It was very noisy at 'The Conway', packed with drinkers and diners, but with a pleasant friendly atmosphere, much the same as it was before it closed eighteen months ago. It's not been given a huge makeover in appearance, but it has improved kitchen and storage facilities. Pleased to see that it's regaining popularity as a local hostelry. 

We were back home by half past eight. Clare and Kath went to bed early. I stayed up and watched the last episode of 'The One that Got Away' before calling it a day. By the way, I didn't guess the perpetrator correctly, there was another sinister hidden layer to the plot.