London grew smaller as the countryside grew bigger, and after a lengthy 5 hours of heart.fm we hit Wales. I won’t go into the long and the short of it, but somehow before our first interview we had to eat two dinners. Without letting on that was what we were doing. I won’t pretend it was fine, it wasn’t, and in future I’ll be finding out precisely who is eating what and when before I leave the house.
Sheila Leighton was first on our list. A good friend of my Dad’s, she has lived by the river Wye all of her life, and never once swum in it. She in fact has insisted on having two life jackets on a recent cruise - should the ship go down - leaving my Dad jacketless and to his own devices. The interview was short and sweet, there isn’t a huge amount to say to two girls looking for swimming secrets if you aren’t a swimmer, but she had a good stab at explaining the perceived dangers of outdoor swimming. Hopefully it will make a good bridge between segments, and she has a lovely voice.
The next meeting we were both a little unsure about. It was with a lady who’s reputation (on trip advisor) precedes her, and her reputation locally for that matter. I think it’s fair to say she is on the eccentric side of modern life, though I guess it depends what you think of as modern life. ANYWAY, Becca had spoken to her on the phone and she seemed pretty approachable, so we headed off to meet her.
I don’t know if you have been to the Hay on Wye area, but it’s one of those places were there are a lot of “hippies”. Hippies with money. Hippies who wash their hair. Hippies who baptise themselves in a river at the height of summer, but would baulk at the idea of going in during a wet Wednesday afternoon. Barbara isn’t that kind of person. She is the kind of person who’s time and love is literally poured into the river. She had been known to remove children from their parents for the afternoon in order to have them experience the water the way she does. And to tape polystyrene to her shins to stave off bruises from an unknown set of rapids. She is wild and uncompromising and uttery bonkers. If you consider it a problem if your waitress is wearing no shoes and wanders through the room carrying a frying pan you should stay away from this pub. If you dream of rivers and swimming and joy and real ale this is probably your place. She will try and get you to swim naked at the full moon, you have been warned.
Clare
