A day out in Llanidloes

 I had a lovely day out today.  The sun was shining, and the hills were so beautiful as I drove up to Rhayader and then beyond to Llanurig, and then Llanidloes, to meet my friend Nia.  We were due to meet for lunch at 12.30, so I set off early to find St Idloes Church, which I wanted to visit.  I shall do a proper post on it tomorrow - when my camera battery has recharged.  It was a beautiful church with the original arcade of  carved stone pillars from Abbeycwmhir (about 10 miles to the South East). Measurements were taken to prove that these truly were from the Abbey. They were brought here in the middle 1500s.  But more of that tomorrow. It was good to go into a church again.  I have had a break as church visiting was so associated with Keith's final illness - my little breaks away from caring for him - and which in retrospect I wish I hadn't done, but had spent all that time with him instead.  That guilt sits heavy with me.

The beautiful old Market Hall in Llanidloes is the only one in the country which is still in its original situation.  It was built between 1612 and 1622, although there are some timbers which are earlier (mid-16th C).  It was also known as the Booth Hall in the past, from the stalls or booths under and inside the hall.  It was occasionally used as a Courthouse too.

At one end of the Market Hall is this boulder, upon which John Wesley used to stand to preach.  He was a prolific open air preacher, and was well known in our parish too, where he would jump upon a fallen gravestone to cast his words to the parishioners, and indeed, his brother Charles married a young lady from nearby Garth.  John Wesley married celibacy, believing that marriage would distract his mind from the Methodist work he did.   

Llanidloes was the centre for Welsh flannel making in the 18th and 19th  C and famed for its wool in the centuries before.  With the decline of the Flannel industry, the Chartist movement had a stronghold in the area an there was a riot that overthrew the control of the town's officials in 1839, for 5 days, until troops were brought in to restore order.  More than 100 people were imprisoned or transported over this matter, and Llanidloes was an occupied town for a year following this.  

Imagine doing your banking here as it was formerly a bank.

In the 19th C it became a smelting town, due to the lead mining in the surrounding hills and the population doubled, leading to the building of 5 chapels of differing denominations.  A Temperance Hotel was opened to try to combat the drunkenness in the town!

With Minerva Arts (they have a wonderful collection of Welsh quilts, and I volunteered there for a little while) at my back, this is looking down towards the Market Hall.

Anyway, I feel much refreshed this evening. Lunch was so filling, I only needed a small tea of cheese salad and a small piece of crusty bread,  then yoghurt.   I went into the little Health Food shop in search of good multivitamins as my supply is nearly out, and bought Floradix, which has iron and vitamins. I am hoping that will help give me some more energy again, and calm my emotions and anxiety (plenty of B-vitamins in it).

The car started first thing again today, despite the minus 3 overnight and hard frost.  I think I will go and have a word with them tomorrow as I don't want to spend £100 plus when there isn't an ongoing regular problem.  I will spend at least the morning working on the binding for Gabby's quilt and hope to get it to the hand-sewing on the back stage, which I can do of an evening whilst watching something good on tv.