On 1st December 2005 at 4.23pm (or was it 4.24, I forget now) Mrs Self and I met by the Information Booth in Grand Central and last year on the same day, and at the same time, and in the same place we got married there. (If you are very bored and really have nothing better to do you will find the story and photos in the NY Times). This year, wanting to celebrate the happy day, but feeling that a change of venue was called for, we decided to nip up to Hay on Wye for a couple of days walking.It seems like 30 years or more since Richard Booth, a second hand bookseller, put the place on the map by declaring himself King of Hay. That's because it was 30 years or more. The media flocked to the sleepy little market town and so did other booksellers and now it is pretty much the most popular second hand book destination in the country.
HRH's main bookshop (there is a second one in the castle) hasn't changed much over the years (although it is now owned by an American who is smartening it up) and there is still a large section on DOGS. That's right DOGS. You probably thought I was never going to mention DOGS but I was leading up to it that's all.
So, when it rained and rained and rained on Sunday we pottered over to the Booth emporium and spent a happy couple of hours browsing. Mrs. S in the horse section, me in the dog section. Of all the books I ended up buying my favourite is: Keeping a Dog by Major R.F. Wall with a foreword by Sir Frederick Hobday (you couldn't make this up) published in 1933 and dedicated 'To Jumbo from Uncle John'.
There are many gems to be gleaned from this excellent and entertaining tome but I will confine myself to just one quote from the chapter on feeding: 'The majority of dogs readily digest and thrive on raw meat.' A useful reminder that before the pet food industry started brainwashing everyone it was generally accepted that dogs should be fed a raw food diet.
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