Tollgate keeper's cottage

The photo above shows a typical tollgate keeper's cottage reassembled on the site of the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagan's.  Cottages like this were attacked over and again -- and burnt down -- during the Rebecca Riots -- as portrayed in "Rebecca and the Angels".   Typically they were octagonal, or else rectangular buildings with angled corners, so that a good view could be had in all directions by the gatekeeper.

Andy Searle's painting of Plas Ingli

This is the second of Andy Searle's paintings inspired by the Angel Mountain saga -- a light coach driving towards the front door.  It's not all that close to the way I imagine the house to have looked, but who cares?  We all have mental pictures inspired by words, and this is the way Andy sees things.  Anyway, it's a very charming painting.....

Andy Searle's painting of Martha

It's nice to know that the Angel Mountain Saga inspires some people to produce works of art -- this is an oil painting done by Andy Searle a few years ago, and kindly presented to me.  Martha at her desk, hard at work on her diary.......

The men in Martha's life....

Here are four of the men in Martha's life.  Can you guess their names?

Martha Morgan Country

I've been trying out the idea of "Martha Morgan Country" on assorted people involved with the tourist trade, and there is a good response.  So I'm working on it, and will soon have more to announce.

In geographical extent, it's more limited than "Bluestone Country", since that area is generally defined as incorporating most of the Mynydd Preseli section of the National Park, and effectively the NE quadrant of Pembrokeshire.  Martha didn't often go as far south as Maenclochog or as far west as Mathry........  so I must give some thought to the precise geographical area to be defined.

Bluestone Country map here:
http://www.bluestonecountry.com/location.html

Weeping angels

When an image similar to these was posted the other day on Facebook, I was struck by the angel's pose -- which is one of despair as much as grief.  All very suitable for one of the angels -- or all of them -- who seek, in the stories, to keep Martha out of trouble. 

Suitable caption:  "Dear Martha, why didn't you listen to me when I tried, over and again, to keep you out of trouble -- and why did you insist, over and again, in trying to save the world and in getting involved in things that were really none of your business....?"

(These are actually three different statues -- a Google search reveals that there are hundreds of "weeping angels" out there.  I wonder if these three were all done by the same sculptor?)