Scorchio!

July has been a very hot and sunny month and with soaring temperatures the sea breezes have been most welcome.

Aberaeron's Sea Food Festival on the 16th was an amazing sight and very well attended. Fishermen had been out early and provided over 700 fish, the barbecued mackerel was going, well, like hot mackerel! Thai sea food snacks, smoked fish, cheeses, wine-tastings, even strawberries and cream. All this accompanied by live music under a cloudless blue sky matched by the high blue water in the Harbour, the sound of the light wind singing through the boats' rigging. Sitting on the warm stones of the Harbour wall washing down fresh oysters with chilled white wine the scene was unforgettable, cofiadwy!

A later event, Aberaeron's annual Tug of War contest on 23rd July was very popular and crowds lined up to watch the losers get a soaking.

We look forward to the Welsh Pony and Cob Festival in the Square Field on August 13th, another highlight in the Aberaeron calendar.

This area is perfect for outdoor events, especially when the sun shines. At St Dogmael's Abbey near Cardigan, one of Shakespeare's comedies Much Ado about Nothing will be performed amid the stately ruins the first week in August. The 20th consecutive production combines live music and spectacle.

The Welsh Wildlife Centre at Cilgerran with its panoramic views across the Teifi Marshes was the beautiful site for Illyria's productions of Pride and Prejudice in July and Macbeth on 3rd August.

The Celtic connection between Strata Florida and Kells dominated by monastic settlements opened on 9th July. The exhibition opened by The Times' senior Art Critic, Richard Cork, moved to Kells after July 22nd
and included exhibitions by local artists, ancient bronze casting demonstrations, and visitors could see the results of the latest archaeological dig at Strata Florida carried out by Dr David Austin of St. David's University, Lampeter.

Keeping up the cultural tradition, the National Eisteddfod of Wales is held at Swansea from August 5th - 12th in the Main Pavilion, which this year is pink! Poets and prose winners are honoured ceremonially, the Gorsedd of Bards in traditional garb award a crown, medal and chair for literary achievement. The ceremonies are a highlight for visitors and the 3,500 seater Pavilion is often booked a year in advance.

On a more serious note, the long cold and wet Spring before this hot dry Summer had led to reduced vegetable crops. The green in front of Carno House is more yellow now for the first time and the surrounding fields are much the same, not a lot of the 'green, green grass of home' around this year. People are talking more about global warming as they experience record-breaking temperatures, and hopefully, taking steps to play their part in protecting the environment. For example, fewer carbon emissions from air travel if more British people stayed in the UK for holidays, especially if they used public transport or cycles. J. H. Catto says 'The world is an integral whole, its sum is larger than its parts and its inhabitants have been put on notice. She quotes a Chief of the Squamish Indian Tribe in 1851:
'Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is their mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.'