Farmhouse Breakfast

Farmhouse Breakfast Week is an annual highlight for the Farmers Union of Wales, showcasing all that is the best in Welsh and local farming.

During the week, farmers sit around kitchen tables with friends, family and neighbours for a convivial breakfast, chat and a chance to compare notes.

Despite the usual way of running the campaign not being possible this year, and not to be deterred by another national lock-down, local organic dairy farmer Glenn Lloyd and family sat down to a delicious breakfast sourced entirely locally.

Glenn has himself recently established the thriving Daisy Bank organic milk business, supplying milk in returnable glass bottles, setting up local refill points and vending machines for milk, and producing a new line of naturally flavoured milks.

Glenn said: “It’s not always easy to find the time to sit down for breakfast together on a busy dairy farm but as it’s Farmhouse Breakfast Week we made a special effort and determined to use only local produce.”

The breakfast was made remarkably easy with Corfield’s eggs, Morwen’s bacon, Crowwood wild boar and apricot sausages, Daisy Bank milk, a Montgomery Real Bread baguette and Amanda’s Bakery plum preserve, all sourced within only a few miles of the Lloyds’ Llandyssil farm.

These products are available at a range of shops in Montgomery.

Shop manager at Taste, Katrina Collins, said: “Last year was so difficult for everyone including producers, with restaurants and other traditional outlets only open intermittently.

"Our producers have been creative and resourceful and went the extra mile to look after customers and build new markets.

"Several new high quality producers joined the Taste Montgomery group of local farmers and producers during the year, working together to help promote and sell their produce.

"I also opened the Taste shop in the town last year, which stocks produce from these and other local producers.

"You can treat your closest family to a real, locally sourced breakfast without going further than Montgomery at any time of year.”

The Farmers Union of Wales and local Montgomery producers are encouraging the public to get involved with Farmhouse Breakfast Week this week, by choosing locally sourced breakfast ingredients, and sharing photos and videos of themselves with their breakfast through social media, using the hashtag #breakfastweek2021.

New Monty Hour online

The first of a new series of events, to be known as the “Monty Hour”, took place on January 20 with a talk on 'Recording Wildlife in Montgomeryshire' delivered by Simon and Clare Boyes.

Simon is bird recorder from Montgomeryshire and Clare is a bee and wasp recorder.

A group of residents have started up this Monty Hour session which is open to all who are interested in topics relevant to Montgomery and its place in the world.

The hour will usually take the format of a presentation given by one or more speakers followed by a question and answer session.

Topics will be wide ranging with the initial set including wildlife, reading, history, travel and celebrations.

Town councillor Gwil Stephenson, who is part of the group of residents organising the events, said: "We know people are struggling with lockdown and thought this might be a way of replacing some of the regular and one-off events that people are missing so much because of the pandemic.

"We plan to work in partnership with local groups too. For our first talk, we were pleased to work with Montgomery Energy Group (MEG) who have moved their monthly presentations to the Monty Hour time slot.

"We will be working with other groups and individuals in the future to put on events covering a range of topics and hope there will be something for everyone over the forthcoming period."

The Zoom sessions, all taking place between 7-8pm on a Wednesday evening, can be accessed from the link https://montgomery.cloud/hour.

People are welcome to attend an individual session, or to join each time, according to their interests and how busy they may be, and there will be no obligation to participate.

Future events are being added to the calendar at the same link, and ideas for future sessions will also be welcome.Please email hour@montgomery.cloud for further details.

Montgomery artist passes away

The death of Montgomery artist, Alan Lumsden, was announced recently.

Alan was best known locally for the lively front covers he designed each year for the annual Montgomery Show schedule.

Born in Aldershot, and trained at Cheltenham College of Art and the University of London, he was Head of Printmaking and Design at Chester College of Art until his retirement, when he and his wife Myfanwy, the daughter of well known local author Geraint Goodwin, moved to live in Montgomery.

They moved into a house which had, coincidentally, been occupied for a short while after the second world war by world famous artist and illustrator Edward Ardizzone.

Alan became a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1967, and his works feature in a number of public collections, including the National Museum of Wales, and museums and art galleries across the UK.

He had been housebound for some time, and died following a short illness.

Diary dates

Thursdays - Montgomery Market, with food stalls only during Alert Level 4

Fridays and Sundays - online church meetings, email Rev Alexis on smith.sparrowssong@gmail.com for information or invitations

Saturdays - Fruit and veg stall at Town Hall

Tuesdays - Clwb Eiddew, Welsh language book and chat group online, contact julie.pearce5@btinternet.com

Wednesdays - “Monty Hour” 7-8pm, see article for details, and https://montgomery.cloud/hour

Thursday 28th January - Montgomery Town Council meeting, 7.15pm (online)

For information or invitations to Council meetings, email townclerk@montgomery-wales.uk (in advance, and before 10am on the day of the meeting)