Play the goat

Back blip:

It was a very wet morning and we sat and read whilst it rained. It was actually quite pleasant to relax and do little for once. 

By mid morning the rain had stopped so we got in the car and drove over to Brecon. First stop was the Royal Welsh Military Museum. There were many interesting exhibits including a room devoted to The Battle of Rorke’s Drift. It’s hard to read about such things without feeling revulsion at the futility of war and thinking about current conflicts. The collage shows a section from a Zulu shield and a Zulu necklace and the remains of the British flag after the battle.

In a lighter vein one of the cases had a stuffed regimental goat. I well remember TA soldiers marching though my home village on Remembrance Sunday with the goat trotting obediently at the front led by the Goat Major.  I loved to see the beautifully combed and dressed animal and would rush to the gate when I could hear the band coming. But apparently, in 2006, the resident goat mascot for the Royal Welsh, William, didn’t behave himself on parade and tried to head butt a drummer. He was subsequently called in front of his commanding officer and summarily demoted. A Canadian animal rights group protested to the British Army and said that William was merely acting the goat. He was subsequently reinstated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Windsor_(goat).

After our museum visit we sat in the canal basin and enjoyed a light lunch. The rain just about held off as we ate but we moved indoors for our coffees. Later the rain moved off and we walked along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, reading the information boards that explained its importance as a means of transporting coal and lime. 

Back at the cottage I settled down to some serious tennis watching.