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When the Ogmore and Ewenny Rivers were cursed

Ogmore Castle and stepping stones

In pagan times, every waterway, from the smallest mountain spring to the vast estuary of the Severn, had a water spirit or god associated with it. As water is so fundamental to life, in their time these spirits were highly revered. But after Christianity took hold of the people of South Wales, these beliefs waned. In most cases they were either completely forgotten about or reduced to a handful of legends and superstitions.

Belief in the magical properties of the Ogmore, however, were widely held by locals throughout history. Even until the nineteenth century. I must confess that even as a small boy growing up in the 1970s, when I used to walk my dog to the dipping bridge every day after school, I always felt as if the river had some soothing, ethereal quality about it. The river- bank always seemed to be the perfect place to get lost in childhood thought and daydream.

The following tale of local folklore comes to us from a slightly earlier point in history but illustrates how the river has always appeared spiritually significant to the people who lived near it.

In the eighteenth century, long after Ogmore Castle had ceased to be a baronial court, the area around the estuary of the Ogmore became rather desolate and forgotten. Taking advantage of its remoteness, during this rather lawless time, a band of outlaws established their hideout in the area.

Like many bandits in Britain at the time, they were predominantly men who had returned from the wars the British had fought against the French and the Dutch of this period. When they returned home, they found it hard to re-settle into normal society. In particular, they found it hard to find work. So, they made their living as highwaymen, preying on lone travellers and packmen, and salvaging from shipwrecks, with all the skulduggery attendant with that grisly profession.

There is also a possibility that they were associated with kidnapping.

There was a local belief held that a family of water ogres lived in the Skee Well which was the source of water for the village of Ewenny. Legend has it that these ogres would carry off young maidens who lingered too long by the well, imprisoning them in the springs that fed it. Any reports of missing girls would most likely have been blamed on the ogres rather than this bunch of cutthroats, who were, in my opinion, altogether more credible suspects.

One day, the springs which fed all the wells along the Ewenny and Ogmore estuaries ran dry. These were the principal sources of fresh, clean drinking water for both bandits and locals alike. It was claimed that, if you listened at the wells, you could actually hear the springs ‘groan’. At the same time, the principal food source of the area, the fish in the rivers, all disappeared, and instead its waters teemed with venomous snakes and toads.

The local people became convinced that the actions of this merciless band of ruffians had angered the water spirits of the Ogmore, and this was their punishment. So a couple of brave locals approached the leader of the gang to share their concerns. The gang, being just as superstitious, took the advice offered to them and went to the wells to tell the water spirits that they were truly sorry for how they had behaved, and made a vow to change their ways. Within a few days, the springs had responded, and water gushed forth, filling all the wells, and the snakes and toads once again gave way to a bounty of fish in the river.

The bandits, realising the importance of their vow, planted trees around the wells to provide shade for the people who visited them, and gave up their lives of crime, turning instead to honest labour on the land.

Graham Loveluck-Edwards is an historian and author of ‘Legends & Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale’ and ‘Historic pubs of Wales’. Available at http://grahamloveluckedwards.co.uk He also writes regular items for the Buddy magazine and the Glamorgan Star newspaper.

View his videos on the local history of the Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan areas by visiting his new YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/GrahamLoveluck

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‘Historic Pubs of Wales’ Video: The Plough & Harrow, Monknash and its links with pirates, ship wreckers and monks.

What links priests, pirates and pints? 

If you know the pub; the Plough and Harrow or if you are familiar with the Wick and Monknash area you will love this 10 minute potted history. Stories of ship wreckers and pirates, and a fascinating reconstruction of how Monknash Grange might have looked when it was in its prime. You also get to see how some of the Grange’s traditions are still being observed to this day. Even if purely by chance.

This video is an accompaniment to the book “Historic pubs of Wales” by Graham Loveluck-Edwards, It is available on Amazon and all good book shops.

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A Christmas story unique to Glamorgan – or is it?

Mallt y nos the Glamorgan Christmas ghost story.
Picture featured: “Mallt-Y-Nos” by Carys Fletcher (used with artist’s permission). See http://www.carysfletcherillustration.com for more information and other works.

As we move closer to Christmas, our ancestors would have urged us to keep one cautious eye on the night sky over Glamorgan. Because it was at this time of year that people in these parts would traditionally catch sight of one of our most famous, and sinister visitors from the underworld; “Mallt-Y-Nos”.

She is described in some texts as a witch, in others as a ghostly apparition but she is quite unique to the counties of South Wales. She filled the hearts of all who saw her with fear, as she was known to strike down and kill those who crossed her path.

She also has quite a back story, believed to be the ghost of Robert Fitzhamon’s beautiful but cruel mistress to whom he gave lands in Glamorgan. She was known to be a great horsewoman who loved nothing more than riding to hounds. On one particularly exhilarating hunt she quipped, ‘If I cannot hunt in heaven then I would rather not go there.’ She kept up the hunting until the day she died, but when she faced St Peter at the gates of heaven, her wicked soul was refused entry. Instead, she was given a pack of spirit hounds (known locally as the ‘cwn annwn’ or ‘demon dog’) to ride with for all eternity, in a terrifying ghostly hunting party that charged across the still, Winter, night skies.

I believe that the legends of Mallt-y-Nos are derived from stories that not only pre-date Fitzhamon and the Norman invasion, but also pre-date Christianity. Most of Glamorgan’s mythical beasts, ghosts and witches do. But in her case, it looks like some inspiration also came from overseas.

As you know, I study a lot of folklore and mythology, from all over the world, and there is a trend I frequently stumble across which we may have an example of here. Once the Welsh bards had sunk their teeth into a good locally recognisable character for a story, they often would embellish by bringing in much older stories, originally based on other characters, sometimes from other parts of the world and re-employing them locally. In my latest book ‘Historic pubs of Wales’ I expand on this using the example of the stories which led to the naming of ‘the Captains Wife’ in Sully.  We might just have an example of it here, and from an unexpected source.

In Norse mythology there is a legend that on the night of the Winter solstice the god; Odin would lead a team of ferocious gods and ghosts on a rampaging deer hunt through the skies above the towns and villages of Scandinavia. If a mortal encountered the hunting party, there was every possibility they would be slaughtered on the spot. Sound familiar? Incidentally, Odin was also believed to leave gifts for children as he went on this rampage through the skies so not only has this Norse tradition embellished our tradition of Mallt-y-Nos, it also fed into another, more globally familiar mythical character. Someone who also rode through the winter night sky pursuing reindeer and leaving gifts for children. But that is, may be, for another time.

When you start digging around it is surprising how much synergy there is between Celtic and Norse mythology, suggesting that these two cultures were far more aware of one another, possibly through travel, than is generally recognised.

If you are interested in Glamorgan folklore then give my book; Legends and folklore of Bridgend and the Vale a go. It is available to buy on my website, from Amazon and good independent book shops such as the Cowbridge Bookshop, Nickleby’s in Llantwit Major, Bauhaus in Bridgend and Sussed in Porthcawl.

You can also read this and many other items like it in my regular column in the Glamorgan Star newspaper. Out today.

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The mysteries of Ewenny Priory

Formidable defensive walls at Ewenny Priory
The gate house at Ewenny Priory
Ewenny Priory, Ewenny (Near Bridgend) Vale of Glamorgan

Ewenny Priory is recognised by countless textbooks as the finest example of unmodernised, Norman ecclesiastical work in Britain. But despite its renown, it still holds many secrets. Not least of which, why a place supposedly built to house just 12 monks and a prior is quite so big? And given that the principal pursuit of those monks was study, scribing and worship, why was it built like a mighty fortress?

To get to the bottom of all that, we need to know something about its benefactor; Maurice De Londres and what he is likely to have had in mind when he commissioned it.

Even by the standards of other Norman, warrior knights, De Londres was a brute. He had a fearsome reputation which was dramatically encapsulated when he decapitated Princess Gwenllyan of Dehaubarth in Kidwelly. He was certainly not known to be a godly man.

He had always intended to build a mighty castle in Ewenny to provide the local Norman lordships with what scholars have ever since described as a “quadrilateral defence” of the main crossing points of the Ewenny and Ogmore rivers. With Coity and Newcastle to the North, and Ogmore and Ewenny to South. But if that was his plan, what persuaded him to instead build what we still describe today as “a priory”, a place fundamentally intended to be “a house of God”?

There is a commonly held belief that at some point, De Londres built the priory as a way of atoning for his former sins (just as Richard De Glanville did when he financed the Abbey in Neath). Call me cynical, but I am not altogether convinced by that theory. I believe that instead, his true motivation was a decree issued by Pope Honorius II himself, dated 12th April 1128 (six years after work had begun on the site). It threatened De Londres that if he did not “restore and make good whatever lands, tithes, obligations, or other valuables he had appropriated from his mother church…” – that he would be ex-communicated. In other words, De Londres had clearly plundered a pre-existing monastic building on the site and had already begun building a castle on it. But the Pope wanted it back.

There are records of this older site. The 12th Century “Book of Llandaff” lists a Celtic cell dedicated to the early Welsh saint, St Eguenni in the area. The fact that the pope had threatened De Londres with ex-communication, a fate of social disgrace from which a nobleman could not recover meant he had made De Londres an offer he could not refuse.

To say that De Londres was reluctant would be an understatement, so he built what was fundamentally the fortress he was going to build anyway but to appease the Vatican, annexed it to a priory cell and turned over its custody to the Benedictine order of St Peter at Gloucester Abbey. Hence its size. It needed to be big enough to house 13 monks to keep the pope happy, plus a detachment of men-at-arms to help De Londres subdue the troublesome Welsh.

It seems that beyond the Vatican, there was little pretence of what he had done. King Edward I stationed troops at the priory to assist with his invasion of West Wales, so he clearly knew of its intended purpose. And nearly 200 years later, when Owain Glyndwr laid siege to Coity Castle in 1405, King Henry IV stayed and launched his counterattack from Ewenny Priory. So even he knew that this priory was a castle really and only a priory in name. There is evidence to suggest that the King was also compliant in the deception as he went on to nominate Hugh Morton, the Prior at Ewenny at the time, to be appointed the next Abbot of St Peter’s Gloucester. A huge promotion for him and doubtless a reward for maintaining the pretence of what Ewenny Priory really was if the Pope ever asked.

Graham Loveluck-Edwards (published in the Glamorgan Star newspaper 18 November 2021)

If you are interested in the history of the Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan area, why not give my book a go? It’s all about the history, the many legends and the abundance of folklore of the area and is called ‘Legends and folklore of Bridgend and the Vale’. Available from all good independent book shops, Amazon, or direct from the author at http//grahamloveluckedwards.co.uk

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When Monmouth’s oldest pub held secret masses in the attic

The Tudor arched doorway at the Robin Hood Inn, Monmouth

The Robin Hood Inn is claimed to be the oldest pub in Monmouth, and the Tudor arched doorway built in dressed stone suggests that this claim is not without merit. When I investigate the history of old pubs like this one I am always amazed by two things which keep cropping up. The first is that there is an intrinsic link in Wales between pubs and the church. The second being that pubs have always been prominent in the country’s storied history of rebels, outlaws and underdogs. Never was this truer than in the case of the Robin Hood.

In the sixteenth century, Britain was wrestling with the ramifications of the Reformation. Being a practising Catholic became a very risky business. It was viewed as seditious, and followers were persecuted.

Despite the great personal risk, the landlord of the Robin Hood allowed the inn’s upper room to be used as a safe space for Monmouth’s Catholic community. There is even evidence that it was used to celebrate Mass in secret and remnants of religious paintings where discovered when an area was replastered in the latter part of the 20th century.

Had he been caught he would have instantly been shut down and imprisoned, possibly executed. However, there is no doubt that these secret  gatherings continued for more than 100 years, because by 1778 religious tensions had cooled sufficiently for parliament to pass the Catholic Relief Act, in which places of Catholic worship were given licenses to exist. It took the council in Monmouth fifteen years to act on this reform, but when they finally did, they granted the Robin Hood Inn a license to act as a ‘Publick Catholic Chapel’.

It was a condition of the license that the building could not be made to look like a place of worship and that worshippers could not enter from the main street. Once the restriction on Catholic worship was lifted, a lot more people felt comfortable turning up to Mass, and the upper room of the Robin Hood Inn quickly became inadequate to support their numbers. Instead, the landlord of the Robin Hood at the time, a man called Michael Watkins, financed the building of a purpose-built chapel.

This exert is taken from a new book called “Historic Pubs of Wales” by Welsh author and historian; Graham Loveluck-Edwards and published by Candy Jar Books (Cardiff) LTD.

The book charts the amazing haul of history tied up in 89 historic pubs from right across Wales including 21 from the Monmouthshire/Gwent area. It is available in WH Smith and other good book shops and on Amazon or at a £2 discount on the author’s own website at http://grahamloveluckedwards.co.uk

Historic Pubs of Wales by Graham Loveluck-Edwards
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Mythical Beasts of Glamorgan

The Bwcci Bo, Cwn Annwn and Ceffyl Dwr – Mythical beasts of Glamorgan

It always comes as a surprise to me what a rich tradition of mythical beasts we have here in Glamorgan. We have so many we could give the ancient Greeks a good run for their money. And what is more, many are unique to this area and in many cases were believed to be genuine phenomena right up until the 20th century. Especially in more remote, rural areas in the Vale of Glamorgan.

For example, we have our own, indigenous race of goblins known as the Bwci Bo. They were believed to live alongside their human neighbours, hiding out in cottage gardens or farmyards. They could be mischievous, even destructive if disturbed or spied upon, but the superstition was that they might also do country folk the odd, good turn if needed. I am descended from a long line of Glamorgan farmers, and I know that if a calf became ill or lame, if all else failed, my great grandfather would leave a pale of milk at the barn door for the Bwci Bo as an incentive to help tend the calf back to good health. They were also used as a threat to naughty children – like a sort of bogey man. Nothing would get little legs pumping up the stairs faster than the threat “if you don’t go to bed this minute, I will go out into the yard and fetch the Bwci Bo.”

The origins of this little mischief maker are firmly rooted in the traditions of tree sprites and fairies from pre-Christian Celtic paganism. So too are some of our more sinister beasties. The Ceffyl Dwr for example is undoubtedly a derivation of a pagan water spirit. It was believed to frequent the banks of the Ewenny and Ogmore rivers near fording points. When a hapless traveller would come by and climb onto the horses back to avoid getting their feet wet, the creature would show its true colours and would soar hundreds of feet into the air until vanishing and leaving its mount to plummet to their death. There are lots of water horse spirits in Celtic and Norse folklore, but this aerobatic display is unique to our home-grown version. We also have the Cwn Annwn which is a kind of demon dog. They were frequently seen in desolate areas like the crossroads at Stalling Down near Cowbridge. If you saw a Cwn Annwn it was usually a sign that a death would follow.

As much as most of these accounts of beasties come from ancient history, there are a couple which only came into existence in the 20th century. None more bizarre than the account of the dragons of Penllyn. In 1905 a lady called Marie Trevelyan published what she described as “eyewitness accounts” of what were described as “winged serpents” living in the woods around Penllyn Castle. There was even a claim that a local man had killed one and kept its hide as a souvenir. I cannot swear to it, but I would say that the origin of this beastie is far more likely to be the fruit of an overactive imagination. But I would so dearly love to be proved wrong.

This exert is taken from Legends and Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale (2020 by Graham Loveluck-Edwards. Also published in the Buddy Magazine.

The author; Graham Loveluck-Edwards is selling copies of this book with 10% discount in November & December 2021 if you visit his website www.grahamloveluckedwards.co.uk.

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Review of Historic Pubs of Wales in The Glamorgan Star Newspaper

Thursday 7th October 2021

Rhoose author brings parables and pints to pub book

Rhoose author Graham Loveluck-Edwards has released his new book, Historic Pubs of Wales.

It follows up the regional best seller Legends and Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale which came out last year.

Graham said “I was overwhelmed by the demand for my first book. Over 2,000 copies sold in the first three months of release alone and I was inundated with messages asking when the next one would be out.”

Graham is best know for writing historical non-fiction but with a tongue in cheek view of some of the more ridiculous aspects of it. As such he has earned himself the nickname of ‘the Bill Bryson of history books’. He relishes in some of the more colourful myths, legends and stories from Wales’ ancient past and this latest book, Wales’ oldest pubs, is crammed with fascinating, historically based stories and facts.

“I have always loved old pubs, and we are blessed to have so many belters here in Wales,” he said. “There are many amazing stories associated with them. For example, the pub which claims to have an elephant buried under its beer garden, or the pub where funeral parties take a short cut to the cemetery through the bar to keep an ancient right of access alive, or the pub that claims to have invented pancake day and so many more. I’ve compiled over 100 incredible stories based around 89 amazing old pubs. Is there any truth in them? Some for sure, but this book captures them and puts them in the context of history so you can be the judge. And what about the age old question of which is the oldest pub in Wales? We have eight different establishments all claiming it’s them, so which one is right?

The book also contains a travel guide so readers can go on a tour around Wales and visit all the pubs in the book. They will then be able to check out all the secret passageways, smugglers’ hides, priest holes and ghost for themselves.

Graham said “As you can imagine for such a book, the research was relentless and thorough and a lot of fun. Pubs have had such a hard time of it in the last year with us going in and out of lockdowns and with the introduction of social distancing measures. Sixteenth century inns are usually a warren of tiny rooms so being two meters apart has made opening and trading near impossible for many. A book which celebrates all that is great about our old pubs, which tells people their history, where to find them and what to expect when you get there (with full colour pictures) has been welcomed by all the landlords.”

Historic Pubs of Wales is published by Candy Jar Books and costs £12.00 + P&P from www.talesfromhistoricpubsofwales.co.uk.

It is also available from Amazon for £15 + P&P and independent book shops.

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“Historic Pubs of Wales” by Graham Loveluck-Edwards reviewed in The Penarth Times.

A VALE of Glamorgan author has published a book telling the historic tales of 89 pubs across Wales – including one in Penarth. 

Graham Loveluck-Edwards has announced the release of his new book ‘Historic Pubs of Wales’ where he relishes in some of the more colourful myths, legends and stories from Wales’ ancient past and oldest pubs. 

Included in the book is The Captains Wife, in Sully, a house originally owned by a captain. 

“I have always loved old pubs, and we are blessed to have so many belters here in Wales,” added Mr Loveluck-Edwards. 

“For example, the pub which claims to have an elephant buried under its beer garden, or the pub where funeral parties take a short cut to the cemetery through the bar to keep an ancient right of access alive, or the pub that claims to have invented pancake day and so many more. 

“In all, I’ve compiled over 100 incredible stories based around 89 amazing old pubs – is there any truth to them?

“Some for sure, but this book captures them and puts them in the context of history so you can be the judge.”

The book also contains a travel guide so readers can go on a tour around Wales and visit all the pubs in the book.

You can find out more at www.talesfromhistoricpubsofwales.co.uk.  

“As you can imagine for such a book the research was relentless and thorough, and a lot of fun,” he added.

“Pubs have had such a tough time in the last year with us going in and out of lockdowns and with the introduction of social distancing measures. 

“Sixteenth century inns are usually a warren of tiny rooms so being two metres apart has made opening and trading near impossible for many. 

“So, a book which celebrates all that is great about our old pubs, which tells people their history, where to find them and what to expect when you get there has been welcomed by all landlords.”

Link to live item: https://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/news/19581608.vale-author-details-history-welsh-pubs-new-book/

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“Historic Pubs of Wales” by Graham Loveluck-Edwards reviewed in the Denbigh Free Press

THE medieval town of Ruthin has a turbulent past. But did you know that there are phrases in common use in the English language today that originate from one of the town’s gorier traditions?

As much as the thought of a public hanging might turn our stomachs today, back in the 18th century they were considered good, clean, family entertainment.

In Ruthin, the gallows stood in the medieval market square at the top of the hill that leads up from the town’s old gaol. The route between the two places back then is as short and direct as it is today.

However, Ruthin continued a tradition that was echoed in towns across the country. The condemned man was never taken directly. Instead, it was customary for the condemned man to be placed in a cart or wagon and be taken on a zig zag route throughout the entire town, stopping at every pub in the town on his way.

The journey would begin at the gaol and the condemned man would travel in this wagon with an entourage of guards, a chaplain, and the executioner himself. Every time they stopped, the condemned man and his guards would dismount, go in the pub, have a few drinks, and then stumble back out to move on to the next one.

The only people who could not join them were the two men who still had a job to do, namely the executioner and the chaplain. So, if you ever offer to buy someone a drink and they reply, ‘Not for me, thanks. I’m on the wagon,’ now you know the tradition they’re referencing. It’s these two abstaining souls who could not join in the revelry.

And that is not the full extent of language that is derived from this tradition.

On its journey, the wagon transporting the condemned man used to start and stop so often that the lunging motion of the horses’ jerking the wheels into rotation earned the nickname ‘the lurch’. So, when the executioner and chaplain remained on the cart, while everyone else went into a pub, they were ‘left in the lurch’.

There are even suggestions that the term ‘pub crawl’ refers to the pace of the cart moving along the streets. Meanwhile, having ‘one for the road’ is another, self-explanatory reference.

This and many other fascinating revelations like it come from a new book which has just been published by Candy Jar Books, called “Historic Pubs of Wales” by Welsh author and historian; Graham Loveluck-Edwards.

Graham said: “When it comes to history, the humble pub has always punched well above its weight. Some of these wonderful old buildings have been at the heart of some very significant history as well as colourful events and imaginative folklore down the centuries. Yet when it comes to reading about local history, as much as there is no end of books about castles, stately homes, churches, and cathedrals, there is precious little about our pubs. They are so often overlooked. And that is something I am keen to put right”

“I have always loved old pubs. I am one of those people who cannot pass by an old and decrepit-looking pub without popping in for a pint and asking the landlord, ‘What’s the story behind this place then?’ This book is the fruit of a good 30 years of such conversations.”

The book charts the amazing haul of history tied up in 89 historic pubs from right across Wales. Capturing the history, the stories, and the folklore. Nineteen of the 89 are pubs are in North Wales and they include the Morning Star in Ruthin (at the heart of the tradition we were just looking at), the Ty Mawr in Gwyddelwern, The King’s Head in Llanrhaeadr and the Guildhall in Denbigh.

Historic Pubs of Wales is available from the author’s website just click here.

Link to live item: https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/19607856.many-phrases-use-today-derive-gory-past-pubs-denbighshire/

The Denbigh Free Press

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New book full of parables and pints.

Today in Rhoose, local author: Graham Loveluck-Edwards announced the release of his new book “Historic Pubs of Wales” to follow up the regional best seller Legends and Folklore of Bridgend and the Vale which came out last year. “I was overwhelmed by the demand for my first book” said Graham. “Over 2,000 copies sold in the first three months of release alone and I was inundated with messages asking when the next one would be out”.

Graham is best known for writing historical non-fiction but with a tongue-in-cheek view of some of the more ridiculous aspects of it. As such he has earned himself the nickname of “the Bill Bryson of history books”. He relishes in some of the more colourful myths, legends and stories from Wales’ ancient past, and this latest book, about Wales’ oldest pubs, is crammed with fascinating, historically based stories and facts.

“I have always loved old pubs, and we are blessed to have so many belters here in Wales. There are many amazing stories associated with them. For example, the pub which claims to have an elephant buried under its beer garden, or the pub where funeral parties take a short cut to the cemetery through the bar to keep an ancient right of access alive, or the pub that claims to have invented pancake day and so many more. In all, I’ve compiled over 100 incredible stories based around 89 amazing old pubs. Is there any truth in them? Some for sure, but this book captures them and puts them in the context of history so you can be the judge. And what about the age-old question of which is the oldest pub in Wales? We have eight different establishments all claiming it’s them, so which one is right?”

The book also contains a travel guide so readers can go on a tour around Wales and visit all the pubs in the book. They will then be able to check out all the secret passage ways, smugglers’ hides, priest holes and ghosts for themselves.

As you can imagine for such a book, the research was relentless and thorough… And a lot of fun.

Pubs have had such a tough time in the last year with us going in and out of lock downs and with the introduction of social distancing measures. Sixteenth century inns are usually a warren of tiny rooms so being two metres apart has made opening and trading near impossible for many. So, a book which celebrates all that is great about our old pubs, which tells people their history, where to find them and what to expect when you get there (with full colour pictures) has been welcomed by all the landlords Graham spoke to when doing his research.

Historic Pubs of Wales is published by Candy Jar Books (Cardiff) on ISBN 978-1-913637-75 and is available to buy direct from the author today on his website for the discounted price of £12 plus P&P. Just type www.talesfromhistoricpubsofwales.co.uk into your web browser. It will also be available on Amazon and in most good, independent bookshops from Friday 17th September 2021 but at the cover price of £15 (plus P&P if bought online).