It was hard walking today not to think a lot as I walked . I had headed out of the village . The proposed Christmas scarecrow competition had died a death. The Village Hall Committee had ditched the treasure hunt this year and opted for a film themed scarecrow competition . However, either all the villagers forgot about it or could not be bothered . There were decorations on some houses. Christmas wreaths of holly and ivy on doors. Lights hanging from some of the houses, dangling in the wind. Trees draped with lights. It did not seem like Christmas much this year . The soldiers outside the Buck were missing . I guess that had something to do with the pub going bust again . The staff and the bills unpaid . The new tenants ... read more

Did Covid change the world ? Yes I think it did . Volunteers have dropped off volunteering since the pandemic. Many historical properties can no longer open their doors each and every week through the season. Some have closed for good as visitors stopped calling. Numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels . Perhaps we never should have shut down and just carried on. Things might have been very different . Today was one of those examples of places that were thriving pre- Covid but now is a pale shadow of its former self. We left Port Sunlight village after looking quickly at the museum . £16 entrance fee for both of us seemed a touch steep. We got into the car with no name and headed further up the Wirral. To our left the hills ... read more

There was once an excellent comedian named Jasper Carrott . Jasper came from the Midlands and toured around the country on the comedy circuit . He visited towns here and there talking about his town of Dudley which he pronounced in a black country accent and made fun of anything and everything . Those were the days before woke made it difficult to make fun of anything without offending . He raised a laugh when he shouted out that the inhabitants of Mold were unfortunate living in a place called Mould . Who would want to live in a place called Mould ? Sadly of course Mold sounds like Mould so it invited the joke from him . Laughing at yourself is an art we have sadly lost . Actually Mold is a nice place to ... read more

I don't mind a trip to Shrewsbury now and again . It feels that there is always something to do and something new to see . I know eventually I will run out of small alleyways to explore , the museum will have nothing new to see but at the moment I still have a list of things to do . Places to see and things to tick of that list that makes up the county town of Shrewsbury . Today was going to be no different . I was not sure how long I would have to waste . Today was just a small service for the car . A biennual change of brake fluid which should take only an hour or so . The garage would do a car Health check and send me ... read more

Sion did not sleep well last night . Before turning in he had got ready for his trip to Blists Hill Victorian Town. He had helped me set up the sav nav for the journey and was looking forward to seeing his best friend Woolly Mammoth. I had been to Blists Hill a number of times . The first in the early 1980's when the site was in its infancy . I don't remember much about it apart from it being on a hillside site with many industrial brick buildings . Sion had been to Blists Hill a few years ago when Suzy the motorhome required some work to Kathrein the satellite dish . I am sure we were driven there by the guy who repaired the dish and he gave us two complimentary tickets "Have ... read more