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Gabby the motorhome is on her travels again . Not to anywhere exotic mind . Back to Clay Cross for an appointment with the dentist . It is a long way to travel but NHS dentists in Wales are rarer than hens teeth . If you find one you are lucky. More than likely you have to join a very long waiting list hoping to eventually move from private to the cheaper NHS. It begs the question why we pay in all these years to the NHS and cannot get a dentist for love nor money. Gabby is filled with three quarters of a tank of fuel so plenty to get to Derbyshire and back . This too is a blessing given that diesel prices are going through the roof . Inflation has pushed it up to levels we have not seen before and the war in Ukraine has added to the problems . But they are small things to deal with given the war that is going on and the problems the Ukrainian people are being subjected to .
The journey is a mixed one. The sun is shining and that makes a difference . It makes you smile
. It makes you feel happy. For June though it feels unseasonable .
Traffic was higher than normal as we drove over to Shropshire and into Staffordshire . In Gabby it feels better to travel wider roads rather than go by the back roads . So its Stoke on Trent and Uttoxeter . The kids are off school for the half term holidays so there seems so many more cars on the roads . And motorhomes too. Uttoxeter is clogged up and it takes time to get across on to the Derby road . Derby as always is very busy . We arrive at Alfreton and crawl our way to our end destination of Clay Cross . It feels odd to be back there . There have been changes . A new house here and there . Shops closed . New ones have taken their place . The car park I used to park on for work is now a payable car park . One hour free and then you pay . The jobcentre looks sad . No-one has moved in the office part . That is four years or more since we moved out . The front a
hairdressers . There seem a lot of people about . And cars too. Perhaps we notice them more coming from quieter Wales .
Gabby parked up and I walk over to the supermarket to buy lunch . Plus a couple of packets of Staffordshire Oatcakes . I cannot buy those in Wales so two are purchased for the freezer . The driver heads off for his appointment which should be a quick check up. My appointment is later and will be a longer one . A crown preparation . We will be back in two weeks for the return visit for the crown fitting . I spend the next fifteen minutes walking the streets . "We live in the world when we love it " so said Rabindranath Tagore . I would not say I love Clay Cross but when I treat it from a visitors point of view it takes on a new face . Bunting here and there for the Queens Platinum Jubilee. Shop windows full of red white and blue flags . Red white and blue balloons . A display of vintage dresses, vintage furniture complete the scene . The odd thing I remember the clothes
. I remember the furniture and remember the scene recreated well . The flower shops are full of flowers , the church as always is closed . I stand and check out the old Clay Cross which was hidden beneath overgrown trees . I wander around the old school and spy another ventilation shaft for the railway line that runs beneath Clay Cross . Why is the church never open ? What has happened to the art display that was supposed to be painted on the ventilation shaft on Market Street ? I looked up . I looked across at the green hills and then it was time to go for my appointment . I might not love Clay Cross but I was trying to like it .
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