Shropshire 39 - Whitchurch /what is the difference between a greasy pig and an oiled pig ? /Under the Joyce clock

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"I am up and waiting " That was the plaintive cry from Sion as dawn broke on a cool Tuesday morning . I was a little worried as he had obviously heard me arranging a trip out and assumed that he was coming along too. He would have a long wait as I had the shopping to do first and then was off to visit daughter to view her front garden and then would meet a friend . This time though it was not going to be Woolly Mammoth and his carer Jo. Sion always knew that sometime during the year when Jo was not working that we would go out and spend a few hours in Shrewsbury or somewhere equally interesting . He could catch up with Woolly and his travels and as he would say the girls could natter for Wales if they tried hard enough . I had a different day out planned. According to Sion who had been nowhere interesting for a while he was having his day out too . He was getting ready as I left to get the weeks shopping done. I had to think quickly how to explain to a sheep he was not joining me on my jolly.

Arriving home he was waiting for me . All ready to go . Excited . How on earth do you explain to a sheep who is expecting to hop in my bag and meet up with his friend that it just was not happening . I took the easy way out and waited until he was distracted and quickly shot out of the front door . Started the car up and reversed off the drive hoping my furry friend had not spotted me leaving .

The journey to Whitchurch went smoothly with very little traffic on the road despite it being the holiday season . The sun was shining but there was a threat of rain. Arriving in Whitchurch I drove up Chemistry with note going round my head that I needed to find out why that road was called Chemistry . Up Sherry Mill Hill to the car parking at the top of the hill. I could have parked behind the closed swimming pool for free but instead paid up my £1.20 for three hours parking . Plenty of spaces to choose from . As I walk down the hill towards the Archibald Worthington Club I wondered if it were still open for business. So many pubs/clubs/shops and hotels had closed down over the last few years due to Covid /Economics . It seemed though it was still open. A better fate than the swimming baths which closed in the first lockdown of Covid never to re-open. A combination of an old building not suited to segregation that was needed to maintain the Covid rules and a leaking pool . The changing rooms and reception from what I remembered were small with little room to swing the proverbial cat with no chance of being reconfigured . The 70's building had been too small probably when it was built and now it was too late to change anything. The need to build a new pool was urgent and important but the money was no longer available and the siting of the pool may have to change . What a shame I thought for the people of Whitchurch who no longer had a pool to swim in.

I cut across to the High Street heading downhill to my meeting spot where I knew my friend would be waiting . There were some of the same shops I remember from when Whitchurch was my choice of shopping place . Other shops mostly independent had disappeared . There were the usual empty shops . The closed banks . Lloyds had gone . So had the HSBC and Barclays plus the only building society/bank the Halifax . One arcade had been gentrified and I wondered if shops had moved off the High Street into the cheaper units in the arcade . The black and white buildings - Walkers Coffee Shop was still there . I remember huge loaves being baked there . The smell of fresh bread and cooked hams . I wondered if they still baked on the premises or that like many things disappeared over time . Charity shops - of course there were a few of them and they seemed to be doing a roaring trade . The bunting was still up presumably after the coronation of King Charles III. The town looked quite cheery.

Arriving at the clock - a Joyce original we met up and headed for our lunch destination. There were quite a number of good lunch spots in town but we had chosen Benjamins . Housed on the corner of Green End and High Street it had tables outside reminiscent of a French square . Minus the sunshine of the south of France and minus the trees that always surround the square . Inside it was full but we found a table by the window which gave us the opportunity to talk, catch up and see the world of Whitchurch go by. The lunch menu was interesting with the quiche being recommended to me . I did wonder why though I picked a large bap/batch/bread roll/ barm cake - call it what you will filled with cheese and very tasty apricot chutney. A perfect small salad dressed with a delicious beetroot dressing . Why is it though when you see what else is on the menu you decide you wish you wish you had changed your choice ? The bap was soft and very tasty but looking at the same cheese and chutney on brown bread I thought next time perhaps that would be my choice or I had to try the Quiche..

Over lunch washed down by a pot of Earl Grey tea for me and for my friend an old fashioned lemonade we discussed the world . The world of work , colleagues we both knew and the last time we met . A corporate event with the lead coming in dressed as Superman if I remember correctly. No food not even a working breakfast . How the world I worked in had changed from lunchtime Friday meals out with wine , two hour lunches , Christmas parties in the closed office with alcohol . Now we did not even have corporate events to talk about the year ahead . All in works time and a three course meal paid for by expenses . For both of us life had moved on and neither of us missed it much.

The time went very quickly as we chatted away. No pudding as both of us were feeling satisfied with our sandwiches and bap. We left and wandered back up towards the car park where my friend had left her car . Since I had moved the nightclub owned by Benny of Crossroads fame had become an antique centre, M & Co a lovely clothes shop always good for a nice outfit for a wedding had closed. W H Smith was still there but the chip shop and the Indian next door had changed hands . Much of Whitchurch felt the same but there were gaps that my memory was trying to fill . MANWEB once had an electricity shop. There was no Sainsburys in the town - now there was and then I found Whitchurch Photography. I knew it was owned by a Wrexham AFC fan who worked on the commentaries at the matches . He sat just in front of us . The shop window was filled with photographs of Wrexham winning the league, the ceremonial bus journey around the city and other wooden plaques celebrating their success I . I had to go in and buy something to take home . Item purchased and we were out again . I left my friend with a goodbye and a promise to do it again .

My walk back to the car took me past the Jobcentre . No free parking outside now. The Victorian fountain looked rather neglected . The old baths building had changed hands many times. My hunt for the sign high up on the wall announcing that Whitchurch folk had contributed to a cottage hospital in celebration of Victorias jubilee was fruitful. The journey home did not take long but my thoughts were still around how the town had changed and yet was still the same . Did I miss work and then pigs came to mind ? Why pigs ? What is the difference between an oiled pig and greasy pig ? I never knew until it came up on a Wrexham AFC podcast . The pig is greased when he is being entered into a " catch the pig " competition and the oiled pig is the one entered into the beauty contest of pigs at agricultural shows.

With the thoughts of said pigs going round my brain I wondered how I was going to admit to Sion that today had been all about catching up with a friend and he would have to wait a while to get his next trip out .

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Comments

[Mr Malik]

He would have a long wait as I had the shopping to do first and then was off to visit daughter
He would have to wait a while because I had to go shopping first before going to see my daughter. https://www.intellectfolks.com/73147-education-detail/

[JenGog]

correcting what you read
I was going to dismiss this as spam but decided to read it . Don't bother correcting the way I write my blogs . I am not writing a blog for a dissertation . I write them because I enjoy writing and at least I don't use of instead of have which offends greatly . I suppose I have to be grateful that you read the blog however please don't act like a teacher correcting the way we speak here .