Shropshire 13 Oswestry /The Knife Angel/a trip round the African game reserves/Are we there yet and does Alfie Dog have to come too?

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"Are we there yet ?" Those words mean one thing to me . Sion knows he is off to meet his best friend Woolly. This meeting has been on the agenda for quite a few weeks . " Yes I knew that - I had been checking t he computer and had read that we were going to meet up. That would be me , my best friend Woolly Mammoth and his carer Jo" And there was me thinking I was keeping it secret . The best kept secret blown wide apart due to Sion peeking at the computer and working out what was happening . Of course Sion knowing what was afoot meant that for weeks he kept asking me if we were there yet , what he was going to wear and where we were going . I had already spoken to Jo and I knew that she and Woolly plus Alfie Dog had already been to the British Ironwork centre near to Oswestry. Oswestry was a good choice - handy for both of us . It was a day I was looking forward to - plenty to see and plenty to keep a sheep and a mammoth happy for hours while we caught up on what we had been doing during this last lockdown.

For the last few days Sion had been busy . He had been discussing his clothes for the day. He wanted to wear his Mam o'Shanter that Nanty Carys had made him plus his matching scarf . I caught him looking at weather forecast and he had to change his mind . It was going to be too hot to wear anything and he would have to go just in his wool coat . Sion had woken up early and was quietly very noisily singing to himself and muttering in between to himself . " Boxes , Boxes everywhere . 36 of them and all on top of each other . One of them has my Mam O'Shanter in it . Which one ? It was very clear that Sion couldn't find what he was looking for despite trying to rip the tops of each one of them. He was not very happy as he wanted to show off his Mam o' Shanter to Woolly and let Nanty Carys know how much he liked it . It was not to be as he failed to find it and by 9'oclock he had to give up. Of course he did not give up gracefully. He resorted back to the age old questions of when are we setting out and what time will we get there ? Another hour before we can set off I told him knowing that that was not what he wanted to hear . . I checked the directions to the Ironworks and put the co-ordinates in the Sat Nag. "Is it time to go yet ? I will keep asking and asking and asking ". Sion must have asked what time we were setting off every five minutes and each time I had to keep telling him he had to wait . But waiting is not his style . He had not seen Woolly for months and it was showing .

In the end we set off at 10.15. A neighbour stopped me to ask where we were going . I could hear my companion shouting in the car at me to stop that talking and get driving . "Yes thats right . I need to get off I am meeting my best friend and you are stopping me . Get going I have not seen my best friend since ..........................last September when we met up at the acqueduct . " The only way to shut me up is to get yourself in the car and start driving . That was right . We had lunch and walked to the acqueduct , before that we met up at Derby Sion and before that in France .

I arrived at the car park of the ironworks at just before 11 and could see Jo standing there with Alfie Dog . "oh no Alfie dog ..............." I had to gently tell Sion not to be jealous . He was very excited to see his best friend and walk around all the sculptures in the sculpture park . Perhaps that would keep him busy for the next couple of hours . I hoped so. He like us had been missing travelling and this was as far as I was going to be able to take him in the short term .

The ironworks was nothing like he had seen before . It was very unusual and somewhere I had never even considered visiting until I read Jo 's blog a while back . The drive in was quite odd as the driveway was lined with all manner of animals that would be found on an African game reserve . I could see ironwork everywhere . . Majestic giraffes were standing alongside lions , sheep, pot bellied pigs and elephants all made out of metal . Life size animals were placed around areas for walking. It would take some time to walk around the sculpture park .

We made a start and stood by the gorilla . Sion wanted to be photographed in front of anything and everything . " Yes we started at the Gorilla - this had been commissioned by Uri Geller and is 12 foot high . Spoons were donated from as far afield as China, India , Kenya and other places around the world . They never asked me for a spoon . I could have donated one of mine to add to the 40,000 "

There was no route to follow round the centre . It was a perfect place to wonder round in the lovely weather without worrying about Covid or restrictions . There was space aplenty and even with the visitors we could find peace and quiet to catch up with the news . Christmas under lockdown. When would we be able to travel again ? The boys talked amongst themselves about what they saw - dragons , a tortoise and a zebra. All made from recycled metal and showcasing the art and ingenuity of the blacksmith and ironworker . Jo and I caught up on a few months of chat . There was so much to talk about and catch up but every so often we found ourselves in front of another piece of metalwork and were amazed at the way they had been produced . Of course the boys kept stopping and tried to climb on everything they saw . "He He Alfie Dog kept sticking his head under the plinths and kept cocking his leg up against everything he saw." Sion and Woolly obviously found that very funny . But then latrines and manholes are funny to them so what was new? We all stopped in front of the black and white striped Zebra and the hissing snake with its forked tongue sticking out . Everything was so realistic. Motorbike chains , bits of old cars and spark plugs had all been put to good use .

A car stopped and a young guy stuck his head out of the window . Brilliant here isn't it he said and he fell into conversation before driving off . We were again to see him minutes later as he drove round again stopping to talk to us for the second time .

"I was having a brilliant day with my bestie friend . He was telling me about Alfie Dog being attacked in Caernarfon and Jo fighting the other dog off . She is very brave and Alfie Dog told me he was seriously impressed with her kicking skills . Then they stopped . They stopped a lot " Yes we did . We stopped in front of a delicately worked peacock . I would have loved that in my garden . A dinasaur and " and of course a relative of Woolly - a Woolly mammoth with the biggest tusks you have ever seen !!!!!" Robots that turned into cars even a model of the frighening creature from Alien . The displays just went on and on - bandstands, metal orangeries and a tree with the prettiest of coloured leaves .

If there was one thing you come to see at the Ironworks it must be the Knife Angel . I had read about this piece of artwork that was produced from thousands of knives and was being displayed in towns and cities around the UK until Covid hit . " Wow it was massive . The team together with artist Alfie Bradley - I wondered if he were any relation to Alfie Dog but Woolly said he wasnt had come up with the idea of making a sculpture of an angel made entirely out of knives " Knife crime had gone out of control in the UK with stabbings becoming more of a problem than gun crime . The young seemed to have gone around in gangs stabbing each other for little or no reason other than being drug related . The ironworks contacted the Home office to find out if they would give their permission to collect surrended knives and weapons from the 43 police forces in the UK. The idea was to show the volume of knives in circulation and bring about an amnesty with the Ironworks providing the knife banks free of charge . " The campaign took off and the slogan Save a life - surrender your knife was born . I liked that. I read that every police force eventually took part and the knives were brought to Shropshire where the local police organised a police escort to bring the knives to the centre " The artist had to go through the collection of kitchen knives , machetes , samerai swords to decide which ones to work with . The all had to be blunted and sterilized . " Yuck some still had blood on them " Sion was turning his nose up at the thought of all that mess . The story continued with a steel frame , the choice of the expression on the face and the outstretched palms of the angel . The knives , knuckledusters , flick knives - you name it and it was there was welded to the frame. The angel began to take shape .

Standing in front of it it left a strange feeling . Sadness to think of all the lives lost . Names and messages were engraved on some of the knives . All those lives lost . It took 2 years to make the sculpture . The only colour were the small streaks of colour from the handles of some knives . Its home for the time being was the park . Perhaps when Covid ends it will restart is journey around cities and towns of the UK promoting the story behind knife crime .

It was time for lunch . We sat outside . Cheese and Pickle sandwiches and chunky chips . The sun was beating down . We could almost have been abroad . We talked of motorhoming , of Turkey , of travel in general and what we planned next . Then it was time to visit the shop. Artworks for sale of all shapes and sizes . Some you would need a mansion to make room for them . Some we liked and some that were not of our taste . Metal pretty highly coloured flowers in pots . Outside pottery , plant pots , garden seats and gazebos. What a day .

"Yes what a day .........................when can we do it again ???????????????????? Soon Sion Soon

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Comments

[Home and Away]

It is always nice to read about travelers getting together!
There is always so much to share.

[JenGog]

the sheep and the mammoth
You cannot keep the sheep and the mammoth apart for long .