Wrexham County Borough 95 - The heat is on /the bells are back /how about a bit of bellringing /Missed the chinese lion and dancers /will it be too hot in Greece

---

The heat is on, on the street , inside your head on every beat. The songs words seem to be going round and round my head . The song that came from Beverley Hills Kop seems to echo to the sights, sounds and heat of an exceptionally hot summer . My head was full of Eddie Murphy and the weather that was steaming and the humidity high. The mercury has reached the heady unheard of heights of 35 degrees . The grass is parched . The flowers are dying . The water in lakes and rivers are at their lowest and old buildings are appearing in the dry reservoirs . There is a hosepipe ban in some areas . It is too hot to walk in the day . That has to be done early . 6.30 before the sun comes up. Everything is wilting and looking dead . It is not the long hot summer of 1976 when the heat went on for what seemed forever . This has been a week or so and we are all fed up of it and praying for rain . Rain which will surely come and we will return to normal British weather whatever that is these days . And of course the rain did come . A torrential downpour which closed one lane of the M1 , put the football at Chesterfield in doubt and filled the water butts .

It had been too hot for the football as the season has started four weeks early . It was too hot to sit in the garden . We were all feeling jaded and praying for rain to cool down the atmosphere . We missed the Chinese Lion in town at the weekend . Y&B - Yellow and Blue - a charity hub in town put on an event to co-incide with the Artisan Market running . Break dancers in the street , food being served , a childrens sandy area to play in . All complimented by the bright costumes of the Chinese Ladies Group who put on a session of dance and music . Will have to find out when the next one will be held .

We have considered the September holiday . If it is so hot here what on earth will it be like in Greece ?. I dont think we have ever had a holiday planned where we are less prepared than normal and we keep changing our minds . How about not even going to Greece? We would lose our sailing and £500 . We have given up trying to buy the vignette from the Swiss Tourist office . It seems that postage is expensive - Brexit ? Post service promises delivery in three weeks - Brexit ? The toll box too is an issue . Nothing insurmountable but all adding up to making life difficult . We could go one way and keep to the journey to the tunnel , to Sarable and then a different Swiss park up from Altdorf . To Fontanellato to visit the medieval castle and then to the boat and then Greece . The north should be cooler so Dion, Kastoria and Thessaloniki should be fine . Kastoria in the north should be cooler . Two museums worth a visit . A Byzantine museum and one covering folklore which should include the fur trade , After that we would head south and into more heat . Some places are currently shut due to fire risk . Our much agreed plans of heading south and spending a few days at Kato Gatzea are becoming less attractive . I have written our destinations about three times in the diary and each time find myself changing them . Adding Sounio, Marathon and Brauron on the way down . Putting in Dafni monastery in but finding it closed on the day we planned the visit , closed due to renovations and closed due to fire risk . We will have to give it a week and see what the weather does in Greece . It may cool down but probably not to acceptable levels . We need a Plan B .Just in case . That might mean kicking the south into touch and heading north . Losing the return ticket back to Italy and seeing what overland home looks like . Bulgaria - now thats a plan . In the motorhome it does not matter if we change . The world is our Lobster . And we have insurance cover for Bulgaria and Romania as they are in the EU. Wish we were more sorted out though. The butterflies in the stomach have started as we come closer to going away. .

The Buddha said "Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement ". He may have been talking religion but it rings true in normal every day to day living . I found myself following a slow tanker all the way home from the swimming pool . In my frustration I decided to veer off the main road and cross the narrow medieval bridge into our village . As I dropped down onto the High Street I spotted a large wagon outside the church . The bells are back . I would have missed them had I stayed on the main road . They were being returned following refurbishment at a foundry in Loughborough . Looogabarrooga as Terry Wogan once called it giving it an Australian makeover . Wierd how things pop into an empty mind .

I drove the rest of the way home and had a coffee whilst thinking I needed to go back and have a look at them whilst they were down on the ground . By the time I got there the lorry was empty. I headed inside the church to find a hustle and bustle with people talking and some taking photographs . I walked into the cool dark church and was invited over to take photographs if I wanted to . The bells were in the base of the tower and they would be blessed on Sunday at the end of the morning service . The bellhangers would arrive on Monday to start pulling the bells back up into the tower . Who was available to help? Two needed Monday and two on Tuesday plus one on Thursday . The volunteers looked in their diaries and either confirmed they would help or they would be too busy . One volunteer needed for Thursday and then the job would be complete. The next job to organise an open gift day where the villagers who popped in could try their hand at ringing . "How about popping in ?" " Fancy learning to ring the bells ?" I was intrigued and found myself pulled along thinking what a good idea . Six bells all in the working order . The first made in the 16th century and the rest during the 18th. I could be part of the bellringing history .





.

---