Brilliant visit

My cousin emigrated to the US with his wife some 30 years ago so we didn’t really spend a lot of time apart from our young days together but he has been over seeing family and friends of both he and his wife complete with thir 2 kids. Well I say 2 kids one has graduated and due to start her first job before hopefully a Masters…and his son who will be starting undergrad CAD course in the autumn…ok fall as he is in the US.

I spent last night and this morning with them…introducing them to British beer and food – well reintroducing him to the beer and introducing the kids to pub life although the pub was quiet. The food though was good.

This morning I took them on a short tour of some of Shrewsbury as they ad seen a cople of large bits yesterday with his dad who lives just over the Welsh border.

So of course the grave of Scrooge was seen, yesterdy, and a brief intro to the other pts such as the Infirmary which lso played a part in the film. The lleys and shuts were shown…of decreasing width…plus Grope Lane. This is the more polite version of Gropcunt Lane which are often near churches and often historically used as pick up places for prostitutes. (Quick English lesson, Cunt was the correct term until the middle 17th century for what soon became called the vagina. Interestingly this meant to sheath ones sword. I guess there is little new!)

Old buildings abound and some not so new but the juxtaposition between old and new – churches back to the 10th century and buildings back to the 1990s ll fit close to one another. The Guilds of Drapers and Wool merchants all have left their mark on the town. The delights of black and white buildings that have little if anything in a straight line, buildings found during the slum clearances of the mid 20th century. And the peace and quiet that is the Dingle in the Quarry just adjacent to the external town walls.

Didn’t have time to see many other places but he seemed happy as did the kids and the wife…what can I say.

We discussed life, the younger days, our parents and how they are ageing and what we may do…and dare I say the idiot leading the US into the face of international contempt and laughter. But mostly we talked aout the past and the future and how we got to where we are now. A catch up of the best kind.

It was superb and I am the happiest I have been for a long long time.

Just watch some bastard ruin it!