another saturday turns late
by Rachael
Telford, England
When the day dawns bright and clear and you’re in Stratford-Upon-Avon, there is really only one thing to do.
row boats
high hopes
perfect day
swans sway
stone bridges
green hedges
church steeple
happy people
co-operation
oars in motion
lost hat
can’t get backnever mind
left behindglide along
nothing’s wrong
water splash
racing dash
recreation
oars right in motion
Of course, we needed to pay homage to The Bard as well at one of the coolest monuments we’ve come across – even the flowers hold special significance.
Only two days before in the late afternoon everyone had walked around the very quiet town, taking photos of Shakespeare’s birthplace and generally enjoying. Today it was completely different, although still enjoyable. There were hundreds of people everywhere. We couldn’t even get close to The House, let alone take unpopulated photos. The streets were milling with throngs of visiting folks. Musicians of a wide variety lent a festive air to the occasion of a Summer Saturday in Stratford. There was a carnival atmosphere and we would not have been surprised to see Romeo and Juliet strolling the streets (had their story turned out more favourably for them). Massive flower displays added colour, and we enjoyed some more.
Time to drive on, satisfied that The Day’s Detour has already been completed (this time on the water in search of a hat-about-to-sink having been blown off a little head). But no! When the Bear Cave’s exhaust pipe breaks in two, you definitely take a second detour! Details would make for less than exciting reading (it certainly was no fun trying to find somewhere open and able to help at four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon in a place where we didn’t even know where we were!!!!!! Turned out to be Birmingham). Most places were closed without intention of opening before Monday. Open garages could only make suggestions and give false leads. Eventually Mr Fix-It worked his magic in a parking spot beside a gas station, remedying the problem himself with some hastily-purchased not-intended-for-exhaust-repair spare parts. Word of advice: If you’re going to buy an ancient vehicle to travel in, make sure you have permanent access to a Competent Handyman. You’ll need him!
Second word of advice: carry an emergency supply of instant potato, tinned vegetables and tinned stew. You’ll eventually have an emergency big enough to consider using the supply. We did. In that parking spot beside the gas station. Before heading off across Birmingham.
In an effort to avoid a toll road, Mr GPS took us for a tiki-tour of the city. Suddenly gone were the leafy lanes and quaint villages. We were in the other side of England. No rugby supporters here; just soccer supporters – signs of Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion made that all too evident. It still strikes me as amusing that the posh in Britain follow the barbaric game while the working class are in favour of the genteel game!
Anyway, the hanging baskets of flowers and front gardens disappeared. Replaced with boarded up windows, when they weren’t simply broken. Security cameras encased in steel cages. Rubbish on the road. Peeling paint. Falling-over fences. Gone were the Industrial Estates set apart from the residential parts of town that we had been commenting on in previous days – here the houses crowded around the factories like cottages around a church in medieval times. Gone were the Prince of Wales pubs offering Sunday Carvery. In their place were Chopishop, Roti Junction, Halal Meat and Shaht Kabab right opposite “The Frightened Horse” (easy to see why he was scared!) For hair design, there was Bollywood Styles, and for the fashion-conscious, Exclusive Ladies Sarees and Scarves, Naresh Jewellers and Jandu Textiles. To pay for it all, you could visit the Bank of India or Punjab National Bank. If things turned nasty, there were Ahmed’s Solicitors, Doctor Ashok or Asian Funeral Directors, depending how bad it got. Yes, with a mosque there on the same street as all these offerings, we were transported to the Far East, the Middle East, and deepest Africa. There was not one white face to be seen. This is not to say that non-whites don’t appreciate gardens or fresh paint, or that no whites litter their streets. I’m just recording what we saw this day. For over an hour we drove through the suburbs; she’s a big town is Birmingham.
Eventually our temporary culture change was over and we found ourselves back in the now-familiar rural lanes. All the way to Telford. We were supposed to visit the bridge….but it really was too late! We’d seen a nice sunset though.
(Every Saturday that we have been on the road has ended up a late night – no matter how hard we have tried to arrive in a timely fashion at our destination. Every single one!)
Time on the road: need to check Jboy13’s record!
Distance covered: 140km
Tags: 2008/09, history, postcard: England, recreation
rayres
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