Life in Northern Towns

I’ve had a break over the past couple of weeks and ended up in London for a few days.   I thought it would make a change if I did a series of posts about a Northerner’s experiences in London.   So here it is – the first of five posts called A Northerner in London Town. Every so often we go to London to see the sights, catch a show and walk the streets of London.   The best way to get to London is by train.   Ever since I accidentally booked first class tickets years ago, we try to go by first class, dependent on what cheap deal we can get.   However on this trip I’ve discovered that whilst first class is all very nice, it doesn’t stop you from getting travel sick.   I spent at least half an hour with my head in my hands praying for London to come quickly.   On the way back, as we were travelling by night, I didn’t get travel sick. My travel sickness is caused by visual movement in the peripheral vision, which makes me go green.   Although abov...

It’s been about three and half years since I posted on here about Liverpool and since then I still visit the place from time to time.   I went to the Everyman with my best mate to see Macbeth in 2011 – it was an ace production.   Last year I took my brother and his girlfriend to the city – they were pleasantly surprised by the city and the developments.   This year the Glam Exhibition at TateLiverpool was calling us – very good btw. Getting to Liverpool from Manchester is straightforward – take the M62 westbound to the end of the motorway.   Getting to the city centre is problematic.   You can follow the road signs which take you through Kensington towards the docks and the westerly end of the waterfront.   I never like this route as you just get stuck in traffic and if you’re not careful you will end up in a tunnel going to Birkenhead.   This time I took the route through Greenbank near Penny Lane.   We still got stuck, but we did see a dog p...

I really wasn’t expecting what I found – to paraphrase The Specials , this place is like a ghost town.   Something is definitely afoot in Shropshire and it’s not good.   Only a few weeks ago we popped to Oswestry and things were looking a little bleak despite the prettiness of the town.   Now visiting Market Drayton , Oswestry appears thriving in comparison. We drove to Market Drayton from Nantwich along the A529, which is a 30 minute drive.   It’s a pretty country road, but beware of grouse and badgers.   We almost hit a grouse, however the badgers weren’t so lucky as previous motorists had already killed off two of them.   Parking in Market Drayton is straightforward, just head to the pay and display in the centre of town near the Post Office.   A kind soul gave us their parking ticket so we parked for free.   Although given how empty the car park was, I don’t think it makes much money. We walked in to the town – it was desola...