I had to go into town, a rare occasion I know but it had to be done and on my own. Oswestry is a lovely old town with a market hall which on certain days spills out into the square so you get a good selection of traders.

I like old towns and the old buildings and Oswestry has a few of these and a lot of little alley ways to discover. Who knows where you might end up.

Like a lot of towns it has it’s not so nice bits, generally it’s a nice old town though. It even had a castle but sadly now the castle is just a couple of stone walls on top of a mound.

The view from the castle mound was nice and you could see why castles were built high up to see the enemy coming. But was the mound built first or did they just find a piece of high ground to build on.

I had a walk around in the market hall which has a good selection of different stores including a guy that sells vinyl records so I had a look through them because I have a good old collection of vinyl. Looking at the prices I have a few quids worth as a lot of them are from the seventies and eighties. And the funny thing is I still love the music now as I did then.

Not far from where we live is the British ironworks centre. It’s a great place to spend some time looking at all the sculptures, it has a nice cafe and a shop which if I had the money and space I could spend a fortune in. When we worked in the area we used to go there often as it is always changing with new stuff. The grounds are huge and they have a great ethos.

One of the sculptures I always wanted to see was the knife angel which was actually made there but it goes all over the country touring. If it’s near you please go and see it.

It’s an angel made out of over 100,000 knifes which have been surrendered to the police or the police have confiscated from all over the country. it symbolises the devastating impact of knife crime.

It stands 27 feet all and weighs 3.5 tons and took two years to build. It’s been touring since 2018 but now it’s back at he ironworks centre so we just had to go and see it.

It was certainly moving to see it. They also did a bumble bee with guns which had been handed in which serves the same message. That was on tour but I have seen it down there before. Again it’s very impressive and makes you think.

As I said there is so much to see there. I would love to get a job there and have applied for two jobs there but with so many people after a couple of jobs it’s difficult. We have a season ticket for there so we can go in anytime for free now. They have a breakfast car meeting every other month so I am hoping to get to some of those. Below are a few photos of some of the sculptures there.

All the sculptures are made from all sorts of stuff from car bits to golf clubs etc. They have collections going all the time to make different things. A good day out.

I had a nice 6 mile canal walk last week. It’s great having the canal right on our doorstep. I aim to walk to Ellesmere from here along the canal path which is about 9/10 miles. The walk last week was only 3 miles each way so about an hours walking each way. When I do the Ellesmere walk I will only walk one way and Nikki will pick me up in Ellesmere where she will do some shopping while I sleep.

Some lovely boats along the way and the locks always look nice.

Well it’s nearly the end of January so thoughts of are spring is not far away. The BBQ area is getting planned and we’re looking forward to using it. I have got some Tiki statues out there and have a couple of old wooden chairs which I am going to paint up so I can leave them outside. A couple of pot plants and some old tin signs will go up and then all we need is some nice sunny days to enjoy it. Grill and chill.

Happy new year to you all.

I needed to take Bertie the camper out from his compound. Xmas Eve was a nice day so I went to visit him. Just as I thought the battery was flat. Luckily I had a jumpstart pack so connected up and he fired into life. A drive out for 45 minutes to get everything warmed up and turning as it should and back in the compound.

I knew the battery would go flat again and especially with this cold spell we’re having and no sun for the solar panels. So I looked through his history folder and found out the last time he had a new battery was in 2016 so that battery has done very well. He will have a new one when he goes off to a new owner.

The Xmas BBQ never happened. The weather was dry but the north wind was cold so Nikki decided to cook inside. which was nice as we had roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings washed down with some Guinness and wine it all went down very nicely.

No photos last time I checked in so this time you’re getting a good number of photos. Starting with a walk along the canal on a frosty morning with no wind. That’s the weather not me. The canal was so still and the reflections were great.

Our neighbours invited us around for a Xmas drink. I did point out we don’t do Xmas but we do drinks so that would be nice. We went there after Xmas day and in before New Year’s Day. She had done some nibbles also so that was nice. Nice to talk to them for a while rather than a passing moment. They are a nice couple which is good when you live in such a small place.

New Year’s Eve came around and did we party……NO. If I am up and hearing the Big Ben chimes it’s because I have got up for my second wee. I went to bed early as normal but Nikki set her alarm for 11.15 so we could get up and watch Jools Holland Hootenanny which I do like and he had some good guests on this year.

So we got up and it was good but I only managed to watch half of it and then went off back to bed. Watched the rest the next morning on catch up or You Tube. And also watched the fireworks in You Tube. So that was 2025 gone.

A couple of days ago we had snow forecast and they were right. Not as much as they said but a good covering, enough to close the schools and stop people getting to work.

When the snow started we walked up to the local shop at the end of the village. Just to get some fresh air and some eggs for our tea. We didn’t get the fresh air in the shop just the eggs. It’s a proper little village shop that’s open every day for those things that you have run out of at the most important time. You pay a bit more for stuff but it supports them and it’s cheaper than taking the car out and going into town.

The snow kept coming and going and it was forecast for more overnight. So when I woke the next morning we had a good covering of snow. So the car was staying where it was and I was off out for a walk and photo time.

The walk was just under five miles but got some nice photos as the conditions were just right. Sunny, and the canal was still and some snow to top it off. Not many people about so that was nice but the ones that were around were very polite with a happy new year.

On my walk I stopped off at the campsite in Chirk where we worked a while ago and said happy new year to the staff there as I knew them. They were out clearing snow from the reception area. I then walked on to the local shops in Chirk to get a couple of bits.

I came back a different way across the fields which was nice and only saw one person walking his dog. And some sheep and two pigs all of which had escaped Xmas dinner. So that was good for them. I saved my two favourite photos of the day to last. It was so picture perfect and I spent ages just staring at the reflections. Hope you like them.

So that’s us up to speed and I wish you a happy new year for 2026 and let’s see what this year brings. I hope Bertie goes off to a nice couple who can enjoy him as much as we have. And when he has gone I will be on the look out for a small VW camper so watch this space. I already have my wish list for it just not the bank balance so it will be a compromise. Enjoy.