Friday, 17 June 2011

A second day in Stratford

One of the good things about spending two days anywhere is that you get to know the place so much better. That first afternoon, you bomb around doing what you need to do, then retreat to the boat and slump for the rest of the day. This morning, we took a gentle amble about the place; we had some further shopping to do which gave some structure to our wanderings, but there was also this feeling of increasing familiarity with what is a very pleasant market town, once you get away from the tourist hordes.

Admittedly, the Friday open market was nothing special; Penkridge, for example is much more impressive.

That said, most of the shopping was successful. In particular, we found the replacement folding chairs we've been looking for, by walking right out to the retail park on the Birmingham Road, where a large branch of Halfords had what we wanted. I'm sorry to report that Gelert has not replied to either of my emails about the failing kit they produce, by the way.

As forecast, the weather has deteriorated, sadly for us, though the farmers must be glad of it, too late though it is to undo all the damage of the dry spring. It's not been impossible, however, and we've been able to do our exploring and retail therapy without getting wet.

Tomorrow, we'll postpone our departure just long enough to get fresh bread from the handy branch of Gregg's, then head back uphill to Wilmcote once more.

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