York
April A day trip to York. A coach trip organised through our Oddfellows group. The weather was awful. Like – tipping down.We visited the Castle museum. We took lots of photos but this one of the mangle is just what I wanted to accompany my Mangle poem.
The Mangle
Me mother ‘ad a mangle
She turned it wi an ‘andle
I loved to see the water squashed
Out of all the clothes she washed.
Me brother bought a motor
And made it automatic
So the handle wasn’t needed
And me mother wa’ ecstatic
One day me Mam were poorly
So me Gran came to do t’washing
She didn’t know about
The automatic squashing
Got her fingers in the rollers
And couldn’t find reverse
We had to pull the plug out
and what was even worse
Her finger nails were bloody
And turned me dads shirt red
And I got into trouble
For repeating what he said
Her fingers, flat and floppy
Turned purple, blue and black
Dad took the mangle motor off
and we had to take it back
Now Granny can’t do laundry
Or knit things like before
Dad bought Mam a twin tub
And Granny just sweeps t’ floor.
It was a worthwhile visit – we knew it was pricey but the shock was in the cafe afterwards. The prices for the cuppa were too much. We went back, through the rain, to Wetherspoons, like you do, eh?
Wales
In June we took a trip to Wales. We booked a cottage in Llanystumdwy nr Criccieth. On the way we stopped at Gladstones Library – a place I was intrigued to see since hearing a poem about Gladstones axe, by Ian Parks.
We spent a rather wet week, dodging downpours and visiting as many places as we could. From Abersoch, Pwllelli, Porthmadog, ( the little railway trip), and Harlech.
Harlech Castle
And of course Portmerrion. The sun shone and it was the best day
Wish I had worn flat shoes for that one, though.
The highlight, though was on our return journey. We called at Chirk, to see the aquaduct, which has a rail line running alongside it. We managed to see it from three different veiwpoints, including the last one, where I caught a snap as a train passed along the viaduct.
The journey home was long and arduous. Overall, it took over five hours to get back home to South Yorkshire. At one point, for safety’s sake of my driver, 🙂 we had to stop for a break, food, refresh. We have decided we will not travel so far again – not in one day.
Still to come … London, a wedding, and an anniversary.