Champions of the World in Toy Town

“So I’m flying on my bicycle. Heading upwards from the Earth”

View south/south west from the middle of the oldest iron bridge in the world — Friday 13th September 2024 (Author’s Collection)

Star Date: Friday 13th September 2024
Destination: Ironbridge Gorge
Reason: Some late summer sunshine (after days of biblical rain)
Number of Swans: Four
Number of Ducks: Too numerous to count
Loaf of Bread: One
“Old Fashioned Sweets” for the Day: Sour Blue Dolphins
Album of the Day: “Everyday Life” by Coldplay
Song of the Day: “Champion of the World”

Friends old and fairly new dominate today’s travel journal to my spiritual home of Ironbridge with my newest friends Fred and Mary (bread gobbling swans) brazenly back out of hiding after the recent brutal slaying of a fellow swan who had the temerity to take up residence on their turf. My investigation is ongoing and if I can’t find the evidence I’ll probably fabricate it. We can’t allow them to disappear from the scene of their crime and go on the run again. I’ll keep you posted on developments.

Jeremy, the owner of the “Old Fashioned Sweet Shop” treated my son like a Prince as always and all while I cuddled his beautiful pug dog Bear and gave him a damn good fuss and, working backwards, Andreas and previous owner of the town’s popular chip shop, called my son “Champ” a number of times and quite the immediate greeting this morning. Andreas hadn’t seen my son since he was knee-high to a grasshopper and he now towers over him!

Hearing him call my son “Champ” made my day, made my son blush bright red and quite frankly, that little memory will do for me.

I hope you enjoy the “pictorial stroll” that follows.

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Welcome to Ironbridge and a late morning view north/north west (Author’s Collection)

Beautiful Ironbridge slowly coming alive on a late sunshine filled Friday morning (Author’s Collection)

The sun shining on the righteous once again (Author’s Collection)

Say hello to “Bear”. The friendliest dog in toy town! (Author’s Collection)

I can heartily recommend “La Casita” and have many stories to tell. But not today (Author’s Collection)

A loaf of bread kept these hungry beasts happy for half an hour! Two of the swans are named Fred and Mary, but it’ll take too long to explain why! (Author’s Collection)

“The Bolthole”, Ironbridge (Author’s Collection)

Fancy a chip? (Author’s Collection)

The “Grand Old Lady” of Ironbridge and oldest iron bridge in the world (Author’s Collection)

Thanks for yet more memories Ironbridge (Author’s Collection)

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Thanks for reading. I have a new book in the works come the end of this year which is tentatively titled “I’ve lost my mind and can’t remember where or why I left it and I name swans with human names as it makes me giggle and nothing makes sense anymore and arguably, never has”. This is a working title and subject to change and I’ll probably change it to “Wanted for Murder! On the Run with Fred and Mary — The Ironbridge Swans” but they’ll probably sue me. Who knows? Anyway, while you wait, here’s another book I prepared and published earlier this year:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CZKZP28D (Author’s Collection)

"Tales I Tell Myself" - link to Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CZKZP28D (Author’s Collection)

Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.

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