As always I videoed my journey and this is the final stage starting when I leave the countryside and enter the built up area. The outskirts of the town has the most modern houses and as I get closer to the centre the road gets narrower and narrower as is the case in all old towns in this country. Fortunately Monday is a fairly quiet day. Market days are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The only sight of great interest is in the last few seconds where the tall spire of St. James' church can be seen towering over everything else. It is the tallest medieval parish spire in England. Completed in 1515 it stands 295ft (90m) tall and can be seen from many miles away:
First I found the recently opened vaping (e-cig) shop and bought a new 'tank' which is working really well. Then I sat on the steps at the bottom of an old street lamp which stands in part of the market area to look at the old clock tower rising above the indoor market hall and watch the traffic struggle to get through the centre of the town.
This is the area where most of the market stalls will be set up on a market day.
Just look at that blue sky. It was a glorious day.
Then it was off to the opticians. What a marvellous welcome. All the staff were very cheerful and helpful and the optician herself was very thorough. Pleased to say that the condition of my eyes was passed as better than average. Then the expensive part. Choosing new frames to go with the two pairs of glasses I wanted - self dimming varifocals for everyday wear matched with titanium frames and another, cheaper, pair for computer use.
It looks a good town. I just get the prescription bit and then tell them I'm buying online if they want more than £150.00p for two pairs. They phone you back and accept. I will try for £100.00p next time. They ask silly money for two pairs of varifocal that are impossible to reverse a vehicle whilst wearing.
ReplyDeleteAdrian: Fine between market days - murder trying to park on other days.
DeleteI worry like mad about when I'll have to "the glasses thing".
ReplyDeleteSimon: I tend to leave it for years until I feel in the mood.
DeleteSpecs and expense always seem to go together in the same sentence John.
ReplyDeleteLovely seeing Louth again. When I was a child and lived in Washingborough, my mother used to put me on Hudson's bus for Horncastle. There Mr Hudson would walk me over the square to Wright's bus for Louth. At Louth my uncle, who farmed in Tetford, would meet the bus and I would ride home to his farm on the cart horse. Happy memories.
Weaver: It will have grown out of recognition on the outskirts.
DeleteI sat on my distance ones last year John. It happens to us all occasionally.
ReplyDeleteRoy: Been there, done that, got the T shirt with my reading glasses. Fortunately they broke where the arm joins the hinge so super glue fixed that!
DeleteSorry it has taken me a while to catch up but I wanted to tell you again that I always enjoy your video of road trips around your area. It is so interesting to see the architecture and the roads - all so different from this country!
ReplyDeleteMick: Glad you liked the expedition. Many of our towns started as hamlets hundreds of years ago, becoming villages and then towns. The problem for modern traffic is those and many country roads were originally built for horses and horse drawn traffic. The town councils often have very strict rules over what alterations to shop fronts and the design of new builds allowed in the older parts.
ReplyDelete