Welshpool

 

Consider the delights of this mid Wales market town. Friendly, interesting, well stocked, steady, slow and satisfying are some of the adjectives that come to mind.

Here is a typical trip. Drive down the high street and park near the library where the car can be safely stored for a couple of hours for the small price of £1! Friday is market day offering a tempting fare such as: welsh butter (very bad for you which is another way of meaning that it is very delicious!), freshly baked brown bread and (cooked up by the local WI and sold at an astonishing 75p) spiced lamb pasties. This is pastry to die for and eaten in large quantities you probably will….

 

W H Smith’s stocks almost everything one might need including on this trip a laundry marker pen for £2.50. I drop off some excess junk at the local charity shop and then head for The Oak (a refurbished hotel with an up market bar and bistro) for a coffee (freshly brewed form a huge Italian machine) and a relaxing read of the papers.

The large  butcher delivers the best rack of lamb you could ever eat – though the very jolly butcher apologises for the price of Welsh lamb. ‘I don’t understand’ I exclaim,’ there seem to be plenty of them around’. This causes much laughter with the lads chopping and trimming meat.

A walk up the High Street to see what Mr Anderson has in the window of his family antiques shop. That dresser is still there and I wonder how much that drinks cabinet is?

Back to the car via the vegetable stall that delivers pots, an onion and some rhubarb for the price of the car park.

And this list could go on. Ignore the shopping malls, the cities, the crowds and all that noise. You can’t beat a small Welsh market town.