A Thought In Progress. H E Bates: Is He A UKIP Favourite Writer?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Now let me start by saying this. I'm not saying that H E Bates would have voted Leave in the EU referendum, or that he would have campaigned against legal immigration to Britain. But sometimes a writer's work can change when read in a different decade and this is what I'm chatting about here.

Also the reason why I'm titling the post " A Thought In Progress " is not to sound poncey but because I've not read enough of his work to throw a complete answer but as it's nagging within I felt some sort of chat was worthwhile.

I've just finished reading Castles In The Air. A short story (I thought when I purchased it on the Kindle that it was a collection but there we are that's my fault) and it was then when I thought about The Darling Buds Of May quartet of books and Uncle Silas that this thought began to occur.

You may remember when I chatted about the last book in the Larkin quartet I mused that it was a Tory book in disguise. But now I think it's potentially, when read in these troubled times a far more right wing book than that.

After all what these stories depict is a Britain, no an England where people are basically happy living off in a countryside (almost always sunny) without the state around them. Where there are comely maidens ready to pounce on unsuspecting tax officials and where there is oceans of alcohol of all varieties. Where whilst you may be friendly towards your overseas neighbours England is still the best place to live.

And of course almost everybody's friendly ….and white.

I suspect the reality was not even the case when these books were written but it's definitely not the case now. Britain is a much harsher, greyer place now.

But this vision of an England is the sort of vision that would appeal to the extreme right. As indeed similar visions of a nation have appealed to their equivalents in other countries.

So again it's a thought in progress. And I don't know when I'll be reading another H E Bates book but it'll be something will return to when I do.

Until the next time.

Goodbye To Porthcawl Library

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I know this is premature. I know that the move might fall through. But today (Monday) I went to Porthcawl library for what is probably the last time.

Why? Well three reasons. Firstly once the process of moving house goes into full swing giving back library books would be put in the back burner, and then forgotten.

Secondly, and conversely, dealing with the library is simple. Return the books. That's it.

Thirdly though, and most importantly, unlike some things I was going to do but will put off until the move is complete (going through an Elizabeth David book and volunteering for a food bank will have to wait) this was to be the first thing I was stopping that I was doing. It was also the first thing that would affect me. As the libraries in Bridgend (bar one) I consider a friend.

Porthcawl library is not the best library in the Bridgend area (in my opinion that's Pyle) as it is slightly small. In all other respects I have always enjoyed and looked forward to my visits there. It has a staff that knows what they're doing and, as I've explained previously, tolerate my bad jokes (On having to pay a fine "I thought you were going to throw the book at me").

As in all good bookshops what made this library (like the others in Bridgend..bar one) good was it's ability to surprise you by borrowing a book that you had not expected to want. I'm not saying that they would all be good (ie a biography of Aneurin Bevan) but you'd be prepared to give it a go.

I walked in. Gave the books and walked out. What I was not going to do was linger.

Goodbye

To Marion Keyes and Mark Chapman my apologies. Once the situation is sorted will make a beeline for your books. I promise.

Purchasing Penguin paperbacks though hasn't stopped. As I was in Porthcawl I went to the PAWS charity shop where for £2 I got this.

H E Bates - Country and Other Matters

This is a collection of five of his books, Fair Stood the Wind for France,The Wild Cherry Tree,Dulcima,The Four Beauties and Seven by Five (there were actually six but The Triple Echo is missing).

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm not currently an H E Bates fan. My view of A Little Bit Of What You Fancy, the last of the Larkin books was that it was a UKIP wet dream of an England (not you would note Britain) that probably never really existed.

However as I hope Michael Palin showed my views on one book does not necessarily mean that they will be my views on another so we live in hope.

So goodbye Porthcawl,Pyle,Aberkenfig, Maesteg and the old Bridgend Town Centre library. It was fun.

As for the new Bridgend Town Centre not in the town centre abomination library which the Labour Council got EU money to action. I hope you (but not the books inside) rot.

Until the next time.

On Books Borrowed and Bought, Why Age Cymru Porthcawl Showed I Might Need New Glasses and no change from Tesco

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Today (Monday) was the first and probably only day I could borrow and buy books for the week until at least Saturday. So Porthcawl I went first to the library and then amongst other bits of shopping to buy Penguin/Pelican paperbacks with my £1 a week budget (which as nothing was bought last week meant that the princely sum of £2.10 was burning a hole in my pocket).

So let's start with the library. My first intention was to get Sam Allardyce's autobiography and chortle but for the first time since I started this reading challenge of going through all the footballing books in the Bridgend library area it wasn't there. Someone else it appears had the same idea.

The book I chose was this.

Oliver Kay - Forever Young

This is a book about Aiden Doherty. I'd never heard of him until today but it appears that he was a contemporary of Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville but with greater talent but for some reason he never achieved footballing success. This intrigued me which was the reason why I picked it.

Once that was done it was time to buy books. The plan was to spend £1 in the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Shop (PAWS) and the rest in other Charity places in the town. Therefore my paws went into PAWS first.

I bought three books for a pound there. This was the first:

John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath

I must admit that I've never read a John Steinbeck novel before (all part of the so many books so little time curse that affects every reader). But at least here is one ready to join the great unread.

In line with my occasional title of the slight hypocrite. ie someone who laughs in the face of people who buy scripts of plays etc....unless they are with a classic Penguin book spine on them the next book was:

Ibsen - Peer Gynt

Not just a play but a play in verse....can't wait.

I was pleased that I got some Pelican paperbacks. This was the one I got at PAWS.

J C Kincald - Poverty and Equality in Britain

The next group of books I got at the Tenovus Charity Shop. They were on offer at 4 for a £1. The Pelican in the mix was.

Europe Since 1870 - James Joll

What's interesting about these Pelicans was that they were both published in 1973 and yet it would appear both might be timely because of recent events. We shall see.

The next one was:

H E Bates - Love for Lydia

You may remember how I didn't like the last H E Bates book I read. The last of the Larkin quartet. We'll see if I feel any different about this. I do vaguely remember the TV series the cover refers to. But I didn't watch it.

Paul Gallico - Ludmilla & The Lonely

I've never read a Paul Gallico book although there are a number on the great unread to tackle. This joins it.

And finally...

Christopher Hibbert - Africa Explored

I was to be honest unsure whether I should buy this book in view of the sub title and its connotations. Eventually I've assumed that the title was being ironic given the attitudes of the Europeans at that time. Hope I'm right on that.

Well that means my budget until next Monday is reduced to 10p.

In between my trip to PAWS and Tenovus I went to the Age Cymru charity shop. Imagine my surprise to see no books there at all. Just a load of other stuff including old satellite TV digiboxes! I was annoyed by this and tweeted them asking why they were the first ordinary charity shop ever not to sell any books.

Their answer...and I think you know where this going...was that they did.

The Books in the Age Cymru Charity Shop Porthcawl

Now in mitigation your honour they had moved the books from where they were at the back of the shop just two weeks ago to by the shop window. Still I was guilty of shortsightedness and I have promised them that Penguin/Pelican or no Penguin/Pelican I will buy a book from the shop next time I'm in Porthcawl. It's only fair.

One last thing I won't bore you by repeating what I've written about England football figures being sold in Tesco Bridgend South WALES. Just to say it's still continuing.

Still here

Until the next time.

In Which I Discover A Book Jeremy Hunt And Nigel Farage Will Like

Hello here. Hope you're feeling well today.

At long last I've A Little Bit Of What You Fancy by H E Bates,the final of the Larkin family novels by H E Bates written in 1970. Didn't have high hopes. If you remember I mentioned when starting that my view of the original Darling Buds of May was that the TV series was better and after the first season I'd lost interest in that as well.

Well what surprised me was not that I didn't like it. It was how much I hated it.

A consistent theme of both books is that real enemy is "the state". The lauded Larkin lifestyle is to pay no tax,be entrepremrial and with the money earned to be extravagant in how your life is lived. It is "the state" that tries to hold you back.In The Darling Buds Of May "the state" was represented by the tax office.Tax, terrible thing, what provides everyone with such things as education, roads,libraries and of course health. Tax: The thing the Larkins avoid. They are tax avoiders and are being lauded for it.

In the beginning of A Little Bit Of What You Fancy the state, though not named, is represented by the NHS. Pop Larkin has a mild heart attack and so he is confined to his bedroom. The state's treeatment of him is represented as being too harsh. If you want more symbolism, the original female nurse has a moustache.

Contrast that with the private sector. Not only is the treatment more relaxed and appears to be working but the nurse here is a beautiful and friendly Australian woman.

Of course let's forget the fact that the reason Pop Larkin is in that position is his lassiez faire lifestyle in the first place.

So that's Conservative Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt sorted. Now let's deal with the ex leader of UKIP Nigel Farage. Think I mentioned in the past that I thought that his favourite book was Dracula, given that it was about an illegal Romanian immigrant that creates havoc in Britain. This however comes close.For what suddenly galvanises Pop Larkin into action is the discovery that not only that the Channel Tunnel could be built but that it would go through their area.

England,their England is being threatened. I stress England here because nowhere is Britain mentioned when the book turns all UKIP. There is a moment where with a few alterations you couldn't tell the difference between the book and a Brexit campaigner.

(I know what you'll say. There's another novel in the series when the Larkins go to France. Makes no difference. There are notceable Leave people who have villas in EU countries.)

I understood then why the TV series was better. For it envoked a sense of nostalgia without overdoing it.

What the novel seemed to suggest was that with the channel tunnel England would lose its national identity. It would be unable to hold onto its traditions, No longer could you have even the possibility of fun and frolics Larkin style. Of course the great irony is that in real life the tunnel was built under the time of by the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher but that on the UK side it was financed solely by private sector money.

This is pernicious propaganda. Envoking a sense of time and a lifestyle that probably didn't really exist and is reprehensible anyway.

Not the worst book I've read this year but the one I've hated the most.

So a new Penguin paperback is needed. The next one from the great unread is:

Olivia Manning - The Rain Forest

I've never read a book by this writer before so it should be interesting.

Until the next time.

In Which Reality Bites Fantasy And The Premiership etc Have To Wait For A Match At Ton Pentre FC

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well let's set the scene. I'm in the bath. I've explained before how I'm a fan of a good soak and won't bore you with it again. Listening to a season preview of the Guardian Football weekly podcast. Of the three football podcasts I listen to this is my favourite. In my comfortable relaxed state am jolted by a sentence from the show.

"Defoe is injured".

Defoe? Jermain Defoe? The Jermain Defoe that's on my fantasy football team? Clearly have to change the starting eleven.

So I get out of the bath,dry and go onto the Daily Telegraph fantasy football website.....but for some reason my team wasn't there. Was confused but was in a rush so I decided to create the team again. Exactly the same as before except that Berahino of West Bromwich replaces Defoe. So the team is set up and ready to go when.....the Telegraph Fantasy League website crashes.

I try,try again but it's down. Too late to do anything before the first match begins my fantasy team dies in this initial week.

Whose fault was it? Well I suspect did something wrong initially but then it was compounded by the website crashing. And of course the biggest irony is that not only did Defoe actually play against Manchester City he scored as well.

I had to go to Bridgend Town today. Was in a bit of a rush but went into the other Polish deli there for a look around. Because of my lack of time really couldn't make a considered decision so got these.

I shopped Polish

These barring the packaging are probably about as Polish as I am but that's not the point. The point is that in these post Brexit dark ages we should support the Polish shop against those racists happy to denigrate those Poles who have moved and have set up lives/businesses here. Next time I'm going to Bridgend Town I'll ask on Twitter to recommend some Polish food (meats,cheeses etc) to give them a try.

And one more thing on Bridgend Town. Noticed this building.

Does Have A Certain Style

Twitter tells me it's a church. It does seem worth investigating in the future though I'm not sure when.

Wife/daughter had no real plans for Saturday. As they hadn't I had.Penybont FC were playing at Ton Pentre at the first match of the new season for this, the second tier of Welsh League football. I was going to spend the afternoon in the Valleys. You remember I had a day out in there in May to wallow in the views. Yesterday though it was going to be mainly football.

One quick digression though. As was going out I noticed this.

That bird is big

Had thought that I knew where the Ton Pentre ground was but I'd overshot and what turned out to be an empty ground was in the nearby village of Pentre. To digress for a moment Pentre I was told later was once a longer name than that. It makes sense to me. Pentre in Welsh means village so essentially this is a village called village.

So got back to Ton Pentre to ask where the football ground was. It turned out that I was not that far away.

View number 1

So followed the instructions to the most well hidden ground I know. Essentially park in a nearby street.

View number 2

Across another street.

View Number 3

Cross a bridge.

Bridge

View from the bridge.

With added finger

Turn right by the industrial estate.

Industrial Estate Action

And here you are. Still doesn't give you any idea of what's inside.

Ton Pentre FC

It cost £5 to get in. This included a programme which though more cheaply produced (hence the price) is far more readable than anything else I've seen in this league. It included an application to be a part owner of the club for an annual fee of £10. Must admit it's tempting and will think about this,but I won't decide for a while yet. Working next Saturday and the following week will be driving to Essex (which I'll explain then).

So then I've properly entered the ground. This is the view that awaits.

Quietly stunning

Thing about a Welsh League football game is this. If the match has it's dull moments you can always wallow in the views. This is from the other side of the pitch.

Yes I know

Before I forget let me claim now to be the first man to read an H E Bates novel during the interval at a Ton Pentre FC game. Already I've made history in this club.

The proof

The sole seated stand is in the centre - To the left is the clubhouse

You know football is often described as a game of two halves. Well this was a game of two quarters and a half. The first quarter belonged to Ton Pentre. They started the match attacking the Penybont FC half and were rewarded with a goal in just 8 mins, a perfectly placed header by the number 10.

Relatively soon after the number 9 despite falling down during his run into the box scored another. Two-nil then and it looked bad for Penybont FC

Ton Pentre have a manager and his assistant. I'm assuming that the guy wearing the baseball cap Pulis style is the manager. But it was his sidekick who did most of the shouting in the first half.

The assistant's calls did occasionally go to the bizarre. This was a conversation to the number 8 of his team.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Well done".

The number 8 had a look of a man who did not understand what was been said to him, He was not the only one.

The Dynamic Duo

In the second quarter things seemed to change. Rather like the friendly against the Newport AFC youth team Penybont seemed to get their act together when things seemed to be at their darkest. They scored in the twenty ninth minute (can't tell you who) though how the Penybont player was able receive a cross that went through various defenders and score despite a flapping oncoming keeper is a mystery. From a Ton Pentre view the goal was described by those around me as sloppy. That seemed the best description.

Nothing though sloppy about the second Penybont goal. A cross from the right and a straight volley by the Penybont number 8. It was pure skill.

Two all then and that is how it stayed until half time.

The second half was mainly Ton Pentre. They had chance after chance but were seemingly unable to score. They weren't helped by the match officials. Being young they seemed unable to count the correct distance of a wall in a free kick situation, the offside law or that a throw in is not taken at a spot preferred by the thrower. I blame the education system.

Must admit though have an older man's dislike for officials who are not only younger than you but also have the confidence to wear fashionable hairstyles. Though in this case the assistant referee's hair seems to have been cut using a garden implement.

Shawn by shears

With every wrong decision the Ton Pentre management were by degrees angrier. I heard from the manager what seemed like "forty grams of shocking"after one decision. Not sure you understand but it sounded good.

The next photo shows where I was watching the game from. The men coloured in motorway maintenance are the Penybont FC managerial team.

The brightly coloured dynamic duo

A draw was where this match seemed to be going until in the thirty fifth minute the Ton Pentre number 11 was able to out run a number of Penybont defenders and score. Three-Two to Ton Pentre which turned out to be the final score and. given their second dominance, deserved.

After the match was finished went to see some friends in the nearby village of Llwynypia. As I arrived they were about to take some garden rubbish to the local tip. They suggested that I relaxed in the bench they have in front of the house whilst they disposed of their stuff. This I did. A pleasant few moments reading the H E Bates book in front of this view.

Imagine seeing that in front of your house every day. Even if the building below is an ASDA

It was certainly pleasant. Would've been even more so if I liked the book. That though is for when I've finished it.

Had pleasant chat with tea and biscuits when they returned. Soon though it was time to go. Six pm. Time flies when you've had a good time

Thankyou Ton Pentre FC, Penybont FC and the Rhondda Valley.

It was fun

Until the next time.

In Which I Go To Watch A Football Game. Men vs Boys (Nearly)

Hello there, Hope you're feeling well today.

Well work had turned out to be unexpectedly fraught yesterday. Needed something that would wash it out of my hair. Happily for me. Football was back.

I live near the ground of the Welsh football league club Penybont FC (which is Welsh for Bridgend) and they were playing a preseason friendly against a Welsh team that plays in the English football league Newport County AFC. Neither wife nor daughter had plans for the day so at 2pm this Saturday afternoon off I went.

It's about a twenty minute walk from where I live,in the Bridgend suburb of Bryntirion. Indeed Penybont FC used to be Bryntirion FC until it merged with Bridgend Town FC. Making it then the first time a town moved to the suburbs.

The weather barring a cool breeze was warm enough but there was a dark cloud on the horizon.

Literally

So I took an umbrella and one other item, which I'll explain later.

A slight digression. never understood how Welsh street names are used. Not the principle you understand, just the application. They seem to be picked for no obvious reason.

Makes no sense

This is an extreme example on the way to the ground. The road is called Chestnut Way (which of course makes no sense in English - There's a way to the Chestnuts?) but underneath is translated in Welsh as BrynGlas, Not only does it actually mean BlueHill in Welsh but I've no idea where the "BlueHill" actually is.

But back to the football and the first real surprise. For it appears that it's not just Olympic stadiums that can have brand naming rights but also the second tier of Welsh league football as well.

Progress.....apparently

I went in. Paid £5. Was disappointed there wasn't a programme and went straight for the stand.

The Stand

Easy to laugh at it but remember this isn't the English Premier league but a league most people could afford to go to regularly.And of course if the football was dull there was always the view.

Gaze at that

Now look at the building on the right, In a seemingly small space it contains a sports bar with large screen TV, a function room. somewhere to get hot food (got chips and a cola at half time), the changing rooms for the teams and the match officials as well as some office space for club business. Clearly for the designer this was a sideline from building the TARDIS.

Outside of the bar there were chairs and tables people could chat and watch the match with behind the goal.

I noticed almost immediately that,programme or no programme, this was not the first team for Newport County. They were too young and fresh faced. Teenagers who probably only saw a razor from TV ads. This was the academy side. In contrast Penybont were a team of physically imposing first team adults complete in some cases with beards,baldness and in one case a combination of the two.

This match was,quite nearly, men versus boys,

And so it began....

The Match

In the beginning you could see why these "boys" were picked. They had skill. They had youthful enthusiasm (ah youthful enthusiasm I remember it well). Anyway in about the eleventh minute there was a cross field cross which which was taken by a Newport player who made an expert shot to beat the Penybont goalkeeper. 1-0 then to Newport. It was the score that stood for the remainder of the half.

If the match had ended after 45 minutes you would have said that Newport were the more skillful side and that Penybont had only kept the loss to a single goal by imposing their obvious physical superiority over their opponents. But of course as the cliche goes football is a game of two halves and after the break the home team showed the thing that was absent in the first half which was skill.

Attack after attack began. Near misses and stout defending were frustrating Penybont but they kept on going. Penybont were also getting inventive. At a corner they piled as a group to receive it the same way as the national team did against Belgium in Euro 2016. Or as I overheard someone call it "the Welsh Thing".

One of the best things about going to a football game is learning by just listening to the people around you. 

"That's Ellis Bellamy"

"He plays for us now?"

"Yes."

"Is Craig here?"

So on learning that a son of a famous retired Welsh player is playing for his team the first instinct of the recipient of that news is to look for his famous father (who wasn't there incidentally). Such is life.

There was more:

"There are two number threes (for Penybont) on the pitch" He was right.

"Does it matter?"

"Well yes. Say if there was a booking"

At that moment I had to turn round. There was I informed them two number twelves as well. One was bald and bearded the other was bearded with hair up top. Fortunately the first was one was substituted soon after that conversation. I didn't mention afterwards that I'd noticed there were also two number sixteens.

It was a good thing that the bald bearded number twelve had been substituted because it was the other number twelve who scored the Penybont equaliser. A delightful goal which was what they deserved after their relentless efforts in the half. Soon after Penybont scored two more. Both from headers. The second, in the way the ball was caught from the corner was positively Vogtsian.

3-1 then was the final score. I'm not sure what Newport County learnt from all of this other than giving the players experience. As for Penybont they would have the satisfaction of not just winning but coming from behind to do so.

I did notice that in this game was there were three times where Newport players had to go off the field because of injury. Being very young men there were no Oscar winning performances. It was real agonising pain. Let me stress I'm no expert, but I couldn't but wonder whether putting two sides so obviously physically different against each other was really a good idea.

And the other item I brought with me? Well I hereby claim to be the first man ever to have read an H E Bates novel during the breaks of a Welsh football league match.

Fame at last

Until the next time

Howard Jacobson's New Fans, Books Borrowed Read But Not Bought Plus Swansea,Mumbles and BHS

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Before the family day trip later on I had to make a quick visit to Porthcawl library as they were due and quickly to Poundland to get razors,shower gel and some toothpaste....oh and a book.

You may remember when I'd last visited there I was surprised that Poundland were selling some quality books amongst the expected dross. Although there was a tome by Howard Jacobson for more sentimental reasons I'd picked The American by Martin Booth (A decision incidentally that wasn't wrong in itself. Spoiler alert: So far it's very good). This time though I was going to get the Jacobson.

Or I would have.....if there were any there.

To my knowledge Poundland leave books on the shelves forever. My favourite of the "dross" books was one that celebrated Irish Olympic hopefuls. All very well in itself if it wasn't for the fact that we were in Wales. So that the Jacobson completely sold out is encouraging. I suspect most of the people who bought the book wouldn't have thought to have picked it up anywhere else and some of those might be further encouraged to read more of his work afterwards,

Poundland:Encouraging reading and literature, Who would have thought it but let's celebrate it anyway.

Afterwards I went to the library. Was tempted to get the autobiography of the ex West Ham and new England manager Sam Allardyce but ultimately went for this as my football book choice.

The Secret Footballer - Tales From The Secret Footballer

This is the sequel to the original "Secret Footballer" book which apparently lifts the lid on the football world. It has the reputation. Let's see whether deserved.

The intention was to just get that book. But as you know me by now and needless to say I was tempted to borrow another which was this.

Clare Balding - My Family and Other Rambles

I took this book because I'm toying with the idea of taking up rambling. Not the sort that wanders lonely as a cloud in green places but that explores towns and villages. Rather like the day I spent going round the Valleys in May.

I have the prequel to this. My Animals And Other Family amongst the great unread.

Must admit as well to have an admiration for the author. Capable of being a broadcasting "safe pair of hands" and yet can fight for her beliefs as well. A lioness in jolly hockey sticks clothing. She also has the ability, rather like the late Alan Coren and the comedienne Linda Smith of being the sort of person you consider a friend even though you've never met them.

When I'd got home the wife decided that we should go to Swansea for the day. Given the washout of her birthday the day before I wasn't going to argue. Still though we were out of the house the car hadn't left the drive for a further ten minutes whilst she and daughter chatted to the neighbour opposite. In that time I finished a book.

It was Not A Hazardous Sport by Nigel Barley. As I was reading this it reminded me of the sort of series started by James Herriot. Take an occupation and write about your experiences in a manner which suggested that life was basically comic with occasional sad episodes. Of course we all know that life is a constant battle between the amusing and the tragic. And if you don't have an occupation tragedy always wins.

The point is that Nigel Barley is not James Herriot, and as his occupation is anthropology his style is a mixture of bad writing and patronising condescension sprinkled with a fair degree of dullness. I don't mean dull as in academic dull, more dull as in the more I read it the more fed up and uninterested I got.

To fast forward a bit when we returned took the next book from the great unread. Which turned out to be this.

H E Bates - A Little Bit of What You Fancy

This was the last book in the Larkin series. I've read the first, The Darling Buds Of May years ago and I remember thinking that the TV series was better. Mind you I didn't like the television version after the first season. Got all too predictable. I don't hold much hope, though to be fair I understand that this novel was never filmed.We shall see.

So to Swansea then. Which in the beginning got a bit damp.

Early afternoon in Swansea

We went into BHS in Swansea before it becomes a part of retail history. To be honest it was more in curiosity than anything else. Needless to say it was very sad. Everything was for sale.

And I mean EVERYTHING

What was interesting was that even with the reductions prices seemed cheaper elsewhere. I mean I wouldn't pay just under five pounds for a cereal bowl whoever made it. Perhaps that explains part of the reason for the decline of the business.

After that I spilt up with wife and daughter to go to a charity shop that just sold books. Or rather that was the intention, but for the second time today I was thwarted in buying books as it was closed for refurbishment. Other charity shops I saw didn't have Penguin/Pelican paperbacks that I didn't already own. Thwarted again.

A quick digression the worst place for me was a stall in Swansea market. Only because I don't like the price of books being stamped on the top. 

Don't like this one bit

After the ladies finished buying clothes and I finished buying nothing we went further west to the Mumbles. It wasn't really summer coastal weather being cool and cloudy. Still it can still do the views. Here are a few pictures.

Still can do vivid colours on a cloudy day

The original fifty shades of grey

Despite how it looks it didn't rain

Warm enough to have some chips whilst viewing this

And so the trip ended. It had been pleasant.

Until the next time.