Field barn at Frith Bottom with Hen Cloud beyond
Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away. Clint was humming old songs by Cat Stevens as we tootled along country roads all the way to Staffordshire. He delivered me to the village of Meerbrook north of Leek. It was somewhere I had never been before.
Clint decided to park next to St Matthew's Church and asked me to collapse his wing mirror. As I put my boots on, I fell into conversation with a sturdy road maintenance man clad in orange with a white helmet and yellow ear protectors. He and his colleague were clearing out ditches to address potential flooding problems. A nice man, he has just completed forty five years of work for Staffordshire County Council and will retire this summer. Sadly, he now suffers from worsening arthritis.
Pub sign in Meerbrook
I waved goodbye to Clint and set off on a long circumnavigation of Tittesworth Reservoir. Most of the time I could not even see the reservoir but it didn't matter because I enjoyed a lovely walk in unfamiliar territory. I saw many things and thought many thoughts and I was glad that I don't suffer from arthritis. Not yet anyway.
After three hours and forty minutes I was once more rooting in Clint's boot (American: trunk) for my driving shoes. Clint was in a happy mood and as we headed back over the hills of summer to lovely Longnor and then on to beautiful Bakewell we dueted harmoniously:-
Remember the days of the old schoolyard
We used to laugh a lot, oh don't you?
Remember the days of the old schoolyard
When we had imaginings and we had
All kinds of things and we laughed
And needed love, yes, I do
Oh and I remember you...
The old school in Meerbrook
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/3j6Tqrx
