Woolly says – The day has arrived after 105 days of lockdown we are finally released back into the world. The feeling is overwhelming although we know that Covid19 is still amongst us and gaining strength in some areas the relief at actually being able to go somewhere is immense. But where? Jo had been tight lipped on this conundrum muttering only ‘you’ll have to wait and see’, I had waited and now I wanted to see. The weather wasn’t the best for our first real outing but to be honest even the nasty wet stuff that falls from the sky wasn’t going to deter me today, I stood eager and ready at the door and tried once again to ascertain our destination, the following conversation ensued:
Me ‘So where are we going?’
Jo ‘The Bog’
Me ‘I’ve just been to the bog and you’ve always told me to say toilet!’
Jo ‘No were going to the Bog’
Me ‘Ok I’ll go again but I only went 5 minutes ago’
I trotted into the smallest room leaving my carer exploding with laughter, when did going to the loo become so entertaining, I wondered, maybe the thought of freedom had gone to her head? Having tried and not succeeded I returned to the front door and followed her to the car. Climbing on board I settled in still none the wiser as to where she might be taking me and tried once more to find out, ‘So seriously where are we going?’ ‘The Bog’ came the unhelpful response as she added ‘Look it up Wooll’s’. I never usually need prompting in the use of my Mammoth Book of Everything in the World and eagerly started looking through to see if I could solve the mystery.
His furrowed brow made me chuckle as we cruised through wonderfully green country lanes with the sun starting to glint through the clouds and I waited for him to finally realise that we really were going to the Bog!
Woolly says – Ten minutes of avid reading and suddenly there it was in print, The Bog, a former mining community in Shropshire, which was once a busy village with over 200 buildings producing lead and barytes until the early part of the 20th century. There followed lots of information about tectonic plates and crumpling layers that had made the area so viable at one point in history. After mining stopped, the undisturbed remnants had provided a range of wildlife habitats with a few ruins to look at. So basically, we were going for a walk, not what I had expected but none the less more exciting than our daily constitutional that we had done for the whole of lockdown. As we pulled into the carpark and the engine went quiet, I was ready to go but for some reason my carer continued to sit there, ‘come on then’ I shouted, she grinned down at me, ‘In a minute’ came the reply. Five minutes later and another car pulled up, I looked out of the window and realised very quickly that we were going to be sharing our outing with the one and only Zoe.
As we all exited the vehicles it was wonderful to see the daughter once more, although rules have changed on social distancing, we had already decided that we would be keeping to our 2 metres and not giving or receiving hugs, hard to do but sensible we had felt.
Woolly says – Leaving the women to chat I led the way through a grassy path amongst lines of trees, wildflowers bloomed in every direction and small pools of water with turquoise coloured dragon flies were on each side. Breathing in the fresh air I filled my lungs and gave a whoop of delight before rolling round in the long grasses. We walked for miles sometimes small ruins appeared next to the path but mainly it was just the trees and the breeze in the air and the sound of the constant chatter of the ladies.
As we passed what had once been the school for the area, I realised that we had completed a full circle and had arrived back at the car, boots were opened and bags retrieved and before I could complain about tired paws and an empty stomach we were off again.
Past the old Miners Institute which had once been well known for it’s Saturday night dances and was now nothing more than a couple of walls we wandered until suddenly I found us sitting under a tree with an array of edible delights in front of me, a picnic just what the mammoth ordered. As we tucked in and the girls continued to talk without a break, I watched a butterfly trying to land next to me, I gave him a stare as he headed towards my chocolate cake hoping that he wasn’t expecting to share it.
Not the most exciting of places maybe but one that gave me a feeling of peace and contentment and the joy on Jo’s face in being able to be with Zoe once again was worth the incessant chatter. As we waved each other off and set off back to our small home I realised that I had forgotten one vital thing and turned to my friend as we sped along the tarmac, ‘Jo I need the bog!’ which for some reason seemed to produce a huge amount of laughter from the human in the car.