I woke up to a glorious morning in Aberystwyth. The sun was out and I could hear the ocean on the beach from my room. I decided to pack quickly and grab breakfast on the promenade. I grabbed a muffin and sat on the wall running along the water. I was pretty surprised by how drastic the water level was from when I had arrived; most of the beach was now covered and a dock that had stretched out on the water yesterday was mostly covered.
I enjoyed the weather as I headed to the train station, but as I waited for a later train (so I could arrive closer to my check in time, a classic problem of this trip) the weather turned and began to rain. I sat on a bench in the station, listening to podcasts and knitting. About twenty minutes before the train was due to arrive, I was joined by two women, Hillary and Kim, who declared they were crocheters and we were going to create a bit of a crafting bench. They were both lovely and very sweet and had been in Aberystwyth to celebrate one of their soon-to-be daughter-in-law's hen (bachelorette) party. We couldn't find a table to sit all together on the train, but I sat across the aisle from them.
The woman sitting across the table from me struck up conversation and we ended up taking for the entire train ride, which was around two hours. Her name was Tracy and she was from New Zealand originally, but truly was a world traveller. She had recently sold her apartment and car in New Zealand and decided to travel the world until she found the place she wanted to live. She was fascinating and totally engaging. We talked about a wide variety of topics, including education, travel, politics, mental health, spirituality, and the list keeps going.
She was continuing on to the Isle of Man, but had to transfer changes at Shrewsbury. We both had time to kill, her before her next train and I before I could check in to my hotel, so we grabbed lunch together and continued the conversations. She then had to hurry to her train and we didn't really have any chance to swap contact information. It's quite possible that I will never here from her again, but it was truly special experience. And something that would not have happened if I had not been detoured to Aberystwyth or chosen to take that particular train. It seemed very much the perfect mixture of mistakes and timing.
I arrived into a rainy Shrewsbury and hurried to my hotel. I learned that my hotel, The Lion, has been an inn since 1618, with some notable visitors like Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. It is a very nice hotel located right in the center of Shrewsbury. I waited a few minutes for the rain to die down, but when I left it was still sprinkling. I started walking through the town and towards the approaching blue skies. Shrewsbury has been known for and define by its market and I passed by the Old Market. From there I went up a slight hill, following the tower of a church.
I came upon St Chad's Church, a very distinct church with a high bellower and a round shape for the body of the church. This version of the church was opened in 1792. I seem to keep being exceptionally lucky in my timing, as an organist was practicing on the church's organ. I loved the design of the church with all the pews curving in and the organ and additional seating up on the second level. In some ways, it is reminiscent of the Red Brick Church in Deerfield, Massachusetts where I went to high school.
Unknowingly, this was my first stop on a tour of the churches of Shrewsbury. As it was late afternoon on a Sunday, many shops and sites were closed, but I was surprised by how many church doors were still open. For those who don't know, I have been working on a project for about three years, using long exposure methods to photograph the interior of churches. It's a bit complicated to explain when not in person and without visual examples, but it's been absolute joy of a project and so when I see towns with many churches I get very excited. I spend more time in churches than any other atheist I know.
Following another steeple, I came to St. Alkmund's Church, which is towards the center of Shrewsbury. A caretaker in the church told me a little more about the history of the place and the window above the altar had been replaced fairly recently. As he told me, it is one of the last examples of a completely painted altar window. Most are stained glass, but there was a time when painted glass was more fashionable and the man who painted this window, Francis Eginton, was well known for his skill at painting church windows.
From the center of town I went down to the River Severn and walked along the water. I came to the path by the English Bridge and stumbled upon this gorgeous view: the elegant stone bridge, the well-lit steeple of the United Reformed Church, and a family of swans, including five or so cygnets, swimming down the river. The banks were particularly verdant, lined with grassy patches, flowers, bushes, and trees, including many, many willow trees dipping their branches into the river.
I crossed the English Bridge and headed towards Shrewsbury Abbey. I knew it would be closed, but I wanted to see the exterior and find out when I would be able to go into the abbey. I was struck by the classic red phone booths in front of the cathedral. Two very distinct British landmarks complementing one another.
I crossed back over the bridge and walked along the river. There were many people biking and walking as well and the evening was beautiful after the rainfall. I came back into town and went to the Roman Catholic cathedral in Shrewsbury. I walked in and was immediately struck by the heavy perfume of incense. I was unsure if it was remnants from earlier in the day or part of an active service, as there were a small number of people in the church praying. I decided to wander back out before I disturbed anyone. I continued to walk through the medieval streets of the town center, before turning back to my hotel for a break before dinner.
Today was a very nice lesson in how, on lucky occasions, things align into a beautiful day.
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