IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Croeswylan Lane, OSWESTRY, SY10 9PT

... and Technology College at extreme North of square

On Croeswylan Lane I think. A 1960s or 1970s estate, rather like ones I grew up on, so it feels nice and familiar. Two nice chaps walking their dogs were chatting amicably and both greeted me as I strolled by. The sort of place where people know their neighbours and any change of routine is noticed in an instant.

The stile probably reveals where the old hedge line and the newer pavement line merge.

This old water trough is brimming with solid glassy ice - as far as I could tell there is no water in here at all, just a dark, solid block of ice, shining like a precious stone or a massive ingot in a mould.

Nice older houses. 1950s I think. The sort of houses that doctors, senior coppers, dentists and accountants lived in. Very, very nice.

A nice innovation. Like an American style New England style. Or South Coast of England. Poole comes to Oswestry.

£400,000 boxes on an estate south of Oswestry town centre. With small gardens and plots and MDF flooring, poor build quality, lots of snagging issues and a commuter culture where people don't really know their neighbours, don't want to and seem placidly happy about it all. Actually it is probably a 1990s estate. But I couldn't live on one.

Once of those generic Welcome to the town signs. Border Market Town it states. Twinned with somewhere. I love Oswestry - it is so much more than its billing here; Historic border town, railway town, market town with its own unique character, accent and qualities. I can vouch for the quality of the emergency dentists here. It is the third largest town in the county, after Shrewsbury and Telford but gets overlooked. Over the years I have enjoyed its pubs, hotels, cafes, live music venues and best of all its many, varied walks. I could very happily live here. It feels much more Welsh than anywhere else in the county and I like that.

Nice. Posh residential avenue. Looks like the sort of place that you need a credit check just to enter. I like it. Golf club captains and lady captains only I am sure. You need at least three languages. Retired BA Captains welcome. Grammar school education. They know the Latin names of garden plants. Possibly ex-pats. Cars - Volvos, Jaguars, Audis. Widely travelled. They may well have a wine cellar accessed via a spiral stair in the utility room or garage. The wife reads Grazia. Wears Balenciaga. They ski. Grandkids are privately educated. They own property abroad. The daughter in law was a model or worked in PR. They have no pets. They never talk about their origins.