Cheeky young soldier...

Climbing up the stairs of the dusty antique centre a face caught my eye it was a photo of a soldier hung on the wall, i passed by dismissing it from my mind.

After pottering around upstairs for a while looking at antique tiles and choosing one to buy i headed back down with my purchase reaching the bottom of the stairs i turned around to meet the lovely smile of this boy i climed back up the few steps and scrutinized him, i usually find these sad photos depressing but i found i couldnt help smiling back...I noticed the price tag £9.50 Leaving the shop with my tile i looked back again...

That night i couldnt sleep why hadnt i bought it ???........ Because how could i that lovely young face so familiar so full of promise and eagerness ... did he live did he survive the war? .. The words of a song came to mind "a whole generation that was butchered and damned".. "enclosed in forever behind a glass frame" just two lines but so sad.......Had this photo been the only reminder of a son lost at war or had he arrived home safely back to his family..

Needless to say i went back for it and he now hangs on my kitchen wall making me smile with his lovely face, i like to think he came home and married his sweetheart and had a family .....

Strangest of all ! though not so strange, as it may explain my attraction, but theres more than a passing resemblance to jake my boy.....

Intrepid explorers.

If you get a smaller bike you'll be able to keep up with me, i said looking at cols 650cc monster next to my 125 scooter "eh" he said raising a quizzical eyebrow trying to figure out my logic, As if.

Well its simple to me ! i'm always getting lost ! i pride myself on getting lost ! it's all part of the discovery process when out on my vespa, and if he has to do an 80 point turn on a muddy track that i managed in one , because i went the wrong way and he followed well i'm not waiting..

So he did he traded in his monster for a neat navy largish scooter fair does to him.....

So yesterday we did our second trip together we left at 8am and headed down to Ludlow.

l know a beautiful route that i had to show him avoiding all A or b roads if possible he's christened it the cattle grid route cos we went over at least 18..

Needless to say it was cold but not wet.

The view above is from the long myndd a fabulous road that takes you from the stipperstones to church stretton, not recommended for the faint hearted as theres an extremely narrow very steep decent.

If any of you have read mary webs " GONE TO EARTH" or watched the film the stipperstones are where the devils chair is [SBS will no doubt correct me] i wasnt sure which outcrop was which .

I'd past both SBS's house and Mountaineers so i'd left them carrier bags of inula to plant...I didnt knock this time but last week we'd stopped for a panned [cuppa] at mountaineers Thank You xx

I'm trying to work out how to put my photos in the right order on my blogs i hope it works this time.