MONDAY MEANDERINGS

A warm, but cloudy start to the walk today, but as we were going home, the skies started clearing.  As Jenny said, in the previous post, we do see some graffiti around Shepton, mostly crude text and spray marks but nothing much.  I remember being shocked when I stayed in Estoril, Portugal as every wall of every building seemed to be covered in mindless graffiti - nothing like the fantastic artworks I saw recently at Upfest, in Bristol, Europe's largest Street Art and Graffiti Festival.  These works were done on large boards or designated walls.  As you can see by the photos most were still at the 'work in progress' stage when I saw them.  I would have liked to see them all finished, although I did get a glimpse on our local TV news programme. 

Here are a couple of characters that we saw today.  The gnome was high up on a garden wall and looked fast asleep!  The hiding scarecrow was guarding some veg being grown in a delightful front garden!

We often go past the Market Cross on our travels.  It is the most iconic image of Shepton and is used on posters, guide books etc.  It has been the hub of Shepton for over 500 years and has seen some history.  In 1685 rebels from the Civil War were hung, drawn and quartered from it!  It has altered over the years and recently had a facelift. It is well looked after as you can see by the gorgeous hanging baskets and is the centrepiece of the Friday weekly market.  The signage, which gives distances to local towns and cities, reminds us how convenient Shepton is situated to get to all sorts of places! 

Our arrival on a footpath going to Bowlish was greeted with great distaste by a gaggle of geese who came flying towards us making a tremendous noise.  I can see why they make great guard dogs!!