British Ironworks Centre

 We had an early start for a Saturday morning to drive to just outside Oswestry in Shropshire to visit the British Ironworks Centre. I had found out about it from Tiktok and knew it would be somewhere the whole family would be interested in visiting.

Craig booked the tickets online which was the reason for the early start, as if you got there before 9.30am it was only £4 per person instead of £14 which is obviously a substantial saving, especially when there is 5 of you.

The centre is split into two sections, the sculpture trail and the actual centre. Dogs are allowed on site but you cannot take a picnic with you. There is a cafe serving food and drinks on the site as well as an ice cream parlour. There are a number of signs saying that the centre relies on sales in the cafe hence the reason for no picnics. We were not aware of this and had brought food with us. We ate that later after we had left the centre. There is also a charge for parking.

As we drove in we were greeted by some very impressive sculptures so you can get a taste of what to expect.

There are various sections of the sculpture trail and we decided to head to the front and do the Extinction trail first. All the animal sculptures had boards underneath describing the animal similar to ones you would find in a zoo. 

Near the entrance to the centre itself there were some familiar characters who were easily identifiable

There were also lots of original designs that artists had created and the messages were displayed underneath the sculpture. Some were purely for joy but some also had a more serious message to put out.

The Manchester Bee created from guns and knives to promote anti-violence in the city.

The Knife Angel is obviously made from knives and was created to highlight the effects of knife crimes on communities.

This sculpture was created in 2015 due to the large number of British males leaving the country to fight in foreign wars without truly being aware of the implications of their actions on themselves, their futures, their families and their communities.

After we had completed the trail we went into the Ironworks centre itself. Dogs are not allowed inside the building but there was plenty of outside space and seating for us all. It was at this point we all needed refreshments so drinks and crisps were purchased from the cafe and we relaxed for a short time before heading off to the section Matthew and Emma's partner Sam, were the most interested in- The Heroes and Villains section.

All in all, we spent about 3 hours doing the trail and in the centre itself and we did not rush round despite the dogs dragging us around and not wanting to stop and admire the sculptures. 

I would say it is good value even at £14 but even better if you can get there early for £4. I cannot say what the food is like as we didn't eat anything there but there is certainly plenty to see and Oswestry is only a couple of miles away if you want to make a day of it.

We all enjoyed the day, I just wish the weather had been better for the photos.

Project 365 (trying again)

I thought I would attempt to do Project 365 again as I had been thinking that my life was boring but looking back at earlier posts made me realise that my life is just ordinary and that there is always something worth remembering 

I am looking to post on a Sunday covering the Monday to Saturday. So here goes

Saturday 17th May

I took Penny for a walk and this was the view from the wood across the fields. The woods were shaded as it was a bit warm for her to be out in the full sun.

Sunday 18th May

Craig and I went for breakfast as a treat and I had the Hash Brown Bennie. I got half way through it before I remembered to take a picture. It was absolutely delicious.

Monday 19th May

This is not somebody's garden, it is a space that a group of neighbours have taken over and maintained. It looks so pretty at this time of year I couldn't resist taking this picture whilst Penny ran on ahead.

Tuesday 20th May

As I can no longer.play CD's in the house I sorted them out to give to charity. There was a real mix of music genres. I got Craig to copy some of the ones I would still want to listen to and he put them on a USB stick so I can listen to them in the car.

Wednesday 21st May

Me looking rather red after my first Zumba class. I absolutely loved it and after taking this picture I booked onto the class for next week.

Thursday 22nd May

It was Craig's birthday and we had family and a couple of friends round for pizza and cake.

Friday 23rd May

Matthew and I watched all the new episodes in one go. Great way to spend a Friday evening after a busy week in work.

Saturday 25th May

An early start so we could go to The British Ironworks Centre in Oswestry. Craig had booked an early timeslot to avoid the crowds as we had Penny and the two dogs that Emma was looking after with us. The Hulk greets you at the entrance. There will be a separate post and more pictures in a couple of days.

Family and Friends

 I am going to admit that I don’t have a close relationship with my family (as in parents and siblings) or any close friends and I am fine with that.

I have got friends and have had friends but I have not stayed close friends with anyone over time. Whenever a situation has changed, either I have moved or they have moved I have not really kept in touch on regular basis. I do have a couple of friends who live some distance away that I still speak to a couple of times a year and send cards and presents to but the majority I have lost contact with.

I have always preferred my own company and find too much socialising saps my energy and I just want to withdraw from people when that happens. I really enjoyed the lockdowns during COVID as there was no socialising and I could spend my time doing what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I could not be a total recluse, I still want to see people and was glad of the Zoom meetings during that time. Now I am happy to go to my groups where there is a shared interest but I don’t like parties or big gatherings where you have to make general conversation with people that you will not see again for a long time.

Even with my family I don’t feel closely connected to them and never really have. I always felt like an outsider within my family growing up and as the eldest seemed to be blamed for everything even though I had nothing wrong. There were a couple of incidents during my teenage years that have definitely affected my relationship with my parents and I am very different from my sisters who are both a lot more outgoing and sociable than I ever was.  When grandparents died, I felt sad but never felt the loss that people speak of, and when my brother-in-law died suddenly and his parents and siblings were devastated, I was the calm, unflustered one making tea and detached enough emotionally to go through his personal belongings to get the information with regards to companies who would need to be informed of his death.

My closest relationships are with my husband and children. Matthew takes after me and prefers his own company but Emma and Craig are a lot more sociable and have had a core group of the same friends for many years. I have always made contact with them all every day when they have not been home but occasionally even then I have had to think about it and make the effort as it has not come naturally to me.

As I have said I am fine with the way I am, I am not going to change but I do sometimes worry about Matthew and what his life is going to be like. I also sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a group of close friends that I can turn to for help or support without thinking that I would be imposing on them. I don’t know who I would say if I was given some really bad news by the police and they said should they call someone if Craig and the kids were not around.

I don’t suppose it would do for everyone to be the same whether that be introverted or extroverted or somewhere in between, I am content with the way I am and nobody will change me, just as Craig is the exact opposite of me and I would not expect him to change. He has been the one that has helped me keep some of the connections I do have and I am grateful to him for doing that.

A week in the Life of a School Admin Assistant

 A year ago I started working in a primary school as an admin assistant. I have worked in administration for 15 years but nothing can prepare you for working in a primary school. No two days are ever the same and you never know what the day is going to bring.  I have decided to let you know what a week in my life looks like and how unlike any other role I have had previously.

I have jobs that I do on a daily basis that you would expect such as taking messages, updating registers, chasing payments for trips and school dinners, photocopying and filing so I am not going to put those in, I am just going to let you know the things you would not expect to be doing as an administrator in a typical office job

Monday –  Nurse

 An unusual amount of absences due to illness and lots of parents coming in with prescription medicine that needs to be given to the children during the day. Each parent must complete a form detailing the medicine, dosage and time to be administered. Most of them are an hour before eating so at 10.45 I dutifully go round the different classes and collect 4 children who need their medication. It was also a day for giving out Calpol as I had messages from 3 teachers asking for parents to be called to get permission for the children to have Calpol for various reasons. Each administration of medication needs paperwork completing and in the case of the school Calpol a form being sent home with the child for the parents to sign and return. I also had to send a child home who had vomited in the reception area as well as help clean it up.

Tuesday – Photographer’s assistant. 

Today was the day for the annual class photos and I had to accompany the photographer to find a suitable location to take the photos outside as we had a visit from a bird sanctuary which was taking place in the hall where the photos are normally taken. I am so glad it isn’t raining or cold. Despite having a reminder sent out the day before about wearing full school uniform there are a number of children in each class who are not wearing jumpers so I had to raid the lost property box to find jumpers that fit and looked decent. I had to change the order of the classes as Year 5 were doing tests and when the photographer was ready for Year 3 they were just about to go on their break.  Putting some of them in height order as well was interesting as some of the children were a little bit deluded about how tall they were.

Wednesday – Craft consultant.

I was persuaded before Christmas to run a sewing group before school for some of the pupil premium children who had not accessed any other of the clubs and Wednesday was the chosen day, so at 8.00am I had my little group of 9 girls all eager to carry on making a zipped pouch (all hand sewn as there are no sewing machines). All of them need to work on making the stitches smaller so that the pouch isn’t going to fall apart.  In the afternoon I was supervising the year 6’s who were using hot glue guns for a D & T project. I had come prepared with some finger protectors which I use at home.

Thursday – Trip assistant

In the morning I accompanied the year 3’s to a Singing festival in the festival hall which meant a trip on the tram with 60 seven year olds. They were very well behaved and they amused the other passengers with a game that one of the teachers devised where they had to be statues between certain points. Although I am biased, they were also the best performers as they all gave full energy to the songs they sang and some even had a little boogie whilst singing. On my return to school at lunch time I was greeted by 3 very large boxes containing new books for the library all of which needed to be checked against the order and stamping. There ended up over 100 books in the order so that took quite a while to check and stamp.

Friday – Dish washer 

On Wednesday the dishwasher in the school kitchen had broken down so various members of staff had been roped in during the week to assist in the clearing of the plates and today was my turn. I wasn’t actually washing the dishes I was scraping and rinsing the plates. My reward was a chocolate chip cookie. I also had to get involved in a safeguarding issue involving the police and social workers which took up quite a bit of time.

The diversity of things I can get involved in is what makes this job so enjoyable. If ever I am feeling a little down being around the children always cheers me up with the enthusiasm and quirks and I look forward to going into work instead of dreading it. I do also enjoy the extra holidays, just not the increased cost of going away.

Although I have given you an insight into the aspects of the role that are fun or unusual there are also the sadder aspects where you are dealing with the fallout from family breakdown, abuse, poverty and neglect. There have been a number of times when all I have wanted to do is take a child home and look after them in the way they should be looked after because their lives at home most people would find horrible. Working at the reception desk also means that you have a lot on interaction with parents and some of them will tell you their life stories and you end up almost being an agony aunt as they tell you about financial difficulties, issues with the child's siblings or other parent or family member and you end up either wanting to give them a hug or a slap depending on the issue or parent.

Working in a school office has been my absolute favourite admin role and I cannot ever see me leaving the school until I retire. It doesn’t feel like work even when the office has lots of work on and I relish the opportunity of interacting with the children and getting to know them.

West Midlands Safari Park

 On a dull, cloudy Sunday we all got up early to drive two hours to the West Midlands Safari Park. It had been about 20 years since we last went and Craig had been wanting to go since we went to Knowsley Safari Park a couple of years ago. It ha certainly changed a lot form the last time we went.

We arrived with about 15 minutes to spare before our allotted time to drive through the park. It gave us a chance to nip to the bathroom as notice boards near the entrance were saying that it would take about 2 hours to drive around, which indeed it did.

There were plenty of animals roaming around and so used to cars they were just wandering between the two lanes of cars. The only animals which were a bit more elusive were the painted dogs and the white lions, both of which you could see but they were up against the fences some distance away.

There is also the section you can walk round where you can see the likes of penguins, sea lions, hippos, fish, reptiles and birds. My favourite, the Red Panda proved to be the most elusive and I did not catch sight of them at all, though there were plenty of stuffed ones in the Red Panda gift shop next to the enclosure.

There is also a very good fairground with plenty of rides for all sizes of children and compared to the theme parks was good value at £10 a wristband if bought online (£14.90 on the day). In fact I felt the whole park offered good value for money compared to similar places we have visited especially for food and drink (once inside the park not at the vendors by the car park). We did take a picnic with us however and ate it on the grassy area near the car park as it luckily stayed dry. I did buy a Coke which you had to get in a souvenir cup. It was £4.00 for the drink and the cup and if you wanted a refill using the same cup it was only £2.00. The meals averaged out at about £10 for an adult meal but I did not see the portion size and there were a couple of restaurants you could eat in.

We all agreed that the park was much better than Knowsley Safari Park and we would go again, however we would do the walk-through part first and then the drive through as I noticed it was a lot quieter in that part after 1.00pm.