Walking from home to the local Heritage Centre (which is mostly about railways, unsurprisingly) I passed this vibrant and aspirational mural... to be a place that is accepting, vibrant, inviting and friendly seem a good aim for a small town that has been bruised over and over again with demise of its core industries.

I had a fun day - far more fun than I anticipated when I first arrived onsite and the absence of clear signage was a little off-putting.  Being able to explore old trains and learn about how different types of signal boxes function was interesting and engaging.  The volunteers were well informed and interesting to listen to, and there was plenty of hands on stuff for anyone who wanted it.

I did feel they had missed a trick with the pop-up cafe (I understand the permanent one is closed for refurbishment) which really should have been called 'The Shop in Coach C' given the similarity between what it sold and what Avanti (and previously Virgin) sell in theirs... mind you, the heritage centre was a good deal cheaper!

This weekend was a World War II themed event with an interesting exhibition, including maps showing where bombs had landed in Crewe - some just a street away from where I now live (and explaining why there is a significant area of new-build housing in a Victorian street)  and a photo of someone who had lived a few doors down from where I do who was standing next to a train when it was hit... a real shudder moment.

Unlike yesterday's visit to a professionally curated, university-linked museum, this was a low-budget volunteer-run enterprise.  One actively seeks to decolonise its global heritage, the other seeks to tell the story of its own context.  And both 'work', showing that whilst there is no one 'right' way to be a museum, if stories can be told engagingly and honestly, then visitors can have fun and learn/discover new information and ideas to help shape their thinking and living.  

Yesterday, I went to the special exhibition at Manchester Museum called 'The Cat that Slept for a Thousand Years'.  At one level it was a gimic to get people into the museum. At another level it was a quiet space to slow down and chill (I recall a zone in the Millennium Dome that had music that would take 1000 years to repeat, which had a similar feel). At yet another level it was a way of finding one thread (cats great and small) to follow through different exhibits in the museum (with an optional augmented reality game thingy you could download - I didn't!). At yet another it was a creative way of encouraging people to engage with the museum.

There was also a leaflet called 'Decolonise' which invites visitors to rethink their approach to the exhibits they discover, with a couple of areas of the museum specifically devoted to what might be termed 'revisionist readings' of the artefacts... gently challenging white, western, enlightenment, colonial, acquisition of 'curiosities', and giving 'voices' to other cultures and even to the objects themselves.

I had a great day out, with lots to ponder as well as having fun visiting a giant inflatable cat!  

Tea at Glasgow Central before heading home yesterday... it was decent!

I am not especially fond of the 'morning rolls' used in Glasgow for this purpose, preferring the softness of a bap.  Even so it was a tasty treat before boarding the last train south! 

... a recovery day at home!

My annual leave, mostly staying at home with days out, is well underway, and has just included train travel to London and back closely followed by Bute and back, with visits to Greenwich Park, the Tower of London and Rothsay, as well as catch-ups with friends human and feline!!

For the record, it is equally as possible to do a day trip from 'Railway Town' to Bute as it is to London, not least as it is the Dubai or Schipol of the UK rail network.

Two aspects of the trip to Bute prompted a bit of thought...

• On the outbound journey, my booked ferry was cancelled, so I had an unplanned wander before catching the one an hour later.  It was lovely to catch a glimpse of places I'd never have seen otherwise, and in the scheme of things, an hour's delay is nothing
• On the inbound journey, my local train was delayed as the British Transport Police had to be called due to unruly, sectarian behaviour from young football fans.  It is sad that unquestioned 'tradition' perpetuates negativity.   

I had a lovely time, celebrating friendship, health, connectedness and diversity.  A couple of photos for anyone who might like them... 

Poppies at the Tower of London

Ferry from Wemyss Bay to Rothsay

Today's Messy Sunday School saw our biggest numbers yet - nine children aged 3 to 10 - and it was joyful, messy, fun and full of hope.

Whilst we were making a colourful coat collage, hearing the story of Joseph from the OT, making and sharing sandwiches, finger painting and thinking about how families come in all shapes and sizes, the adults were having something of a Roger Jones fest, with hymns and songs from his musicals.

When I arrived here almost two years ago, Sunday School was weekly with one or two children, and congregations were in the mid-twenties.  Now we are anywhere up to ten children, with Sunday School being monthly, and congregations regularly well in to the forties.  It's certainly messy... and complicated (have to remember which week we are on!)... and it's joyful, colourful and is a reminder that God isn't finished with us yet!