Friday 7 October – Trentham Gardens – Ledbury

Trentham Gardens is a 21st century space. The house and gardens are old and have been regenerated. In addition there is a shopping village, a garden centre, the hotel where I’ve been staying and a Monkey Forest (about a mile away). The car parks are large, so large that I end up driving from the hotel car park to the shopping village car park and then to the garden centre car park (it was raining quite hard). I am slightly wary about taking photographs, I have a hunch that there may be restrictions here as well. There is a mix of shops: an organic deli, several art shops, clothes shops (Superdry and Weird Fish are both here), newsagent, cafes – all in what seem to be large and sophisticated sheds. But it’s Doggie Fashion that catches my eye. Sadly it’s not open so I can’t see the full range but there are little pink coats with sparkly things on them exactly like those for children. The signs say there is a dog bakery and I can see the dog ice cream freezer. There is a bowl for water outside and a sign saying ‘wet and muddy dogs not welcome’ – although it is kind enough allow clean and dry dogs. A lot of dog walkers seem to come to the gardens and there is a Tibetan terrier that looks very happy to be wet and muddy (obviously not a shopper).

Gardening supplies are relegated to a small part of the garden centre. I wander through the forest of artificial Christmas trees and Narnia comes to mind – a place where it is always winter but never Christmas. But here everything is getting ready for Christmas and there are sparkly things all around me. After being in so many towns and cities I’m beginning to wonder if we now spend more time preparing for festivals than actually enjoying the event. I’ve seen so many pumpkins, witches, skeletons and other Hallowe’en paraphernalia over the past couple of weeks – or perhaps it’s just my inner grumpy old woman. There are bulbs and seeds and plants – but there are also cards, kitchen stuff – their colour more dramatic than any of the flowers, clothes, ‘outdoor living’, and candles. Always candles and now we should all be aspiring to the Yankee Candle. No sign of recession or downturn here – it’s still early in the day and there are lots of people wandering about. Although there was no-one on the tills when I went to pay for bulbs, so perhaps it’s all shopping but no buying.

Shopping but not buying seems to be what’s going on around the country. The high streets have people but in many towns people seem to have come out to look at the shops, to buy food and essentials. Perhaps to treat themselves to a coffee, a biscuit and a chat with friends but not to spend any more money than necessary. People at the cash machines are taking out £10 or perhaps £20 at a time. Go into M&S and the food section is busy (baskets in varying degrees of fullness) but the real crowds are clustered about the reduced rails and everywhere else is pretty empty. And this despite the fact that it is getting colder and the jumpers that seemed so mad last week now look cosy and comforting.

I am determined not to be beaten by the complexity of Stoke’s one-way system – last night I was caught in a seemingly endless loop – today I shall work out how to escape it. And I realise where I was in the wrong lane and find my way to Hanley town centre. As with so many other town centres there are plenty of empty shops and the loos show the ominous blue lights that say heroin. But there is also a skin tone and particular cheekbone angle that says the same. There are diggers knocking down a large space in the centre of town and a machine that seems to eat bricks – all part of regeneration. The cultural quarter seems to be made up of Emma Bridgwater pottery shop, Victoria Hall, BBC Radio Stoke (which may be cut back now) and Gala Bingo. Somewhere there is a ceramics biennial but I don’t have time to take a look (on until mid November if you fancy a trip to the Potteries). Debenhams, M&S and Waterstone’s are here – but Wilkinson, B&M are busier.

Then I have to get on the road again and it’s down through the West Midlands – Sutton Coldfield, Aston, Birmingham city centre, Handsworth, West Bromwich, Dudley, Kidderminster, Worcester, Malvern and now Ledbury. I had planned to stay in Malvern but it’s strung out along the road (all double yellow lines) and traffic behind me and so I found myself in Ledbury. It’s getting late and this blog post too long.