Friday June 13
Shrewsbury

Today has been the nicest Friday-the-thirteenth I've ever had! The weather has been sunny but a bit cooler (I had my shirt off, though). The roads have been flat, the countryside quite nice, the bike has been purring all day and Shrewsbury is another gorgeously ancient town.

I left Chester at about 10:30 this morning & although I got lost a couple of times, I found myself in Shrewsbury by 4. It took a while to find a guest house but I got one on the main road out of town for a reasonable £2. I went back into town for supper at a hamburger place and a look around. I also bought another of those McVities ginger cakes & ate it. Yummy! I seem to be continually hungry (it's expensive to eat, though.) I saw the outside of the castle & the old abbey & a 9th century church & the place where t'water runs over t'weir (the Severn, that is.) Tomorrow I'm heading towards Worcester but again, there isn't a youth hostel nearby. I've ridden quite hard today (about 50 mi) & I'm tired & sunburned.

Saturday June 14
Worcester

This will have to be a quick page 'cause it's almost 10:30 & I want to phone Russell & get to bed. Amazingly enough, the weather is still fine though cloudier. I made very good speed especially this morning & the bike is still purring. I saw the iron bridge across the Severn at Ironbridge & pretty well followed the river here. Just after lunch I passed through Bewdley where I had to stop & watch a parade go by. Then I continued on through some quite hilly country to Worcester. (None of the hills go above about 300 ft though.) I had a bit of trouble finding a place again (this is so usual I don't really worry any more) because the tourist info centre was closed. After a cheap but filling steak & kidney pie supper, I walked back to the cathedral. When I got there, people were all queuing to go in. I thought it was a service but they weren't really dressed up enough. So I went in & stayed 'til about 9:30 listening & participating is a sort of singalong choir & prayer meeting. Tomorrow the Cotswold Hills & Y.H. at Stow-on-the-Wold.