Yet more rain. A diminishing market. And discussions in the village.

 I walked to Uppermill market in the rain this morning. No surprise there as it had rained through most of the night by all accounts. 

I hesitate to call it a market these days as the square is rapidly becoming a carpark (which it is for the rest of the week) with the fishman selling fish from his van in one corner. The fruit and veg man has been missing for weeks and Jenny Biscuit has not been there at all this year! It was to be expected that the man who sells shoes and slippers (and a curious sideline in vitamins and food supplements!) would be absent today as his display is always open to the elements. The rain was so heavy first thing this morning that his plastic sheeting would not protect his wares for long. I hope the fishman doesn’t disappear as it is good to have a source of fresh fish available. He seems to do a roaring trade so maybe he’ll persevere.

My timing was perfect, arriving in Uppermill at around 9.30, rushing around to make various purchases and hopping onto a bus headed for home at approximately 10.05. I stayed on the bus into the centre of Delph village to  pick up a couple of items from the local co-op that hadn’t been available at the Uppermill branch. It must be a supply and demand thing. 

I had some difficulty crossing the road when I alighted from the bus and, having finally crossed, found myself involved in a heated conversation which was blocking access to the doorway. This was partly about the driver who had pulled up to park partly on the pavement and wholly on the double yellow lines. It seems that one of the indignant talkers had just had an altercation with another similar “parker” who was verbally abusive and swore colourfully! The other was complaining the crossing difficulty. 

She had contacted a local councillor on this matter and felt rather let down when said councillor had told her that his was only to be expected in a busy village like ours. This was not the response she expected as she had specifically asked why there was no pedestrian crossing and received no reply to that.

I had to join in because there was simply no way through to the entrance of the co-op. But also I sympathised. I too have had difficulty crossing here with small grandchildren in tow. Our pretty, busy village needs to be a safe on.

So that’s my Wednesday. As I write this, I notice that the weather is improving. I suspect the garden is too wet to do any tidying up work but at least it feels a little less as though we have gone directly from summer to winter.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!