A conversation over tea with Ann and her 99-year-old mum Elsie, at their home in Pentre

Ann’s lived and worked in forty-four different countries. Her mum Elsie is ninety-nine years old.

So as you can imagine, between them they have quite a few stories to tell … often about each other!

You can hear those stories in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, along with discussions about:

* rescuing dogs from China

* domineering mothers and how to escape them

* encountering a stag in a Scottish forest at daybreak

* measles

* apparently-haunted aircraft parts

* painting on ceramics

* irresponsible parenting with regard to horror movies

* knowing when it’s time to give up and do something else

Coming up on Hello You the Shropshire podcast:

The cancellation of this year’s Shrewsbury Flower Show took a lot of people by surprise. What’s been going on? Is it time for a new approach? And what’s behind the curtain at Shropshire Horticultural Society?

Next week you can hear about the Flower Show’s past, present and future from an absolute stalwart of the SHS who was part of the Show for half a century. What does he make of what’s happened, and where does Shrewsbury’s premier show go from here?

What can you do when someone close to you is deep in a mental health crisis? Where do you turn, and what help is available?

On Friday morning’s episode you’ll hear one woman’s story of trying to help her lifelong friend get the support she desperately needs, without success even when her friend was in A&E at one of our local hospitals.

And next week, another episode of Hello You will touch on the difficulty of finding the right help when you’re going through hell.

In this case, the hell is fuelled by crystal meth. It cost James almost everything, nearly including his life. James tells his story of the catastrophic consequences of chemsex on Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

To make sure you don’t miss any of these stories from Shropshire, subscribe now:

Benches and soundscapes

I’ll be recording more ‘bench’ episodes of Hello You very soon. Locations will be revealed on here and on my social media: on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and NextDoor. If you’re on any of these, let’s connect with one another?

Also, I’ll be recording more soundscapes: heading to interesting places in Shropshire and recording the sounds of those locations.

Many people find the soundscapes soothing and restful. They play them while working or to get to sleep, the use them for meditation or ASMR, or they just enjoy being transported to somewhere new.

One slight change: Soundscapes will be for paid subscribers only. I’m hoping that the people who value these special slices of audio will support me to make them.

My side of the bargain is this: Future soundscapes will be much longer, so you’ll definitely get value for money! I’ll aim to make each one at least 45 minutes in length, with a target of an hour or more.

So, to hear the sounds of Shropshire at their most intimate, take out a paid subscription!

Thank you for being there

It means a lot that you’re a member of the Hello You family.

Take care of yourself. Take care of the people around you … and I hope that they’re taking care of you, too.

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