The Bench random recording session yesterday afternoon absolutely flew!

I sat on a bench at the top of Wyle Cop, in Shrewsbury, where I met some amazing people and heard some remarkable stories. You want to hear them too? Click on the audio … then share it with your friends, family and colleagues, whether they’re in Shrewsbury or anywhere in the world.

There’s stuff in this episode that people everywhere need to hear. Such as:

* Bohemian Belle Vue, as seen through the eyes of a Miami-born daughter of a GI bride

* Cleaning up the town’s signs from the saddle of an e-bike

* Life as an independent retailer in Shrewsbury

* The Wheelbarrow of Generosity

* Art, creativity and your chance to enjoy them and try your hand too, at an iconic Shrewsbury venue, this weekend

* Sentinel > Vickers > Doncasters > Radius > … what now for a landmark site?

* Dull men

* How Shrewsbury students spend their time

* Faith in politicians, and: Who would you vote for, if you could?

* Counselling, and mental health

* Getting around Shrewsbury by pushbike, motorbike and car

* Food banks - weren’t they supposed to be a temporary stopgap measure?

* ‘I’m a Virgo, it’s either right or it’s wrong’

* Working extra jobs to make ends meet

* The state of the cycle path to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

* Where are the Lion Hotel’s former residents now?

* and hear a surprise, out-of-the-blue Random Act of Kindness happen, live in front of the microphone, on the street in Shrewsbury!

I’m really proud of this episode, I think you’ll be interested and perhaps moved by it, too. This is what I’ve always wanted Bench to sound like!

My next Bench will be in the Dingle, in Shrewsbury’s Quarry (Park). I’ll be there from 1pm on Monday May 6th - Bank Holiday Monday! Come along and say hello?

If you want to know more about the people involved or mentioned, I’ll put some relevant links a little lower down.

First, though, could I ask you do help me out a little? Please:

* Click on the heart symbol at the top of this email, or the heart+Like at the foot of the page. That tells the nice people at Substack that you’ve enjoyed it, and nudges their algorithm to recommend it to others. Also, I get a notification and it feels good!

* Share this newsletter, or a link to the audio, with your friends and family, your colleagues, members of your friendship groups, faith groups or communities of interest? Post it to Facebook groups or pages and share it on your WhatsApp chats? If you enjoy my work, there’s a high chance that you know other people who will, too. Like you, they’re probably empathetic, curious, intelligent, interested in people and the world around them, and may well have links to Shrewsbury or Shropshire. So spread the word? I’d be grateful.

* If you’ve not yet subscribed … subscribe! It’s totally free of charge, and it just means you get an email whenever I release something. As it were.

* Check out the links below, and the ones at the bottom of the page, and share them? Follow me on Twitter/X or Instagram?

This is the longest Hello You episode yet, and I promise that no future episode will be as long as this one. But so much happened, and I wanted to share it all with you.

OK, so those links I mentioned:

Heather’s A Little Furniture Shop

John Edwards, the Sign-Cleaning Guy

The Dull Men’s Club

Shrewsbury Food Bank Plus

Shrewsbury Food Hub

Belle Vue Arts Festival

Cherie Jerrard

DRAWN - this weekend!

I’ll have another episode of Hello You for you, this coming weekend.

Hope you’re having a good week, or if not, that it gets better. Take care of yourself, and take care of the people around you.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe