Continuing the bench motif …

You meet really interesting people on benches. In this case, I met Shrewsbury poet Lewis Wyn Davies.

This wasn’t an accidental or random meeting, though. A bench is pictured on the front cover of Lewis’s new collection of poems, State, in an illustration by Lewis’s creative and life partner Saffron Russell. You’ll hear why, and which particular bench that is, in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

‘I didn’t realise I was living in poverty’

Lewis talks about his work, his journey from sports journalism to poetry, what he came to realise when he moved from Telford to Shrewsbury, and much more.

Poets mentioned in our conversation:

* Kae Tempest

* Ada Limón

* Angela Readman

* Philip Larkin (cheer up, mate, etc etc …)

* Martin Moriarty, author of the poem that includes the line ‘Enough blue in the sky to make a sailor’s jacket’. Listen to find out why that’s significant

How to get into (a) State

Find Lewis Wyn Davies on Instagram, and buy his work from his Etsy store.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You …

… let me know in the comments?

… and why not share it with your friends?

Coming up …

In the next episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, Alison Utting tells the story of a remarkable woman from Shropshire’s past: a contemporary of Jane Austen, a diarist and instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade.

And coming soon: James shares his six years of hell in the grip of crystal meth addiction. It’s one hell of a cautionary tale, that leads from the West Midlands to Spain, Vietnam and Bangkok; from elegant apartments to terrifying gang and drug dens; from a regular life to losing everything, via a compulsive desire for risky ‘chemsex’ and the rush of ‘Tina’. And yes, this is happening in Shropshire.

To make sure you don’t miss any episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, subscribe by hitting the green button. It’s free … but if you’d like to support my work by taking out a paid subscription, I would be hugely, hugely grateful:

(At the moment, my number of subscribers is hovering around a particular number that ends in two zeroes. It keeps edging close to that figure, but clearly as new people sign up, a couple of others jump ship and it never quite tips over the line. Just for my peace of mind - because I’m the sort of person who feels unsettled if the TV or car radio volume is on an odd number - could you recruit a few new subscribers, so I can stop worrying about it? It’s not like I don’t have enough else to worry about, FFS …)

Powerful stories incoming

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had quite a few people getting in touch with stories they think should be told.

Stories about dubious behaviour by officialdom, about difficulties getting the help that’s needed, about certain high-profile organisations not being quite what they appear … and personal stories, like James’s.

I’m working as hard as I can to bring these stories to you. Some of them are going to take quite a bit of digging, legal advice, and I suspect finding people to tell the other sides of some stories could be a challenge. But over the next few weeks I’ll try to provide you with important stories that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.

In the meantime, if you have something you’d like to talk about on Hello You the Shropshire podcast, a story that needs to be told, and you’d like to add to my forward-planning files, you can contact me discreetly, securely and confidentially on the messaging app Signal, where my username is jimallthetime.69Whatever you feel strongly about, whatever you want more people to know or understand, I’m here to listen to you. It’s what I do. I’m empathetic and compassionate; you’re safe to be your authentic self with me.Signal: jimallthetime.69You might this helpful too: https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/04/how-to-leak-to-a-journalist/

If you’d rather, and the topic is less sensitive, you can suggest an idea for an episode, a bench I could sit on, a potential guest or a location I should visit by sending me a message:

This is labour-intensive work. You can help make sure I continue to provide intelligent, progressive conversation for Shropshire and wider world, telling stories, raising questions and holding people to account by taking out a paid subscription to Hello You the Shropshire podcast:

Thank you for being there

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

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The sounds of Ludlow’s Market Square, in vivid stereo!

Hear this picture!

Recently I went to Ludlow to record random conversations on a bench adjacent to the Market Square.

I was heading for a specific bench … but when I got there, it was occupied by a couple and their dog. So I had a twenty-minute wait before I was able to start talking to people as planned.

This was the perfect opportunity to record a soundscape. I’ve done a few of these on Hello You the Shropshire podcast before, I really like making them and some people have said they make enjoyable, interesting and relaxing listening.

To make soundscapes I simply go somewhere in Shropshire, set up my recorder and just record the sounds around me. Nothing more complicated than that. It’s audio verité, if you like.

Some Hello You listeners use the soundscape recordings for ASMR-type practices, or for meditation. Some are just curious about how different places sound. Some enjoying focusing on a particular sound or type of sound, and following it through the audio picture that’s created in their head.

Soundscapes are recorded in the widest stereo I can achieve with my minimal recording kit. (Actually, whenever I’m recording on location, I’m recording in stereo, to make the listening experience as lifelike as possible for you.) So to get the most from Hello You the Shropshire podcast, and especially the bench and soundscape episodes, put your earbuds in or slip your headphones on. Or maybe listen in the car?

I hope you enjoy this soundscape from Ludlow market. I didn’t plan on recording it, the opportunity just presented itself. Serendipity, and all that. Tell me what you think?

If you have a suggestion for somewhere I can go to record a soundscape, I’d love to hear about it. It might be somewhere busy, noisy, crowded, lively. It might be somewhere virtually silent, the sounds from which could be a badly-needed respite from the hubbub around us. It could be urban or rural, an open space or indoors … wherever you’d like to hear a soundscape from, send me a message and tell me about it.

If you enjoy this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, why not share it with a friend?

And I’d love it if you became a member of the Hello You family, by subscribing:

Thank you for being there

I very much appreciate your interest and support, it means the world to me that people love listening to what I so enjoy making.

There are more fascinating, surprising and unusual interviews coming your way in imminent episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast. You’ll hear the thoughts and stories of some very interesting and engaging people. Subscribe (below) so you don’t miss them!

Take care of yourself

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

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The 100th episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast!

Can you believe that? I can’t deny that I’m pretty damn proud to have made this milestone, especially considering I started Hello You eighteen months ago … by accident. Hey, these things happen. If you want to know how and why this all started, listen to the first episode? It’s quite short. And clearly I have no idea what I’m doing, I just feel I have to do it. I like stuff that’s made that way.

If you’re new here, by the way: Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve become a member of the Hello You family.

Should you need a little more info: It's about stuff. And things. Shropshire, and further afield. Mental health, music, journalism, media, faith and belief, radio, photography and everything else that resides in my head or heart, or yours. ‘The complexities of life’, as listener The Captain puts it. Intelligent, progressive, sometimes quirky conversation for and about Shropshire and her people is the elevator pitch. But always trying to make the world a better place, in whatever way I can.

Given that most newly-launched podcasts fizzle out before they’ve reached episode 12 (source: my mate who knows more about the podcast industry than most people) you might expect that my one hundredth episode would be a look back at the previous ninety-nine, or a celebratory round-table recorded in a bar with some of my favourite past guests … y’know, the usual media hoop-la.

But in episode 100, I don’t at any point mention that it’s episode 100. Mostly because as I was recording it, I didn’t realise it was going to be episode 100. I’m good at a lot of things, but synergistic cross-promotion is not one of them.

Back to Ludlow, to the right bench this time

Having asked people for suggestions of benches where I can sit and record random conversations with whomsoever shares the bench with me, a number of wise and well-informed individuals nominated a specific bench in Ludlow.

So, of course, I went to Ludlow and sat on the wrong bench. Quel toolbelt.

To make amends, I returned to Ludlow and spent a sunny lunchtime on the correct bench. Hear what happened in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

‘When you get old, people ignore you in the street’

Under discussion in this episode:

* ankles

* Felix the cat

* double denim

* life-threatening cow action

* The Lone Groover

* lucky earrings

* ‘five and twenty past …’

* dressing like a very minor Seventies rock star

* my mum’s hundred-and-first birthday

Be a good friend?

If you enjoy this episode of Hello You, you probably know someone else who’ll enjoy it too. Send them a present! Click here:

‘Wear what you want, don’t save things for best’

Do you have clothes you only wear occasionally, even though you really like them? What’s stopping you wearing them more often? Let me know, and this could become the theme of a future episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast. Click here:

Do you have something you’d like to talk about on Hello You?

Maybe a story that needs to be told …

You can contact me discreetly, securely and confidential on Signal. My username is jimallthetime.69

Whatever you feel strongly about, whatever you want more people to know or understand, I’m here to listen to you. It’s what I do. I’m empathetic and compassionate; you’re safe to be your authentic self with me.

Signal: jimallthetime.69

You might this article helpful, too.

I was about to post this info, saying I’d heard about departures from a high-profile local Shropshire organisation with mutterings about bullying … and then I heard from other people who’d left a different high-profile local organisation with stories of bullying! So I might be quite busy …

You can always send me a message just by clicking this button:

Help me get to episode 200 … or 2000?

There’s still a place, I believe, for public-service local journalism that cares about people.

For audio that brings you the voices of people you might not hear from otherwise. For interviews conducted with compassion and empathy. For thoughtful, positive, good-humoured conversations, informed local storytelling, and commentary that’s not afraid to get righteously angry on occasion.

Hello You the Shropshire podcast will be free for everyone, for ever. But if you’re able to, and if you appreciate what I do and would like to support it? why not take out a paid subscription? You’ll help to ensure it stays free, for everyone. And you’ll be helping me towards my ultimate goal, which you can hear about … towards the end of this episode!

Thank you for being there

Have the best weekend you possibly can, in whatever your circumstances happen to be.

Take care of yourself, take care of the people around you, and I hope they’re taking care of you, as well.

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Say hello to Cinnamon, the world’s best-known capybara

Cinnamon sparked worldwide interest last autumn when she did a runner from her enclosure at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World in Shropshire.

The story of her little holiday has been turned into a delightful picture book by Shrewsbury author Tracey J Morgan and much-loved illustrator Hercule Van Wolfwinkle, creator of the famous Rubbish Pet Portraits.

Tracey and Hercule took part in a reading of the book and a Q&A with fans at Hoo Zoo on Sunday, with the zoo’s co-owner Will Dorrell. You can hear how the book came to be, and more about the story of Hoo Zoo, in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

And I met Cinnamon herself! She’s on the left of this picture, giving me serious side-eye. Her brother Churro and their mum are on the right, avoiding attention!

Tea and Biscuits

Delightful at any time, but likely to be even more so on Saturday night!

Tea & Biscuits is the monthly variety show, hosted by drag queens Cruella de Phil and Amaranta del Toro at Shrewsbury’s The Hive creative venue. Expect an evening of songs, games, innuendo, Easter eggs and some guests, including me!

Tickets are a bargain £8 per head, and you can book yours on the Hive’s website.

One hundred episodes!

Somehow, this podcast which started by accident is on the brink of its one hundredth episode.

I’m amazed … and thrilled, to be honest. Thank you so much for your support, for listening, for sharing Hello You with friends and family, and just for being there.

Hello You 100 will be with you on Friday morning. To be honest, I hadn't realised it was going to be the hundredth episode, so I don’t actually mention it at any point. Oops.

It’s a return to Ludlow, to sit on the right bench this time. You’ll meet some very interesting people! Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it?

Take care of yourself

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

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Creating music for wellbeing

Rose and Gavin Lawson’s life journey has taken them from Leeds to mid-Wales, to France and Spain, leading to some years living on Ibiza.

They’re now back in mid-Wales, just across the Shropshire border, and they’re doing some very interesting things indeed.

‘Electronic music is a healing modality’

Did you get creative during lockdown? Lockdown - especially under Spain’s rigid rules - focused Rose and Gavin’s creativity even further. From that focus came the work they’re doing now. You can hear all about it in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

What just happened to my mind?

You see the Roxiva stroboscopic light in the picture above? That’s not just a fancy lamp. Linked to Gavin’s specially-created music, it can create a mind-altering experience.

I know. I had one. And you can hear what happened - recorded live - in this episode.

‘You don’t need psychedelics to have an alteration in consciousness’

Find out more about Rose and Gavin’s work at We Make Sense and Audyssey Ave respectively.

And enjoy the psychedelic sunshine!

Share the sunshine?

If you enjoy this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, with its confluence of music, creativity, art, sound, mental health and wellbeing, you’re bound to know someone else who’d dig it too. So, share it with them? Click this button:

Just hours left on the half-price subscription offer!

When I set up the half-price paid subscription offer on Hello You the Shropshire podcast, I set the end date as last Sunday … two days before most people got paid. Not clever. So, the offer now runs until this evening!Go to jimallthetime.substack.com/extendedoffer … before midnight tonight!

Thank you for being there

Have the best weekend you possibly can. I’ll send you the Hello You Sunday Supplement on Sunday (obv), and in one of next week’s episodes, you’ll hear what happened with I returned to Ludlow, to sit on the right bench this time!

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

‘We’re friends out together’

On Hello You the Shropshire podcast a few weeks back, I asked what you’d learned from a local Facebook group.

I received loads of really interesting answers, including one from Paul Kalinauckas about what he’d learned from his own Facebook group.

Intrigued, I met Paul to find out more. You can hear what happened on this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

Check out Paul’s Telford Coronation Walks Facebook group and the websites for the twenty-three Telford Coronation Walks and for the Telford T50 trail.

I have another couple of questions that I’d like your answers to. They’re a bit further down the page, but first:

On Friday’s episode of Hello You …

If these things are important in your life:

* creativity

* music

* mental health

* light

* art

* sound

* wellbeing

… and especially if you find joy or pleasure in the points where they intersect, you’re going to enjoy the episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast that I’ll publish on Friday morning.

It includes audio of me undergoing a mind-altering experience!

To make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe now!

Two more questions

Today’s Hello You sprang from a question I asked on an earlier episode. So, hopeful something similar could happen again, here are two more questions to which I’d love to know your answers:

* where do you find joy?

* how do we avoid despair?

Email me or hit the button below with your answer to either or both!

Two days left on the half-price subscription offer!

When I set up the half-price paid subscription offer on Hello You the Shropshire podcast, I set the end date as last Sunday … two days before most people got paid. Not clever. So, the offer now runs until Friday evening!Go to jimallthetime.substack.com/extendedoffer … before Friday!

Sharing = caring

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, you probably know someone else who’d enjoy it too. Please share it with them? And if you can encourage them to subscribe - free or paid! - so much the better!

Take care of yourself

Take care of the people around you, and I hope that they are taking care of you, too.

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Content/trigger warnings: rape, sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, suicide, self-harm

‘As soon as you open the door, you’re in danger’

At eighteen years old, Kate Elysia fell victim to Telford’s gang of sex abusers. But how? And what happened afterwards?

‘They were telling me it was my fault’

Kate’s now in her thirties. She’s back in Telford after many years away, working in mental health.

‘I feel that I have recovered and that I’m doing very well considering what I’ve been through. I just hope for that for everyone else.’

Kate tells her full story in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

‘I thought I’d be dead way before 30’

The debate about grooming gangs - group-based sexual offending - continues. Kate’s story can inform that debate. Some of her story changed my mind on part of the issue. How will you feel about it? Comment, and share this episode with others?

Sources of support

Kate’s given me these contact details for organisations who could help support you or someone you know whose life has been touched by the issues we’ve talked about:

Child and Adult Safeguarding in Telford If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or in an emergency call 999.You can now report CSE for anyone 19 years or under to Telford Family Connect:If you have concerns about the welfare of a child in Telford please contact Telford Family Connect

Email: [email protected], mobile: 07537 453177 (text back service), phone: 01952 385385

Telford Counselling and Support Services for Sexual Abuse

Axis Counselling and ISVA Service Supporting Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Phone: 01743 357777 (for Shropshire), 01952 278000 (for Telford & Wrekin), email: [email protected]

The Holly Project is a free, independent support service for the survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and their families, run by CSE Survivors

Phone: 01952 947 831, email: [email protected] or on Facebook

Mental Health Support in Telford and elsewhere:

In an Emergency call 999Urgent Advice for Mental Health: NHS 111 opt 2 Non Urgent: You can ask your GP service what support they have for mental health or make an appointmentFree NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Talking Therapy Service (STWTT)You can self refer on their website, by phone 0300 123 6020 or email: [email protected]

Telford Mind: offers counselling, listening support service and morePhone: (07434) 869248, email: [email protected]

TACT (Telford After Care Team) offer support with mental health, drop in counselling and activities service, support for people with substance misuse

Support as a victim of Exploitation / Modern Slavery

As a victim, or survivor, of sexual exploitation, no matter how long it has been since it happened to you, you may still may be entitled to some form of mental health support, financial subsistence, compensation or other entitlements through the ‘National Referral Mechanism’ (NRM). The NRM requires you to share some evidence of your exploitation. The NRM can be beneficial where you receive a positive decision, but there may be some cases where a negative decision affects immigration or criminal justice proceedings. It is important to get advice on the NRM and check if the process is right for you.

The following modern slavery charities can support you at various stages of the NRM, and some may be able to talk through options with you:

Salvation Army runs a confidential helpline for potential victim-survivors open 24/7 (0800 808 3733), and offers modern slavery support which can include legal advice, healthcare, educational opportunities, financial help and employment/training support

Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit offers legal advice for non-recent and recent survivors of exploitation where a case can be opened under legal aid

Hope for Justice offers specialist advice, advocacy and signposting on modern slavery survivor care for survivors and professionals

Modern slavery and exploitation helpline: The charity Unseen runs a 24/7 helpline offering information, advice, and guidance on modern slavery and exploitation. Phone: 08000 121 700

If you suspect a child is being sexually abused or exploited, you can access advice through the NSPCC’s voice helpline (0808 800 5000)

If you are 17 years old or younger and you suspect you are being abused, contact Childline. Call them for free (0800 1111), email them, or send a web form for advice. They also provide a webchat for one-to-one counselling online

Victim Support offers practical and emotional support for victims of crime online and via 24/7 supportline (08 08 16 89 111), and can provide support in court proceedings for survivors in need of a Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA)

Rape Crisis England & Wales runs a 24/7 support line (0808 500 2222) and provides longer-term support for women who have experienced sexual violence (including child sexual exploitation and abuse)

Survivors UK supports male and non-binary victims of sexual violence through practical and emotional support, and runs a helpline (020 3322 1860) open 12-8pm, for both adults and young people

Half-price subscription offer … update!

You can now take out a paid subscription to Hello You the Shropshire podcast for half price, as long as you do so before Friday, April 4th!

Click here click here click here and if you want to share this with your friends and family, there’s a new easy-to-remember URL: just send people to https://jimallthetime.substack.com/extendedoffer

Thank you for being a member of the Hello You family

It means a lot that you’re there, supporting my work. If you like Hello You, share it with your friends and family?

Take care of yourself

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

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Gary Nolan: singer, songwriter, squash player, teacher and now … children’s author, too

JUMP and JUMP2 are available to purchase online in paperback and ebook format. Both books are free if you have a Kindle Unlimited account, or you can download them for 99p and £2.99, respectively. The paperbacks retail at £12.99 each.

Find out more at the website!

Friday’s episode

Kate Elysia is a survivor of Telford’s notorious grooming gang.

On the next episode of Hello You the Shropshire Podcast, Kate tells her story, in full, in her own words. She also shares her thoughts on the ongoing grooming-gangs debate.

It’s not an easy listen, as you can imagine. (I’ll put content warnings around it.) I could paywall this episode, but it’s important you hear the authentic voice of one of the people at the centre of one of the biggest scandals, controversies and news stories of the last twenty years, so it’ll remain free to listen to and to share.

To make sure you don’t miss this important interview, subscribe now and you’ll get an email from me as soon as it’s published.

Talking of subscriptions …

I did a stoopy

Currently, you’re able to take out a paid subscription to Hello You the Shropshire podcast for half price!

But when I set up this offer, I made a colossal, stupid mistake.

I set the end date as Sunday, March 30th. What’s wrong with this picture? Well, March 30th is two days before most people get paid. So it’s the point in the month when they have the least disposable income. Durrr.

Hence, I’ve tweaked it.

You can now take out a paid subscription to Hello You the Shropshire podcast for half price, as long as you do so before Friday, April 4th!

Click here click here click here and if you want to share this with your friends and family, there’s a new easy-to-remember URL: just send people to https://jimallthetime.substack.com/extendedoffer

Thank you for being there

Feel free to leave a comment …

… or message the hell outta me …

… and share this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast with others?

Take care of yourself …

… and I’ll send you the next episode on Friday morning!

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

‘Who’s looking at the bigger picture?’

In recent years there’s been much discussion about what makes Shrewsbury a good place to live … and what could make it better.

Lisa Richards has a fine eye for the details that make towns and cities attractive, comfortable and exciting. She’s an urban designer, a placemaker, working to make places thrive, not just survive.

Lisa is also (like me) a long-time Shrewsbury resident. In the week that the Shrewsbury Moves festival takes place, I wanted to hear her thoughts on the county town.

‘We have to look after our streets and spaces’

The conversation takes us to the Square and the Quarry, to Bear Steps and Old St Chad’s, to the suburbs of Shrewsbury and to the Riverside development. It covers places unchanged for hundreds of years, and others that are being created right now.

We talk about shops, leisure, people who work in the river loop, flooding, transport, accessibility, getting from the Smithfield Road level to the level of Pride Hill, and more, in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

'It’s not just about individuals. It’s about how we come together and share that benefit’

Wherever you live, the principles that Lisa talks about will apply. Tell me what you think of Lisa’s ideas? What works and what doesn’t in Shrewsbury, or in your town or city?

Share this benefit?

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, why not share it with someone else? There’s someone in your friend group or your family WhatsApp chat who’d find Hello You interesting, so get their weekend off to a good start:

Subscribe to Hello You for less! In fact … much less!

If you appreciate my work and you’d like to make sure I can carry on producing it, there’s one huge thing you can do to help - and now it’s a bargain price.

You can now take out a paid subscription to Hello You the Shropshire podcast for a massive 50% less than the usual rate!

That means monthly subscriptions are just £5 per month. Annual subscriptions have been slashed in half too, and Founding subscriptions are now pay-what-you-wish.

Just one thing: This offer is only active until Sunday, March 30th!

So be quick and click here click here click here!

Coming soon …

You’ll hear the voice of someone you’re very unlikely to have heard before, sharing first-hand experiences that have been much discussed, argued about and pronounced upon by others.

It’s part of a story that’s brought national attention to our part of the world, some of it welcome, some of it less so.

And it’s someone who has been through some terrible things, from which they are still recovering. They chose to tell me their story because they want you to know what happened.

It’s quite a lengthy interview, but it needs to be. It’s a hard listen, with some heavy stuff included. It may make you angry, it may break your heart, it may change your mind … as it did mine.

It’ll be one of the two episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast next week. It’s likely to generate quite a lot of discussion.

To make sure you don’t miss it, click this button:

Thank you …

… for being there. It means a hell of a lot; I’m hugely grateful to you for being a member of the Hello You family. Subscribe (for free, payment is entirely optional!) and pull up a chair to the Hello You virtual kitchen table. You’ll find a whole community of lovely, thoughtful people from all over the world who enjoy intelligent, progressive discussion and hearing new voices. People just like you!

Take care of yourself …

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

Have the best weekend you possibly can. I’ll see you with the Hello You Sunday Supplement on Sunday morning!

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This episode’s quite soundscapey, so if you can, please listen to it in stereo? Earbuds in, headphones on, play it in the car or stream at home if you have an actual hifi that can do it?

Also, unlike most ‘bench’ episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, it has a preamble at the front and a postamble on the end. This is because there’s some stuff that needs explaining. Stuff that is, tbh, my fault. But there’s also a challenge for you, and I say when I’ll be back on a bench - the right one, ffs - in Ludlow.

‘The wedding itself was lovely. The reception turned into a nightmare …’

Roy and Tree were visiting Ludlow on their fifty-eighth wedding anniversary! So it was fifty-eight years since … well, listen to this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast and find out!

'My mum won 25 grand on a scratchcard. She bought a front door, and a sewing machine’

These two were such a delight. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their day in Ludlow.

This is Alex

I need to talk to Alex some more. Listen and you’ll find out why. So if you know former teacher Alex, can you tell her and the Reverend Mike (retired vicar) that I’ll be back recording in Ludlow on Wednesday April 2nd? This time I’ll be on the right bench, the one people suggested, outside the coffee shop and the opticians in Quality Square. Again, I’ll be there from about 12pm. See you there too?

And can you post this information in any Ludlow-related Facebook groups? Because I want to know …

… what have you learned from local Facebook groups?

I explain why I’m asking in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast. It might be something about the history of where you live, a tip for a tremendous local shop, something about what happens in your area … wherever you are, in Shropshire, in the UK or somewhere else around the world!

Send me a message and tell me what you’ve learned from a local Facebook group, and I’ll try to make that the framework for a future episode of Hello You.

Loafing in Ludlow

From Ludlow to Shrewsbury

On Friday morning I’ll publish Hello You 94, which is an interview with Lisa Richards. You might’ve seen her on TV … but it’s not about that. Lisa is an urban designer. She knows about what makes a place a good place. And as we both live in Shrewsbury, we talk about what works in Shrewsbury and what could maybe be improved. We talk about shops and stairs, access and attitudes, pavements and pedestrianisation, buses and bridges and benches and much more. I think you’ll find it fascinating.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to Hello You the Shropshire podcast to make sure every podcast episode - and more - lands in your inbox as soon as it’s published.

And if you’re quick, you can take advantage of the time-limited half-price offer on paid subscriptions to show your appreciation and help make sure the wolf stays away from the door of the Hello You World Headquarters.

Talking of which …

… blow that harp, boy …

Thank you for being there

Take care of yourself. Take care of the people around you. And if the people around you aren’t taking good care of you, they’ll have me to answer to!

Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.