I made it - just. The lovely lady who appears to reside in my Jaguar's Sat Nav system decided, that seeing as I've never been to Shrewsbury, I should see it. Unfortunately it was at around 4:30pm that I erroneously started driving through the miriad of traffic lights and one way streets which IS Shrewsbury.
Luckily I got here for 4:55pm JUST. Dropped my things off in my rather cosy, single room with en-suite shower and toilet. It's not that I'm anti-social of course. it's just that my ageing body has too many miles on the clock and I have a tendency to make funny noises when I sleep. Seriously - single berth accommodation is really for the benefit of the others.
The folks on the course seem a lovely bunch. I appear to be around the middle of the age demographic at 38. The short talk on flower parts and identification and Robin's slideshow were enjoyable. As were the copious amounts of cheese and biscuits and numerous beers afterwards. The chicken dinner followed by trifle was lovely too!
There appear to be around twenty of us or so on this school - I haven't counted properly yet. I've tried to identify other members of this tutor group but so far I haven't seen anyone I know. I met a girl from Bristol, a girl from Latvia and spent several hours talking about diving, politics, religion, education, the NHS and more with an as yet unnamed Scot and a 43 year old guy who appears keen for a Brexit 'YES' vote.... Still, I enjoyed both of their company very much and look forward to seeing them tomorrow. I know more about diving than I ever knew and I'm even more keen to dive than I was previous to this!
If anyone IS in my tutor group, please identify yourself to me! I'm the slightly haggard looking, perma-tired, heroically bald and painfully shy guy that seems to have something of a drink problem. The best time to speak to me is between two and three pints when my social awkwardness is somewhat faded, but I'm still coherent and able to communicate without launching into mildly offensive rants about one thing or another...
Looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow!
Martyn
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Preston Montford Residential School Diary April 2016
RandomDuring early Spring 2016, I attended a Field School as part of the Open University module S295 - The Biology of Survival. I kept a diary of the few days I was there, and shared it with fellow students. Those who hadn't attended particularly enjoyed...
