Seems Like Only Yesterday...

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Done a lot of walking today, courtesy of my motor being in dock for repairs necessary to pass its MOT. I literally flâneur-ed my way around Bangor for three hours, stopping for coffee at Kyffin - my customary double-espresso - and a read of the newspaper; calling in at Greggs for a sausage roll, and buying a book on Charles Babbage from Pete the Hat, who sadly has recently lost his brother. A decent few kilometres covered in pursuit of absolutely nowt in particular: good physical exercise and a fair amount of introspection to boot. Loads of new University students milling around: doesn't seem five minutes to me since I was a fresher here myself - albeit a mature-student MA fresher - forty-four years ago. Bangor has changed so much in the interim, and mostly not to its benefit; but there are glimpses of hope that there are positive moves to revive the High Street, with a good number of property refurbishments ongoing and small businesses taking up residence again. We just need someone to take on all the closed pubs, though: they are after all the real community hubs, alongside the Post Offices and Libraries. Here's to the revival: there's always hope, despite the prevailing cynical norm...

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