Hello You 85: Paths, Power Cuts, Pantomimes

Hello You with Jim Hawkins

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Hello You 85: Paths, Power Cuts, Pantomimes

... and a Place of Welcome, all alongside the River Severn in Buildwas

Jim Hawkins

Feb 07, 2025

Transcript

Shropshire is a welcoming place … and it’s also home to hundreds of Places of Welcome.

Places of Welcome is a national network of more than six hundred local spaces. Each offers an unconditional welcome to local people to meet for few hours each week. They’re places where everyone can go for a friendly face, a cup of tea and a conversation if and when they need it. Places where all people can feel safe to connect, belong and get involved. The network is growing too. There are now more two hundred Places of Welcome in Shropshire.

I visited a Place of Welcome last year in Hello You 28: Margaret’s Monocle and other stories from Harlescott and Sundorne, Shrewsbury. Ever since, I’ve wanted to drop in on other places in the network, and when I heard the story about why Buildwas’ Place of Welcome had been forced to relocate, I decided to take myself off there. Hear some of what happened in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast!

Among the things we talk about:

a sandy beach called Sandy Beach
waymarking the historic old paths
places to meet in villages
meet the Madame Cholet of Buildwas
how does a village make three thousand new people feel welcome?

If you’d like to find your nearest Place of Welcome, go to this website and scroll down until you find the map. Search for your town or village, or just zoom in! Meantime, here’s a list of some of the Places in Shropshire:

I hope you enjoy this episode of Hello You. Why not share it with your friends, family and colleagues?

Soon, I’ll return to sitting on benches in Shropshire, recording random conversations with whomsoever sits alongside me, and sharing those conversations with you here on Hello You, the Shropshire podcast. But where should I go?

If you can think of a bench in a public location in Shropshire where people might stop and have a chat with me, let me know where that bench is?

It might be a bench on a street, in a park, at an event or a special attraction. It might not even be a bench, just a spot or a monument or somewhere people gather. Tell me about it, and I’ll go along to record whoever’s there. All suggestions welcome!

Thank you for being there

I’m so glad you’re a member of the Hello You family. Why not subscribe to Hello You the Shropshire podcast, to make sure you never miss anything from Hello You World Headquarters?

And if you enjoy Hello You, I’m damn sure you know at least one other person who’d enjoy it, too. Be a good friend, and share it with them?

Share Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins

Have the best weekend you possibly can

And watch out for the Hello You Sunday Supplement!

Available for iOS and Android

Discussion about this episode

Hello You with Jim Hawkins

I’m trying to give you something a little different. Hello You is about stuff, and things. People, and stories. Shrewsbury, and Shropshire. Mental health and well-being. History and heritage. Arts, culture and music. Faith, belief and the complexities of life.

I’m a good listener. It’s what I do. And for Hello You, I’m listening to (and talking with) fascinating people, mostly but not always from Shropshire, so that you can hear what they have to say.

It's public-service local journalism that cares about people. Audio that brings you the voices of people you might not hear from otherwise. Interviews conducted with compassion and empathy. Thoughtful, positive, good-humoured conversations, informed local storytelling, and commentary that’s not afraid to get righteously angry on occasion.

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