From my diary

Some much-needed and long-delayed holiday time with my girlfriend this week! I had booked two rooms in the Holiday Inn Express in Shrewsbury, England, mainly because it had air-conditioning. As is often the case with this chain, the air-conditioning proved to be excellent in the rooms, and it nicely tempered the searing heat. I was truly grateful that I had not booked a cottage! From the car park at the front of the hotel, the view was dominated by the mass of the Wrekin hill, which loomed over the landscape. The mornings were spent in visits to friends who had moved to the area – house-prices are relatively low – and the afternoons were spent flat on our beds, recovering. I had noted that the Roman city of Wroxeter, ancient Viriconium, was about 5 miles away from the hotel, down a lane, and to it I duly went one afternoon. The massive wall of the bath-house is the dominating feature of the site. The opening in the middle originally featured a pair of massive doors, which led into the…