Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Hi everyone,

Well today was another busy day that began at 09:30 and did not stop until around 11:00 pm!  Our day started off meeting our guide for the day, Malcolm Cooper of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club who took us to the Livestock Market, where sheep and calves were being auctioned off.  We got up close and personal with the livestock and even left with a small piece of them on our shoes!

Concorde College

After the market we were taken to Concorde College, an International school, and taken on a tour of the grounds by Headmaster Neil Hawkins and 3 of the top students.  The school houses over 400 students whose main focus is in academia but also attempt to achieve helping the students grow into well rounded adults.  We had an amazing lunch at the school and then headed off to our next stop which was the town of Shrewsbury to meet the Mayor, Tony Durnell.

Mayor of Shrewsbury Tony Durnell

After speaking with the Mayor we headed off into the heart of Shrewsbury with the Town Crier, Martin Wood.  He gave us a tour of all the historical sites which consisted of the Market Square, Grope Lane, Butcher's Row, and some pretty interesting English trivia to go along with it, such as what a "ducking stool" was.   Any guesses?   It was used for nagging wives when their husband complained.  The wives were tied to stools and dunked into the river until they stopped shaking their heads or drowned.  I can imagine that there were some pretty unhappy households for a while after that, if they happened to live!

Town Crier in Shrewsbury Market Square

After our day in the town we did our first presentation for three clubs at the Lord Hill Hotel, which I personally think went very well.  It was a fun filled day that ended on a great note as our first presentation is now finally over!

Shaunna