Atherstone

I've been alive for more than four decades. In that time I've lived in Solihull, Birmingham, Leicester and now my wonderful small village in the middle of Leicestershire.

In all that time I've lived no more than thirty miles away from Atherstone - currently it's more like ten. But until earlier today I had never visited it. So this afternoon when I found myself in Polesworth, a small town near Tamworth I thought I would drive there, spend an hour and see if it warranted more. (I only had an hour as this idea occurred to me at 4pm and England closes at 5pm.)

Well I think I will have to return to see it in daylight. You see I like small town England and I like finding the details of the past still existing amongst the modern. And Atherstone seems as though it will give me plenty of chance to do this.

There's a rather pleasant old market place with cobbled streets all around and a church at the top end. There's a decent smattering of oldish buildings, two bookshops and a number of rather interesting looking pubs.

Now I'm not saying that it's a wonderful tourist place. But that's not what I'm looking for. I want somewhere I can spend a pleasant couple of hours, grab a nice lunch, buy a few books and general pass a relaxing Saturday. That it's only ten miles away is a wonderful bonus.