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Name: Morris Telford
Age: 33
DOB: 18/04/70
Occupation:Unemployed
Hobbies: Enlightenment, Philosophy, Bingo
Favourite
book – Ordnance Survey Map of Shropshire 1999 edition
Favourite
foods – Pickled Eggs
Favourite
film – Late For Dinner
Favourite colour – The delicate cyan of the dinnertime sky in
Moreton Say.
Favourite British County – Shropshire
Favourite Place – Moreton Say
Favourite Postal Code Area – TF9
Favourite radio
frequency - 96FM
Favourite sound – The gentle breeze rustling through the leafy
glades of Moreton Say
Favourite Clive – Clive of India
Favourite
band – *(shameless plug)
Biggest
inspiration –
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Is
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- and see what other people
are saying about him.
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Finally,
Ayers Rock stands before me. It rises majestically from the outback
like a cake. A giant, brown, mystical rock cake with clouds for icing,
tourists and kangaroos scattered around it for hundreds and thousands,
and Australia for a serving plate. I canÂ’t see anything big enough
to suffice as a knife, though you could separate the roofs of Sydney
Opera house and use them as makeshift spoons.
Last
night we were encouraged to sleep in the open to allow the rock
to speak to us in our dreams. I also ate some cheese just before
bedtime to enhance the effect and soon after I dreamt about walking
down the streets of my beloved Moreton Say. It was so vivid I could
smell the spring blossoms, hear the lilting birdsong and taste the
Twix I had bought at Mr Pollocks
corner shop. It was truly magical and when I awoke my resolve to
spread the Moreton Say message was diamond hard.
Cherry,
Brittany, Kylie, Chelsea and Amy told me they all dreamed of walking
through the most beautiful place they had ever seen. It was full
of colour and joy, populated by people both generous and happy,
where the animals and birds were tame and content, the water was
crystal clear and tasted of liquid laughter, and the air itself
sang with music that made them weep with fulfilment. So essentially
the same dream as mine, but without the Twix.
They
took a little bit of convincing that there dream was also about
Moreton Say, but after I talked to them for a several hours in the
extreme heat they all agreed that it must have been Shropshire they
saw in their dream.
Chelsea
promised to have a map of Shropshire tattooed over her Rolf Harris
and all five girls made a solemn vow there and then to tell others
of their awakening to the wonder that is Shropshire. They each had
tears in their eyes as they left me just now to follow their own destinies
as the sun set over the big cake of Ayers Rock. They wanted to stay
with me, become my followers but I had to explain that the path I
have chosen is one I must walk alone. Mostly.
The unforgiving Australian sun has finally had itÂ’s evil way
with my Bingo markers. Despite keeping them cool in a thermos, they
are melted beyond all recognition. ItÂ’s probably for the best,
I know I should not put such value on material possessions. Anyway,
when I reach Perth, home of AustraliaÂ’s biggest bingo hall, IÂ’m
sure I can replace them.
Despite
specific advice to the contrary, I am trusting my instincts and
trying to hitchhike my way to Perth. ItÂ’s been a few days since
I had any major life-threatening experiences so now the girls have
left I thought IÂ’d strike out on my own again for a while and
enjoy the full-on Australian outback experience.
I called
home and spoke to Mother but the line was terrible. She asked where
I was and when she heard me say "Outback" there was a thump
and the line went quiet. A few minutes later Aunt Felicity came on
the line and explained that Mother was in our back garden looking
for me, screaming my name at the herbaceous borders, I left her to
explain to Mother all about Australia.
Walking in Oz is slow progress, I can still see Ayers Rock behind
me. ItÂ’s hot, really hot. The sun feels like it is slapping the
back of my head every few seconds, I now know what people mean when
they say the sun is beating down on them. Yet again my Ordinance Survey
map of Shropshire is proving invaluable, it acts as an excellent sunshield.
I met
a camera crew today, they were filming a news item about the dangers
of the inhospitable outback, so I think I rather spoiled things
for them when I walked up with a map tied to my head.
I offered
my help to them. I have had some limited experience of television
production, IÂ’m an avid watcher of Countdown and often read
the credits at the end of the programme. I was once nearly a contestant
on Fifteen-To-One, my general knowledge is excellent but only if
the question is Shropshire related, so I didnÂ’t ring the application
hotline. I explained this to the people filming and told them all
about Moreton Say and the delights therein. They seemed mildly interested
and filmed a short piece about me, I hope it gets broadcast, I did
notice that the presenter started his item about me with "and
finally". They were also kind enough to offer me a ride, but
itÂ’s such a lovely sunny day it seemed a shame not to walk.
IÂ’m
setting up my little tent now. A very large spider just walked past,
it was like a big hairy melon with eight legs and an attitude, I hid
behind a rock until it was gone. Unfortunately the rock I hid behind
seemed to be the home of a large snake that I inadvertently stood
on. I apologised to the snake but it tried to bite me nonetheless.
Fortunately my Ordinance Survey map of Shropshire acted as a protective
shield and I was able to escape injury. Looking at the map later,
the snake had left two small but visible holes with itÂ’s fangs
on either side of Oswestry. It made me wonder if the snake had some
deep-seated reptilian longing for Shropshire too and wasnÂ’t actually
attacking me, but just marking a place on the map it fancied visiting,
if indeed all creatures long to live there but like so many humans
are denied by the cruel geographical lottery of birth.
IÂ’m having a little difficulty keeping going in this heat. I
thought that without the extra burden of looking after John, Paul,
George, Ringo and Jon Bon Jovi I would be managing fine, I may have
been overly optimistic. Since my quest is to tell as many as possible
about Shropshire and help solve problems and right wrongs, it has
occurred to me that an uninhabitable desert is not the very best place
to meet people and fulfil these goals.
Shockingly,
I just came across some bleached human bones on a rock outcropping.
The poor soul had been picked clean by whatever picks things clean
in Australia. All that remains are the bleached bones, the ragged
remains of a bag and a self-help book "How to Survive the Australian
Outback". ItÂ’s not a terribly good advertisement for the
book. I once read "How To Make Friends and Influence People",
it didnÂ’t mention Shropshire once.
Civilisation
at last! IÂ’ve reached a small outback town. I say town, it has
four sheds, a bar, a petrol station and an outside lavatory. IÂ’m
going for a drink of water at the bar.
I stayed at the bar last night. ItÂ’s called "The Filthy
Mug" and is owned and run by a lovely old lady called Margaret
with the most prominent ears I have ever seen. Margaret looks like
Yoda, only taller and less green. When she walks through a door she
has to turn slightly or her ears brush against the doorframe. Oddly,
her hearing is terrible.
The
four sheds I saw yesterday, corrugated iron lean-tos, are actually
houses. IÂ’ve only met one of the occupants so far, he lives
in the shed nearest the Filthy Mug and his name, as far as I can
gather, is Meat. He has hair down to his ankles, wide staring eyes
and seems to be wearing a loincloth. He seems very nice.
ItÂ’s
difficult getting much sense out of Margaret; she doesnÂ’t seem
to know where Meat comes from or what his real name is. He just
comes into the bar every night and sits on the floor saying "Meat,
meat, meat" until Margaret throws him a burger. I saw him do
this last night, he eats the burger and then goes back to his shed.
ItÂ’s not much of a life but he seems quite happy. I asked Meat
if he wanted to come with me, but all he did was keep saying "Meat"
again and again. So I gave him my spare shirt and a postcard with
a picture of Market Drayton to enhance his lifestyle and give him
a little taste of Shropshire. Maybe he will look at the postcard
long enough to develop a healthy yearning for Shropshire and one
day try to improve himself and travel there.
Margaret
is letting me stay at the Filthy Mug again tonight, then its back
on the road.
IÂ’ve decided Perth is much too far away to walk. My feet hurt
and I long for the simple pleasures, a soft bed, a nice cup of tea
and a game of Bingo. I can see something on the horizon to the north;
a flat topped mountain or something so IÂ’m heading for that.
Still
very hot.
IÂ’m
getting nearer the mountain, the nearer I get the more it looks like
Ayers Rock, I didnÂ’t realise there was more than one of them.
I reached the mountain, I found out why it looks so much like Ayers
Rock. It is Ayers Rock. I must have been walking in a big circle,
itÂ’s very difficult to find your way round the Australian outback,
it all looks the same. In Moreton Say I never got lost. In Moreton
Say you are never far from a familiar landmark, you can trace your
journey on an Ordinance Survey map and there are no snakes, spiders
or kangaroos, the most dangerous animal you might meet is Farmer HenshawÂ’s
dog, Walnut.
ThereÂ’s
a very interesting reason behind why the dog was called Walnut,
but I canÂ’t for the life of me remember what it is.
IÂ’m
getting a bus back to Alice Springs and from there IÂ’m going
to fly to Perth. I see no reason why I canÂ’t combine my mission
of justice with a little recreation, so IÂ’m going to find "Biggest
Bingo" and see how AustraliaÂ’s premier Bingo Hall compares
with Sunday night at Market Drayton.
IÂ’m
stopping at "Byte Me", the Internet Café to check
the message board. Thankyou to everyone for the messages of support
they have left. Knowing that my simple words are educating people
all over the world about the wonders Shropshire has to offer are a
great motivation for me.
I notice that Australia is compared to Telford Town Park by John Rowe.
Obviously there is no real comparison, that 180 hectares of wildlands
in the heart of Telford make the Australian outback look like a childÂ’s
sandpit. For those of you who have not sampled the dark delights of
Telford Town Park, itÂ’s a place of whispers and frenzy, shady
woodlands and ancient secrets. By day little children play on the
Giant Spider's Web, the Rocket Slide, the Wooden Adventure Area or
pedal a boat across Southwater Lake. By night the old men gather on
the bandstand and tell tales of the sundial made from human collarbones
and the network of tunnels that lay underneath the park and date back
to a time before human speech.
Thankyou
to Catherine for remembering my birthday, with each passing year
I grow to love and appreciate Shropshire that little bit more.
Kazakhstan,
Iraq and Singapore are all suggested as my next destination. IÂ’m
not sure where my path leads after Oz. I go where the winds of fate
take me, wherever the desperate cry of the needy can be heard, wherever
persecution casts itÂ’s shadow, wherever people are ignorant of
Shropshire and all it has to offer, and wherever you can play an honest
game of Bingo in hygienic surroundings.
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