Pagan and Vixen, and a man called Shane

7th October, Bath YHA

My breakfast at Alabare house was yet again lovely. My last lovely brekky for a little while...

I left early to go to Bath on the train - I love trains...

(The city was first established as a spa resort with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans in AD 43 although verbal tradition suggests that Bath was known before then.^[3] They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs, which are the only ones naturally occurring in the United Kingdom.^[4] Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973.^[5] Much later, it became popular as a spa resort during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone)

I arrived at the hostel too early to check in yet, so I stashed my bags in the hostel, and walked back down to the city center. There is money here. Lots of money. But when there is that much money, there is also the opposite - poverty. There is such a high number of homeless people walking the alleys and streets of Bath it is saddening to think.

My walk around Bath introduced me to one, his name was Shane, and he had two dogs (actually he has 5, but he only had two with him when I met him...). Vixen, a stubborn welsh collie, and Pagan, a bitza. Shane also played the tin whistle. Very quietly, but it's what caught my attention. The soft tune of a tin whistle.



I chatted with him briefly, and kept walking, but eventually found myself back near his coop. He was still playing the tin whistle, so I asked if I could sit with him. What came after, was two or so hours of talking, of listening, of being prayed over by born again Christians, and by feeding the dogs my sub that a stranger bought for me.... I'm not eating food from a stranger.. Especially not when he has just insinuated that not only are Shane and I an item because we are sitting together talking, but I am homeless because I am sitting with him!!! Me, homeless! I was surprised by that one!

But the two hours or so of talking was quite eye opening. There are homeless people who are homeless from drugs or alcohol abuse, from neglect, or just because of the system. Shane is the third type. But he is slowly making his way through life with his dogs, and watching the world slowly change. A day at a time.

After our long chat, and more petting of dogs in a long time, I headed to the baths. Honestly... they were very commercialised. I did enjoy walking around, they are very beautiful, but it's sad how commercial they have become. That and the fact that I wasn't allowed to take my tripod inside, effectively eliminating any chance of replicating the 'postcard' photos you see of the baths... gah!

Another thing I found on my walk around Bath, in the Victoria Art Gallery - Shaped By War, an exhibition of Don McCullin's work from the wars and sights he has covered over the years!! Wow. I studied McCullin at university! Seeing some of his work enlarged to that size, just amazing. There is a talk tomorrow night given by the curator of the exhibition about war and the media in the 20th century. I have a ticket!