Grope Lane

A view of Shrewsbury's narrowest (and possibly shortest) street; Grope Lane. The 'family friendly' version of how it got that name is that it is so narrow that on a dark night people had to grope their way along. The more factually intact version is down to the predominance of brothels here in mediaeval days, and the straightforward and direct attitude to naming places that people had back then. Milk Street, Fish Street and Butcher Row all give a fair idea of what you can expect to find there, and so does Grope Lane. These days it's home to a number of upmarket boutiques.

The other feature of note in today's blip is the blue sky - it's been really warm and sunny, and distinctly smelt like spring to me. There was a fairly long queue at the ice-cream van in the park (a blip contender) and plenty of people out with frisbees, balls, dogs, bicycles, shorts, and generally just outside with the unmistakable sense of the overenthusiastic British desire to pretend it is now summer on the first day after winter that can just about pass as warm and sunny.