The Circle, Tredegar

“I am a spy in the house of me. I report back from the front lines of the battle that is me. I am somewhat nonplussed by the event that is my life.”
Carrie Fisher
Slow start this damp and cloudy day, heading off to Tredegar for the Blaenau Gwent Heritage Forum talk. Cousin C was an enthusiastic member in his lifetime, and I usually enjoy the talks so didn’t need much persuading to go. Todays topic is Operation Mincemeat, the spy story of how a Welshman changed the course of WWII. Fascinating stuff and a great story, just like being back in primary school and listening to the teacher reading from an adventure book. Took a short walk to the Circle afterwards to get my photo for today. For some reason what took my eye was the inscription on the base of the clock, “Wellington England’s Hero”. I’ve seen it many times but for some reason it was more prominent today. The clock is as familiar a landmark to me as Big Ben and Parliament, and I was surprised to read that there were once steps around the base, replaced with planting when the steps became “a gathering place for prostitutes” according to historypoints.org. Not so today, although I did get a smile and a wave from a passing builder as I stood there eating my chips. A very quiet place today, with many of the shops and cafes closed, some perhaps for good. Wetherspoons, once the local cinema – the Olympia – and haunt of my cousins and the gang who came over from Rhymney, still pulls in the punters. On the return journey I caught a few minutes of Radio 4’s Inside Science, where they were talking about human perception of … just about everything. There was a census being undertaken, a survey designed to explore how we perceive life, must try it when I get home!