Wheelchair training

Did the obligatory back care and 'wheelchair skills' training at the hospital today. It was good. There's more to pushing someone satisfactorily in a wheelchair than you might imagine, and it's amazing how fast ordinary walking pace seems from the passenger point of view. Anyhow, now I'll be able to wheel patients around if required. West Suffolk Hospital has about 300 volunteers doing different stuff from gardening to hand holding to neck massage to taking the lunch orders. Co-trainees in the wheelchair class were mostly retired but included four Young People - three considering careers in the NHS and one deciding what to do next after graduation.

Buddhism in Bury St Edmunds

Salut tout le monde! Back from lovely holiday in France - Chateau-land near Tours in the Loire Valley. No more hols now till next year.

Returned to the Monday night meeting of the Bury Buddhism group, in the Quaker meeting hall, St John's Street. This is an FWBO group, although there are other flavours available in Bury on occasion. The group has just commenced its Autumn programme exploring 'Aspects of Freedom'. Bury seems to be well placed for Buddhists, with a retreat centre down the road in Walsham-le-Willows and other centres in Cambridge, Ipswich, Colchester and Norwich.

Abbey News

The newsagent at the bottom of Abbeygate Street will no longer open on Sundays, because of competition from Smiths etc. Pah! But there is a new shop to report: the Hatter Street Picture House is where the sewing machine shop was. It sells framed pictures and arty greetings cards. BFP article here.

Chanced upon some more vintage cars in town this morning. The Suffolk Car Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a run and picnic lunch. A hundred years ago members' cars were photographed in front of the Angel Hotel, and they tried to replicate this today, causing a fair amount of good natured chaos on the car park that is Angel Hill.

Didn't have the camera with me, sadly, but saw (all pre-war) cars made by Rolls Royce, Vauxhall, Rover, Morris, Alvis (my favourite, this was lovely), Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Sunbeam, Austin, Amilcar.