Dogs, Babies and Handbag Thieves

If you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes. No, this isn’t Chicago, but Nantwich, Chesire. Usually it’s just overcast and rain, but yesterday, with the sun somehow gracing the sky, Janet and I decided to set out for the center of town to do some shopping. From our hosts’ home on Brereton Drive it is about a half mile walk to the store on High Street Janet wanted to visit, but just as we were stepping out the door we were advised to “take our brellys” as the sky was turning dark.

No less than 200 yards from the house a fierce wind picked up and the rain came! We thought it couldn’t be THAT bad and it would die down soon enough, so we kept going. My “brelly” bent in the hurricane force winds and by the time we reached the clothing store on High Street we were soaked.

Incredibly, people were going about town in this raging storm as if this was perfectly fine to do so; kids on scooters and bikes, people walking dogs, strolling along as if it was a warm sunny day. Our host, Colin, says it rains so much here in England that you can’t spend ALL your time indoors. Despite the howling wind and fierce rain everyone was walking leisurely around.

The clerks in the store looked at us incredulously; their calmness unnerving as we panted and shook excess water from our coats. “Oh, is it raining,” one asked, standing still at her post. We arched our eyes at her, thinking that perhaps we were certainly over reacting to the torrents. We smiled politely and went on with our shopping. I was hoping that we would be there long enough to dry off somewhat, but sadly, Janet’s purchase did not take that long and we had to leave.

Caffe Nero, Nantwich 

Thankfully a coffee shop was next door. Caffé Nero was large and airy with plenty of seating with a number of couches. Most of the place was filled and there were plenty of kids in strollers and dogs on leads. We got our coffees and a slice of chocolate cake to share and settled in our chairs to rest and allow our clothes to dry. All around us parents cooed over infant children and dogs lazed at their owner’s feet. The café was a nice respite from the rain, but we were not thrilled with the prospect of walking back in the downpour. Coffee shops usually have wifi and Janet tried to get on Caffé Nero’s to see if we could get a ride back to the house, but to no avail. So we lingered a bit longer than we should have just to wait out the storm. While there, in this pleasant little coffee shop on High Street in the sleepy little town of Nantwich, Chesire, where EVERYONE knows EVERYTHING about EVERYONE, we saw a sign that cautioned us against handbag thieves who have been known to work in the area. It didn’t seem plausible.

So, we steeled ourselves to scurry back home between the rain drops, but when we emerged from the café the rain had stopped and the sun was glowing brightly in the late afternoon sky.