Alien 2

Allium christophii catching the eye again .... or is it looking at me?


Sad news from Wales today.  One of the great characters of the railway has left us for a better place.  Adrian, the subject of one of my first Talyllyn blips, landed with us after a life of adventure worthy of a Hollywood movie.  After national service he washed up camping on a beach in North Africa.  In Morocco he met an American woman looking for a driver to take her on tour.  He drove, they became friends and when she came to leave for home, she took him with her.  In the States he took a degree .... in clowning.   Oh yes, there is such a thing!  Together he and his lady friend who became his wife, toured the states performing as clowns.   Many years on when she became ill, he nursed her.  When she died he came back to the UK, finding Tywyn and the Talyllyn which seemed to be what he was looking for.  For the last twenty years or so he's been a regular fixture as a Station Master and at special events as an entertainer.  A whole generation of children know him as the balloon man, making balloon hats, fish, dogs and swords.  Always a smile and a friendly word or a cheeky joke.  Today, a tear but what a life.  One to celebrate.