Protests, aborted landings, and a last Greggs breakfast - The Big Shrewsbury Editing Trip - Part 8

Day 8 - Saturday 11th April 2026

This was a day of travel, but I still had a few hours in Shrewsbury before I needed to head to the station and catch my train.

I got up and took myself out for a walk at 7am. It was a lovely morning again - I have to say, the weather was amazing for my whole trip, given that I was in the Welsh borders in April. I wandered around town a bit, and was delighted to discover the Shrewsbury Farmers' Market in the Square.

The market impressed me. There were lots of stalls selling lovely produce, and plenty of creatives selling their wares as well, including jewellers selling hand cut coin necklaces, ceramicists making kitchen wares with beautiful glazes and others with humorous sculptures of animals, which were just lovely. I was sad not to be able to buy any, as they would probably not have survived the journey.

Before I headed to the airport, I popped into Greggs for one last bargain breakfast and then headed to check out of my lodgings.

I spent my week at The Castle Vaults, which is a handily located pub, which is metres from both the station and the library, which were key places for my trip. It's basic, but it's good value. I had a spacious room with en suite. The bed was massive and very comfortable, and I also had a desk to work from, which is always a help! I've stayed there a number of times over the years and it works well for me.

Shrewsbury to Birmingham International Station

Once I'd checked out of the hotel, I dragged my suitcase down to the station and caught my train to Birmingham International. It was a busy train and there really wasn't space to work on 'Charlotte - The Lady in White', so I focused on reading through 'She Rises', and the time passed pleasantly enough.

At Birmingham International, I managed to navigate the shuttle train to the airport and then went up and downstairs about 4 times, trying to make sure I'd checked in my bag and then disposed of my water, before going through security. Birmingham is a bit counterintuitive in its layout, as the station and security are on the top floor, while bag check is on the ground floor, leading to some confusion! I got there in the end.

My knee high Doc Martens were pulled for random drug testing in security, which was annoying, as there were loads of bags needing checking, so it took a while.

I had a nice lunch in Pret à Manger, then headed to the gate.

Birmingham to Dublin

I'm not the best flier in the world. I've had to work hard since moving to Ireland to get over my fairly big fear of flying. My flight from Birmingham to Dublin was probably the second worst flight I've been on. There was quite a bit of turbulence, and we had been warned of high winds in Dublin. That said, I was not expecting to have my first experience of what they call a 'go around'. This is where the pilot deems that the landing is not safe to make and pulls up to retry it. This is a very safe and normal procedure and I've since found out that about 1 in every 250 flights has to perform this manoeuvre. That day, Dublin airport had 53 of them!

The majority of the flight was grand. I read my book and was pretty relaxed for most of the journey.

I felt the plane coming in to land at a much higher speed than I'd normally expect, and was bracing myself for a bouncy landing, but then we moved upwards again and the cabin crew informed us that the pilot had decided not to land.

Understandably, this triggered my anxiety quite badly and my hands were shaking uncontrollably for a bit. I decided to try and bury myself in my book for a bit. Everyone on board was a bit confused and worried.

We climbed back above the weather and then continued to fly for about half an hour or so. The pilot came on the intercom and informed us that the cross winds at Dublin had picked up outside of safe tolerances just as we were coming in to land, and so the landing was aborted.

When we eventually came in to land, the wind was horrible, the plane was wobbly and we landed, then one wheel lifted off the ground and it took a while for the plane to stabilise. Once we knew we were safely on the ground, the whole plane applauded the pilot, who was, as far as I'm concerned, a complete hero!

Crossing Dublin in the midst of fuel protests

By the time we had landed, I was already late for my train from Heuston station, and I had missed the window to change my ticket, as we were in the air at the time.

I got on the first Dublin Express I could find, and we began the journey from Dublin Airport to Dublin Heuston station. It wasn't too bad, which was a relief, given that the protests over fuel prices were in their 6th day and there were active protests in the city centre. I saw a blockade of trucks, cars and tractors on the M50 and also the massive blockade on O'Connell Street.

I captured a few photos of the protests on O'Connell Street from the other side of the river.

My bus reached Heuston Station after about an hour, and I went in to see if I could change my ticket, given my ridiculous circumstances. I have to say the staff member I spoke to was extremely kind and gave me a pass to swap my ticket to the 7pm service to Thurles.

I grabbed my second Pret à Manger baguette of the day and got onto my train.

Dublin Heuston to Thurles

The train ran smoothly to Thurles and I finished off 'She Rises', achieving one of my holiday goals, which was to read a complete book.

Thurles to Cappoquin

When I arrived at Thurles, it was tipping down with rain, the waiting room was closed, and there was nowhere dry to stand, other than the toilets.

I called my parents, who were coming to collect me, and they said they were about 15 minutes away. The journey had taken twice as long as usual, as there was a blockade of fuel protesters on the M8 as well.

Once they arrived, I took over the driving. It was a deep black night and visibility was dreadful. Due to the protests, it took over two hours to do the one hour journey home, and by the time I finally got home, I had been in transit for 12 hours.

A great holiday

I have to say, I am delighted to have had the opportunity to focus on my novel for an entire week and I'm pleased with the progress I have made with it. I feel more positive about my writing than I have in a good while, and more motivated to work on it.

It was also brilliant to reconnect with lovely Shrewsbury, to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and to relax completely for a few days.

Also, once I got home, on the Sunday morning I finished typing up my handwritten edits to Chapter 1 of 'Charlotte - The Lady in White', so the first chapter has now been completely rewritten - a great milestone to have reached.

It was also wonderful to be reunited with my gorgeous kitties - Poppy and Basil.