I would spend other periods at my brothers in County Durham, deep up Weardale, past Stanhope and go here to recover from speed binges in Leeds. Things there had changed. The halcyon days of our acid, mushroom and pot youth where we believed we were on to an evolutionary trigger or a quick route to a deep spiritul knowledge. In any field of endeavour there are rarely quick routes to understanding. Heroin was yet to come in on the huge scale it did in the nineties but desperate drugs were beginning to take hold. Speed, valium and alcohol saw many turning to ruin. A darkness had spread. Psychosis was common. I didn't like it.
I started seeing a girl whose ex was suffering perhaps the worst of all. Julia was bright and full of light. Mick, her ex of nine months would innevitably find out. He was very ill then, suffering schizophrenic episodes that could be terrifying. I recall Julia wanting to tell him about us first so didn't bring it up. He took me at frightening speed to the pub on his bike where we drank several pints, he even came back for a smoke. He never mentioned a thing. I later learned she had just told him and he had left in an angry state.
The clostophobia was unbareable so I loaded the van with my few things and returned to Kent. I stayed with a bunch of travellers for a while in Poggles Wood, a famous site, for a while then found my own, I thought secret spot. Sleeping, in the back of my Escort van, I was woken by the roaring of a large motorbike outside. Oh fuck! I thought. Mick was polite though, I apologised for not having told him on that night and he understood yet still followed me, Leeds to Kent is a long way. I moved back to the black caravan at Roughway, he moved in to the hopper huts next door virtually. We would spend tense nights round the fire. I had other freinds there but the Mick situation over shadowed everything. It hit a crescendo one night as we drank round the fire. Mick got weider and stranger as the night progressed. I knew where to score up at Poggles Wood so, thinking this would chill things out suggested we drive up there. As we walked from my van to the truck I saw a guy in there who I had met before. He had been in jail for bottling a copper at Stonehenge and was seriously unhinged, the previous year I had witnessed one of his rages though he seemed chilled enough. I bought the pot and was just thanking the girl before leaving when Mick, stood next to me asked if he could feel her tits. She nor I could believe what he said, as I tried to drag Mick away, she even gave him a chance as I was pulling him away but he repeated it. Suddenly and justifiably the psycho in the truck lept out, chasing Mick off in to the woods. Pitch black I searched for him fearing a battering through association, couldn't find him so drove back.
I explained to the lads back at the fire by my caravan what had happened and we had a smoke. Perhaps two hours later, a russtleing from the same bushes Shaun had appeared from staggered Mick in tears. He had
c
learly been listening to us for some time. We hadn't said nothing bad about him, he was ill. I had a tear drenched hug with him and finally got to bed.
I couldn't sleep. This was going to go on and on. At 4am I chucked what I could in my van and drove to Winchester where Julia was. It was a beautiful night to be free of the paranoia that spreads and a personal romantic one. I worked on a building site labouring. Though Leeds had roughly 20% unemployent Winchester had zero. I was learning the ways of the world.
After two weeks we set off for Ireland. Driving we picked up a german hitch hiker who was offended I made him take his bag through customs rather than leave it in the van. We were still in the time of the Troubles and I didn't know him from adam. I wasn't about to help either side take any weapon through to cause more misery. The ferry landed in Dun Laourie, near Dublin and after landing, he wanted to come with us. Our relationship was new and exciting so I dropped him in Dublin before driving cross country to Galway. We spent some time in the town then headed for our destinatin a few miles down the coast.
A freind of Julias had inheritted a boat house and a whole gang of her mates had gone over to play for a while. Toby, the fortunate fellow turned out to be a bit of a twat but we had a good time anyway. The boat house had a vast window looking out over Galway Bay which had once been the entrt point to bring the boat in. A couple in there 80s came everyday to swim in a pool that filled with the tide then slowly let water out. We swam too and made a stone oven to cook. A guy called Mark turned up. Our job was to make windows for the place yet in the month I was there no timber arrived. After a while things became a bit forced, we couldn't work yet Toby felt we were having a free ride off him though we were paying for ourselves. Mark had done a furniture course in Shrewsbury. He described how they were taught fine craftsmanship and to design their own work. At school I had been trouble. Finally being banned from most lessons apart from art. I ended up doing twelve double art lessons a week. I had my own space where I worked on paintings and sculptures. It was a way to stop me disrupting other lessons, which I invariably did. In the art room I was at peace and didn't want to be disturbed or disturb anyone else. The art teacher, Mrs Steel went out of her way show me Jacob Kramer, where Paul and Damien went, I would have been in their year if I'd have gone. She arranged for me to come back in to take my exams, my course work easily surpassed anyone else but by the time my exams came I was living in Harehills taking journeys in to space on acid. I set off to go to the school but got as far as Gledhow Valley Woods where I sat looking down at my jeans and realised their was no way they would let me in in the state of dress that had become my norm.
Shrewsbury sounded great.
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