When we were moving from Cardiff to Ironbridge, we spent a weekend visiting the town. On the train back to Cardiff, the train goes through Shrewsbury. There is a nice wine shop in Shrewsbury that does tastings on Sundays and as we pulled up to the platform, it was obvious that several people wait to get on had been there. As the doors opened, four guys in various states of inebriation boarded the train. They were all laughing about some inside joke and looking over their shoulders. As they took their seats, the doors began to close and someone casually made his way out of the shop and onto the platform. It quickly became obvious that he was part of this group. He spotted his friends dumbfounded that they were on the train and he was not. As we pulled away, one of them got a call from him. Turns out it wasn’t as funny leaving him behind since he was the designated drive and the only one with keys. Oops.

After about 20-30 minutes, we came to their stop and for the first time since they got on, they were quiet. Granted they were still chuckling but clearly trying hard to keep the volume down. Three of them rose to get off the train. The fourth had fallen asleep on the train. As the other three got off, someone woke the remaining man who jumped and raced off the train just before the doors closed. As the train continued on to Cardiff, I started wondering how many people they started the day with. We had only seen them for half an hour – they seemed like they had been going most of the day – and had almost lost two members of their party.

After moving to Ironbridge, we did stop by and visit the wine shop. It’s a nice place right on the high street and if you get the chance, well worth a visit. Ours wasn’t as much fun as their visit. We made it home with all the people who started in our group.