Chard!

Hey everyone!  It's Sunday and time to take a peek at life in another country!  This week my buddy Liam wanted to give us a tour of...

One of my goals in life is to take a road trip around Britain.  Chard sounds like a pretty interesting little pit stop.  Plus, meeting Liam would be entertaining in itself.  He has a pretty good sense of humor, if I do say so myself (definitely one of the reasons we get along so well.)  So, take it away Liam!

1.  Tell us about yourself!

Note from Erin: I totally hassled him about this look!

My name is Liam Thomas Mason and I am 23 years old. I currently live with my mother Kate and my two younger siblings David and Lily. I have a girlfriend called Amanda and we have been dating for 2 years. At home I have 3 cats (Forrest, Dogfood & Farquad), 2 dogs (Frank & Minnie) and 2 Guinea Pigs (Bubble & Squeak). I am a laboratory analyst for a metal works factory called Daido and I have worked there for 6 months, I enjoy my work immensely and am looking to further my training there. Before Daido I worked for the British Heart Foundation on a voluntary basis and I also worked in a model railway shop (childhood dream right there) called Buffers. I was on TV Christmas 2009 with James May’s Toy Stories attempting to run a model train 10 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford. 

In my spare time I like to play Bass Guitar, I was part of a band called Zembard Phoenix but the other members have gone on to pastures new and I am the only member left (woohoo solo project!). I also spend time doing quizzes in my team and I also like to play sports with my friends, I also have a blog called Triskaidekaphobia Movies which I have recently started after some gentle persuasion from my friend Rachael.


2.  Can you tell us a little about Chard? 

Chard is a small town; there are plenty of places accessible by cars that are within an hour’s drive from here. We have the town of Glastonbury which has some brilliant markets and some really stunning walking areas. There is Cheddar Gorge which are some of the best caves this side of the pond, also my personal favourite is the coastal town of Lyme Regis which is part of the south west coastal path. It has a cool little beach and an old fort which helped battle against invaders, they also filmed “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” there and they serve the best ¾ pound egg and bacon burger there, FACT!  Chard itself is quite quaint, we have a few local pubs, and these pubs get involved in a pool league most Sundays which is played by quite a few people in the town. 

If you wanted to visit the town we do have a museum which is only open from May to October where you can discover (as proved by QI) that Chard was the birthplace of powered flight. There are a couple of cider mills about 10 miles away in nearby Ilminster, and for those who enjoy walking, we do have an old railway line that was converted into a walking/cycle path that leads to our neighbouring town. For the railway modeler in us all there is my old workplace Buffers Model Railways which is one of the best stocked model shops in the country. Also if you have some urge to feed some ducks (and why wouldn’t you?) we do have a reservoir at the bottom of town, it’s also good for a brisk walk. After all that walking you’ll probably be hungry! We have a couple of Chinese restaurants which are absolutely tip top but if you are willing to travel a little further, Lyme Regis has some fantastic places to eat.

3.  What is life in Chard like?

Life in Chard is often quiet (apart from the odd illness outbreak and crossbow killing); it has about 15,000 people and is located at the very bottom of Somerset. We only have 1 major secondary school and 4 primary schools. I have lived here all my life and have loads of my family in the area. We have a local newspaper which reports on all the little towns in the area and has about 15,000 readers which isn’t too shabby! 

Growing up was at times pretty boring, once you go around Chard more than once it is pretty difficult to get enthusiastic about riding a bike over a mud mound, but thankfully I have some pretty imaginative friends. We like to do quizzes (either in the pub or around someone’s house) or we will go to beaches on a mass excursion. 

Contrary to popular belief we do not all sound like The Wurzels nor do we all drink cider…..but when The Wurzels do come to town there is a massive party where the cider does flow (not helping stereotypes here!). We have produced a couple of famous people from this town, we had swimmer Matthew Clay who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and Ben Hamer who played against Liverpool FC in 2010, also there was John Stringfellow who made the first powered flight back in 1848 and the first ever female MP in the United Kingdom (Margaret Bondfield) was born here. 

Every year the town comes together to watch the carnival which travels around Somerset, all the town comes out to watch it then everyone has parties, it can get a bit crazy in certain areas but generally it is quite fun!

4.  Any special holidays or traditions you celebrate, Liam?

We celebrate the usual here in Chard; we have Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Whitsun, New Years Day and the May bank holidays. This year we will have the Royal Wedding which will give us an extra bank holiday where we will all get a day off. We also celebrate the day after Christmas which is known as Boxing Day, I have spoken to a couple of people online and they had no idea what I was on about! Back when I was in university we did celebrate Thanksgiving with a few American friends, we also went out on Australia Day. In the last couple of years my friend Paul has had a Half-Christmas party, exactly half way between Christmas he has a small party where we get the decarations out and celebrate halfway to Christmas. Probably the weirdest one we have celebrated for a while!

5.  So what got you interested in communicating with others around the world? 

Me with my penpal Anna (on mic)

I got into penpalling because my friend Paul showed me a site called Interpals back in 2008, I decided to make a profile and the rest as they say is history!  Once you get past the jerks trying to get money off of you there are some wicked people (including a certain Miss Erin!) {Note from Erin:  I've actually created a Tumblr site dedicated to all the weirdo messages I've received on Interpals.  Click here to check it out!} The first person I ever spoke to I am still friends with (a Swedish girl named Camilla). I have met two of my penpals over the years; I met my Finnish friend Anna when she came on a holiday to England, and I met Amanda 2 years ago and we have been dating since! 

I have found letter writing a completely surreal experience, in a day and age where electronics have taken over and instant messaging is the norm, I find it quite exciting and refreshing to receive a handwritten letter from someone. The little touches often make me smile, knowing they have gone that extra length to make their letter to you that little bit more personal. Not every person I have written to has been great; a certain Swedish stalker almost put me off letter writing for life, and certain people just stopped writing, but I am glad I persevered, I currently have some terrific penpals, they brighten up my day when I get their letter and I love sharing stories with people who are not even in the same country, or even the same continent. 

I hope one day that I can meet these truly awesome people, I do consider them as good a friend as the ones I spend time with at home, I also feel a little wiser each time someone shows me stuff from their town. That’s got to be a good thing right? 

{Note from Erin:  I couldn't agree more!}

6.  Give us a peek into your life!

The guinea pigs, Bubble and Squeak!

Chard Art!

Chard and Ily News

Chard Toll House

Guild Hall

Liam and Amanda

Phoenix Pub Pool Pub

My bass

My favourite bench in winter.

Dog Food.

Forrest & Farquad

Minnie

Frank

THANK YOU LIAM!  So many photos...I loved it.  

I hope you're all having a lovely Sunday!  

Ciao for now,

~E