Week 141, The Walkley crocodile

You can walk a long way in a pair of fancy shoes, but first it is essential that you are able to walk a long way regardless of the nature of the shoe.  My main mode of transport over longer distances has been the bicycle, not fancy shoes - and not that I couldn't walk a long way if I desired, that's not open to question, but mainly that if I was to go a long way then I'd prefer to do it via some means that allowed me to do it sitting down.

Having said that, Walkley, a gateway to Crookes, wasn't any significant distance away from wherever I had started on that particular day.  But I was on a bicycle, more specifically a mountain bike.  Being on a mountain bike is the important part.

While noodling around Walkley on two wheels, I was just about to pass from South Road to Howard Road, I was called to by an old acquaintance.

"Do you know anyone that wants to swap a mountain bike for a crocodile?"

This might appear an unusual request in the general run of things, however from this person it was well within the spectrum of general possibility.  One of their main topics of conversation was that of quantum mechanics, often counterpointed by the intricacies of bricklaying and the optimal trowel method for applying gobbo to headers and stretchers.

So I followed him in to take a look at the beast.

It was about 80cm long and kept in a tank that can't have been much more than a metre in length.  Other than the confinement it appeared to be in fine health, and it had a terrific set of teeth.

We chatted for a bit about stuff, I can't remember anything about where it came from or how he came by it, and I left saying I'd ask around.  I don't recall ever mentioning it to anyone - I wasn't really sure whether it was a crocodile or an alligator, the specifics would have made me reluctant in case a prospective mountain bike swapee was disappointed to discover it was the wrong type of reptile.

I have no idea what happened to this little bit of the Everglades transported to a Sheffield suburb.  Perhaps he gave up trying to swap it and had the poor, small creature turned into a tiny, single fancy shoe.  You wouldn't walk far in one of those.

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