Preparedness for when

moneyistooshorttomention

I can confirm it isn't bedsitbob....there are an awful lot of sheep here....but nope...it definitely aint compulsory to "get up close and personal with them"...:rotfl:

fuddle

I'm just pondering the notion of 'what we're used to'. Growing up our village had a very close knit spirit. It was like that because it was a mining village I expect. When the mines closed our community became volatile in that tensions, stressors and negativity made living amongst people who had lost not only their livelihood but the only thing they knew how to do, very difficult. The negative attitude is still prevalent today but it kind of comes across in people's appearance, the way they hold themselves, how they look after what is theirs, the way they speak (language particularly bad). I had to take an unintended visit back to my village a few weeks back. It was a solemn experience.

Some of us try to leave what we're used to in search for what once was.

ivyleaf

fuddle wrote: »

I'm just pondering the notion of 'what we're used to'. Growing up our village had a very close knit spirit. It was like that because it was a mining village I expect. When the mines closed our community became volatile in that tensions, stressors and negativity made living amongst people who had lost not only their livelihood but the only thing they knew how to do, very difficult. The negative attitude is still prevalent today but it kind of comes across in people's appearance, the way they hold themselves, how they look after what is theirs, the way they speak (language particularly bad). I had to take an unintended visit back to my village a few weeks back. It was a solemn experience.

Some of us try to leave what we're used to in search for what once was.

That's beautifully put, fuddle.

moneyistooshorttomention

I can resonate with that.

Maybe I'm adapting - as a couple of conversations in the last week have started with the 2nd sentence from the other person being "Siarad Cymraeg?" - to see what language to continue the conversation in. I understand enough to know how to answer that I don't and we then keep chatting in English together...


I would tend to say personally that some of us don't search for "what once was" - though I think I can understand why some people would. Hmmm...."what we're used to" probably depends on what we have been used to. It has struck me that I'd never realised just how "future-oriented" I am personally and that may be one way some people differ. If your every decision/thought focuses on "How might this impact on The Future?" - be it for yourself personally or on a more widely applicable basis - then I'm not sure how widespread that way of looking at things is? It literally wouldn't occur to me to wonder for one second "How did they do things/think/etc in the past?" - I'm all set straight onto "Now - how will this impact in 10 years/50 years/etc time?"

I can understand why in some communities they might be more "close knit" - ie because life has forced them to be. In others - then people will think more along more "individualistic" type lines possibly? (ie because its a community that hasn't experienced Hard Times particularly - or at least not on a prolonged basis) and thus the people in it will be less likely to regard themselves as a "community" iyswim. The only element of "community consciousness" I detected back in my home city was of a "proud to be an innovator of New Ideas" type way of thinking - and that is something we were very proud of - but I didn't notice any other form of "community consciousness/community thinking" ever. We could walk into some "national" things as a group and notice a "Way-hay they are here now and wonder if they have any more new ideas/etc?" vibe going on sometimes and that is what we were proud of as a city.

thriftwizard

Fuddle, what went on in your home town before the mines? The town we both live in now has a religious heritage that's obvious, but also an industrial heritage you'd struggle to find anything out about now. The big park on your side of town was once a huge "shally" factory - shally being some kind of fabric that I don't seem to be able to find out much about - and there were several other mills, all driven by the rivers. One now houses a well-respected craft centre and another has been turned into posh flats; I wonder how many people look at those & "see" the mills that died, and the jobs & livelihoods that went with them? In the 1850s, Dorset was devastated by the loss of "The Buttony" which employed whole families & villages across the county, hand-making buttons; the Great Exhibition of 1851 was the first showing of a button-making machine, which totally wiped out Dorset's main industry. People quite literally starved; Hardy's description of Fanny Robin's sojourn in the workhouse & sad end was an all-too-familiar tale. And the end of The Buttony was also the end of most of our woollen & cotton mills too, but the agriculture all around us carried on & probably underpinned the town's eventual recovery.

So where your home town is now, this one has been before. And it climbed back up again & reinvented itself; let's hope that can happen to all those devastated communities Up North too, in time.

GreyQueen

Depending on where fuddle hails from, it's perfectly possible that her hometown was a small village prior to large scale mining, as I believe many were.

Provincial City is a dozy place these days but was once one of the foremost cities of England. And a major player in many industries which we don't have now. The factory sites have been or are presently in process of being redeveloped for housing and retail, homes and supermarkets where once thousands worked. It's something I think about a lot, as in wondering where people are earning their livings these days. Often the only recognition of the long-gone industry is the name given to the new development.

People here tend to be very uncouth these days, it's extremely common to hear people swearing, even children under 10, or to children under 10. Every second word is effing. Pretty unsavory. By contrast, my hometown, which was as rough as all come out in the seventies and eighties, seems to have undergone something of a transition and you don't hear that kind of language on the streets. And my hometown is nationally notorious in certain circles, such as policing and social work, btw.

The difficulty with areas which lose their anchoring industry, and have little or nothing to replace it, is that it knocks the spirit out of a lot of people. The more motivated and ambitious, or at least the most desperate, up sticks and leave. Their missing vim and vigour futher depletes the mood of those remaining, and the general ambience sinks further towards depression. Not blaming anyone for leaving, either, I'd look to move and have indeed left the town where I lived from 6 to 16, and where my parents still live.

jackyann

GreyQueen - not sure where you are talking about, but I spent many years in a very large town which lost its industry exactly as you describe. However, it was well placed to get some new industry - especially one major service provider, and it has a council passionately committed to encouraging apprenticeships and training.
I too have noticed that in "hopeful" areas - not necessarily affluent, but where jobs can be had, and useful training on offer - life is MUCH more pleasant in general.

fuddle

The majority of my class members have left GQ. The ones that remain are of lack lustre personality or have little self confidence. My village remains a village. So with a small population you can imagine how many men folk worked in the mines. The colliery opened in 1839 so swathes of families had built their lives around the industry for generations.

GreyQueen

There are a lot of places in the same boat. My hometown lost some of its anchors to China, and some were poached by grants from other EU countries (hello Eire, looking atcha in particular). It's starting to improve, after a generation or more on the skids.

I guess you could make the analogy between the state of a dilapidated house. If said house has been unmaintained, it will have a sad and tragic air. It could have been bought and be in process of being done up. In which case the mess, muddle and eyesore can be just as bad or even much worse than the dilapidation, but the whole mood will be different.

fuddle

Society. ever changing eh? I would like to think of it in terms of the canal network. A network needed, very useful, showcases some ingenious architecture and technology, built by hard working people. To see what very nearly, heck did happen to the canals and the hard working regeneration that took place to see the things of beauty we have today, thriving in a different industry.