Originally Posted by dgjamison

Yes it is happening all over the united kingdom and Ireland , and it is so sad, the big cities ie London, Glasgow, Edinburugh, Dublin,Belfast will always survive, but the individuality of independant stores, have all but dissapeared, and the smaller towns and villages have really struggled, the heart has been ripped out of them, generations of family business's gone, old tradesmanships are getting lost, the old qualities of the UK are dying and its very sad to see. but I suppose thats progress and we all have to accept it. I still like areas of europe, that keep their villages and cultures alive, the great british pub for example has been hijacked by the breweries, and turned into theme pubs for the youngsters, my husband and I never went out to a pub any more, yet when we lived in England we loved the village pubs, they were beautiful, and unique to England, great meeting places, now it would be hard to find one that dosent have gaming machines, kids drinking out of bottles, and loud music, so sad

Originally Posted by Elizabeth I

I agree with you, when I went back in '05 for a visit, it had changed beyond recognition (I had been away for 9years). That wonderful village life and pub tradition isn't there like it used to be. My family told me the breweries have taken over and whitewashed traditional pubs and are all into food as well. Since when were English people interested in food beyond pub grub and a packet of scratchings? When I used to live there we went to the pub to drink and socialise, a quiet drink in the local with your mates was nice and it was a tradition. Now it's all "continental" by placing emphasis on food or blasting your ears out with loud music to attract the kids. We used to have those before, but they were mainly the large custom made wine bars and the pubs were still pubs.

I don't like the way England has changed, hence why I choose to live abroad, I don't know if I'll ever go back, not if it keeps going in the same direction it is which is likely so I probably wont want to...

Originally Posted by dgjamison

I am so sorry to hear that, but I will aways treasure my memories of worthing and the lovely people we met there, its so sad when things get run down, the thing with the shops, its happening everywhere, all the town centres are destroyed now, with the new malls, and Tesco's ,Asda, Sainsbury's running the country now I think, its so sad all the individuality have gone out of our town centres

Originally Posted by Jingsamichty

I could hear "Jerusalem" playing in the background there.

Originally Posted by CaptainHook

At least it wasn't Land of Hope and Glory....