fific

More cycling everywhere, I don't know if more outdoor activity but certainly plenty going on, pleasant service (98% of time) and lovely lovely conversations with strangers. Cheaper food. Just too much litter around generally and overgrown grass verges (Cuts probably kicking in). Otherwise all good really. I am overwhelmed that I am not paying for medical care ( my son is diabetic) or school books for my daughter. Am grateful having been paying through the nose in oz and therefore will volunteer some time to the school to assist with fundraising for improved facilities and try to generate more of a volunteering culture among parents.

dontheturner

[QUOTE=fific;8823089]More cycling everywhere, I don't know if more outdoor activity but certainly plenty going on, pleasant service (98% of time) and lovely lovely conversations with strangers. Cheaper food. Just too much litter around generally and overgrown grass verges (Cuts probably kicking in).

On a similar vein, and in the same area, of change, I wonder how the demise of Woolworths, has affected the centre of all our towns and cities. - smaller towns, must be having a hard time, getting such a large store occupied again.
dontheturner

Bevm

Not sure what you mean by rubbish. I used to like the bric-a-brak, as you say, but they all seem to try to be upscale and only carry "nice" stuff. I don't think that can be the ebay effect. And where are all the rummage sales. I love the things you can find at them.

We'd been away 30+ years, but back frequently, so I'm not sure what we found was different. People seem to be posher about their houses. All doing up their kitchens and bathrooms in the latest style. Back when, I seem to remember it was more "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and that seemed to be the case with the people we knew in Canada.

Oh, and the ready meals. I still can't believe how big those sections are in supermarkets.

Bev

Bevm

Yes, and the lack of a wide range of goods. The one in Dawlish, Devon, is still empty. I heard MacDonald's wanted it and the council nixed that. In Teignmouth it's a carpet store. I can't imagine that's doing well in this economic climate.

The one is Whitby is a constantly discounted outdoor wear store. I wish they'd turned it into the public library. It'd be a great location.

I do think it took a major feature out of small towns, especially the ones without a larger center nearby.

And, of course, villages are in a lot of trouble because of second home people raising the house prices so the new generation of local families can't afford to live there. Plus, in some cases, the wealthy incomers block any attempt to build low income housing.

There's also possibly an even bigger north-south divide. I remember my mother in law in Surrey having absolutely no clue about anything north of the Wash apart from a vague feeling that it was mills, cloth caps and rain. Sadly, I don't think much has changed apart from a huge move of people from the north to the south because that's where the jobs are.

Recently they've moved some department to Salford. Is it part of the BBC. Anyway, the man in charge is going to commute because it simply wouldn't be fair to his children to deprive them of life in London (read "civilization") With that attitude, it's hopeless, isn't it?

Mind you, we're going south, but it's purely climate, and that doesn't seem to get mentioned.

Bev

robin1234

I love the charity shops - can't have too many. I agree, in general, they only have nice stuff. I was in Newton Abbot in Devon a month ago, and the small selections of books in the charity shops I looked in was very very good. If I was living in Devon rather than just visiting, I'd have bought bags full .. I also started looking at music cds in charity shops a few years ago. They usually price them at a standard £1.99 or £2.99. If they have something up your street, it's just right for the rental car!!

When we cleared out my mother's house in 2005, we took carloads of stuff to the charity shops. Fortunately there were about ten such shops in her town, because eventually they all told us to cease & desist.. we'd simply donated too much! This was all nice quality stuff, potentially worth money to the right person, but we just needed to empty the house in a week.

mbike

Hi Bev,

We always loved the bric-a-brac charity shops too. But what I am talking about here is a particular type of charity shop which does not carry much stock - only a handful of books, very little chinaware and a poor collection of clothes. We went to Burgess Hill recently and there were about 5 or 6 of these shops very close to each other. We couldn't have spent more than 30 seconds in each. There just wasn't that much to rummage through. I have a suspicion they are paying little or no rent but the landlord lets them stay rather than having boarded-up shop fronts blighting the streets.

My comment about ebay, gumtree amazon and car boots was that people in the uk seem to have become more attuned to the worth of things and are more likely to attempt to sell things through these channels than just to give them away/donate them to charity. When I think back to the vergeside rubbish collections in Perth WA and the perfectly good stuff people were just chucking out because they had bought a new model, it's probably a good thing but it makes for very dull charity shops around us here in Sussex.

quoll

Hadnt been back in the springtime for a long time and was gobsmacked by the riot of colour with the daffs out heralding the arrival of a village on the route. Cambridge used to be home of the daffs down the Backs but now pretty much everywhere I went there were amazing displays of daffs. I was also blown away by the proliferation of cowslips - one of my favourite nostalgic flowers - and it seems that people have planted them on quite a few banks along motor ways and I even saw some at Stanstead airport.

Other things are the major improvement in good food - the portions are probably too large but there is some really good tasting stuff out there and comparatively cheap as well.

old fat biker bloke

Oh god how I missed boot fairs - everyone selling in one place rather than having to drive all round town!!!!

Same everywhere in the world I guess but the banks still ain't lending dispite their sickly "look how lovely we are" ad's on TV. Could easily fund a mortgage on what we're paying rent each month but, alas, no chance.....

Lothianlad

[QUOTE=dontheturner;8823158] Litter is a major problem in the UK - so many fast food takeaway joints and their food containers and funny little blue forks plus all the retail outfits selling cans and bottles of either alcohol or soft drinks and fish and chippies with their wrappings and containers....add all of this to sheer carelessness, drunkenness, lack of any kind of civic awareness or responsibility or thoughts of the environment of many of the consumers...result a major headache for Bill Bryson, Hon. President of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, the local authorities and the responsibly concerned members of the public.

The Coalition Govt are devising plans to force the more feckless unemployed to work as litter pickers and removers of graffiti in exchange for their social welfare benefits (fair deal) as it's pretty much a safe bet that many of them are responsible for some of the litter and graffiti in the first place.

Former Woolworth stores:

Dorchester, Dorset: Less than two weeks after the local store was closed down in January 2009, like every other Woolies in the land, an enterprising business lady bought the premises and opened it up as a huge retail establishment selling stuff very similar to that sold in the former Wooiles stores, plus other ranges of goods.

Leominster, Herefordshire: Now a very flurishing new W H Smith bookstore selling all the usual stuff at your average Smiths.

Not too far away - about 16 miles or so to the south east of Leominster:

Ledbury, Herefordshire: Thirteen months after the old Woolies had remained vacant it is now a very busy store very similar to the former Woolies, and now called "Wellworth It" - with the name emblazoned in huge red letters on the store frontage in similar lettering to the old Woolies sign. It is doing exceptionally well in a relatively prosperous and afluent town and surrounding area, selling a wide range of items similar to the old store, plus some, and run by a local businessman.

dontheturner

[QUOTE=Lothianlad;8830539] Thanks - Lothianlad! My question seemed to fall on deaf ears! So thank you for the run down , Woollies were even selling boiled ham and similar items, in the later 50's, and then at one time in the 90's handling their own range of large TV's - so when I return, to re-furnish my house on the cheap, they would have been useful - but then, I aim to use some of the Charity Shops, too ---Thanks again dontheturner

Mummy in the foothills

[QUOTE=dontheturner;8830676] Now you'll find Home Bargains and Pound stretcher and other places like that who who will furnish your home with all those bits and bobs for the kitchen and beyond. I was a regular in Home Bargains last summer, Dandelion and Burdock was only 49p a bottle, no wonder I gained weight

Petals

We were surprised at the length of the grass around and wondered why it was not cut. Then we found out that this is the new way to encourage, bugs and things and native plants to propogate again. So tidy is not happening any time soon and its for a good reason.

I loved the primroses and the wild hedgerows whilst we were there, very pleasant memories of them as a child in Suffolk.

Loved the countryside and villages but not the cars parked along every street and on the pavements.

Towns centres were scruffy I thought too much litter.

Not enough healthy options in restaurants and pubs for me. Hence I put on a lot of weight whilst we were there.

dontheturner

Oh! Petals, Oh! Mummy! Now you tell me! And I don't want any more weight thank you! - I know I will be fighting off the Pork Pies , and Cream Cakes.! love don

nun

Lots of change.

Middlesbrough not in Division 2, either Premiership or now Championship.
Angela Ripon is really old
Who are Ant and Decks (sp)
Labour Party has Conservative Party policies

fific

The biggest change has been me!! appreciating the important things in life (friends, family, humour, conversation) and the beauty of england, in no hurry to re-join rat race (thanks oz) and grateful for the experience.