What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Sep 27th 2013, 4:35 pm
#136
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: Tunbridge Wells KENT
Posts: 2,914
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
George Costanza: "Horse manure's not that bad. I don't even mind the word “manure.” You know, it's, it's “nure,” which is good. and a “ma” in front of it. MA-NURE. When you consider the other choices, “manure” is actually pretty refreshing."
Sep 27th 2013, 4:36 pm
#137
I have a comma problem
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Fox Lake, IL (from Carrickfergus NI)
Posts: 49,598
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Sep 27th 2013, 4:58 pm
#139
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2010
Location: The sunshine state
Posts: 1,358
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
It's 'personure'. do keep up. 
Sep 27th 2013, 7:51 pm
#140
Was in Canada, now home.
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Devon
Posts: 3,388
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
I’ve challenged racism on this site before and I will continue to do so. This is my last post on this thread, however, because I have to put a lot of words on my laptop before a mid-November deadline.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
Sep 27th 2013, 8:17 pm
#141
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,810
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
I’ve challenged racism on this site before and I will continue to do so. This is my last post on this thread, however, because I have to put a lot of words on my laptop before a mid-November deadline.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
My domestic cat suggests you refer complaints about moderators to Sue, as per the site rules
Sep 27th 2013, 8:32 pm
#142
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,006
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
I’ve challenged racism on this site before and I will continue to do so. This is my last post on this thread, however, because I have to put a lot of words on my laptop before a mid-November deadline.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
This thread was started by Stormer 999 who claimed that, living in the countryside, there is a danger that an authorized traveller site will be placed near you and a lot of such sites are planned. Neither allegation is true. There are not a lot of authorized sites planned, and authorized traveller sites are not a problem to worry about. Many people live near authorized sites without even being aware that they are doing so. I myself lived near a site for 13 years in London, and was only aware of it because I could see it from the train. Authorised sites are usually placed away from residential accommodation, which means that travellers have to put up with rubbish tips, industrial parks and railway lines as neighbours. Travellers on authorized sites have sanitation and running water and their rubbish is collected by the council. They pay taxes and rent. Having been involved professionally in planning in town and country, I’m fairly confident that there are more authorized sites in towns than the countryside.
A number of posters have related anecdotes about illegal sites and complaints about rubbish and poor sanitation. It does not apparently occur to them that the lack of sanitation and rubbish collection on illegal sites is even more distressing for the travellers than it is for the local residents. Illegal sites are necessary for travellers because there are not enough legal sites. One example given in this thread – in Torbay and Paignton – is acknowledged by the Torbay businessmen, and local councilors, to be because of the lack of a local legal site.
There is a vicious circle involved here. Because of prejudice, local people oppose legal sites, leading to illegal sites, nuisance and more prejudice.
On the question of racism, posters have denied that travellers are an ethnic group. They are in fact two recognized ethnic groups: Romanies and Irish Travellers. Irish Travellers are not the same thing as just Irish, and are in fact subjected to discrimination in Eire as well as the UK. ‘Pikey’ is a derogatory term. Imagine what it is like being a traveller child being taunted with ‘Pikey’ and ‘Gyppo’ in the playground. All of these facts are ascertainable by a few minutes research on the internet, so ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, by all means, go on swapping stories about ‘dirty travellers’ and making light-hearted jokes about ‘pikeys’. There are people who regard the Ex-Pat Forum as indelibly racist because of its use of the term ‘ex-pat’ rather than ‘immigrant’. My own husband has been telling me for the last couple of years that it is beneath me contributing to it. I still think the site serves a useful purpose, however, even if it is very poorly moderated, and many of its regular posters appear to have less personal insight than a domestic cat.
I also agree with you that people can be misinformed. It is also easy to take examples of behaviour by the few and assume it is indicative of the many. One badly-behaved gypsy camp does not mean the whole lot are a bunch of no-good scallies.
I do think, however, that racism is a serious thing, and as such, when simple ignorance or prejudice towards an ethnic or social subgroup exists, rushing to call it racism only dilutes the true fight against racism. I listened to an amazing R4 piece this morning about perceptions of different accents, with Glasgow and Birmingham coming in for some ludicrously biased judgements about intelligibility - with underlying implications about intelligence. Being a Brummie myself, and a resident of Glasgow, I simply found the evidence of "ethnic prejudice" beneath contempt - not an example of racism.
Sep 27th 2013, 9:07 pm
#143
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 30,102
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Are you one of the professionally offended?
Sep 27th 2013, 9:21 pm
#145
Straw Man.
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: That, there, that's not my post count... nothing to see here, move along.
Posts: 46,302
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
I believe they like to call themselves Roma... or "I'll tarmac ya drive for 50 quid my friend, ah come on, ya know ya want it... "
Sep 27th 2013, 9:26 pm
#146
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Google Town
Posts: 7,532
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Where I worked in Milton Keynes, some travelers moved in to the field over the road. One day they burst into the office and one of them had a shit on someone's desk. That was obviously pretty gross, but in the main I liked having them there. Work decided it wasn't safe for people to be in the office after dark, so we all got to go home at 4.30pm for the few weeks they were there.
Sep 27th 2013, 9:29 pm
#148
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 30,102
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Personally I dislike Pikey dags, they shit everywhere and farmers with shotguns, they make it harder to steal their sheep.
Sep 27th 2013, 9:35 pm
#149
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Where I worked in Milton Keynes, some travelers moved in to the field over the road. One day they burst into the office and one of them had a shit on someone's desk. That was obviously pretty gross, but in the main I liked having them there. Work decided it wasn't safe for people to be in the office after dark, so we all got to go home at 4.30pm for the few weeks they were there.
Going by 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' (highly academic source), the Roma do appear to have more claim to a culture.
Sep 28th 2013, 3:55 am
#150
Not actually a squirrel
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: England
Posts: 3,446
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
That's it.
You can stick yer countryside.
PS: Anyone know if the hunts still get about annoying foxes? I guess that's a rural thing which might annoy. People who are cruel to animals vs animals which are cruel to animals. Same thing maybe...