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Post by barrieshutt on Feb 24, 2013 7:20:03 GMT
I was asked to write a short article max 250 words about issues in our town , issues can be negative and positive .
Check out my issues.
Write your issues about your home town
Bouquets for Binmen
Visitors from other European countries have often been heard to remark, unfavourably, on lack of civic pride among Brits. To counterbalance this, I would say a word in support of that band of much under-rated individuals who work unceasingly to help the good citizens of Workington to keep it clean; our refuse-collectors, street cleaners and litter-pickers.
Workington, like most towns, continues to expand despite the recession, and that expansion is inevitably accompanied by more people, every single one of whom generates rubbish in the form of waste products, packaging and the general detritus of living a consumerist lifestyle. And yet the recession has seen massive cutbacks in statutory and local services, with the resultant cuts in manpower and resources allocated to cope with the increasing workload of keeping our towns clean and tidy.
Before anyone assumes that I have friends and family working for the contractors involved, I’ll tell you that is not the case. For me, this is simply a matter of “credit where credit’s due”. The men who empty our bins are incredibly efficient, despite their obviously very tight schedule. They could certainly teach us a thing or two about teamwork, and yet are also friendly and obliging. The work of the street cleaners and litter-pickers would seem to be thankless, since after their attentions today, tomorrow regularly sees a fresh crop of polystyrene boxes, cans, cigarette ends and everything else thoughtlessly discarded. These guys do a great job. I for one, am very grateful to them.
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Post by mizloco on Feb 24, 2013 8:59:22 GMT
This is an interesting topic. I live in Royston, Hertfordshire and this is an old market town, small in size. I have lived here for twelve years and in that time the market has gone from about thirty stalls to about seven, which I think is very sad. Markets in this country are diminishing due to large supermarket stores along with our small high street stores. Royston has a high street with a few individual stores that struggle to stay open through lack of support from locals. Also there is nothing in Royston to attract people from outside to come in and spend money. It is a beautiful little town, as there are many other towns around the country, we need to support our local markets and shops if they are to survive.
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Issues
Feb 24, 2013 23:20:01 GMT
Post by Learner on Feb 24, 2013 23:20:01 GMT
What a nice idea! Here's my effort:
My town is / was a relatively small sea-side place on the south coast of England. Since my family moved here, 55 years ago to join my grandmother, the place has continued to grow in leaps and, lately, huge great bounds. Our population of 36,000 has seen a rise of another 20,000 from various other parts of Europe within the last three or four years. We certainly are multi-lingual out on the streets! Witamy w miescie!
Considering the relatively poor infra-structure that was in place, the massive building programmes that have swallowed Grade 1 Agricultural land around the outskirts of the town, the depressed local economy and lack of light industry it really is a wonder we have survived.
Our local doctors’ surgeries try hard to keep up with the need for GPs but sometimes don’t quite make it, the two new schools in town were just adequately sized when the plans were drawn up but now places are tight. Local independent traders struggle to make a living against the giant chains with many shutting up shop and taking with them the feel of something different, that individuality that made our shopping parades more interesting. As with most towns visitors step off the bus or out of their cars and they could be in almost any small town centre in England.
We do have the beach. Less sand and more shingle than once there was. Rising sea-levels demand greater coastal defences so the beaches that once attracted visitors are shingle hills. Southcoast World (or is it still called “Butlins”?) continues to make a profit from our position and milder climate even if they contribute little to the town itself being "fully inclusive" and having everything on site. More jobs for the locals? That would be good as they are sorely needed. Many workers come from far afield so leaving many of the indigenous youngsters hunting for work.
Transport networks? Oh yes more roads are being built partly funded as a result of deals with housing developers so there will be yet more cars streaming around the town and less fresh sea air. We are lucky – we have a good sized railway station with direct links to London and there seem to be no plans afoot to close that down just yet. Our local bus service is provided by a single giant company where once we had several in competition so fares are high. The service is reasonably reliable. Some choose to cycle to our nearest city 6 miles to the north as it’s pretty flat around here in more ways that one.
There are yet more regeneration plans in the offing – mostly they seem to favour the interests of the developers and ignore, as does our district council, the wishes of the locals. Over the last 30 years we have seen new plans come and go with few changes or improvements....just more houses and more people and fewer open fields.
But we have got the sun when it shines. For many years our sunshine record has been up amongst the best giving us all a more positive outlook on-life through our rose coloured spectacles and desire to look forward to something better. Flying pigs are a speciality as is our famous annual Birdman Rally or has that too slid further along the coast?
Number of words: 532 but I always was somewhat loquacious!
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Post by Hezz on Feb 25, 2013 0:51:07 GMT
Very good, you three. And the issues raised can be dropped into almost every town/city the world over I imagine. I know we here in tropical Australia in our "beautiful" city have the exact same issues. Too many people expected to make do with the same amount of infrastructure as before, with the price of everything going through the roof - our electricity bills have just been hit with a 20% increase! Some elderly folk are not game to cook or use their air-conditioners as they fear they will not be able to afford to pay the bill. Learner, your work would have to be severely edited to make the local rag!
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Feb 25, 2013 11:08:24 GMT
Post by Learner on Feb 25, 2013 11:08:24 GMT
Very good, you three. And the issues raised can be dropped into almost every town/city the world over I imagine. I know we here in tropical Australia in our "beautiful" city have the exact same issues. Too many people expected to make do with the same amount of infrastructure as before, with the price of everything going through the roof - our electricity bills have just been hit with a 20% increase! Some elderly folk are not game to cook or use their air-conditioners as they fear they will not be able to afford to pay the bill. Learner, your work would have to be severely edited to make the local rag! Don't I know it.... but it takes time I don't have to do it myself.
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Post by nat on Feb 25, 2013 19:07:35 GMT
I love this thread Barrie and its very interesting to read the points raised from everyone. I have always felt quite lucky living in Cambridge. Its a city where theres a welcome diversity of cultures and always plenty to do despite being a small city. The historic colleges attract plenty of tourism to the city and therefore creates jobs for many. However there is still a big rich/poor divide. Having watched the care of my elderly neighbour over the last 3 years on our council estate I was horrified. Contracting the care of the elderly to private companies the council have really failed in supplying adequate and monitered help for people. There was nobody overseeing the care given, and consequently it was very very poor. In the end it was us neighbours stepping in tahe probably avoided her injury or even death. She was left in the winter with no heating on as her boiler had broken but not reported to the council, unable to get herself to bed, toilet or even dressed in the morning as the male carer couldn't dress or undress her. They didn't recognise or report her increasing alzeimers disease. This city council really does need to buck its ideas up on the care of the elderly! The police who are quick to arive at a call made from the city centre or other richer areas do not arrive at our estate until after the horse has bolted. The turnout in the city this weekend for the anti EDL demo was great and the presence of so many Cambridge born and bred people reflected how the Cambridge people are (mostly) embracing of all cultures. There were certainly not many from 'the other side' of the politics. They were way outnumbered :-) I'm with Barrie on the binmen :-)
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Issues
Feb 28, 2013 13:10:20 GMT
Post by barrieshutt on Feb 28, 2013 13:10:20 GMT
KEEP IT GOING GUYS AND GALS OR BETTER STILL SEND A COPY TO YOUR LOCAL PAPER
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Post by barrieshutt on Feb 28, 2013 13:12:46 GMT
THIS WEEKS SUBJECT IN OUR LOCAL RAG WAS " WHY I LIKE MY VILLAGE"
My name is Barrie Shutt and I am 69. I have been retired for several years but most recently I was Manager at a branch of a chain of builders’ merchants. I have lived in Seaton since the early ‘70’s. The house in Coronation Avenue is currently home to me, my wife Alison, our Jack Russell, Buster, and my budgerigars, (my constant companions since I was 15.) My family lives close by. Regular readers of the Times and Star will know of my 3 year-old granddaughter, Emily, because the paper has run several features about her since she was diagnosed with leukaemia in March 2012. Seaton is a large and diverse village with a wide variety of housing styles, an historic church, and enough shops to ensure you don’t have to go into town for most things unless you want to, but close enough to Workington that you access it easily. You can walk it on a nice day, either keeping to the increasingly busy main road or by way of the cycle path so popular with those who prefer two wheels, and with dog-walkers like me. Although there have been many changes, not least of all since the catastrophic floods of 2009, my favourite place remains the area that holds some of my happiest memories, and that is the walk from my house that leads to and follows the river Derwent. It used to be possible to walk the course of the river all the way from Seaton to Camerton, and as a man with younger legs I often set out, (early enough in the morning that little wild rabbits were still cropping the grass verges in our avenue,) to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the changing seasons. It is always a great pleasure to catch glimpses of the wide variety of wild birds that make their homes along the route; a hawk hovering above, then plummeting to take its prey; swallows, darting in the chamomile-scented, buzzing air of a summer evening; the poignant v-formation of geese beginning their migration, indicating that autumn is surely here; and the audacious blackbirds inches from your feet, feinting away from the nest – a sure sign that spring has returned. Residents currently share concerns about parking on Coronation Avenue, and there have been applications to Allerdale suggesting that the grass verges should be replaced with tarmac to provide more space. There were few with cars when the houses were originally built, but many families now own two cars. Parking is difficult, but a more significant issue is the matter of access for emergency vehicles. Losing the grassed areas would undoubtedly change the character of the avenue but, on balance, it may be a way to ease the congestion and the concerns about access.
I feel saddened by the threat currently faced by allotment holders locally. As a child, the eldest of twelve growing up in Egremont, allotments were extremely important because what you grew you ate. My brothers and I, as soon as we could carry a basket or wield a tool, were expected to help support the family, and my father allocated chores for us all on his allotments. We got in from school and had a couple of rows of carrots to weed, trenches to dig, or water to be carried to the 45 gallon drums against dry spells. We learned about nurturing and valuing natural resources as a step towards sustaining ourselves. In our teen years my brothers and I had our own individual allotments. We kept chickens and geese, and I built my very first bird room and began my life-long love of budgerigars. Neighbours sometimes brought injured birds to me. Allotments represented something you could take pride in, and they formed part of the fabric of the community, as people would meet there for the craic, and to lend and borrow, swap and share. It feels cynical that we are encouraged to be “greener” and pay premium prices for organic foods, when every square meter of land is covered with buildings. It seems tragic to reduce opportunities for communities to develop naturally, and that young people fewer opportunities to explore their own resourcefulness. Progress I guess.
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Post by nat on Feb 28, 2013 15:13:14 GMT
Allotments are something I value dearly now Barrie :-)
Our City Council has made a step forward recently by making it easier for the public to get an allotment by being able to apply directly to the Council via their website. In the past it was very difficult, as many of the allotment societies who rented the land from the council were very cagey about giving them out to 'the wrong type of people'. Consequently there were masses of unused plots which became overgrown despite long waiting lists of people trying to get a plot! I was amazed at the fact that after being on the waiting list for nearly 2 years, my rather pushy neighbour went and got a plot straight away without joining the queue. In more recent months our site of approximately 130 plots has been under threat of sale in order to build residential properties, one of the grounds being that more than 50% appeared uncultivated. Goodness, its amazing how quickly the allotment society has managed to deal out those plots and now almost all are used again. Alot of the new allotment users are young couples with children and many are from different countries. No longer does it seem to be the old mans club it had been for a while. Of course now there is the resident punk rocker who the older folk have named 'Warrior Woman' ;-)
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Oct 8, 2011 15:17:40 GMT
toby
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 70
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Post by toby on Feb 28, 2013 16:28:47 GMT
I live in the country side, and our local market town used to be bustling each friday with farmers and on saturday the market place had over 50 stalls , now it,s sad to see about 4 stalls, and most of the shops closed, but they open up as coffee shops or resturants, we can,t buy cloths or furniture, and if we want to do a large shop we travel to York. a once thriving town is just a place to live so sad .
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Mar 1, 2013 0:46:13 GMT
nat likes this
Post by Hezz on Mar 1, 2013 0:46:13 GMT
Well done, Warrior Woman! The mad woman with all the birds. I wonder what the horses call you? They are sure to have come up with something ....... you'll have more names than you can poke a mohawk at.
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Mar 2, 2013 16:32:52 GMT
Post by barrieshutt on Mar 2, 2013 16:32:52 GMT
Well done, Warrior Woman! The mad woman with all the birds. I wonder what the horses call you? They are sure to have come up with something ....... you'll have more names than you can poke a mohawk at. am i missing something
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Post by Hezz on Mar 3, 2013 0:38:41 GMT
Well done, Warrior Woman! The mad woman with all the birds. I wonder what the horses call you? They are sure to have come up with something ....... you'll have more names than you can poke a mohawk at. am i missing something Just a bit of light-hearted fun!
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May 23, 2013 6:18:19 GMT
Post by Learner on May 23, 2013 6:18:19 GMT
How did I miss this!! Talk of barrieshutt's allotment days! Now there's something we have / had in common. Do you still run an allotment patch? And nat what about you?
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May 23, 2013 9:00:33 GMT
Post by sarah*glittergirl2212 on May 23, 2013 9:00:33 GMT
Learner, I know where you live - I have spent every summer there since childhood!!
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