Wishing for the Past
The village cricket ground
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. When times get tough – as they are doing for many thousands of people – the oddest things can become a comfort. For me it’s the sound of my Grandad’s male voice choir. Once upon a time, they were a bunch of tough men from the surrounding coal fields and farms. Proud and passionate about their corner of Yorkshire. Nowadays there’s the distinctive whistle of aging teeth, but the rousing sound of the songs they sing can still put me in a powerfully pensive mood.
With massive change all around us, it can seem like too much to change with it. New jobs, downsizing, moving house and re-jigging the finances have become neccessities for thousands of people. It is easy to wish for the familiar.
Right now, it would be good to stroll along the old pit near where I grew up. It had closed before I was born, but the black slag heaps and the “blue lagoon” of pooled water and clay gave the landscape a strangely memorable character. It has since been shaped and neutered – as had been promised many years before – and turned into a wildlife reserve for birds. Although you can now cycle pleasantly beside the canal and see rare migratory birds from the specially constructed hides, there’s still something I want from the old tree I used to climb in.
And the wheat fields I used to walk through, taking my neighbour’s dog, when the ears had been harvested and all that was left was stubble that would scratch your legs. It’s gone too. Turned into housing for people who want to live in a small village.
The development is good and will benefit the community who still live there. But it was mine. For a while. People all over the country will be wishing it was yesterday, when the house was worth a bit more and there were offers knocking down the door. When they could have taken a bit more time to get to know the boss who is now having to “consolidate resources”.
But all we can do is take a step back and a deep breath before finding the opportunities which come with great change.
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