Adjusting to small town life.

[Dubya]

Been to Dover. Loved the castle and the Roman lighthouse. Loved the cliffs. You live in a terrific place, Dubya.

Why thank you DNO!

How long ago did you visit? Were Churchill's Tunnels open then? Under the castle they are.
I hope you enjoyed your trip to Blighty too!

 

[hellsbellslolly]

I live in a quiet-ish part of east england. Also by the sea, where I live you can go out and get oysters and mussels off the beach, blackberries for jams and elderberries for cordials, grow your veg for chutneys through out the winter and onions, follow the onion truck after harvest and you can pick them all up as they fall off behind (windy roads) meat comes from a nearby farm etc...eggs from a neighbour with chickens etc...I make my own bread and bake daily too...I think if if you can its better to support the small local purveyor as opposed to these huge companies...I got sucked into a Waitrose once* they actually wanted £5.69 for one punnet of grapes. Never again...independant and local all the way

 

[DNO]

Why thank you DNO!

How long ago did you visit? Were Churchill's Tunnels open then? Under the castle they are.
I hope you enjoyed your trip to Blighty too!

My wife and I were in Dover in 1980. We took a trip to London for a couple of weeks and made a number of day trips out...one was to Dover. Two years later, we spent two weeks driving around the southern counties in a rental car. We took our time, ate in pubs, stayed in small B & Bs ...best vacation I've ever had. Great people and the history was terrific. We visited Maiden Castle south of Dorchester (not near you, I know)...the only other person was an older gentleman walking his dog. Windy, drizzling but I really couldn't ask for better. Easy to image the Roman siege. Corfe, Hastings, Stonehenge, HMS Victory, Bovington...man, I'd do that trip again in a flash. Wonderful country with great people.

 

[Miss sofia]

DNO - I'm glad you enjoyed the South Coast, i live in Rye near Hastings, which i have done for about five years and wouldn't live anywhere else!

Dubya - Hello and welcome, another local to add to my list! By the way Rye castle is rather small but perfectly formed don't you think?

 

[Miss sofia]

 

[Dubya]

DNO - I'm glad you enjoyed the South Coast, i live in Rye near Hastings, which i have done for about five years and wouldn't live anywhere else!

Dubya - Hello and welcome, another local to add to my list! By the way Rye castle is rather small but perfectly formed don't you think?

And hello to you Miss Sofia!

Indeed, a beautiful picturesque Castle you have there in Rye
I was in Rye only about 6 months ago on a driving course - a lovely English breakfast was had in the Quay Cafe (I think it was called). A beautiful Town is Rye. Must go back and do a proper visit sometime!

 

[Doublegun]

It'd be interesting to read of those with small-town experiences that weren't scripted from the pre-Helen Crump Mayberry.

Has anyone been ostracized (or "Osterized") just because they weren't born in the area? How about that legendary small town gossip? What about the thuggery of small-town teenagers who wish they were from and therefore act like they're living in some hostile big city?

Born and raised in a small town in east central Indiana with a population of about 4,500 residents). We didn't have thugs back them but there were certainly bullies (much tougher than the small town thugs today). Everyone knew who they were and just tried to stay clear. Outsiders were welcome but it takes time to become a real member of the community. As for gossip, let me put it this way: small towns are generally the kind of place where someone will pick you up on a Saturday night if they find you passed out in a gutter and they'll make sure you get home. Then they'll tell everyone at church the next morning what they did for you." Anyone who ever tells you that your business is your own in a small town has never lived in a small town.

 

[DNO]

I regret missing that! Next time, I hope.

 

[MissLaurieMarie]

I too was born and raise in a small town. There were 120 students in my K-12 school; six in my class included me and none of my classmates were friendly to me. The nearest town to get groceries was a half-hours drive.

That said, I loved my up-bringing, such as learning to drive at 13, becoming great friends with my teachers and getting lots of individual attention in school and being close with my family. I now live in the some-what small city of Camrose,AB - population 17,000. For some it's tiny, but to me it has everything. It's not so small that you feel trapped, but it's not so huge you feel alone in the crowd, either.

I love big cities too (Had a great time in NY last month!) but it's nice to go to the supermarket and see people you know but at the same time hold some anonymity. The funniest thing is people assume I grew up in Camrose because I'm young and I have a Scandinavian last name (The town is largely Norwegian) so some people looks slightly confused when i tell them I'm not from around here!

 

[Doublegun]

Just found this. My hometown, probably in the early 70's. Brought back a lot of memories of growing up in a small town: [video=youtube_share;Tm3LjWbHCGw]http://youtu.be/Tm3LjWbHCGw[/video]

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Just found this. My hometown, probably in the early 70's. Brought back a lot of memories of growing up in a small town: QUOTE]

Ha...Boy many of the store fronts have changed since then..at least names,anyhow. Guess SilverTowne wasn't there yet.

 

[Doublegun]

If you didn't know where those stores were back then you would probably have a hard time locating them today. However, through Main Street and some Historic Preservation grants they are in the process of restoring the faces of many of the buildings back to how they looked back in the day.

Silver town was there although probably operating out of their basement. When they started the Hendricksons operated SilverTown in the basement of the small ranch home (which I believe is the house just east of the current building). It was pretty impressive - as much sq footage below as above ground and severah huge vaults. They got their start bu collecting interesting and old coins people paid with at a cafe they owned and ran just off the square.

Don't know when you were last through but they have added onto the court house and managed to age the brick and limestone to match the original. They are also recreating the original top and clock tower. It's going to be very nice when completed.

 

[Doublegun]

Been thinking a lot about this thread. I guess my take on small town living is that it forces you to act appropriatly. If you want to be a part of the community and be respected there is no room for arrogance, or being cocky, or gossiping or anything other behavior we associate with declining standards. You have to keep in mind that people are going to see you, know who you are and are going to judge you. Also, you are going to come into contact with a lot of people that you would avoid if you lived in a city. As a result, you just have to accept people and treat them as you would want to be treated. When think of the perfect small town persona I think of Atticus Finch. He always looked at things from the point of view of other people.

 

[Kishtu]

I moved from the city to about as far south west as you can get in the UK before you fall in the sea... Lovely Man moved from urban Essex couple of years ago.
We wouldn't want to bring our little lad up anywhere else...

It is a bit "Deliverance" at times but on the other hand we have a man next door to us one one side who made, from scratch, a wooden stair gate to fit our funny stairs in under a day and wouldn't take a penny payment for it. Other side we have the apple mountain of West Cornwall who give us buckets of apples in return for cake.
Dan and Small can walk from our house to the village shop (100 yards tops) and it take them half an hour because they're passing the time of day with all and sundry.

I've known people to go into one of our two local shops without their purses and walk out with a bag of goods and the agreement they'll call in with the money when they're next passing.

 

[Tomasso]

If you want to be a part of the community and be respected there is no room for arrogance, or being cocky, or gossiping or anything other behavior we associate with declining standards.

Funny, but I've always associated gossiping to small towns more so than cities. [huh]

 

[Nathan Dodge]

It is a bit "Deliverance" at times

Surely you meant Straw Dogs (1971)?

 

[Kishtu]

You've never heard of the famous Cornish Duelling Pasties scene?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Funny, but I've always associated gossiping to small towns more so than cities. [huh]

The thing with small town gossip is it has consequences. It'll get around fast to the person being gossipped about and then you'll be called to account, and you'll have no way to vanish into the anonymity of the crowd. Small towns force you to own your words -- and you have to be willing to say to a person's face anything you'd say behind their back. Those of us born in small towns learn this from a young age, but people from away have to learn it thru sad experience.

 

[Kishtu]

The thing with small town gossip is it has consequences. It'll get around fast to the person being gossipped about and then you'll be called to account, and you'll have no way to vanish into the anonymity of the crowd. Small towns force you to own your words -- and you have to be willing to say to a person's face anything you'd say behind their back. Those of us born in small towns learn this from a young age, but people from away have to learn it thru sad experience.

One man's gossip is another man's news.... after my late other half collapsed and died at home two days before Christmas I was (almost literally) overwhelmed with offers from people I didn't even know to go and spend Christmas with them because they didn't like to think of me spending it by myself. There's them as would say that passing on a titbit like "did you know the man at number 26 dropped dead last night, he was only 32" is gossip....

 

[Doublegun]

I don't think I have ever heard that articulated so well. Thank you.