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Life in a Northern Town I can't recall the name of the band that sang a song of that name back in
the 80s. Six months ago I moved to a northern town. To some that might seem
guaranteed to generate a culture shock for a namby-pamby southerner, but I
had an advantage: I lived in this area 30 years ago so I knew it well, and
also knew that the north-south divide, while still existing in economic
terms, is an artificial concept in relation to the things that matter to me
most - cultural activity and visual appeal. It was probably invented by
southerners who imagine the north as a frozen, desolate (to quote Lord
Frack-Off) wasteland where a spade is a spade. I moved here from East Devon, where I lived for the previous five years.
When I tell people where I moved from, they say "Why on earth did you want
to leave Devon?" The answer is simple: East Devon is a desolate
wasteland. People say Devon is pretty. Parts of it are indeed very
beautiful, especially the area around Dartmouth and Salcombe. But the
'forgotten' part of Devon to the east of Exeter is pretty only in the sense
that it's not ugly. Mile after mile of fields and hedges, and nondescript
seaside towns overflowing with motorised buggies, are not for me. And as for
finding an art gallery, or an international concert hall, or even a vibrant,
multi-cultural city, forget it. Exeter is small and cute but certainly not
vibrant. By contrast, my new home in Sowerby Bridge has everything I could possibly
want. It's a town with an industrial history evidenced by the many buildings
(including my own house) still with their blackened stone walls, but it
lives alongside some of the loveliest coutryside in the land. And it's
interesting, varied countryside, not just hedges and fields. It has two
major cities (Leeds and Manchester) about 20 miles in either direction, with
good transport links to both. A day trip to London is easy and not
expensive. My local town, Halifax is within walking distance and has a
wealth of shops plus all the major supermarkets - compare this with my home
in Devon which was 6 miles from a Tesco and 25 miles from a Sainsburys, and
a bus ran every couple of hours. The icing on the cake was the discovery that property in this area is
incredibly good value. On a very limited budget I have a home in a quiet
road beside a lake, views across the valley and the hillside opposite, sun
all day through the south-facing windows, and less than 5 minutes walk from
the shops. A similar-sized house in a featureless and characterless town in
Devon would have cost at least twice as much and the location would not have
been as appealing. I remembered from my previous sojourn in these parts that people generally
are open, friendly and enthusiastic. It hasn't changed. After many years of
living in cultural wastelands, tiny rural communities or foreign countries,
I started finding like-minded people all around for the first time in ages
(thanks in part to Facebook), and it wasn't very long before I got myself
involved with a group planning to create an arts festival for Sowerby
Bridge. It's tremendously exciting and would never have happened in a
million years in East Devon. So... my life in a northern town looks very promising, and I am really glad
I moved back to this area after so long.
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