what do you miss about your hometown?

[Graye]

All I miss is what it used to be before a "Development Corporation" moved in on it. A sleepy country market town transformed into an overspill for some of the nastier parts of Birmingham without a thought for what they were destroying. At a stroke it went from somewhere pleasant to grow up to somewhere the "old" locals couldn't wait to leave. Needless to say I rarely go back and leave depressed every time I do. Even the lovely Worcestershire burr has almost completely been taken over by a much less pleasant Brummie accent. I accept they probably needed to build new towns in those days but I wish they had done just that - built a NEW town, perhaps on the lines of Milton Keynes, instead of trying to graft on to an existing one, wrecking it in the process.

[grahamhobbs]

I hate London with a passion....................................., the place is disgusting! Reminds me of what I used to imagine during history lessons about Tudor times and all the stuff they used to chuck into the streets, including human effluent. Yuk!

I guess everyone here hates London, well, I've lived here all my life and so do I, although I suppose it is a love / hate relationship. It has changed so much since my childhood, yes back then it was a filthy dirty place: smogs that meant you couldn't see the other side of the street for a week (luvly no school). Everything was coal fired, nothing stayed clean. But it seemed like a place of certainties, there was work, the docks were buzzing, factories belched smoke, everyone seemed the same or at least 'in the same boat'. It was a working class town with a strong identity.
How it has changed, gone has the cockney sparrow (haven't seen a sparrow (the bird) in years), now we have people from every corner of the earth and go-getting kids from the rest of the country. It is so rare that I meet a real Londoner. The pub has almost disappeared, except those brasserie types for the trendy young things, replaced by every imaginable fast food take away you can think of.
Working class slums where families lived in rented rooms, three or four families sharing the house, have all become posh middle class homes (transformed by massive government grants) and the people that did live there moved out to Romford, Dagenham and beyond. London is now for the well off or the poor immigrant.
But amoungst it all is that buzz you not get anywhere else and within that there is fortunately the tranquility of my allotment. (Except for those pesky foreigners, the grey squirrel)

[RuthG]

There's a really oldy worldy pub with bare boards on the floor and a nice bar (and reasonable prices too for London) in Shoreditch. It's called The Barley Mow and is in Curtain Road, if you're near enough to check it out. (It's opposite the office I have to go to from time to time!)

[grahamhobbs]

Ruth, although I work not far from there (the other side of Brick Lane). I'm not sure I'd venture into such a trendy part of town.

[RuthG]

If that's trendy, Im not sure what the down town part is like! Unless you were being ironic, of course.

That end of Curtain Road, just by Old Street, doesnt seem that trendy to me. Though Hubby did once spot Gordon Ramsey doing a cocktail evening in the Hoxton Pony, which is in the same street.

[noplasticbags]

All I miss is what it used to be before a "Development Corporation" moved in on it. A sleepy country market town transformed into an overspill for some of the nastier parts of Birmingham without a thought for what they were destroying. At a stroke it went from somewhere pleasant to grow up to somewhere the "old" locals couldn't wait to leave. Needless to say I rarely go back and leave depressed every time I do. Even the lovely Worcestershire burr has almost completely been taken over by a much less pleasant Brummie accent. I accept they probably needed to build new towns in those days but I wish they had done just that - built a NEW town, perhaps on the lines of Milton Keynes, instead of trying to graft on to an existing one, wrecking it in the process.

Oh Graye - my mum is still there and still distinguishes between the "real" side of town and "the new town". I'm just old enough to remember the town centre being demolished for the shopping centre. But on the plus-side the roundabouts are famous!

SleepyOwl - you are lucky your doctor still keeps you on. My family is still just about managing to stay with our doctor, but as we have moved 7 miles away (and tbf there is a doctor's in our village - but I can't stand the idea of all the neighbour's knowing when you are ill etc) we have been warned to keep quiet about how we are not in their catchment area or we may have to move!

[KathyLauren]

What exactly constitutes my how town is up for grabs, but I will go with the place where I spent most of my childhood and adult life. What do I miss the most? I'm tempted to say "not a d*** thing," but that would be an exaggeration. I miss the clear skies, the mountains, and I miss cross-country skiing. I don't miss the traffic, the crime, the anonymity, the far right-wing ideology, the big city anonymity.

[Graye]

Aha, noplasticbags, you guessed where I was talking about!

I don't know about the roundabouts being famous, I can get lost around them as easily as wink. Firstly they all look the same to me, and also because I think I know where things ought to be but they are not. Outsiders who just follow the signs probably do far better than people like me who are convinced they should really still be able to find their own way around somewhere they once knew so well.

[grahamhobbs]

If that's trendy, Im not sure what the down town part is like! ......................

Shoreditch / Hoxton is THE trendiest part of London. It has more bars, clubs, restaurants per sq.in than anywhere, come nightfall the streets are heaving.

[Millymollymandy]

Guess London has changed since I was living there.

[Mrs H]

Although I currently live in my hometown after spending 8yrs in Kent and doing my Real growing up there I class it as my hometown and if we had the money would move back today, bad decisions brought us home!!
I miss so much about Kent, the weather, the way of life, my friends.xxx

[RuthG]

If that's trendy, Im not sure what the down town part is like! ......................

Shoreditch / Hoxton is THE trendiest part of London. It has more bars, clubs, restaurants per sq.in than anywhere, come nightfall the streets are heaving.

That's true enough, but I wouldnt want to live there and I dont miss it when Im home.

[noplasticbags]

[quote="Graye"]
I don't know about the roundabouts being famous

What!! How could you lived without this -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/271 ... bouts.html (Unless you live in Redditch this will be really boring to anyone else)

Although I lived there for my first 19 years, really I consider the "hometown" I miss as Bournemouth - yet I was only there 3 years. Think that has more to do with me being landlocked here and really loving the sea than anything else though

[Milims]

I'll let you know if I ever leave it! How sad am I???

[Graye]

What!! How could you lived without this -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/271 ... bouts.html (Unless you live in Redditch this will be really boring to anyone else)

I had never heard of that! I suppose living 200 miles away now might be the reason though. Funnily enough there wasn't an island in the whole town when I learned to drive. We had to drive the five miles to Studley to find one to be tested for island stuff...