what do you miss about your hometown?

[Andy Hamilton]

Had a few things reminding me of my hometown of Northampton lately and whilst I'd never move back there are things that I miss. I thought it might be good to try and put down five.

Knowing where most of my friends/family live and being able to walk to their house.
Being able to walk into many pubs and know that I will know someone in there.
Knowing where to go to get cheap or even free things - I used to get free glasses, free beer, meals, haircuts.
Being able to walk to anywhere I need to go in the town.
afternoons in the Racehorse garden.

[baldybloke]

My roots run deep as I have lived within a 2 mile radius for all of my 53 years. In fact I have lived within a 200 yard radius for 46 of those years. I did have a couple of months living in the big smoke of Swindon though.

[Thomzo]

Funny, although I wasn't born there I feel that Bristol is my home town.
Lots of things I miss about it: theatres, cinemas, art galleries, shopping, dancing. Lots of things I don't miss though: traffic, traffic, traffic, crime, traffic.

Zoe

[Thomzo]

I did have a couple of months living in the big smoke of Swindon though.

Two months is quite enough for anybody I'd say.

Zoe

[spider8]

Having had parents that had wanderlist and never being in one place for more than three years, I find it hard to say where my hometown was! I can honestly say that my last place of residence isn't missed at all and I couldn't list 5 things I miss but could list 5 things I don't miss - traffic, noise, crime, litter and our bloody awful neighbour!

[MuddyWitch]

I grew up on a borstal estate in Nottinghamshire that (even for the sixties) was stuck in a time warp: the farms had heavy horses & most of the work was done manually, due to all the captive labour. I loved the freedom to run barefoot through the fields, go out at the crack of dawn & return at dusk without my parents worrying, to eat from the unpoluted hedges & fields, drink milk straight from the cow & know that every-one was a friend, or at worst a friend of a friend.

The borstal became, briefly, a young offenders' centre then closed completely. The main building was demolished & now a huge, high secruity prison stands on the old site, the quarters are all sold off as private housing & my childhood home has gone. For many years I felt I was homesick for a disappeared world.

BUT the FEEL of that happy childhood atmosphere does still exist...in Ireland, so that's why we're off there just as soon as we can be

MW

[Millymollymandy]

I don't have a hometown exactly either - would that be the 2 neighbouring small towns where I spent most of my childhood/teenage years or the years I lived in London?

Of the former, don't miss a thing.

Of London - well - I actually DO miss a few things - mostly being the variety of foodstuffs available from so many different ethinic cultures - like that Greek Cypriot shop on the corner which sold wonderfu olives and olive oil and Greek easter cookies, to the Indian sweet shops of Southall (wasn't where I lived but even so ), to the takeaways delivered to your door - mmmmm I have many happy memories but whilst I would love to go back as a tourist for a visit I'm very happy not to be living there any more!

[growingthings]

I'm like Baldybloke, I'm still there, or near enough, Norfolk has never been entirely accessible without your own transport as despite living less than 10 miles from my parents I would have to walk four miles to catch a bus to see them! Or travel ten miles in the opposite direction to my nearest town and get a bus back to the folks from there! I did spend about 5 years living in and around Derbyshire / south Yorkshire where my husband is from and that's what I miss about there - functioning public transport links lol!
I got that the wrong way round didn't I ?

Lorna x

[Stonehead]

Hometown? What's that?

I've been on the move since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I've lived in more than 40 places over the years, although I've now been in one place for seven years. I wouldn't even count the town where I was born as my hometown. I have some family still there but the older generations moved there from elsewhere while most of the younger ones have moved away. As have the older ones who didn't die there. Looking at my family history, I'd have to go back 250-300 years to find some people who were born and bred in one location. And even then there were many who weren't.

So, for me, home is wherever I happen to be at. And as I'm always home I never find anything to miss.

[Susie]

My hometown is Chesterfield and I do still miss it. I miss:

Hills + dramatic countryside (Cambs is flat)
Factory shops, markets, never having to pay full price for anything
People calling me duck & I miss having the same accent as everybody else
Knowing people around from years back and being related to half of them
Wandering round little villages in the Peak and having scones and beer (not together)
And obvs. tomato sausages.

Clearly I'm due a visit ;-).

[RuthG]

Until I got married, I never lived anywhere more than 2 years except Bedford (5 years), so what is a 'hometown'?

Born in Liverpool, returned there for Uni, got married there (and stayed another 10 years), son living there (or nearby anyway). Do I miss it? Yes. I miss the friendliness of the people, the accent (sometimes - I dont have one - travelled too far afield), the Mersey (dirty, but fun watching boats and in the old days, ships)

Travelled around various parts of Lancashire after that for about 8 years, in several different homes, the settled in Bedford for 5 years. Well, in a village outside. Do I miss that? Yes, because I never wanted to leave and still, 40 years on, feel like it is an uncompleted part of my life. It was also one of the happiest times of my life pre marriage. (In fact was wandering around the village there last night on google street view - how sad is that!)

Where I live now, would I miss it if I left (been here 16 years) - NOT A CHANCE! Be glad to see the back of it!

[boboff]

Funnily I feel at home where I live too. Having been born in Plymouth, we moved to Bristol when I was 14, my parents moved to Poole and I drifted over to North Somerset.

Like Andy, things I liked about growing up were being able to Walk to see friends, walking Miles just in case your girl friends parents were out! I miss the Young Farmers, and all the activities that came with that, and in allot of ways I miss being on my own and being able to move all my possessions from one rented room to the next in a back pack on a 100cc Motorbike! Family and houses and hobies and jobs all add to the Yoke of being a grown up.

Still, LIFEGOESON.

[Green Aura]

My hometown is Chesterfield and I do still miss it. I miss:

Hills + dramatic countryside (Cambs is flat)
Factory shops, markets, never having to pay full price for anything
People calling me duck & I miss having the same accent as everybody else
Knowing people around from years back and being related to half of them
Wandering round little villages in the Peak and having scones and beer (not together)
And obvs. tomato sausages.

Clearly I'm due a visit ;-).

Everything Susie said with the exception of the hills and dramatic countryside - have you seen where I live now (just google Durness ) It's not that I really miss it any more - I've sort of come back to it. Round here the way of life, the village community, lack of crime etc is pretty much as I remember Hasland, only more so. I do miss the market dreadfully, I've never lived anywhere since that can match it - and especially the Market Hall tripe stall! And my mother and I still call each other duck
Don't think I'll be visiting though - don't know anyone there now.

[sleepyowl]

Having my doctor round the corner, I refuse to change my doctor as my local ones are rubbish so I travel 25 miles by bus to see mine. Going for a walk in Sutton Park

[RuthG]

I hate London with a passion. My daughter lives there and my head office is there so I have to spend lots of time there (more than I want). Anything green that dares to rear its head above the pavement slabs is immediately zapped with something noxious; the air is polluted and smells awful; the water isnt drinkable unless filtered (and even then I have my doubts). In short, 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!