The other day my brain was underemployed and I fell to thinking about the inhabitants of the homes - the ones I know about, anyway.
We have an artist, a retired art teacher, two builders (not related), two accountants (not related), two high profile events organisers, long-term unemployed people, care workers, several working teachers, lots of retired teachers, a working GP and a retired GP (not related), a world champion motor cyclist, IT executive, council worker, a plumber/electrician, veterinary nurse, a few retired farmers, working farmers, a potter, publicans, brewery director, car repair mechanic, dog groomer, retired engineer, a working nurse, a retired nurse, an ex BBC producer, a rather successful show jumping/dressage eventer, farm workers, housewives, pensioners...
One of these days I must count the number of houses, however, it would be fair to say there cannot possibly be more than two hundred between the three villages, so quite a diverse group of people for such a small number of homes.
Most residents get on pretty well and end up staying for years, although there are one or two houses which are bought and sold over and over. The people who end up in one of them in particular, seem to arrive quite happily but leave after a couple of years having fallen out with people for one reason or another. It is not a house with close neighbours, either. Very odd.
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| aerial view of the larger village |
As with anywhere, people come and people go and, unless you maintain links with the village pub (yes, we are lucky enough to still have ours), attend the village hall coffee mornings, or listen to village gossip, it can be months or even years before you learn that someone has died, or moved out/moved in, especially if you live a little away from the heart of the village.
I have found this out the hard way on three or four occasions.
I like how your village neighbors are a varied group and that you know a bit about them.
ReplyDeleteTiny snippets, mostly through all the dog walking I have done over the last couple of decades, Terra! Three tiny villages of quite unremarkable houses, no shops or services, but an interesting and varied cast of inhabitants.
DeleteAn interesting collection! Pity that you have no shop...but sometimes local pubs expand slightly in that direction...
ReplyDeleteA few years ago the pub was considering opening a small shop but it came to nothing. Tiny as this village is we had a Post Office, Grocery Shop, a Butcher, a Blacksmith, a Cobbler, Joiner, and also ran a GP surgery a few days a week...as well as two small slaughter houses.
DeleteAnd all that has been sucked away to the nearest town....and from there to some faceless out of town barn....
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