First of a 5-parter last night had Billy Bragg reading a brilliantly evocative portrait of what Jonathan Meades would define as the edgelands of Essex, which I regarded as my home space before moving south west to where I am now happily living, and have re-visited for old time's sake, taking my bike along the District Line to Upminster. I can't wait to hear the remainder of this series.
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Not uninterestingOriginally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
and reminding me of a short spell I had working in London with an 'Essex girl' (before they'd been invented), with her frequent references to Harold Hill, Collier Row, Dagenham, Romford (where she lived). And perhaps Radio 3 will move away from the populous south east of England and have a 5-part series about, say, Somerset with its heritage of coal-mining, quarrying, cider-making, withy cutting.
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. -
Essex is somewhat ambivalent in its relationship with London. As one drives up the M25 from the Kent side to the A12 junction, the sign into the slip road reads "A12 Left London, Right Chelmsford, Colchester, East Anglia", and Dad used to insist, "But we're IN East Anglia!" Someone I got to know on a course at Writtle College in the 1990s, near Chelmsford, who travelled up from Hornchurch, which is just south of Romford, insisted that he and everyone residing there were from "East London", but were not East Enders; whereas many on the north side of Romford thought of themselves as Essex people. Two lasses in their 30s I knew from Collier Row, who worked as care workers, when asked if they thought of themselves as Londoners - after all, Havering DC, of which Romford is a part, lies within the Greater London boundary, and has done so since the mid-60s - responded in the broad local accent that has little remaining rural Esssex in it, "Wot - us Londoners?? Nah, we ain't LONDONERS, we're Essex gels!... none of that vulgar Cockney stuff where we come from"! There was clearly a generational demarcation line there - many of their predecessors who would have settled in that large stretch of what became London suburbia between the 1920s and 1950s would have proudly worn their Cockney heritage like badges of honour. I wonder, from your point of view, the extent to which Bristolian suburbanites ever thought of themselves as either being Gloucestershire- or Somerset-born, depending on which side of the Avon. I can't remember what year Bristol became its own county - I believe it has reverted now to its neighbours, would I be right?Originally posted by french frank View PostNot uninteresting and reminding me of a short spell I had working in London with an 'Essex girl' (before they'd been invented), with her frequent references to Harold Hill, Collier Row, Dagenham, Romford (where she lived). And perhaps Radio 3 will move away from the populous south east of England and have a 5-part series about, say, Somerset with its heritage of coal-mining, quarrying, cider-making, withy cutting.Comment
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Noting your comments about Essex/London which were touched on in the programme, and addressing your question: in the 19th c., technically Somerset was south of the river, Gloucestershire north of the river and Bristol local neighbourhood addresses might include one or the other. But Bristol had been granted a charter back in 1373 as a 'city and county' with a 'corporation'. I'm not sure whether people on the fringes thought of themselves as being in Somerset or Gloucestershire, but when the 'county of Avon' briefly existed after the 1974 local government changes many people hated the whole idea of 'Avon' and were glad to see the back of it. Not sure whether Bristol is again a 'city and county' or just a boring old 'unitary authority'.Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Well it's certainly a city, with one cathedral and a church (St Mary Redcliffe) which could easily pass for one. Avon is best known as a door-to-door range of cosmetics!Originally posted by french frank View Post
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Two cathedrals, actually. There's Clifton cathedral too. Plus, as you say, "The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England."Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
Is there? Any good? They've never knocked on my doorOriginally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostAvon is best known as a door-to-door range of cosmetics!
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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A favourite film of mine is virtually a hymn to the traditional Essex , 'The Wayward Heart' with Bill Nighy. Lots of lanes down to estuaries.Comment
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britain's most ferally right-wing county. Apparently.Comment
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Interesting use of the word ferally. Are theyOriginally posted by ChandlersFord View Post
feral because they are right wing or because they are from Essex?Comment
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"Ode to Essex"? And there was me thinking it was going to be a paean to Elizabeth I's ill fated one time favourite!Comment
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I suspect 'feral right-wing' refers to people who espouse right-wing views not from detailed study or considered ethical reasons but from animal instincts. Makes sense, innit?Comment
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