The return of community in The View from the Terrace

Louise and I were talking this morning about how things were when I was a child, how there was much more of a sense of community then, people were always there to help out in a crisis. My parents ran a pub and, for years, they had to take separate holidays because they couldn’t find anyone who could take over while they were away. Dad had a bullmastif, which complicated the issue even further. The dog was too big and strong for Mum to manage, but there was always a customer who volunteered to take him for a walk while Dad was away. Eventually my parents found Mrs Evans when she applied for a job as a barmaid. She was a treasure; the widow of a publican who had owned a large dog for years. She was able to move in for a week, the customers walked the dog for her and we had our first family holiday together when I was 9 years old.

In those days no one threw away clothes or household items that were no longer needed, they were passed on to someone else. I remember a woman who lived in our street who had 5 boys. She told Mum she wanted a little girl, so they kept trying. Perhaps it was not a wise thing to do as they were not well off, but when she gave birth to number 6, and it was a girl, my mother collected all of my outgrown clothes and a few toys, we put them in my old dolls pram and wheeled them up the street.

In times of illness people helped each other. When I was 9 my mother had to go into hospital for a few days for a minor operation. The day after she went in I came down with measles, and there was my father with a pub to run, a wife in hospital and a sick child to care for. My great aunt from across the road, who was in her late 70s tried to help but it was too much for her. Then the mother of a friend of mine, who was a nurse but not working, volunteered to come in each day while her child was at school.

When I was 14 we left my hometown of Shrewsbury and moved to Bognor Regis. I found people very cold and indifferent there. At the time I thought it was the place, but in retrospect I think life was changing in general and people cared less about each other. It was probably that changes came to the south east first.

Now, with the pandemic things seem to be changing back. Everyone is pulling together, neighbourhood groups are being set up and people are shopping for total strangers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, afterwards, things stayed like this and something good came out of these difficult times.