Country mouse goes to the big city

[Tangled Metal]

Went to Manchester today. First time for at least 10 years I think since I've been to somewhere that big and populous. Well apart from Edinburgh to fly from the airport there. I felt completely out of place.

I guess that's like if you suddenly dumped a townie in the Lakeland hills they'd feel just as lost in their Nike kit and street puffer jackets with apple wireless ear buds in their ears or massive headphones over them.

So what are you? Country mouse or town mouse? Or are you both?

Reference to mice should be obvious if you've had enough experience of reading books to pre-schoolers in the last 5+ years.

[Cyril Haearn]

Used to know London well, sure I would find it daunting now. Apart from changing trains (tube Paddington-Waterloo/KX) I was last there 1996

Knew the Loch District well too, would love to go back there, bet it hasnae changed much, just the zipwires

Plus One for this thread, it got my brain working. Have London/Manchester changed a lot, or have we changed/developed/progressed more?

I am a leafy suburb mouse

[Mick F]

Country-mouse born and bred.
Yes, I'm of Lancastrian heritage and was educated in Wigan, but in those days it was a nice quiet place.
We lived in Standish and later in Wrightington, and still later, Newburgh ........... if you want to look them up.

You wouldn't get me living up up there again for all the tea in China.

[peetee]

I crave peace and natural surroundings and dislike constantly active, frenetic places. Holidays on a cramped beach, theme park or hotel complex have never been my thing. Give me a deserted mountain top or secluded cove any day.
So, a country mouse who is presently stuck in a town mouse house.

[Mick F]

So, a country mouse who is presently stuck in a town mouse house.

We're in a very rural and quiet setting, so we holiday at busy resorts! Done Benidorm a couple of times.

[pete75]

Went to Manchester today. First time for at least 10 years I think since I've been to somewhere that big and populous. Well apart from Edinburgh to fly from the airport there. I felt completely out of place.

I guess that's like if you suddenly dumped a townie in the Lakeland hills they'd feel just as lost in their Nike kit and street puffer jackets with apple wireless ear buds in their ears or massive headphones over them.

So what are you? Country mouse or town mouse? Or are you both?

Reference to mice should be obvious if you've had enough experience of reading books to pre-schoolers in the last 5+ years.

Hmm from what you've said in the past I thought you were a townie not a countryside dweller. The Lakeland hills are full of townies, most of the dressed and shod appropriately. Wainwright himself was a townie born and bred in Blackburn although I may be doing it a disservice to imply it's a town - I think it may be a cathedral city.

[Vorpal]

I'm more country mouse than city, but Mr. V is the opposite. We live in the city. Cycling & skiing are my compensation

[Tangled Metal]

I don't fit in any category completely. Town / country, posh/common, middle class / working class, northern / southern, etc. So I quite understand your assumption that I'm a townie.

Truth is I'm a country mouse that being born to townies and middle class townies who commute to work I am not fully country. However put me in the country then I'm happiest and most able to get by. Put me in a city and I'm uncomfortable, overwhelmed and more than a little bit oppressed.

I'm happier skinning a rabbit and cooking it than buying a macdonalds or eating out in a city restaurant. Roadkill for dinner doesn't make us squeamish (only if it's not completely flat off course).

I'm no farmer but I've lived in the country for almost all of my life. To clarify that, I consider a semi - rural, small town that I live in as more country than town. Afterall, less then 5 minutes I'm into open countryside. Previous to this house I was living in proper rural countryside (3 years at uni plus another year afterwards doesn't quite count because where I lived wasn't my home).

Nope, today was uncomfortable for me. I must have looked like a scared rabbit blinking in the bright lights of the city when I came out of Piccadilly station. Until I got my sense of direction. A bit of open sky and I soon realised it's the same sun in the sky.

[Tangled Metal]

Lakeland? Yes, plenty of foreigners visit there fortunately they tend to go home again. I still remember hearing the first Essex / East ender sounding visitor. It was probably only 6 years ago. Never heard that accent in the lakes before. It sounded so out of place I think I laughed. Usually it's scousers in the south and geordies in the North that you hear a lot of.

Lochland? Don't know that place. Is it next to the Glen's in South Wales ex coal mining area?

[Cyril Haearn]

The Loch District is nearly in Scotland, seen from the south

Maybe TM should visit Manchester more often, aversion therapy, that is recommended for some people who are scared of spiders for example

Do many foreigners from overseas visit the Lake District?

[pete75]

I don't fit in any category completely. Town / country, posh/common, middle class / working class, northern / southern, etc. So I quite understand your assumption that I'm a townie.

Truth is I'm a country mouse that being born to townies and middle class townies who commute to work I am not fully country. However put me in the country then I'm happiest and most able to get by. Put me in a city and I'm uncomfortable, overwhelmed and more than a little bit oppressed.

I'm happier skinning a rabbit and cooking it than buying a macdonalds or eating out in a city restaurant. Roadkill for dinner doesn't make us squeamish (only if it's not completely flat off course).

I'm no farmer but I've lived in the country for almost all of my life. To clarify that, I consider a semi - rural, small town that I live in as more country than town. Afterall, less then 5 minutes I'm into open countryside. Previous to this house I was living in proper rural countryside (3 years at uni plus another year afterwards doesn't quite count because where I lived wasn't my home).

Nope, today was uncomfortable for me. I must have looked like a scared rabbit blinking in the bright lights of the city when I came out of Piccadilly station. Until I got my sense of direction. A bit of open sky and I soon realised it's the same sun in the sky.

I used to live in the countryside, nearest neighbour 1/2 mile one side a mile the other, but no longer am now in a village pop about 200.

[Paulatic]

Definitely a country mouse I’m sure those city mice realise that and it must hurt them awfully to be met with a smile and trust.
I’ve lived in a detached house since the age of eight so never had near neighbours. I’m in a village now of approximately 25 widespread houses. Current neighbours are 100 yards away so the closest I’ve ever had in the last 30+ years.

[Cyril Haearn]

Country-mouse born and bred.
Yes, I'm of Lancastrian heritage and was educated in Wigan, but in those days it was a nice quiet place.
We lived in Standish and later in Wrightington, and still later, Newburgh ........... if you want to look them up.

You wouldn't get me living up up there again for all the tea in China.

Mick F, Springs Branch number 56 (a railway depot near Wigan)

[mjr]

I'm probably a country mouse, but I've lived in a town, then a village, then a city, then a town, then a village, then a town, then a village... so I'm OK with either. I just have to remember not to say hello to everyone I see in towns, else they look at me funny.

Used to know London well, sure I would find it daunting now. Apart from changing trains (tube Paddington-Waterloo/KX) I was last there 1996

Knew the Loch District well too, would love to go back there, bet it hasnae changed much, just the zipwires

Plus One for this thread, it got my brain working. Have London/Manchester changed a lot, or have we changed/developed/progressed more?

Manchester's changed a bit in recent years, but I think it's maybe more localised and fitful. The northern quarter around Victoria was the last big change I noticed.

London's changed a lot since 1996, especially for getting around: congestion charge, cycle hire, bye bye bendy buses, DLR extensions, Cycle Superhighways, London Overground, soon Crossrail. Changing Paddington to Waterloo is pretty simple now (mostly Cycle Superhighway 3, then Westminster Bridge and turn left onto Route 4) and Paddington to KGX is no longer choice of drag races it once was (but much of it is through Westminster, so 1980s-style narrow cycle routes). It's well worth a visit: I suggest the Ride London Saturday Freecycle if you want a day riding around without worrying about motorists.

[gbnz]

I'm happier skinning a rabbit and cooking it than buying a macdonalds

Reminds me of snapping the necks of a couple of pigeons (Nb. They'd got into the habit of roosting over my bikes and covering them with &%%^&). I'd casually mentioned it at work, as the heads came off without an issue.

Didn't find out for a couple of years that evyerone thought I'd been joking (Nb. Have to admit I didn't fancy eating them and got the gamekeeper to shoot another)