Country mouse goes to the big city
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Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
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.
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Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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
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
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
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. Cornwall
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
So, a country mouse who is presently stuck in a town mouse house.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
We're in a very rural and quiet setting, so we holiday at busy resorts! Done Benidorm a couple of times.peetee wrote:So, a country mouse who is presently stuck in a town mouse house.
Mick F. Cornwall
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
Tangled Metal wrote: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.
Last edited by pete75 on 15 Jan 2019, 3:26pm, edited 1 time in total.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
I'm more country mouse than city, but Mr. V is the opposite. We live in the city. Cycling & skiing are my compensation
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
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.
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Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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?
Lochland? Don't know that place. Is it next to the Glen's in South Wales ex coal mining area?
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Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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?
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?
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
Tangled Metal wrote: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.
Last edited by pete75 on 15 Jan 2019, 4:37pm, edited 1 time in total.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
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.
Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me. This is my life
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Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
Mick F wrote: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)
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
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.
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.
Cyril Haearn wrote: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.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
Re: Country mouse goes to the big city
Tangled Metal wrote:
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)