Antics of #Villagelife – (A young person’s view of rural life)
Those that didn’t live in a village whilst they were young, will never truly understand the things you get up to. People under estimate the experiences of living in the countryside, walking out your front door to a pile of horse poop being one of them. Strong friendships and memories are forged, that later on in life remind you how good it was to live in a traditional village in middle England.
From being raised in East (Best) Langton, there had to be some ability of playing cricket. Along with cycling, rounders and sledging in the winter, cricket is one of the most traditional English village games to play. It might not have matched playing rugby in the pub garden and being thrown in the plants for a try, but the camaraderie of the sport brings all ages together.
If that’s not your sport, there is always the trek to a takeaway – in our case McDonald’s – or perhaps collecting your ball from the next door neighbours after thinking that overhead kick was a good idea.
Whilst my parents took on local land owners in order to preserve green space, I was in the back garden learning how to burn paper with a magnifying glass. If I wasn’t using my parents’ ornaments, I would be roaming the village with water fights and stick wars (hitting each other with sticks, who would have guessed?). Accidents from these activities are inevitable for a child, whether this be watching your mate slide across the concrete after trying to impress with a new bike skill, or receiving a snowball to the face with stones in it!
Catching the bus in the countryside can also be entertaining, with roads that receive little grit in winter, the chances of even making it to school are slim. Then there were the Morris Dancers outside the pub, which were later joined by an ice cream van in the village centre. That’s when you knew summer was upon us.
So next time you’re on your Fortnight game, or chatting online to your neighbour rather than getting up and seeing them face to face, open the door and enjoy life from a young perspective. You can Pokémon Go for the rest of your life, but being adventurous and getting into trouble only lasts whilst you’re young. Enjoy village life.
John Williams
Foxton Primary School News
