Grumpy Old Man
Here are a grumpy old man's thoughts about the 21st century which he then contrasts to Ushaw Moor in the 'old days'. The sun always shone in days gone by but it always rains now. Yes well...
21st CENTURY
We have over choice, complicated appliances, Rap masquerading as art, greedy football and bad manners. And there is a lot more to moan about [I have noticed that it is fashionable to start sentences with And - so I thought I would write one].
Weekly shopping brings me near to paralysis because of the over choice and it is reminds me of the immense poverty in many countries, which is an absolute and largely unnecessary scandal.
Rap - I cannot get my head around this - I do not find it very entertaining although many people gather and pay to witness it so maybe they think it is. Some people find it creative,cultural, a useful tool of communication, and a release of feeling but I would not pay a pound to go and listen to it; the lack of diction that often accompanies it would render it incomprehensible to me anyway.
I would not go to watch Arsenal or Derby County [yes I know that is going from the sublime to the currently ridiculous] if the charge was thirty pounds or more - even if they were playing half a mile away from me. I could buy two excellent history books for that amount. Supply and demand, as well as wealth backers, have distorted the 'people's game' to the point where it begins to look like a pig's trough.
Now and again, when I am walking down a pathway, I meet several people who expect me to move aside and on to the main road - even though I am clearly about forty years older them, have a bit of a hearing problem and there is unseen traffic from behind.
So many of a washing machine's options are, at times, baffling and almost as hard to understand as mathematics. My wife has no such problem but ofcourse women are generally cleverer then men. Women can do three things at once whereas men can only do one and even then they sometimes do that one task badly.
Whilst there are many bank employees that adopt a professional approach to their work the banks themselves, in the main, have lost the right to be classed as professional towards their customers. Fail to read the small print at your peril.
Watches that cost in the region of a thousand pounds are sometimes less accurate than watches that are much cheaper. I know because I have compared them. I suppose the attraction is the brand label that gives the financially poor a perception that they have joined the beautiful and glamorous people.
The popularity of tee shirts and pullovers, with messages on them that have no real connection with the wearer, really puzzle me. Examples are 'New York Yankees 1947' or just '47'. It is weird.
USHAW MOOR IN THE OLD DAYS
Working class loyalty was self evident. People made their own entertainment and enjoyed it in the company of like people - whether it was around a piano in the pub or at home with the kids.They helped each other out during hard times. Yes there were exceptions.
Chatting outside was a familiar sight and done mostly by women; often it turned out to be for the benefit of the wider community.
The bank manager was a kindly man or woman but it was difficult to get any money out of the manager.
The sweet smell of freshly mown grass, and the Ushaw Moor openers coming out to bat, was often an overture to an Ushaw Moor victory.
Children down the beck and bluebells in the wood, Sun in the sky followed by blackberry pie....
Sunday usually meant best clothes, lovely Yorkshire puddings and maybe later on a couple of Quality Street chocolates from nan.
A REALITY CHECK
Most of the work at the colliery was horrendous and dangerous for coalminers. Too many were maimed or died. They did not have the facility of pit baths at Ushaw Moor although some mines did. How many people, these days, will argue that Ushaw Moor was better off with its coalmine?
Money was in short supply for education and many, but not all, of the miners' children suffered. Parental and teacher expectations were low. Now, comparatively speaking, money is thrown at education and if used wisely it is a magnificent development.
Women were not fully emancipated in the 1940s and 50s despite earlier efforts by Mrs Stopes, the Suffragettes and others.I know that some women became more independent by virtue of war work but Society was still very conservative [with a small c]. That has now changed to a large extent and should be celebrated and protected. There is still a lot to be done however, for example, in the area of equal wages for women.
By Wilf Bell
Are the men of Ushaw Moor going to allow me to treat women as the superior race or will they be out there tapping away at the PC tomorrow? I imagine they are too busy writing Christmas cards during this rainy season or perhaps cleaning the gutters out!
If I can find the time I will write another article in March or April next year.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to the residents of Ushaw Moor - both past and present.
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