General > Humour

Poor London..

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Otis:
Dave,

Lovely that you recognised and remembered the fabulous video. I had meant to mention that it was so many of the comments below the video that nostalgically remembered London from the time. All cities had there issues but I haven't been near London for 20 years and have no desire to ever go there again. I went to Brussels for a day whilst staying in Leuven 10 years ago and got out after about 2hrs because I was so uncomfortable and for PC reasons I shall not tell you why. London today is no different.

Spitfire:
Apart from the obvious tourisy places London is not the place that I would want to be, we normally go down there on a coach to vist places like the tower., Wembley, museums etc.
What always hits us is the poor condition of the houses outside of the posh parts, its as if the price of houses are so high that people just do not maintain them, or more unkindley do not care about them.
The streets look very untidy and are ill kept, we lived in Thailand for a long time and one of our friends took his Thai girlfriend to where he used to live in London, we thought that she would be impressed however she was appalled at the dirt and litter and general state of the place.
There does also seem to be a lack of planning as you have some suburban streets with giant tower block looming over them, and these seem to be new construction.

Dennis

Athame57:
WOW...this thread went places! Hey, it's my #1812 post....lets celebrate!
https://youtu.be/_ZAdEAkUTJU?si=nnIeQGl3Mns38iVG

Otis:

--- Quote from: Laverda Dave on November 28, 2025, 12:45:33 PM ---
--- Quote from: Otis on November 28, 2025, 07:53:56 AM ---So sad to see what has become of such a wonderful city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLESaA_XrA&list=RDxJLESaA_XrA&start_radio=1

--- End quote ---

I am a Londoner, lived here for 63 years having been born in south London and moving to west London in 1971.

I recognise all the places in that video and sung by Jackie Trent who was married to Tony Hatch who was a composer (he wrote the Crossroads theme tune and was a panellist on New Faces and went on to discover Showaddywaddy, Roger De-Corsy with Nokkie Bear, Marti Webb and others).

Who ever made the video didn’t pay much attention to continuity, she walked through Aldgate station (the terminus of the Metropolitan line of the London Underground) and goes down to the platform to get on a train but then it cuts to her crossing Blackfriars Bridge on the Southern Railway! The guy is on a 1938 tube stock train.


--- End quote ---

Please don't spoil the illusion of a life that once was! Who said never let the truth get in the way of a good story?

I hope you find what you are looking for; West Sussex always welcomes nice people.

K2-K6:
I hope you find what you are looking for; West Sussex always welcomes nice people.

"THE SOUTH COUNTRY"

When I am living in the Midlands,
That sodden and unkind,
I light my lamp in the evening:
My work is left behind;
And the great hills of the South Country
Come back into my mind.

The great hills of the South Country
They stand along the sea,
And it's there, walking in the high woods,
That I would wish to be,
And the men that were boys when I was a boy
Walking along with me.

The men that live in North England
I saw them for a day;
Their hearts are set upon the waste fells,
Their skies are fast and grey;
From their castle-walls a man may see
The mountains far away.

The men that live in West England
They see the Severn strong,
A-rolling on rough water brown
Light aspen leaves along.
They have the secret of the rocks
And the oldest kind of song.

But the men that live in the South Country
Are the kindest and most wise,
They get their laughter from the loud surf,
And the faith in their happy eyes
Comes surely from our sister the Spring
When over the sea she flies;
The violets suddenly bloom at her feet,
She blesses us with surprise.

I never get between the pines
But I smell the Sussex air;
Nor I never come on a belt of sand
But my home is there.
And along the sky the line of the Downs
So noble and so bare.

A lost thing could I never find,
Nor a broken thing mend;
And I fear I shall be all alone
When I get towards the end.
Who will there be to comfort me
Or who will be my friend?

I will gather and carefully make my friends
Of the men of the Sussex Weald;
They watch the stars from silent folds,
They stiffly plough the field.
By them and the God of the South Country
My poor soul shall be healed.

If I ever become a rich man,
Or if ever I grow to be old,
I will build a house with deep thatch
To shelter me from the cold,
And there shall the Sussex songs be sung
And the story of Sussex told.

I will hold my house in the high wood,
Within a walk of the sea,
And the men that were boys when I was a boy
Shall sit and drink with me.

By Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953).

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