Pulling the rug...

I was saddened earlier this week to receive a letter informing me that our local NHS Trust is to withdraw support for our Spalding based mental health peer support group, Blue Skies. The group was set up three years ago to provide a safety net for those who either cannot get timely treatment for their condition or have been 'dropped' and left to fend for themselves by the Trust. At its peak, the group provided support three days a week to 50 members and offered a range of activities at its Spalding base. As a result of the Trust's decision, Blue Skies now faces closure unless it is able to find a way of funding the public liability insurance needed to cover its meetings. How can a group that so clearly does so much good for service users be closed down in the full knowledge that they have nowhere else to turn...?

Our Bloody Roads

It's an odd day today. It doesn't feel as if it fits in. I know it is Friday but it doesn't feel like it. We're in that bit in between Christmas and the New Year. Some people are back at work whilst others have cleverly booked the remainder of the year off, returning to work on January the 3rd or if they are lucky, the 7th.

I woke this morning to news of yet another tragedy to occur on our roads. This time it involved a car leaving the A47 near Walsoken en route to Wisbech yesterday evening. Somehow the car ended up on its side in a ditch and the accident claimed the lives of two young sisters, 7 and 10 from Sutton Bridge, not far from where I live here. Again we are reminded of just how dangerous our roads are. It is not known what caused the accident, but my belief that we have the most dangerous roads (and drivers) in the UK, here in Lincolnshire is strengthened by this latest incident. You really only need drive a few miles to witness some of the most appalling driving habits and risk taking. Poor driving skill is endemic throughout Lincolnshire, particularly in the most rural parts such as here in South Holland where roads are long, speed limits are higher and where police are scarce.

This month will certainly remembered for road tragedies. Earlier today I called my colleague to see how she was following her accident yesterday entering the center of Spalding. Her car too ended up on its side and it is amazing thats he managed to escape with just a few bruises. It is not known how the accident occurred though she claims to have blacked-out. How fortunate that it occurred where it did in a 30 mph zone and not on the busy A17 where cars and lorries hurtle along at 60 mph.

A few ore days of this holiday feeling and then my attention must turn to my role within our support group and creating a database of members' contact details. We should also hear around the 21st January if we have been successful in our bid for funding. Something else I aim to do is to apply for work with a company I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago, Silver Training. They provide in-home tutoring for people who want to learn more about their computers and those who want to install new printers and other peripherals. It is all stuff I have done in the past and maybe it will provide a worthwhile income which could help us immensely.

Another test of my anxiety is coming up tomorrow. We are having tea at my in-laws for a few hours from 4pm. I'm beginning to worry a little about it now. I know I shouldn't but it is a spontaneous reaction I have over which I have very little or no control. At least I can escape into the garden if things get too bad. I've done pretty well over Christmas. Despite is being just the three of us for most of the time, there was the odd occasion when I needed to be sociable, but I did seem to manage quite well.
Looking at my right hand, I am reminded of how bad things can get, particularly if I feel trapped. In a way it's good as it provides a kind of benchmark by which I judge other difficult situations. I don't know if I'm getting better at controlling my anxiety. I prefer to think that I am better at judging and avoiding situations where I could become anxious. I'm hoping it will go OK tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Son

An early start again today. My son is six years old and another stack of presents were waiting for him in the lounge this morning. I love to see him excited. He reminds me so much of myself when I was his age.

Twin rotor heavy-lift helicopter with drive on/drive off tail

Police Station with prison cells, dog kennel, garages and offices

This year he has received a lot of Lego and my wife and I have just finished building a police station and twin rotor helicopter. I'm just hoping he manages to keep it all in one piece! In an ever changing world, Lego remains one of the few constants where its quality can be guaranteed. It seems there is nothing that cannot be modelled or replicated by Lego and I am in awe as to how the creators manage to produce such easy to follow instructions and intricate facsimiles of the things around us.

The huge number of cards he has received is testament to how much he is loved and adored by his family, Godparents and relatives. My sister has once again produced some unique and inspirational cards, all of which would be the envy of Hallmark and other greetings industry favorites. His nanny and granddad on my wife's side called in again earlier today to wish him a Happy Birthday and to see his many presents and cards, which was nice. His aunt and uncle are due to visit this evening

It is difficult to believe that my son is already six years old. It seems like only yesterday that we were at QE Hospital in Kings Lynn, both exhausted following a 48 hour labour. He has grown up so fast since then and I'm constantly amazed at the speed at which he is developing.
His chicken pox doesn't seem to be affecting him too much though he has started to itch a little in places. I suppose it's just as well he's caught it now and hopefully it will be gone in a few more days.

There was a little excitement earlier today when my colleague called me to say that she'd had an accident on the way to a meeting of our group. It happened as she neared the river in Spalding and from what she has described to me, it seems she may have blacked-out and hit a parked car, causing he car to turn on its side. Thankfully she is OK apart from some scratches and bruises and very lucky. I've yet to speak with her at any length and I expect she is still very shaken from the ordeal, but I will call tomorrow to see how she is.
I am reminded that I need to complete the record of our members' contact details, in case of events such as this. It is very important to be able to contact people in emergencies particularly if we have to postpone or cancel meetings.

My wife's return to work tomorrow reminds me that this is a all but a temporary period of fun and relaxation. There are many who despite the break still need their hair maintaining and styled. New Year parties will produce a final surge in demand over the coming days and my wife and her colleagues will frantically try to squeeze in as many perms, blue rinses and highlights as they can on New Year's Eve.
My 'return to normal' will occur New Year's Day, where we have a group meeting for a couple of hours in the morning. It will be nice to see everyone once more and hear how Christmas was for them.

I did manage to contact the people responsible for paying my volunteer expenses and I informed them I had been overpaid. They praised my honesty and pointed out that I should have been paid more than the amount I was expecting, which was nice. They have asked me to pay back the overpayment which of course I will do... in due course.

A Day of change & a damned culture

It feels like a day of change today. This morning we welcomed two new members to our support group. Both are unique and bring their own problems and experiences. I am reminded of just how diverse society is.  It is very easy to get used to people, those you see regularly and interact with. New people bring fresh insight and dynamics, and it is interesting to see the new connections being made between the new and old members of the group. Change can be good, but it can feel odd.

Weather today has been pretty miserable. It's still very misty, but quite mild. My drive to Spalding this morning was peppered with countless mindless idiots who don't understand when they should use the bright shiny lights on the front of their cars. Another (blue Vauxhall Cavalier driver) even thought it would be great to overtake anything in front of him, at speed and without indication. In a changing world, one thing seems to remain constant - the driving skills and behaviour of South Holland road users. Rant over.

I see that Ceefax will be switched off tonight at 11.30pm when Northern Ireland's remaining analogue TV signal is powered down for good. It's amazing to read that Ceefax has been around for 38 years and how at its peak in the 1990's, 20 million viewers regularly used the service, relying on it for their news headlines, weather forecasts and and sports results - all in a simple though blocky format.

The Jimmy Savile scandal is still very much in the news and continues to dominate the headlines. George Entwistle appeared before MP's earlier today to explain why the Newsnight report into the original allegations had been dropped. I like many do find his explanation a little difficult to understand and I question why he was not in the least bit curious as to why the report had been cancelled. I find it very hard to believe that a person in his position would not want to know why, or enquire at the very least into what the report was about.
I do feel that although obviously the person at the centre of the allegations and investigations is Jimmy Savile, what we are also investigating and to some extent blaming, is an entire era and its culture. It seems to me that it is not just the actions of an individual, but a culture that allowed for such actions to take place and go unreported for so long. I cannot believe that no one else knew. One only has to watch an edition of 'Top of the Pops' from the 1970's to see young girls literally falling all over the presenters. Other programmes of the era record over-familiarity between presenters and audience members. There is a stark physical element to many - arms around shoulders and waists, embraces and touching - that today simply would not happen. It would be judged as assault, pure and simple. The culture then was totally different to the culture of today, and it is the culture then that played an important part in allowing the abuse to take place. We judge that period by the standards of today. Yes it was wrong, very wrong but the culture and the society of the 1970's allowed it and expected to see it - a few hours of TV from the period is evidence enough.

My Moodscope rating is 33% today, pretty good.

Spalding, Lincolnshire's own Wild West

I've written before of my fear that Lincolnshire is becoming a lawless county. Indeed, my nearest town of Spalding has deteriorated so much that there is a petition by the local newspaper to rid the town of drugs and anti social behaviour. Many would consider my views about Spalding as rather harsh, but my criticism for the town and the people who police it is reinforced by the fact that my own mother was assaulted on Tuesday last. She had been waiting for a bus at Spalding Bus Station with my father after their regular shopping trip. A young woman was also at the stop yelling and swearing at someone on her mobile phone. Her language was foul and others in the queue had noticed and begun to keep their distance. My mother decided to speak to her and asked her to moderate her language as there were young children in the queue. The woman reacted violently and knocked my mother to the ground. Being nearly 70 years of age and quite frail, she stood no chance and fell to the ground breaking her pelvis. Thankfully there were many in the queue who had witnessed the assault and they held the woman until the police arrived. She has been arrested and she has been charged with assault. My mother is now in Boston's Pilgrim Hospital and it will be some time before she is back home and many months before she is able to walk unaided.

There is no doubt my mother had been in the right to confront the woman. No one should have to listen to someone's foul mouthed rants and the presence of children made it all the more appropriate to intervene. What is appalling is that someone would knock an elderly woman to the ground for what was in effect a minor request that frankly any of us would have made.
I'm thankful of all those who willingly provided witness statements and to the police who made my mother as comfortable as possible until the ambulance arrived.
The woman, for whom violence was her first reaction, now faces the prospect of a court appearance and a life labelled with a criminal record. I can only hope that the penalty, though likely to be light, will in some way change this woman's thinking and perhaps encourage her to better control her reactions in the future.

So, has my view of Spalding worsened as a result of my mother's assault? Yes I'm afraid it has. It is a natural reaction to being affected by what I see as a society out of control. Lincolnshire, is and always will be, a lawless county. It is difficult to police at the best of times, given its size and scattered population, but the reduction in government funding and reduced police numbers has allowed for areas such as Spalding to deteriorate to the point of being a 'Wild West' town that people now choose to avoid.
Besides the obvious physical harm caused, there will be more damaging mental harm which will be impossible to completely heal. I've no way of telling if and how my mother will be affected by this, but in some I know, such an experience can cause agoraphobia and paranoia.

It is so sad that Spalding has become the place it is. The warnings have been there for some time, but very little has been done to rid the town of alcohol fuelled violence, theft, drugs and gangs. Those charged with running the town need to wake up and realise the lasting damage that's being done.
Spalding was once the jewel in Lincolnshire's crown. Not any more.

A Misleading Provider, Olympic Predictions & A Fond Farewell

A pretty stressful week so far which has been dominated by a red reminder from our new electricity provider for the princely sum of £900. This was actually the first notification of any kind that we owed the money and following a call to them querying the amount where I was asked to provide a meter reading, we then received a revised bill for the ludicrous figure of £1,047!
I probably covered this some time ago, but we decided to switch to NPower due to EOn's inability to distinguish me at my address from my father at a completely different address. This persisted for some time and they managed to confuse the two accounts causing enormous stress. They weren't at all interested in retaining us as a customer so we jumped ship to NPower having been promised by them that they would provide a better service with lower monthly bills. How wrong we were, and instead of realistic charges, we were charged double. What's more, they didn't choose to inform us of these charges until now.
So following another stressful phone call yesterday by me (as the account is in my name), it has been agreed that we get moved to a lower tariff and the debt be added to the monthly payment in manageable amounts. Why they didn't put us onto a lower tariff right at the start I do not know. One thing's for sure though, they will be getting a letter of complaint next week, and if we aren't compensated I'll event be writing to the Ombudsman as this has to be tantamount to mis-selling. NPower... not a good advertisement for you, is it?

As we edge closer to the biggest event this country will ever hold, there are mounting concerns over security provision, traffic and transport concerns and the placing of missile systems in residential areas of London. I find it very had to accept any notion or guarantee that the event will pass without incident. I doubt very much whether anyone will attempt to disrupt the games purposely - I suspect our defences will be one of the few things we would have got right. Instead, I suspect that the event will fall foul to at least one of the following (assuming the weather doesn't ruin the whole thing)...

• Traffic congestion  & gridlocked roads.
• Overloaded public transport system and overcrowded stations.
• Failure of mobile phone networks due to overloading.
• Overloading of Internet services.
• Overcrowding and delays at airports.
• Flooding of road and rail routes affecting transit.

I don't wish to be pessimistic, but I really believe that the impact on our already stretched infrastructure have been hugely underestimated. I wonder how many of these I will be ticking?

Yesterday we held our first A&D Support Group meeting at our new venue, the IVO Centre in Spalding. I hadn't been there before and did have trouble locating it at first (due mainly to an upside-down map), but I was very impressed when I finally arrived. The facilities are excellent and we were able to spent the duration of our time there in the garden, a bonus considering the diabolical weather we have been suffering.
I have a feeling over time that our regular venue at the hospital will fall out of favour and that the preference will be to meet at our new venue. There was certainly a general view that we could all 'be ourselves' and not feel slightly intimidated and restrained by our use of NHS premises. In summary, it went well, very well and the atmosphere was a complete contrast to what we have been used to. The group was relaxed, at ease and unencumbered by their surroundings. I look forward to our future meetings there.

It's difficult to believe that the school Summer holiday period is to begin in a week's time. All over the country arrangements are being made for the six week period and many will be taking time off from work for breaks by the sea or at activity or caravan parks. A very lucky few will be off to foreign shores escaping our wet British Summer and the Olympics.

Many parents of school-age children received letters from Lincolnshire NHS this week explaining where their children sit on the Body Mass Index Scale designed to separate the fit from the Obese. We received one of these letters for our son. He scored 99 which places him at the 'Clinically Obese' level. There is nothing of him. OK, he has a little puppy fat, but that's all. He eats a balanced diet and he is healthy. I really don't think letters like this serve any real use other than to turn people against the government led 'nanny state' that is pervading more and more of our lives. Obesity needs to be tacked at source, namely the food industry. Allowing McDonald's and Coke to be major sponsors of the Olympic Games says everything about our government's commitment to tackling obesity.

Finally, it was so sad to hear that Eric Sykes had passed away this week. I'll always remember with fondness his gentle humour and unique talents, much of which is recorded for future generations to appreciate and enjoy as much as I have. Rest In Peace.

Whatever Next...?

I was horrified to read a report in our local Spalding Guardian today that a sheep has actually been butchered in an open field in Spalding. What makes this all the worse, as if it could be, is that the sheep was pregnant and all its four feet had been removed along with some of its innards. How absolutely appalling. Have we really allowed our society to go full circle and return to the days of barbarism and savage acts of wilful depravity? The carcase will no doubt be doing the rounds locally being offered for sale to someone idiot enough to buy it with no questions asked. What they won't know is that the sheep was pumped full of medication to assist it through the lambing phase. This makes it totally unfit for human consumption. It seems the sheep has had the last laugh, well bleat....

Catch these inhuman, savage and feral idiots and lock them up for good.

A Different Venue

There was a different venue on Tuesday for my support group meeting. It was easy to get to being in Spalding and I arrived in good time. The welcome was warm and friendly and I was glad to see other members of my group there. I didn't know what to expect really but it was nothing like what I'm used to on a Tuesday. The event was to promote a small organisation involved in trying to raise awareness and understanding of depression. It seemed to me as if they were trying to bring together other support groups and try to centralise support and care services for those who suffer with the illness. Anything that raises awareness can only be a good thing and I was encouraged to see them taking the subject so seriously. Awareness is certainly key to it, the more people who understand the illness the better. There is such a taboo surrounding depression and I don't believe it is discussed or acknowledged as much as it should be. They could have helped themselves by displaying a sign at the entrance to the venue indicating they were there, or simply placed a small advertisement in the local newspaper. There was really nothing to indicate they were there. The only way I found out about it was through my own support group. In fact we only had one other member of the public venture in to find out more. She was severely disabled and her needs were great due being physically disabled and suffering bipolar disorder. She had no idea there were support groups in the area and that there were others like her prepared to provide a friendly ear and offer help. It was good to know that she would be joining us at our next group meeting.
I don't write about depression very much, though throughout my blog, there are references to my illness and an attempt to describe how I suffer and attempt to deal with it. I am actually quite open about it. I don't mind discussing it and I'm convinced that by talking about it, we begin to better understand it. I don't think we'll ever be able to prevent it. The illness has been around for a very long time, but never understood. It is only now that depression is an illness we are beginning to understand. More people have the confidence to talk about it because others are doing just that. I know myself that having found others prepared to discuss the illness and show an understanding of it, I now have the confidence to open up to others. Without the understanding and support of others, I would still be living with it in silence. I have been told many times to simply 'snap out of it' and to 'stop feeling so miserable'. In fact it still happens. If I had any control over it, would I choose to feel the way I do? I don't think so. There is no real warning to indicate the next bout of depression. It can be triggered all too easily by things going wrong or people saying things that hurt or make me feel bad about myself. This seems to set off a chain reaction which spirals out of control. It does though make people around me feel they should constantly 'walk on egg shells' fearful of saying or doing something that might set me off. This is of course a ridiculous situation to be in and places enormous strain on relationships. I know this to be true having had my marriage stretched to near breaking point on several occasions.
There is a real desire on the part of the sufferer to do things that bring feelings of good or pleasure. More often than not, this involves eating, drinking or smoking. In my case, I know I over-eat to compensate for my mood. I have also self-medicated on codeine as it made me feel better, albeit for brief periods of time. I stupidly took as many as ten tablets a day to keep the feeling there. Without my tablets, I would panic and do anything I could to procure more. I spent hundreds of pounds a year doing just that, buying from online chemists to keep my habit as anonymous as possible. My addiction as lessened thankfully but I do take tramadol regularly for a back problem and these have a similar effect to the codeine but I can take far less amounts for a similar effect. This suits me just fine at the moment. Other than my electronic cigarette, I have no other real vices. OK I have to be constantly attached to it, but this is more down to OCD which I've been reliably informed I also suffer from.
Routine is also important. I tend to do things in a certain order and at roughly the same time each day. This helps me to stay focused and prevents me from slipping into a depressive state or simply sleeping. There is an element of OCD to it. There are things I have to do, and in the right order, or the day is ruined. I don't think this is particularly unusual, there are lots of us that operate to a daily routine, mainly for work. For me, this routine holds things together, and holding together is basically what I do day to day.

CBT and an Eastern Front

Not a bad day really. A little shopping in Wisbech and it was the first time our new little car had been used. It performed very well, very well indeed in fact.
I had my CBT assessment in Spalding at 2pm. It was just a load of questions about the problems I have and how they affect me. I scored quite high on the depression and anxiety grade and the woman who assessed me did remark that I may benefit from some different medication. She said she would make a note for my doctor.
I did have some difficulty locating the place at first. I had thought it was on the main road, but it happened to be tucked away down an alley way. I did in fact notice one of my support group members departing the place and that was how I managed to locate the entrance. Despite having the assessment today, there's a long waiting list for the CBT service and it could be many months before I am next seen. It was suggested that I try to find a book called 'CBT for Dummies' at my local library. I'll do this on my next visit.
A bit of a to do in Sutton St James today. Someone has taken a shot at a police officer and armed police have now closed the village and access to surrounding roads. It's an ongoing situation as I type this and negotiations are apparently underway to bring the situation to a peaceful end. It's really strange when you see a local village on the TV news. My sister lives in the next village at Tydd St Mary just a few miles from there.
We are once again being warned of some severe weather. It's possible we will have some heavy snow over the weekend but it's by no means certain at the moment. The weather system is coming from the East where temperatures across Russia and Eastern Europe are as low as -30 degrees C. It's looking at the moment as if this could be the worst winter in many years. We'll see...

Assessment

I took a call yesterday from my (soon to be) employer in Peterborough. They have asked me to take an assessment drive tomorrow. I believe they use a coach for their training and this will involve driving it around Peterborough to assess how much training I will need and how confidently I handle the vehicle. They also told me my medical will take place on 8th August in Peterborough. Assuming this goes OK, I hope to hear from them soon after to let me know my start date. At last things seem to be coming together. I can finally begin the see the culmination of two year's effort to get where I want to be. I can't wait to post an entry of my first day and a photo of me with my bus. But first thing's first. Get the assessment and the medical done.

Worries? I have a few, but the thing I'm most worried about is my rather patchy knowledge of Peterborough and its maze of roads. I know I am going to need a good knowledge so I am using Google Maps to navigate the roads from the depot and around the city centre. It's an invaluable tool and very effective, providing an all round view of each route. I will certainly be making good use of it as I suspect the use of a Sat Nav will be somewhat frowned upon...
I need to be at the depot for 9am so I will be leaving around 7.30 to ensure I get there on time. Everyone else will be travelling in the same direction at that time so the roads will be very busy. I have a worry too about the car, it got a little hot earlier (I had to drive to Spalding to sign-on), and the engine fan was running constantly. The coolant is certainly low and I suspect there may be a leak somewhere, possibly in the radiator. I've topped it up and we'll see how it is tomorrow.
So, provided I don't prang their coach tomorrow, I should be able to post some good news very soon.
Mirrors, mirrors, mirrors & MSM...

A duck and a swim

Our neighbors are odd. They have their own farm in their front garden. They also seclude themselves away from society by having a very tall hedge encircling their property. They never prune it. It's over eight feet tall in places and it's a constant source of frustration for me that we're forever having to trim it.
Anyway, my normally mundane morning ablutions were interrupted by our neighbor shouting for her duck. This went on for a few minutes and then I heard her say 'there you are'. This was then followed by wailing. Between the cries I heard 'oh my poor duck' and 'that was my favorite'. At first I actually thought she had found her husband dead in the border. You see, the hedge between our respective properties is thick but voices are clearly audible - as is the constant barking of her dogs, but I digress... This woman was upset, really upset. The crying continued for a long time. I couldn't see anything but I had formed a mental image of her cradling her favorite duck, tears running down her face. It was a very sad thing to witness. She seemed to blame a cat for killing it though I couldn't work out whether it was her own. Given the number of ducks and assorted wildfowl she keeps, I can only imagine a cat would be the worst thing to have around the place.
What really got me was the affection this woman had for her duck. I know they are a reclusive couple and have communicated very little since they moved in about two years ago. Thinking about it, the chap who had the place before them was weird - he never communicated either. We do seem to attract people here who don't fit in anywhere else. People seem to cocoon themselves away up here - some on their own and others with wild animals to keep them comfortable.

This afternoon, the three of us went swimming at our local pool in Spalding. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. I've always likened it to having a bath with a load of strangers, not that having a bath with friends would be any better... It wasn't busy - just a handful of people really. We spent most of the time in the kiddies pool. My son cannot swim yet and lacks confidence. The pool was about 0.8 meters deep and comfortably warm. I hadn't swam for a long time but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could actually float. I'd always had my doubts given my considerable bulk and with a little more confidence I managed to both float and propel myself across the pool a few times. Wow, I was pretty proud of myself! My son soon gained more confidence and also managed to float a little with the aid of armbands. My wife showed off her swimming skills by diving under and pretending to be a shark. My son loved it, shrieking with excitement as her dark mass got nearer and nearer until she finally surfaced with a big splash. Oh what fun...
So despite my misgivings, I actually confess to having enjoyed myself. It looks like we'll be making a habit of it...

Tomorrow, my son experiences his new school for the first time. He's only there from 1.30 to 3.30 but I do find myself worrying whether or not he'll take to it. He does seem quite excited about it though so I don't think he's worrying nearly as much as me. I'm sure he'll be fine...

Markets... long may they live

Earlier, I visited Spalding Market. It was pleasing to see the place so busy. There's something about the market I really like - the mix of stalls, the smells and the hustle and bustle make it a wonderful place to be. Amongst the stalls of fruit, nuts and spices, fresh sea food, antiques and books was a new stall selling freshly made curry. The smell was wonderful and it had attracted quite an audience. Good for them I say! They had an idea and it worked.
There are things an open market offer that I don't think you can find anywhere else. It's a unique experience. It's fascinating to know that many markets have been at the heart of their towns and villages for many hundreds of years, often held on a set day every week of the year. Much of what is sold is produced locally. That's really what I like to see... sausages made from locally farmed pigs, bread made from local grain, fruit grown in local orchards and food from local restaurants prepared in the open.
Walking through Spalding Market, what struck me was the amount of effort the stall-owners put in to making their goods look presentable. It's no easy job. They have to endure the earliest of early starts and often the worst of worst weather. Many run their stalls single-handed, constructing their stall, unloading their goods and preparing them for the likes of me to be prodded, sniffed and squeezed. These are good people, hard working and dedicated.
Shops are closing at an alarming rate. Walking through my local towns, I see so many shops displaying signs such as 'Closing Down' and 'Everything Must Go!'... It's sad. The market though seems to carry on, almost unaffected. Yes they have the same financial pressures we all have but there's something very reassuring about the market. It makes you feel that 'everything's OK'. They are there every week, their stalls looking neat, well stocked and immaculate. The same friendly sellers exchange banter with their 'regulars'. There's a bond that you simply don't get in a supermarket or large store.
For me, markets are special and I love them. Long may they live...