An Alien in St Leonards
JOHN CHAPMAN reacquaints himself with England after more than 50 years
It’s 2025, and I’ve recently arrived in St Leonards-on-Sea after leaving England in 1972. That’s an age. I’ve lived and worked in Belgium, Luxembourg and, most recently, Italy; and when I mention I’ve moved here from Bologna, people’s reaction is inevitably, why?
I think back for a moment to the climate, the food and the wine and utter some inane remark like “I thought the time was right”. 53 years is a long time, and I’ve changed. I was immature when I left England and, since then, I’ve matured a little. And I did feel the time was right – and that coming back would be an adventure.
I chose St Leonards after spending a month here, with a broken arm, almost two years ago. I found it to be lively, arty, diverse and, yes, a bit edgy. I moved into my flat 10 weeks ago. On the positive side – and there have already been many positives – I’ve found the people here to be extremely friendly. On the beach, on trains to London and in the launderette on Silchester Road, I’ve had meaningful conversations with complete strangers. In the launderette I was given a much-needed, and much-appreciated, £2 for the spin dryer. And we are lucky to have independent cinemas such as the Kino and the Electric Palace, and a community theatre like the Stables. All good signs for the future.
What has struck me though – apart from the price of coffee – has been the litter in the streets and the homelessness, whether it’s people sleeping rough or living in tents on the beach. This isn’t just a British problem, but my gut feeling is that it’s more visible in the UK than in most countries – something to look at in the future.
That brings me to my desire to do something on my return to the country of my birth. Co-incidentally, while in Italy, I bought an Interrail ticket which leaves me free to travel around the United Kingdom for a three month period. That will allow me to see what people think in the various regions: north and south, east and west, town and country, millennials and boomers.
But hold on. Before I head off to the far corners of the land, there could be a benefit from looking at St Leonards and Hastings in some depth as a kind of pilot study. In many ways, it’s a microcosm of the United Kingdom. I‘d like to know local people’s perceptions about how aspects of everyday life such as women’s rights, border controls, the health service and the political landscape have changed. I’m excited to get going.
My original plan was to write about how England has changed in the past half-century and there might be a book there somewhere but whatever the outcome, the actual process of travelling around the country, soliciting people’s views about today’s world will be fascinating.
If you want to share your thoughts with me, you can email me on [email protected] Just scan the QRcode.
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