Bill Sykes' - In Retrospect.
(August 2006)
Bill Sykes
looks back in retrospect at material which has been published
in previous editions of "View from America",
in an attempt to determine whether the subject matter
written then is still applicable in today’s world.
Article
2A: The old hometown she ain’t what
she used to be.
My wife and I generally
manage to spend a couple of weeks each year on vacation
in the UK, (mainly to visit the members of my wife’s
family who reside in the small market town of Marlborough
in Wiltshire), and this year as a side trip, amongst other
side trips, we decided that it was time to pay a return
visit to my home town of Huddersfield and the surrounding
area.
I must say that since I left the town of my birth in 1942
to go into His Majesty’s
Services when I was sixteen years of age the only thing that appears to have
improved is the environmental conditions, which have benefited from the dismantling
of most the woollen mills with the reduction of the smoke emissions that used
to belch from their tall chimneys. (One of course must bear in mind the detrimental
loss of local jobs when the woollen mills closed).
After
having dinner at our hotel on the outskirts of
the town, and as it was a warm Saturday evening
in June around nine-thirty pm, we ventured into
the pedestrian area of Huddersfield’s town
centre and found to our dismay that it was not
the clean thriving place that I remembered it to
be. Most of the stores fronts appeared to be in
a somewhat dilapidated condition, as were some
of the surrounding areas. The pubs in the area
reminded me of honky tonk disco bars, most of which
emitted blinding strobe type light and high decibel music.
We were more than a little dismayed at what we found
- maybe I’ve been
away too long.
We observed a couple of wandering bands of teen to mid-twenty
year old males, who apparently having imbibed freely
of the local brew, appeared to be hell bent on causing
as much noise as possible. Their opposite number,
a somewhat smaller group of young ladies promenaded the streets
and as it was a warm summer evening they were wearing off
the shoulder low cut tops that came short of reaching down
to their midriff and some wore very "short" shorts,
which started their downward path well below the waistline
and appeared to finish up just above the water line, and
to finish off the ensemble the bulky three-inch high, or
higher, platform shoes.
My observations on the fashion scene currently being
practiced by some members of the world’s youth are
as follows.
The accoutrements worn with the uniform of the day appear
to include the fashionable rings and studs, located in
the most unlikely of places such as multiple piercing
of the ears, eyebrows, lips, tongues, belly buttons,
with scattered tattoos located on the shoulders, breasts,
and even at the base of the spine just above the crevice
formed by their buttocks. I know that the youths
of today, (like the youths of the past), like to follow
the somewhat bizarre trends in order to be fashionable
but what is done in the name of fashion in today’s
world is unbelievable - of course the young ladies are
not alone in their quest to be fashionable, as some of
their male counterparts have even more tattoos than the
so called wild men of the Borneo jungles or the head
hunting Indians of the Amazon.
The vividly coloured spiked hairstyles of latter years
- if you will pardon the pun - appear to be dying out.
Don’t get me wrong, these observations are not aimed
at the youth of Huddersfield per se, but are a reflection
upon the trends of many of the youths of the western world,
which perhaps would suggest that the youth of the current
generation are regressing back to the fashions of the jungle.
Hometown dilemma.
One incident that interested
us, occurred on a street on the south side of the city
where we were stopped by an attractive young female police
officer who requested that we didn’t proceed any
further along that particular street as it was cordoned
off. I asked the reason why and she pointed to a building
a short distance away where a young man sat crossed legged
on a flat roof. I asked
her if this was a drug related case and she said no, it
was just some attention seeker who was throwing things
at anyone who passed by. I suggested that maybe it would
be appropriate to get the local fire brigade to bring an
engine and with a strong jet of ice cold water sweep the
young man off the roof. Her reply was "Sorry sir,
can’t do that as it may cause bodily harm to the
individual for which we could be sued". I said,
I thought that only happened in sue-happy America. I then
asked her what she considered to be the remedy, and she
said that the police cordoning the area would have to stay
there until he came down from his lofty perch and then
he could only be arrested for causing a public mischief
and would probably spend the night in the local gaol. She
informed us that this was the third time in the last few
weeks that this individual had sought notoriety by seeking
attention.
On the happier side of the coin, the villages of England still retain
their charming unblemished character, which always has been an intrinsic and
valuable part of "This green and pleasant land".
Disclaimer.
Although I don’t believe it to be absolutely necessary
in this particular case---just as a matter of legal protection
under the CYA principle I have decided to include the usual
disclaimer.
Some of the information gathered for this news letter has
been gleaned from British and International media sources,
(including the Internet), and as such is quoted as accurately
as possible.
I try to obtain confirmation on each subject from several
outlets, so the text is a mixture of composite news items
and personal comments and therefore the reader must make
his/her own judgement as to the reliability and degree
of accuracy of the subjects discussed.
Note: To view the complete August 2003 Edition of "View
from America" please click HERE.
We
welcome feedback about any of the contents of these articles.
Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
|
