For the Love of Feltham

Feltham sits just south of Heathrow. Although the town recently installed a tribute to Freddie Mercury in the town centre (he lived here for a few years), it's probably most famous for the local Young Offenders Institution. That's how most people have heard of it and what most people rate us by.

Feltham can claim all the usual stuff like a rich history of agriculture and a mention in the Doomsday book. None of that has any real bearing on the town today though. Recent regeneration has lifted Feltham's face a little but there is still a long way to go. The traffic regularly alternates between creeping along and grinding to a halt. The old Feltham Hotel, home to the Feltham Community Association for many years, sits empty and decaying at the end of the High Street in stark contrast to the newly developed precinct.

Feltham lost it's community spirit years before the Community Association closed down. Nowadays people don't want to know their neighbours, can't let their kids play out on the streets and are nervous to walk the streets at night.

I know that everyone looks back on their childhood with rose coloured specs but, in the seventies, this was a great place to grow up. Everyone knew everyone and most people got along. There was always a house party going on somewhere and everyone would chip in with booze and food. It was safe enough to walk to school because everybody did. The Carnival was the big event of the year and anyone that wasn't taking part turned out to line the route and show their support. The parks and ponds were well kept and cared for. If you were short of something, there was always a neighbour that would lend it to you.

Sadly those days are gone, never to return. My home town is now home to chavs and thugs. A few of the old families still live in the area and we all reminisce about how it used to be. Although it's really not as bad a place to live as people might think, we'd all still like things to be how they were years ago.