Hi . I moved back in 2021 after covid and for my daughters schooling. State school still good in england. However i moved back abroad again as cost of living rent bills vs salary i was on 27k per year is shite. Just surviving and cant save so yes. Im not sure ill move back which is a shame.
Some of your observations in the UK were pretty universal, but i'm unsure of your reflections of life, earnings, transport in Germany. I've lived here now 34yrs your reality's around the Frankfurt area 🤷♂️ i cannot say, i take your word, but here in NRW i dont share your optimism 🙏
@@nails3394 Not everywhere in NRW but sure around the Ruhr area the people are the rudest, most unkind and negative you can meet in Europe. Been 30 years abroad and coming back for me is a shock, repulsing me.
Live and work in Berlin, back in Brighton just now to catch up on some stuff. The UK is changing and not for the better, but some are trying to change the dependency.
I am an old lady who cannot afford to travel, and therefore have to limit myself to an armchair view of the world. Having said that, I do keep up with things and have noticed that the entire world is experiencing growing pains. No place is as homogeneous as it used to be with good and bad results. There are twice as many people on this planet now as there were when I was a child. People’s problems remain more or less the same as they have always been: food, shelter, etc., and changes in technology throw in new issues. The only control that we seem to have is over our own sphere of influence. We can strive to do the best we have with what we’ve got and spread as much kindness and good as we can within our own little world. It may not seem like much, but imagine the changes if everyone tried it? It gets easier the more you practice it, and when you fall down on it get back up and try again. None of us are perfect and we all have our own demons, but it is surprising how good it feels to approach life like that.
For someone who has never travelled, your comment was the best of all the ones I have read thus far (have not read them all obviously 😊) The issues are not just the UK..the same exact issues are affecting many countries. Lots of people blaming the wrong things...very narrow minded and short sighted views I don't like what is happening nor do I have a solution...but I wish those in the UK realized it is definitely not just their country that is affected . I'm Canadian..and we have huge issues there too. I love my country still. Currently residing overseas...so I'm getting a glimpse of life in another country. Guess what? Same issues. ...😢 I hope you have a lovely day. Thanks for your common sense response 😊
I hear you love and agree with you most emphatically. I'm sure you'd be a lovely person to have a cup of tea with if I ever did venture back to the UK from my home now in Western Australia. Good on you.
What a lovely message ❤ We just moved to Scotland from CA and wholeheartedly agree with what you’ve shared. Every country has its pros and cons, but we couldn’t be more grateful to live here. The UK is not perfect, but we are loving calling it home.
As an Italian who lived in rural England for 6 years, I can say it is impossible (to me) not to miss the British countryside. It does and will stay always in my heart
German here and I absolutely agree: English countryside has a unique beauty. The little villages with old houses and romantic gardens, the deep green pastures with grazing sheep and cattle, the soft hills and meadows abundant in wild flowers, it always give me a feeling of peace, harmony and wholeness.
I also live in Germany. Germany is simply beautiful too I have to say, I love the beautiful green rolling countryside here. It really depends on where you are I guess, I live in Bavaria, near Allgäu. But there is so much beauty in all corners of Germany too (I get to see a lot of regions and cities as I travel a lot for my job).
My only observation. Why is every man growing a beard. Do they think that their Islamic overlords will assume that they are. ‘ of the faith’? I’ve got news for you all. You’re the wrong colour. That beard won’t protect you!
It is, I think it’s quite a British problem. Yes France has Paris but it also has other cities like Marseille and nice…when people hear I’m from the U.K. the follow up question is (everything, without fail) ahh from London?
That's probably the most accurate description I've heard of the UK. We headed home to the west of Ireland back in May after being away for a few years and the difference between Ireland and the UK was eye opening. People were much happier, the infrastructure was so much better, everywhere was tidy, people took better care of the place. The UK by comparison looks unkempt, scruffy and neglected, nobody seems to care. And its not just Ireland, this year we've also visited The Hague and Maderia and found the same. Its very sad to watch.
Britain’s decline over the last ten years is staggering. This is combined with a deliberate attempt to suppress any pride left in the country. It is all rather disappointing.
I'd say it started to be much more obvious from 2008 onwards but it was probably much earlier that the rot had really set in (I remember when the hand-car washes started and I knew something was badly wrong!). But if you look at the trade figures the balance of payments were more or less in balance till about 2000 and then they became truly catastrophic (that's essentially an export of huge amounts of money and after a while that shows).
Started post 2008 after New Labour bankrupted the country. We've been living off the country's credit card ever since and that's maxed out so it's unlikely to improve.
The villages will be fine - the moneyed classes have fled the decaying towns and cities and turned them into nice enclaves nobody else can afford to live in.
@@wilfulsprite555Yes, that's what I was about to write. The villages have long been embalmed by the upper-crust who romanticed that way of life and had the money to indulge in it. See the coastal towns of Cornwall or the Cotswalds cottages.
I live in New Zealand, and I lived in the UK from 1997 to 2006. I can't believe that 68 million people are trying to live on an island the same size as my home country. When I last visited the UK in 2019, I couldn't get over the urban decay and the traffic congestion in many of the towns I visited.
@@EV-KillaNo New Zealand is slightly larger than Uk. There are just over 5 million people in NZ. Just over 1 million people live in Auckland so a fifth of the population.
You could say very similar things about Germany and a whole host of European countries though...Denmark has the same population as NZ and is a lot smaller.
I grew up in England in the 70s and 80s - in the mid 90s I left for Canada for a two year stint. Life happened and I did not return. I now live in Normandy France and have done so for 18 years. As a nature lover I 100% agree with the sense that there is a majesty to the English countryside that I’ve never experienced elsewhere. It’s steeped in magic and Arthurian legend - so atmospheric - very special indeed. As an expat I’m extremely nostalgic for England but am so disappointed when I visit which I do 3 or 4 times a year. It’s dirty, disheveled, and frankly sad. The roads are rammed with cars and drivers are impatient and bad tempered. So many people are overweight and/or apparently poorly educated. The cost of living is off the scale meaning “high” earners (relatively speaking from a European pov) actually live very modest lives. I could go on (and on) but suffice to say I struggle to recognize the England I knew growing up.
Very accurate sumnation of England today.Massively ovecrowded with lowering standard of living.Mismanaged with poor governments for twenty plus years.No sign of improvement either.In fact heading downhill rapidly.The 'people'oblivious to their plight.
You are totally correct. England exists only for the very rich everyone else just "gets by" or not ..The countryside which yes can be magnificent is unfortunately seen more and more as an asset to be exploited rather than cherished
100% agree. We left the UK for Australia 16 years ago and every time we go back understand why we did. The Northern towns are totally run down and depressing. We're from burnley and it's so sad to see the town now, full of charity shops and pound stores and everyone looks depressed 😮
Depends where you frequent in Egland. If you live in a relatively poor town or city it looks a bit run down, but go and live in a decent town and you will see an abundance of wealth and quality people. Shropshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire to name just three counties have some stunning towns brimming with money and wealth.
@@iancollinge1614 There are lots of wealthy towns in the north places like Harrogate, Buxton, Lytham St Annes, Heswall, Alderley Edge, Knutsford, to name a few. If you're only going to go back to Burnley, then no wonder you think the UK is depressed.
Your description of what you see mirrors mine exactly. My profession took me from Ireland to England in 1982. When I left Ireland it was a poor country with a lack of infrastructure, but I was happy there and I think most people love home. I enjoyed rural England but after a year went North to Scotland where I have been ever since. I love the landscapes of Scotland and the fact you can get away into the wilds for days. I made good friends. When I got to Scotland, I saw similar run-down towns and districts on the outskirts of Edinburgh. This got worse after Thatcher closed the coal mines and communities lost their income and their pride. I still see many deprived areas and major social and health problems have not improved. Nor has the infrastructure, much anyway. In contrast, when I go back to Ireland for a visit, the changes that have happened in the same time period are immense. This as you described, the infrastructure, the standard of living, the career opportunities, and societal attitudes. I don't understand why the same progression and improvements have not occurred here in the UK, and I would say there's actually been a decline. One reason I believe might be a factor is the generally poor education system. I was working with men some of whom could barely read and write, badly let down by the state. Their kids were no better off and were condemned to low paid jobs, each generation as poor as the last. People with money in Edinburgh send their kids to private schools and pay for a decent education. I'vd spent a lot of time in Germany over the past 20 years. My wife is German. We've travelled a lot in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland. The atmosphere, the average level of prosperity, the quality of life, the infrastructure, the quality of housing, the good affordable food are all markedly better than here. It gives me no pleasure to say so. And as I get older, I don't want to live in a country where the earliest a doctor can phone me is in two weeks time and the earliest he or she can actually see me is after that, depending. Scotland is a beautiful country, and with good and very funny people, but like the rest of the UK, there is no progress for the past decades and actually it has gone downhill with no hope in sight. The UK is failing its people. I believe much of this is due to the feudal nature of land ownership and wealth, which is controlled by 5% of the population who mostly went to the same schools and are well-connected for the rest of their lives, as are their kids. There is a class structure here which keeps things that way which I have never come across anywhere else. There's the problem. The British are overdue a revolution.
Yes, the English class system is pernicious. If the ruling class had to go to state schools, maybe the other 93% would get the same education and opportunities… I'm Irish too and think of the English, in the main, as decent and tolerant folk who have been badly let down by their governments. They deserve better.
you're absolutely right to pin the blame on the asset owning class (whether ancient or corporate). Deference to literal land Lords is a millennia stretching obsession of England (and the neighbouring territories it took over). I think it's because there was no proper revolution in the last few hundred years as happened in most of Europe where there was either country defining revolutions or major land wars that caused the mechanisms of the state to start fresh. No such thing in UK where there is no constitution and clear continuity with the feudal. Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries/break with catholic church were big deals but mostly served to consolidate power into monarchy. I somewhat believe the beginning of the curse for England basically started with the Normans who followed a caste system based on birth right (if your parents were peasants that's as far as you could be), Anglo-Saxon culture had some smatterings of class mobility in contrast. But I'm glad you said what you did, so often on a video like this it will all be blamed on a few refugees who drowned in the channel.
Just look at the folk who are in charge at OFCOM, not a single one of them ever did a job or work, they are all part of the coterie of folk who control us and run our lives. This has to change !
In 1973, when they joined the EU, Ireland was the poorest country in Europe, now it's one of the richest in the world (re: GDP/person). They invested EU grants in infrastructure and training the population and reduced the corporate tax rate, all of which made it attractive for inward investment. In the 1960's I'd cross the border from NI to SI to see relatives in Donegal and it would be holes in the road, donkeys and bicycles once across the border. Now I feel poor when I cross the border - the economics have reversed - NI is kept afloat by a £14bn pa "block grant" subsidy from the GB taxpayer.
I'm from England, but I moved to the US about 15 years ago. Visiting the UK is a very bittersweet experience for me. It's lovely to see my family and friends, but heartbreaking to see the decline. I think the change is more obvious when you see it in snapshots like I do. When you actually live there, the change is harder to recognize because it happens so gradually. I'm from Birmingham, and it's almost like visiting a third-world country now. My family and friends all seem to be struggling to get by, and there seems to be an air of defeat or despair hanging over the place.
@@Habakuk_ That's a trap a lot of people fall into - assuming that all of the US is like Detroit. The reality is that, while there are indeed ultra-violent and run-down places in the US, thry are actually very small geographical areas, sometimes just a few city blocks. It is very easy to avoid places like that. The vast majority of the US is very safe. I am in far more danger when I visit my family in Birmingham - it has 47 times as much violent crime than the place where I live now.
I think the difference is that there are places in the US where you can still live well. Yes there are a lot of awful places in the US. But the UK has nowhere where you can make a career AND have a family anymore. London is awful, and all other cities pay pennies! Coming back feels like going back in time 20 years. @@Habakuk_
@@thepenultimateninja5797 You sound like you're falling into your own trap and assuming that the UK is all like Birmingham. That's a big city which of course has big city problems. But if people leave the cities and visit some of the smaller towns and villages, you'll find more of a community where people help each other out. It's a shame to see people constantly running down this country like it's the third world.
I moved from Wales to the USA, nearly 20 years ago. I have been back and fro a few times. The latest was last year. I noticed this last time there was a dramatic change in the country. People were miserable - same as before. That's no change. The biggest thing was that the shops and banks had pretty much vanished from Cardiff center. It had become cafes, pubs and restaurants. A lot of shops had just vanished. Swansea had a lot of shops but look carefully and they were all shops selling very cheap goods and some didn't even turn their lights on, presumably in order to save money. Over previous years I have noticed people had become more miserable and whiny than before. Prices seem to have rocketed but the quality has not.
As a dual German/British citizen, I have lived extensively in both countries. Germany has just as many problems as the UK, especially in large cities like Duisburg, Köln, Berlin, and even München, which I visited recently and was shocked how dirty it has become. Germany is also going downhill.
You're right. Maybe not quite as many problems as the UK. It's difficult to say. A lot of the West is going downhill, unfortunately. Köln is my favourite German city. I found the people really friendly there. Munich is my least favourite. Germany appears (if you read some articles) to be going downhill partly because of a lack of investment over the last 25 years. It may get a lot worse.
I’m the same. The downfall of Köln is really sad. People at work used to deny it but they don’t any longer. I’m not bashing Germany as I really like it and unlike others I really enjoyed Munich. There are many obvious reasons why.
@TB-vm9yr That's not true, internet shopping and newcomers have killed your towns and cities too. Don't get complacent. Look at France, that's how we will all go if we dont wake up.
Where I live in northern England (I've been away for almost 30 years) all I see when I visit are towns closing down, streets of bookies, shops selling lottery tickets and cheap booze, gambling arcades, pawn shops, thrift shops, charity shops, closed down pubs, closed down business. It's like the government just left these towns alone. I live in a developing country, but man, even the poor here live so much better than the working class in England.
The decline everywhere is really depressing. I live in a city in the South West that is supposedly "rich", but even here you see decline. Public transport is really bad, the costs of housing is extortionate and for a University city there is only one bookshop, Waterstones which is run by capital venture company. Recently went to Padua, Italy a similar size university city, counted 7. Cycling from work the other day was asked by a kid of 16/17 if I wanted to "smoke heroin". On saying no he then proceeded to chase me insisting that I really should. Independent businesses really struggling here..
It's not economic decline, it's changing economic habits. People now shop online and believe me there is a lot of wealth being made online. It's less visible, but just because it's doesn't show up on the high street doesn't mean wealth is not here. The high street is not where it's at any more and has just been left behind. Lots of people with new luxury cars where I live and most are self-employed working online.
@@andrewwatson5509 The visible decline is physical. Wealth is now invisible online. II's still there, but people shopping and work habits have changed. There are many wealthy people living good standards of living but they work online not on the high street. You rarely see old banger cars on the roads these days or even cars over ten years old, most drive new or nearly new cars.
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb Good points, but that doesn't change what the street looks like. I've lived all over the world and let me tell you, streets shouldn't look like that. Shopping has gone online where i live now, and it's very vibrant, and not full of exploitative businesses. Then there are the deaths of despair, higher in england now than ever in history. You make a good point, but it doesn't hide the bigger problem.
I’m English and have lived here all my life. For the last few years and as I approach retirement I love this country more and more. When I drive back home to Salisbury to visit family, the landscape with its gently rolling hills feels comfortable and familiar. There are more beautiful parts of the country but where I lived until I was nineteen, still feels like home.
You live in a beautiful part of England and I think you are sheltered from much of the visual decline. Where I am, there has been a massive change in the demography and more charity, pound shops and pot holes. We have move out to a village which is a lot nicer. Enjoy your retirement and make sure you have one in the Haunch of Venison...Great pub!
I left England in 1978, I returned in 2019 for a whole 5 days, 5 days too many. The place I visited was the place of my childhood, a place I had left behind in 1958. My impression was one of shock, it was empty, desolate and the people once vibrant and colourful were now grey and indifferent. My childhood memories were erased within 5 days.
I grew up in England and am a fairly regular visitor back from NZ. The down turn between my visit in 2019 and 2020 was marked. It was saddening to see such a decline.
Thankyou for this video, it's very interesting. I'm an 83 yr old Englishwoman. That word "pride" is such an important word. It doesn't matter what you've got, you can always 'improve' on it in 'some' way and feel pride about that! My two darling grannies in my childhood (each morning) swept their steps and paths outside. Front of house was important. I hate litter and don't understand lazy people who discard it. I've travelled a bit and had some nice holidays in the past, but there is something about my own country. England is where I always felt safer somehow (up until modern-day anyway!) At my school (1950s) we were taught to love and respect our country, so growing up it came so natural to feel "pride" and "patriotism" - two words that now, many 'label' you for! I love Englishmen, whether they're rich or poor, high-class or any other class, they will usually help you in a crisis. My husband is and always was a typical Englishman, reserved, inner-strength, but nobody ever got the better of him. No fuss, he just gets on with it. But I love the Welsh, Scots and Irish too - our islands are very precious. But England is my home - so English-folk please look after our unique countryside, and farmlands, and don't leave your litter! Things have changed SO much since my younger days, and I'm glad I was born when I was. But our long history, and walking in the countryside, canal and river walks, popping into a small village church, cliff edge-views on the English coast, visiting our cathedrals, watching county cricket on a summer's afternoon, and so much more, all serve to remind me that England is well worth preserving.
I note your comments regarding litter. I am aged 70 and live in the North East, I go for a 30 minute walk every morning and pass approximately 10 litter bins, enroute I pick up every piece of litter big and small and probably deposit litter into at least 6 of them. Our society would be so much better if we all made a small contribution, for example, donating to the blood bank or helping an elderly neighbour. Sadly people seem obsessed with staring at their mobile phones, even parents with young children on the school run.
I visit the UK regularly, mostly London, and every time I go there, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse. I’m not sure what it is, but the feeling is that it doesn't even belong to Europe anymore. It's quite dirty, and I feel unsafe in certain neighborhoods
A Pole living in the SouthEast of UK since 2016. True. There is a lot of classist division, sadness and misery but equally I find so many positives : small businesses grit& spirit is second to none, history & nature appreciation lives on (NT/English Heritage are such a precious undertakings), poetry& story telling, folk music & dance (think morris), art (even amateur), comedy (stand ups !), sports, embracing queer community (how many countries in the world are so accommodating?), volunteering / charity culture, etc. I could go on... This is very much home here ❤ Investments are very much needed 📈
I am a Pole who has lived in various places since 1999, most recently in Yorkshire. I love this country, its greenery, and the incredible number of historical places to visit.
Sat in Herefordshire as I write this, I’ve worked all over the country and Europe and to be honest I’m so grateful that I call this place home! Herefordshire really is a hidden gem in the UK…
I left the UK in 87....When I returned for a visit 10 years ago, my home town of London seemed so grey and dismal and the people were pretty much the same. The countryside however was like a lush, green, wonderful manicured garden, nothing like it anywhere I ever saw in the USA however, it didn't compensate for the feeling of it no longer being the country of my youth. The countryside being a facade hiding the truth of a fading economy and a population dissatisfied with just about every aspect of their lives. Never went back and don't intend to
@@chucky2316 The cancer set in when neoliberalism took hold in the 1980's. This is when restrictions on financial markets were removed which ultimately allowed the conditions which led to the 2008 world financial crisis. Austerity became a political choice and the resultant cuts in services and investment was laid at the door of every scapegoat government could find. These narratives prevented people focussing attention on the actions of the financial institutions which caused the crash and who were bailed out with billions from the public purse. The financial institutions continued their policies unchecked. Billionaires become ever greater in number. Everyone else is put under pressure. Division results.
Ive never once heard a migrant say "thank you", never once heard them say "hey wait a second-- you are calling the british people racists... You should see the way they treat "outsiders" where i come from; actually the british people are quite welcoming and very open.. It surprises me every day how not xenophobic this nation is"
@@sempercompellis It’s a shame that you feel that way. I’ve always been grateful for being born here and in discussions I’ve always disagreed with blanket statements like “England is a racist country” or “Britain is racist”. So I don’t fit into the archetype of “migrants” you are describing. However I stand by my comment that there has been division this year. I didn’t mention this side or that side being bad. I just merely pointed out that the conflict hasn’t been nice to witness.
You are right about childhood experiences. I'm German married to a Brit living in Germany. I've been going to the North of England since 1977. Every time we go back now, it has changed for the worse. Nearly all pubs and nightclubs we used to go to, are shut. Nearly all shops especially big department shops are gone. Everything looks run down, boarded up, filthy and dirty. You mentioned the state of roads and infrastructure. We don't go to the town centre at night anymore. It doesn't feel safe. But the countryside is still the same. We went to Devon and Somerset this summer and it was lovely. There weren't as many holiday makers as in the 90s, and hardly any dutch, french or German tourists.
Interesting and sad at the same time. There’s something really soul destroying about experiencing a run down tired town that has obviously seen better days.
@britingermany that's true. Especially when your memory tells you differently. Huddersfield had a thriving indoor market. You could get everything there. They closed it down. It is going to be redeveloped but no idea when it is finished. I can't imagine where all these new shops are going to come from.
Having to get a visa approved and get your passport will play a major role in Germans, Dutch and French tourists choosing someplace else to visit when back in the 90‘s you could just hop over the Channel for a long weekend, basically decided two days prior after watching the weather forecast
@@Rubicola174 I know that Brexit upset us Germans especially. The news about the Water Companies not working according to European standards and using loopholes in the law to let raw sewage run into the lakes and ocean made an England summer trip distasteful
"The English landscape at its finest-such as I saw this morning-possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess. It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term 'greatness.' And yet what precisely is this greatness? I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it." (K. Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day)
I'm English born and bred, also from the rural Midlands. I like living here. I avoid the big cities, but they've always seemed like dumps to me. The smaller towns and villages are fine in my opinion. I have a decent job, which mostly allows me to work from home, I enjoy walks in the green hills and our National Parks, I enjoy visiting all our history (love National Trust and English Heritage properties as an example) and I have lots of friends and family nearby. I'm not saying it's perfect (where is?) but I thought some might like to hear from a Brit who likes living here and isn't perpetually complaining and whinging. We're not all like that. 😂
well most of us aren't fortunate enough to be near the national parks and work from home. I mean the salaries here in UK are really low and it's pretty much impossible living on your own as a grown adult on a 30k salary nowadays. Things don't seem to be getting better either and violence is really high comparedo to France or Ireland just to name a couple of neighbouring countries. Quality of life is infact significantly lower when compared to the rest of Europe.
Just walked out in rural Staffs near Croxton Abbey.Lovely rolling hills,autumnal trees and few people around except in a traditional pub having sunday lunch. So far so good.But spent Saturday evening in central Manchester,full of drunks homeless tent village in the main square and a dreadful train trip back home full of drunk and vaping kids in dirty t shirts yelling nonsense. Yep heaven n hell coexist in Britain.
The problem is, just having a lovely countryside isn't much of a saving grace. Why would Scotland be suffering from one of the worst alcohol and drug epidemics in the world, when they have right to roam over unrivalled beauty? Besides, the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world - fun fact. It's all just farms and terrible, depressing terraced houses. We have no right to that land, we can't camp or go off grid. It's just an occasional novelty to get away from the grind on the few days it happens to be sunny on a weekend.
That precious countryside is slowly being lost to development. An overcrowded island is slowly getting more and more crowded with a projected population of 70 million next year. If the UK doesn't stabilize the population, future generations won't have the ability to enjoy what we have now.
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02:40 - Ireland doesn’t have the diversity yet - but they’re working on it.
I have recently lived and travelled in England. I've also lived and worked abroad including the Gulf. In 2024 there are parts of metropolitan England - London, Manchester - which looks and feel like countries where Sharia law operates ( I know what I'm talking about because I lived under Sharia law for 4 years). My own country, Scotland is beginning to experience the same type of mass immigration.
@@phillipecook3227 I made no mention of Sharia law. You said Ireland doesn't have diversity yet i said come to Dublin and you'll change your mind. I live in an apartment complex 6 minute walk from the main road. I counted 9 people from Africa during that walk. That's diversity if that's the nice term you'd like to use. I personally would use another term.
I am originally from Frankfurt and live now in Oranmore county Galway for the last 22 years. Before we moved to Ireland, I lived for almost 10 years in London and Kent. I was quite touched when I saw your pictures of Galway after watching so many of your videos from Frankfurt. Two places, that are very close to me. Your channel is amazing, honest and very informative. I’m enjoying it very much.
As an American I can relate. Growing up in the 90s things felt so much nicer, there was so much optimism. People were kinder, the world felt full of possibility. And in the past 25 years, aside from a brief pause for a couple of them after the financial crisis, it's just been spiralling downward. There's so much hate and finger pointing. No one wants to work together for a better future anymore, the older generations just want to check out and bury their heads in the sand and the younger generations can't handle it all on their own... it's just overwhelming gloom and depressing. I'm leaving as soon as I can, there's no point in hoping for things to change any more.
I was born in the UK, my father was British and I visited a few times back in the 80s, and it was everything you'd expect. I always wanted to visit again ... until lately. It's something disturbing I don't want to see, like a bad thing happening to an old friend.
I left in 95 for NZ and I agree so much with this film. I popped back last month for the first time since 17 and I did notice how things had slipped. Chunks of Norwich were boarded up and very seedy. Seedy quite literally in the case of the gardens around the castle: the flowerbeds were now nettle patches. Being in NZ one gets exposed to Maori lore and they have a wonderful piece of wisdom that says you always feel different about the land where your ancestors are buried. Now for Italian wisdom: " Fish rot from the head". Root and branch reform of Westminster badly needed.
Hence the Scottish independence movement. We get it. All wealth in the UK goes through London and a lot stays there. Look at London spending on the arts compared to the rest of the UK.
I wonder how much of it has gotten worse with time, or if it's just our perception. My grandparents lived in Norwich and I remember visiting in the 80's as a young kid, when the rag and bone man would still come with his horse and cart into the street. Across the road from my grandparents there were prostitutes and junkies. Sometimes kids would turn up at the door trying to sell their parents cigarettes, so they'd have money for food. The houses at the bottom of the street had corrugated sheet roofing. I also remember an entire family walking on the street barefoot... My grandad passed away a few years ago; I hadn't been back to the area since I was a teenager. The whole vibe had changed, but very much for the better.
Australian here. I've recently visited England and Scotland for the first time since Brexit and covid hit. What struck me is how dirty many of the old buildings were in many places I visited and 'down and out' types hanging around in some of the cities and villages. But on the plus side, it is as beautiful as ever and some places seemed like they hadn't changed at all. It's still one of my favourite places to visit and I will be back.
I'm German and have lived in the UK for over 50 years now. In this period I've travelled all over England, Scotland and Wales and yes, a lot of places look rather run down due to lack of investment. But it is not just the lack of investment that makes the towns look run down, it is the people that make it, they don't look after the places where they live, don't show any pride. My son is British and we spend our holidays in Germany, visiting two or three cities and monuments or other attractions and always end up for a few days in Berlin visiting relatives. Berlin, unfortunately, has changed and certainly not for the better. Everywhere you look there is graffiti, litter, pavements in some parts of the city are covered in dog shit and, just like in the UK, there are places where alcoholics spend their days getting drunk and begging. I won't even start talking about the junkies.
Yes I would say that is a valid point. Pride seems to have been vilified as a dirty word, but it doesn’t have to mean nationalism. It can just mean that you make an effort to keep the streets clean, maintain buildings and trim your hedges
@@britingermany Agree, there has been a decline in the culture overall, years of 'progressive' parenting and education have left us with a zombified youth hooked on TikTok and Netflix. Noone gives an eff about civic pride or their environment.
Graffiti, litter, dog shit etc. will always proliferate if there are not police and municipal workers employed to look after the place. A small minority of people can make anywhere look terrible. It all comes back to austerity.
If you want to see people with civic pride not littering and keeping everything tidy, travel to the Baltics. They are still so happy having gotten rid of Soviet occupation over 30 years ago! They are still striving forward.
I've been in the UK for a year after 23 years living elsewhere and it's even more depressing than the last time I lived here. Can't wait to be out of here again tbh.
@@danp420 interesting choice- 350K Italians live in the uk. 60K uk citizens in Italy. Perhaps if you can work remotely Could work. But getting a job there is very tough Italians tell me.
Two factors at work here. 1. 14 years of Tory asset stripping - budgets for public services either slashed or pushed into the private sector where delivery has been cost-engineered to hit the minimum acceptable quality standards and maximise shareholder profits and... 2. A lot of the regions previously received EU investment for infrastructure or cultural projects - investment that the previous Government failed to replace (a tiny proportion of the Levelling-Up budget was actually allocated/taken-up - and where it was, it was disproportionately allocated to wealthy conservative supporting areas) . Ironically the towns hit hardest by the loss of EU investment were those most enthusiastic about exiting the EU. Radical social change is required.
Thank you for sharing this. I'm from the UK originally and emigrated to Australia. I also miss the countryside and that certain sense of magic in the rural parts of England. I'm sad to hear things are not in a good state. Hopefully public investment can help to turn it around. It was cathartic to hear your thoughts and feelings. Thanks again.
.There is nowhere on Earth that I would rather have lived/ I am 70, born 2 miles from Central London in 1954, and just 2 miles from Brixton and Peckham in the other direction. It was a great place to grow up as there was so much going on, both, locally, and in Central London but by 1983 I felt my Culture was being diluted. It was not the same area anymore and changing fast.. When my car was stolen in Brixton the A.A. Recovery Guy had an AXE on his patch, such was the danger. I only, moved 11 miles to the periphery of S E London and Kent to this very house in 1983 and I have had another 41 wonderful years here in a safe area with 76 Open Spaces within a 6-mile radius," using" London and enjoying the Countryside..
I have lived in Germany now since 1986, my trips back for England and Family R&R are always uplifting and grounding. Nice presentation, but did make me feel a bit sad.
Regarding German bridges falling down, at least Germany has bridges. Right in the middle of Portsmouth, there's never been either a bridge or a tunnel across the harbour to Fareham, there are no bridges linking Liverpool city centre to the Wirral - just car tunnels. Newcastle is 1 of a very few UK cities besides London that has a beautiful collection of bridges from various eras in the city Centre but only in the city centre, leaving neighbourhoods in the east and west of town cut off from the other side of the Tyne with an 8km gap from the middle of town to a single car tunnel in the east and a 6km gap to the next bridge in the west. The west of Glasgows built-up area has it even worse with a 10km gap between bridges. There are no bridges at all between Tower Bridge and Dartford in all of east London for about 24km. In German cities, whether on the Rhein, the Elbe, the Main, or the Danube, there don't seem to be situations like this. Most British cities don't have a major river through them so if all cities that do were to build a bunch of bridges, you still wouldn't need as many as Germany has. Sunderland does have a good selection of bridges across the Wear. Imagine if you had to travel via central Frankfurt to get from Schwanheim to Grießheim or to get from Offenbach to Fechenheim. Imagine if Frankfurt only had buses, half the amount of S Bahn with bigger gaps between stops and no tunnel taking you into the city centre, no U Bahn and 2 tram lines and you have to buy seperate tickets for each of these modes. Imagine if only 4 German cities had any kind of underground rail and only 7 cities had trams and I mean only 1 line in urban areas the size of Hamburg (how it is in Birmingham). Now imagine you have to pay more to use a combination of local rail and bus as the buses use a completely different ticket system and even daily, weekly and monthly tickets are only valid on buses. An annual ticket between 2 stops on a regional train costs over €1000 and is only valid between 2 specific stops. That's what the UK is like. I know you can use the oyster card in London on both bus and rail but again, it's cheaper if you only use buses (and the tram in Croydon). I've never seen that in Germany. A single ticket always seems to be valid on local bus, tram, U Bahn, S Bahn and even regional trains for 90 minutes - 2hrs as long as you don't go back on yourself. Daily and monthly tickets are also valid on all the same modes. Amazing!
That’s an interesting point about transport. Before the Deutschland ticket it was a mess. Different Bundesländer had different rules of ticket validation and zoning systems. I totally agree with you now. With the Deutschland ticket you can just get on to any bus tram or train without having to think about it too much. And yes the infrastructure in Germany is miles Better than anywhere in England…to be honest the roads seem to be quite a lot better in Wales than they are in England
However I think we could use a few more bridges across the river Rhine, particularly between Basel and Frankfurt. In Karlsruhe they're planning to build a second one additionally to the one near Maxau. So far the next one north of Karlsruhe is in Germersheim more than 20 km away. And south of Karlsruhe you'd have to go to Kehl which is connected with Strassburg by a bridge. Additionally there are a few places where the Rhine can be crossed using a ferry.
It was the same in Cardiff. No pedestrian bridges at all across the River Taff between the city centre and Western Avenue, but people fought to have two pedestrian bridges built from Bute Park to the other side of the river. The River Thames in East London is very wide, so the only way across it is by ferry or tunnel. At least there are pedestrian tunnels from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs and Woolwich to North Woolwich. They are scary to use at night, though.
I was in England in October traveling from North Yorkshire to just North of London over two weeks, and I have to admit, I had the same feelings. The country has changed, but not for the better. The countryside is the same, but the people seem stressed. From stories I heard, services are not working as they should. Maybe it was the mostly grey weather, but I found it depressing. If I was to go again, I'd want to stay somewhere away from London in the country, but my siblings live near London, so I would have to visit them.
It's only a "minor" change, Jon, but when I grew up just 2 miles from Central London in one direction, and 2 miles from Brixton and Peckham,I never heard a foreign language on our streets from my birth in 1954 to circa 1970 (other than the occasional Restauranteir or Ice Cream seller). Every child in every local Primary School and 98% in my Grammar School was White/British Indigenous. I moved in 1983 just 11 miles to the periphery of S E London and Kent,to this very house and it has been a fantastic move. NOW if you get on a bus in Inner London,in any, away direction from the centre then only around 5% are from that same racial Group, all in my lifetime and my old school is only 5% White/British. THAT is being swamped and leading to a loss or serious dilution of Culture not an absorption of others into our way of life which is fine.
@@Isleofskye Being born in 1952, I had similar experiences as child living in a one room flat, just North of Hyde Park and Kensington Garden. (It is now a >1,000 pound a night hotel room.) The foreigners I remember were ex POW's, Italians and Germans. I do also remember a few French onion sellers on bicycles. My father died in a road accident when I was five, and we sofa surfed for a year. (I changed school 4 time in 8 months) until we were given a council house a little North of London. There was one coloured boy in my class at junior school there at that time. I can still remember his name. Going on, after five years of no pay rise and misery under Maggie, I moved abroad in 1986, and spent a year learnning German. In my first job, I trebled my previous UK pay. (UK pay is far too low and exploitive. My present pensions are more than the average UK pay for instance.) In my last job 90% of the workers were foreign, so I have lived as a foreigner, in a foreign country, and therefore have a completely different attitude. I think what bothers you is the lack of integration, which I can understand.
@@Isleofskye Born in 1952, I grew up just North of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in a one room flat. (Now a >1000 pound a night hotel room) until I was five years old. I remember German and Italian ex POWs, and a few French onion sellers on bicycles. My father died in a road accident, and after a year sofa surfing we were allowed a council house a little North of London. At my junior school there was just one coloured boy. Going on from then, in 1986, after five years of no payrise and misery, I moved to Germany and spent a year learning German. In my first job I trebled my previous UK pay. (My present pensions are more than the average UK pay, which shows just how underpaid Brits are.) In my last job 90% of the employees were foreigners. Having been a foreigner working in another country, I have a very different attitude to you. I think what irks you, is the lack of integretion. I know that can be difficult for foreigners, as the natives resent you, and are not friendly in some countries. I have experienced that, havng also lived outside of Germany, but Germany has been for myself, very open and welcoming.
I've never been to the UK or Germany; thank you for your perspective of how things have changed, the facts you bring about income, your reflections of the differences around the country. And thank you also for your ultimate message of there are always reasons for hope, that you'll always feel you belong and will have pride when you return. Very strong message and (at least from my perspective on what seems to be a rapidly changing USA) very much needed.
I'm British born and, since Brexit, dual German citizen living in Germany the last 25+ years. I'm from the East Midlands and totally agree about the long slow death of market towns in England over the last decades. It's so strange to visit the UK and try to deal with any kind of customer service (public and private) - it's like the people are only 50% awake somehow - difficult to explain but that's the closest I can get. Many people just seem workshy - they don't seem trained properly or just don't care. London and the South-East seems like a foreign country, not because of immigration but the level of investment and opportunity is so different. It's sad.
Hello from Germany. I don't think that the people there have become work-shy. In my opinion, it is rather that the work of the people is not appreciated. Wages too low, overtime not being paid and that they have no certainty how long they will have the job. All of this destroys people.
@@Toddel1234567Thank you. The lack of job security was one of the gifts of Thatcher that destroyed a nice, comfortable Britain. People here are stressed because of poor work conditions and nasty managers- another gift of Thatcher to Britain. The situation has continued the same, even though we've had Labour in power part of the time.
@@parsaeye Yes the UK would have been better right now with 100,000 miners producing coal that there is no market for. Those wonderful British Leyland cars that bought new , had to go right back to the garage for repairs and then started to rust at three years of age. My family bought a new Daimler in 1982 and it pumped petrol from one tank to the other until fuel flowed out in a trail behind the car- talk about a fire risk. Mrs Thatcher had some task.
I've lived overseas for nearly 20 years, but was born and grew up in the south of Scotland. I agree completely with your observations. Outside of the cities, we have an incredible country, with warm, friendly people. But it's all being hollowed out economically. Many blame Brexit, but I view that as a consequence of this hollowing out, rather than a cause. People saw things getting worse in their communities, and were led to blame that on EU bureaucrats by tabloid newspapers and opportunistic politicians. But the real problem is the "business model" of the country - one which favours finance over manufacturing, universities over trade schools, and cities over communities. So, there is little to entice me back to the UK - which makes me more sad.
Thank you for this video, i always loved to come to UK and it's so sad what you are saying. I'm not British, I'm italian, I live in France since 2017 and I have the same feelings about my own country. So many good memories BUT it's not the country where I grew up. Italy always had a lot of problems but now it's worse and it could have so many way to be a GOOD place to live. I hope a new better era for all the countries, the earth need our respect, everywhere.
For me, I don’t care how cold it is, I will always live in the UK 🇬🇧 nothing beats trekking over beautiful rolling hills in cold crisp weather - makes you appreciate the warmth, don’t get me wrong, I love travelling overseas but nothing beats the thought on seating on the plane ✈️ back home 🏠 of putting the kettle on and putting my slippers 🥿 on when I get home 🏡 xx
Born in Dublin I was reared on British comics, tv shows and music. I lived in England for 2 years, my 2 brothers have been living there for 30 years. I've been living in Germany for 47 years. I still have a deep affinity with English culture and I find the present political and economic decline profoundly sad. There are so many factors contributing to this, but therein lies a long discussion.
I'm Irish and was born in Dublin in 1968. Ireland was monetarily the poorest country in Europe. I took the boat to Wales in 1988 when I was 19 to go camping in Snowdowia and I was AMAZED at how much better the infrastructure was. It was like another planet compared to what I was used to when growing up. How times have changed. But.... I don't think Irish people are any happier than they used to be. Indeed the rates of anxiety and worries for the future among young people are probably much higher now than they used to be when I was a kid and people had less money.
In 1997 I moved from England and was considering either Ireland or Scotland. I ended up in Scotland but have regretted that since, particularly after Brexit. Ireland is now the only English speaking EU country but these days I could not afford to buy a house there. In 1997 there were still plenty of cheap rural cottages available.
I used to visit Ireland regularly in the Sixties and Seventies with my parents and it was noticeably poorer than England. Also, on holidays to Spain and Italy, I noticed that they were considerably less affluent than England. Britain's decline almost seems like planned obsolescence.
Yeah I remember going to see cousins in Ireland in the 90s and it felt like a poor country. We went on holiday to France and it was scruffy and smelly. Now it's the other around. I live in France and when I go back to Britain it makes me very sad 😢
Wealth doesn’t bring happiness. I think it can kill it.
2 місяці тому+1
Ireland has become richer by essentially running a hard right wing economic policy of low tax (almost a tax haven). They got loads of structural funds from the EU prior to Easter European counties - they don’t have to spend on defence that’s essentially backstopped by the Uk. They are a major back office for london finance also. Plus uk is a major product market😊
I left the UK in 1993 and I am from Bristol. Quite frankly there are only three things I miss about England - the countryside, village cricket and country pubs. Regarding the English countryside I know what you mean. There is something magical about it that is difficult to put into words. I've read all of Thomas Hardy's novels, some twice. Why did I leave? The English class system of course. Briefly, it's the only country in the world where people of different classes speak the same language but can't understand each other☺☺
The laws since 2000 are gradually killing off the village pub and cricket has declined. Used to be that every village had a cricket team. It's every third village now.
Same in Tuscany, Italy, the countryside and the medieval villages and towns are unique and beautiful there, something you can't find anywhere else on earth.
and the quality of life is so much better in Italy, and overall people seem to be doing better in Italy than us in the UK, I have visited last year and planning on moving to central Italy soon.
@@danp420Come on Mate they are not. Every nation in Europe has big problems. You are unnecessarily negative. You have English self-loathing whereby you compare everything unfavourably. You exaggerate the negative and eradicate the positive. It's that kind of sickness we need to expell from this nation quicker than all the bad newcomers we have.
Its all connected with PRIDE (not the LGBT variety). Once the majority of a population is no longer proud of its country, it's a downward spiral. I've just come back from Japan where they appeared to me to be very proud of themselves and their country, and that was reflected in their cleanliness, their attitude, and culture. A wonderful country. It made me ashamed and sad to be British. We need to be much more positive about our history and who WE are as a nation.
It's complicated. Was with you until the history bit. As history is a big part of our culture; coming to more of a shared understanding about that is probably something we need to work on atm. - ie let's have a national conversation about it. I think 'having a national conversation' is another part of our culture and one that I am proud of. But will this survive the social media internet? We are all on a different page, quite literally! :-P
@@wkt2506Couple of points. Firstly a " national conversation" to discuss what exactly? Immigration? Watch what happens if you try to express any opinion other than mass immigration has been a good thing for the UK. But it's really pointless because the conversation you refer to should have taken place 30 years ago before the advent of mass immigration which has altered large areas of the UK beyond recognition, especially metropolitan areas.
Yes, our history is checkered, just like every country's. But we can stand up very proud for having ended slavery and given the world many great innovations and systems of law and democracy. Colonialism is not something to be proud of, but in that era all nations wanted to expand their influence and we happened to be very good at it!
Britain is a dump. Sorry I have lived now 55 years in the Netherlands. I was born in London and grew up in Edinburgh and at 18 I came here and never regretted it. I visited the UK many times but was never tempted to return. It is always so depressing to be back in the UK compared to Europe. Now the UK is out of the EU we can move on. We have our problems but nothing compared to the UK which has still a fundamental class structure and a totally undemocratic electoral system. The 1% that own the country will never accept a decline in their wealth. Until then it will continue being a lost country.
I would get that European superiority complex off your face if I were you. Europe is slowly aging and wages there are pretty much falling off the cliff with a welfare state that is on the verge of collapse due to it being structured like a Ponzi scheme.
When Britain was a real world leader and one of the great world powers it was less democratic, aristocratic values and the class structure were much stronger. The decline in British innovation, power and development seems correlated with the spread of mass democracy and democratic values. This is not a judgement as such but more a surprising observation.
@courtilz1012 It was also pushed through boarding school culture. 1% of those who have left school attended a boarding school, and they are disproportionately represented in top jobs in the media, law, the City, the Civil Service, the armed forces, medicine, and politics. Now only 0.5% of children are in boarding schools. I want to see boarding banned. Boarding schools exist in other countries but not as many.
@@courtilz1012 " _decline ... seems correlated with the spread of mass democracy and democratic values_ " That's a view that's increasingly been forming in my own head. You can have too much democracy, and its associated 'values'. The current state of the US would seem to be an example of this.
I just came back from a trip to the UK, (my last time was 4 years ago just before lockdowns) a few days in Preston, another 3 in the Yorkshire Dales and 3 in London. I've been to London dozens of times, and yes, even Oxford Street looks more rundown, a bit unkept. Many many closed and boarded up shops on other high streets at the edges of London. Yes the countryside is different and small towns are beautiful and the people there, despite the struggles of a dwindling economy have pride in their communities and are trying hard to make it a good place to live. I must say it was a good feeling to return to Vienna, my adopted city (home) to familiar places, foods, streets and can understand your feelings.
Who goes to Oxford street after visiting many times. It’s the no. 1 street to miss out. London looking much nicer now. These people here will disagree but they’re online negative twats.
I’m an Englishman living in Ireland and would love to move back home. It’s where I grew up and loved things like playing cricket on beautiful village greens, lovely English villages (there are hundreds of them), and like you said….the glorious countryside. Can’t wait to get back….if I get the chance
England and the UK is a beautiful place, its just the people that run it. As long as you have an us and them attitude the 'underclass' is so far removed from what you would called civil society
The Norwegian youtuber Bull Hansen, who has visited England many times over his life recently made a video with the exact same feelings after his recent visit. From the comments all the British people agreed with him. One huge difference in the UK compared to just 20 years ago is an extra 8 million people. That's the equivalent of adding the whole population of Austria to this island.
Bull-Hansen's just a racist sh1t stirrer. Listening to him you'd think the apocalypse had had to the entire UK. I live in Gloucestershire not too far from the Cotswolds and it's still lovely here. Nearby Chiiping Norton in Onfordshire is beautiful too. Bull-Hansen talks bull from a little rock shelter he built in the woods, lol :)
@@charlesedwards4160 It has to be coming to the Cotswolds they have let too many in they can't all fit into London The level of immigration is ridiculous and UNSKILLED which is beyond ridiculous
@@charlesedwards4160 Perhaps leave your affluent isolated bubble. ,He is well aware there is still nice places in England, but noted many negative changes compared to his many past visits, and most British in the comments were agreeing with him.
The population has increased from 60 to 68 million in 20 years, which is actually a very small rate of increase. A lot of developing nation's populations double in the same timeframe With that said, I've also seen the statistic somewhere that the UK has barely built any new housing in the last 40 years so I'm sure 8 million extra people explains the ludicrously expensive house prices
We went back to visit Huddersfield in June. I worked there in the early 2000 and hubby studied there in the 90s. We were so sad to see the place as it is today. It looked such a mess, dirty, lots of shops boarded up, shop lifting during the day. The countryside around it was as beautiful as ever though.
Out of town retail parks and companies like Amazon has made the old High Street a thing of the past. We have all caused this problem but most seem to not see their part in it and look for someone to blame
@@AreJayCee Yes, I absolutely agree, 100%. And we also have lots of shops closing (we are in Germany now), but Huddersfield really shocked me. The difference to 20 years ago was unreal. Maybe our memories tricked us?!
You beautifully well spoken and so articulate !! Thank you for the wonderful insight and often different perspective,so clarifying for today's world. ❤ 🌷💛🌻
I recently came back to England after almost 40 years abroad and living in two different countries, one in Europe and the other (my favourite) living in Asia. Believe me, it has been difficult psychologically getting used to things. It's culture shock in reverse. Things have changed so much since I left. The one thing that hasn't changed and that I really detest are terraced houses. Where I was in Asia everything was modern with skyscrapers, plus people were not living in bubbles, it was easy to make friends, also most people seem unhappy here, although now, being back for a little while, I can understand why. Sometimes I wish I could live back in Asia, but England, even with all its problems, is my country and I appreciate it much more now than before.
I feel the same way about the countryside and have never considered leaving the UK for that reason. I love travelling, but I always get very homesick after a couple of weeks and don't think I could ever seriously think of living anywhere else, even though there clearly are greater opportunities available in other parts of the world. I also think you have touched upon the biggest problem the country is currently experiencing - peoples attitude and the general feeling of hopelessness and pessimism. I can't blame people for this at all, as we have had decades of politicians lies and broken promises, but this is not unique to the UK and all countries go through good times and bad
An American here, I always have said that I love visiting the UK for the fine weather, the friendly people, and the beautiful scenery. I leave for my 39th trip to the UK. One of my friends in the UK asked me why I didn’t try to immigrate. My response was: “Then I would have no where special to go.” GOD SAVE THE KING!
I have the same feelings when I come home to the Netherlands from a long trip abroad. Unique landscapes are somehow part of your personality. Last summer we cruised around the British Isles. We only visited Holyhead in Wales and the state of the area was shockingly depressing and also was the Isle of Man. Liverpool was beautiful and refreshing (except the many homeless people). Scotland and Ireland were attractive and inspiring. It was good to come home of course.
@silversurfer6758 The locals are so proud of being independent whilst being in de same Customs Union as the UK and being fully depending on UK for healthcare and education. The infrastructure is poorly maintained and the energy sector is based on natural gas so the average person suffers due to Energy Inflation. The price of fresh food is super high. Rich people that profit from the banking system have a decent life but the rest are struggling according to the tour guides.
Great video, I'd love to make one myself as I left the UK in 2001 and went back last year (2023) after 22 years and decided to cycle the whole of the UK over summer. I was shocked! The first thing I noticed after arriving from France was the reluctance of shops and services that accept cash, which was a problem as my two foreign bank cards allowed me to withdraw cash but not to pay by card. Then there was the poverty that I saw in the cities. Closed shops, druggies, alcoholics... On a positive side the countryside and villages were still beautiful, and drivers approach to cyclists had improved since the 1990s.
It is coming to 10 years since I came to UK, for what I expected to be a 6 months of work. 5 years ago I decided that I no longer want to live here, but I do not want to leave empty handed. So I enrolled in a university. As part of the studies I spent 5 months in Augsburg, which only reinforced my opinion about leaving. Next summer will be the time for a big move. The Netherlands will be the target, but Germany is not off the list either.
I really appreciated the balanced views in this video. I was expecting something more polarised and I'm glad this has hope, nostalgia, affection as well as a realistic objective viewpoint.
A romantic attachment to nature formed during childhood is a very important part of British culture. It’s in the stories and poems which British kids are exposed to.
I must say that when I travel back there wealth disparity is fully on display. There seems to be a lot of poverty, but also a lot of really fancy cars buzzing around and some gorgeous houses.
The absolute horror I imagine anyone coming back to the UK would experience after a long time abroad is terrifying. I often think what would the men who sacrificed thier lives on the beach’s of Normandy think if they came back today.
I've tried to describe the English countryside to Canadians but I don't have the skill, or it is not possible. It is small and magnificent, soaked with stories and journeys. Thanks for your respectful and honest video matey.
I'm American. I love The South. I haven't lived there most of my life. Born there. It feels free and friendly to me. I've traveled somewhat. I appreciate how people are friendly in other places, or staunch, or quiet. I've been to Europe. The different foods are wonderful. Nothing like Virginia and Tennessee to me. Kentucky. The mountains.
I agree with a lot of the comments in the video as a UK ex-pat. However, I was a kid in the 70's and early 80's when things were pretty bad, maybe even worse, and they turned it around. So, it can be done. Or at least that's what I try to tell myself to not be too depressed.
@@ElSasser2007 When you say Britain, what do you mean? The land or the people? When the British become a minority in 20 odd years, will it still be Britain? When white British are a hated minority and 2nd class citizens, how will they make it?
@@ElSasser2007 It's demographics. Britain will still be there. There will be people in it. But they will not be us. We are having no children, and are being replaced by different races. It's what is happening. It's impossible to reverse. It is no wonder the people are depressed. Only a down trodden, defeated and demoralized nation would allow that to happen. No nation has ever experienced this, and danced in the streets while it was happening. We shouldn't expect it here either. It's delusional. The British were too polite to say anything. Like the dodo, we didn't know how to fight back.
I'm English and have seen the deterioration over the last 10 to 15 years, perhaps more. The country was a much better place in the 1990's and early 2000's. I see there as being several factors: 1) Economy. We no longer make anything. But we import almost everything. Every time we buy something it has been made in a cheaper location. The means we are exporting our wealth and will inevitably become poorer. 2) Past governments have borrowed money to patch over short term issues, creating a longer term problem. A lot of our taxes now go to pay off those loans. 3) We are being taxed more and fined more but get less for that money. This is also inevitable in a declining country. Every bit of money that can be extracted from the reducing number of workers will be extracted. Fines are everywhere for the least infraction because councils and governments see that as extra tax. 4) There is division between people. I probably can't say why that is but many of us know. We need to get back to being a community and helping each other. The only way to fix this is to start manufacturing things and for people to buy locally rather than find the cheapest provider. We also need to pull together in local communities. But I can't see that happening. Honestly I think for many people the UK is in terminal decline.
Got to make it attractive for manufacturers move back,but with minimum wage ever increasing, demand pushing price's up causing inflation,I heard today labour will push us into hyper inflation.We need less people thats the direct cause,along with wor which made us lose cheap energy prices, pandemic too,plus mass movement of people ever increasing record numbers causing crisis in every department
Same here. I’ve stayed for three years to give it a chance, but have become depressed for the first time in my adult life! At least now I know, and won’t harbor any unrealistic romanticized ideas about life in the uk.
And same here. I left UK for Thailand in 2003 and in short it was life changing. Kept a place in UK though (family here), and am back now but am looking to rebase. The recent budget confirmed my opinion that hoping for politicians to turn things around is a false hope - they don't even understand the problem. Most likely moving to South West France, but both Netherlands and Denmark have both been very good to us...
@@AvaMann-q5u Maybe. But, from what I've seen it looks good right now: better weather, better infrastructure, better public services, cheaper houses, and much earlier retirement...
Isle of Wight is amazing! Lewes, Glynde, Devils Dyke etc so amazing. Devon also mindblowing. I lived in Surrey in Guildford. The landscapes like paintings, polite people, clean roads.
Been living abroad for 30 years. I am still British and still culturally different from where I live. The land is beautiful in the UK but going back feels uncomfortable. Problem feels the people. We have created a culture of no change, don’t try, reject…. Deteriorate. The stupidity of Brexit is really an example. Negativity everywhere you go.
Oh lovely Benjamin what a super Sunday surprise to hear your voice from your own turf! How our nostrils are filled again when we stand on origiinal soil.... Petrichor... Thank you dear Friend for speaking your heart. Yes, home is where one's heart is - sometimes simultaneously in two countries....❤❤
Ive got to offer a counternarrative. I was brought up in central Manchester and spent a lot of time in liverpool in the noughties. The sense of hopelessness, destroyed areas of cities- ghostliness and lack of any money was acute in both cities. Blocks of manchester centre were derelict and or carparks. The contast to now is insane. Still has a long way to go- but its getting towards being a smart modern city now. Liverpool too, has come leaps and bounds in just 20 years. If we talk about lack of investment- there is no parallel to the lack of investment now to that which the north/midlands and industrial communities suffered in the 70s/80s. That said, what britain has lacked, aside from investment is an industrial strategy to get that. It has one now. Finally. We need a strategy to make sure the wealth of our rich city reaches the regions. A lot of the problems with towns and cities could be resolved with some common sense regarding local government funding- by need. Business rate retention etc. The policies of the last 14 years have led to boom areas and sink towns once again. Shocked pikachu face.
This is totally unrelated, but why do people in Liverpool bang on about their historical contribution to pop music? Manchester & Manchester alone has done ten times over the number of awesome bands & "one hit wonders" singles compared to anything Liverpool ever achieved! I'm born & bred in Sydney Australia. 🎉 It's a 10:00pm noise curfew in my apartment building......... But, BUGGER 'em! I think an hour more of The Stone Roses is what the neighbours need! 🎉
@Luke-yh6nm im from manchester, so- tribally im geared to agree with you. Not to mention- happy mondays, chemical brothers (met in manchester) simply red- the buzzcocks- morrissey/smiths- joy division- new order- the fall- (if we can claim it)the charlatans- and just to join our two nations- the beegees lived in chorlton after Australia. That said liverpool have aside from the obvious - the las- cast- the farm- echo and the bunnymen- my faves the zutons- and - and i think this might be the clincher- atomic kitten. Its a tough call.
I'm from the highlands and I've been living in Greece for 15 years. Before that I was in Canada for 5 years. Yes, I think we do romanticise things in our minds when we are away from home. However, a few years ago I went back home for about 9 months as a very dear friend was ill with a brain tumor. It was my first time back home in a while, and I was shocked, at the prices, the culture, the 'unfriendliness' (especially in bars) and the general hard life that people seemed to be living. This was Inverness, honestly one of the best places to live in the country, but after enjoying the friendly laid back culture of Greece, where trouble is fairly unusual, it was shocking to me. My overall view of the UK is that London gets everything, the money, the transport, the investment, while many other parts of Britain are fairly neglected. I'm back in Greece now and to be honest there isn't anything that makes me want to live in the UK, I'm sorry to say.
I was taken away from England in 2002 when my mum decided to move us around the world, and I only managed to come back a couple of years ago. I can’t describe how much I missed my home country and county of Yorkshire, when I finally managed to return and the rain hit my face for the first time, I literally cried. Having travelled around the world I realise that despite our issues we truly are a great country. I became much more patriotic when I was away and I wish more people over here could realise that we don’t have it as bad as we think. Having said that, now that I’m back I see the issues we do have, and I’m not sure if we’ll ever get back to how things were when I was a kid. The country is going through a transformation, and not a good one, and the worst thing is I’m quite sure it’s intentional. Thanks for the video, I feel very similar to how you feel.
I grew up in South Africa and when I was at school in 1967 the librarian trusted me to take one book every weekend from a large series of about 24 books in the reference section called 'Britain Beautiful'. The series has masses of black and white pictures of every shire/county in Britain. These pictures were imprinted on my memory for life. I moved to Germany many years ago. My parents were German and this gave me the opportunity to get a passport and live in Europe. I have lived in Europe for 21 years, 6 of them in Britain. Although I had been to the UK several times as a young man. It wasn't until my 6 year tenure that I experienced the British countryside and it didn't take long for the black and white memories to turn to colour, leaving me speechless at the beautiful vistas I was able to view. The beauty and natural splendour of the British countryside has a regal grandeur of colour that makes Britain completely unique. There are many places in and around Europe and even the world that are breathtaking, but for me Britain will always be one of a kind, which I fear could be lost given the situation and the influx of migrants who do not share the same core values as the British public. The absurd statement that the British countryside is not black enough is a sign that wokeism, political correctness and diversity have no regard for the traditions, values and continuity that bind a country together and will be lost if not curbed in time. Look at the state of the countries from which these diverse immigrants come, where the landscape isn't soiled with dirt and pollution. I know I will be accused of being racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, which is fine, but my words are true. I remember feeling so very English as I walked into the rural villages and realised that the history of the land must never be lost!
My family left England when I was a child - but I've always felt a pull - like salmon returning to the spawning grounds - about wanting to go back and wander the green fields, footpaths and explore the small towns. I fully recognize this an idealized version of what England once was. Nowadays, many of the inner-cities are in dreadful shape, and the 'shops' just franchised Americana. Also, I'm under no delusion that ex-pats would even be welcomed back?. Still, the unexplainable want to - full circle - end back where I started out - lingers on.
Yup! Me too. Left in '57 as a child but the romantic in me still longs for the UK countryside. Now that I'm old I seem to return for visits more often - even though I'm sad each time I go.
Yes, it is. It's my country, and I'm pretty ancient now. But I fear under successive governments we're in great danger of losing our flora, our fauna, our landscape. This year the birds, insects and small mammals are seriously reduced or absent. I live in a rural area, and we had no butterflies, not bats, no songthrushes, few swallows, few swifts. The last government didn't bother at all, with two environment ministers who ignored their role completely. The current government seems bent on ignoring the reaity of rural life, farming life, our domestic natural environment, and appears determined to view it as an expendable resource. Our rivers and waterways are toxic with sewage and effluent, yet the government is still not going after the big payouts made to water company CEO's. They're reneging on their promises on the domestic environment, on water, on farming, and I fear for our countryside lest is become a cash cow and a holiday venue, and nothing more.
Thanks for the vid. There is always no place like home.... I have lived in the Uk for one year in my late 20s. I have to say I still miss the landscapes and I would love to see everything in Birmingham, where I lived then, again. In a way, the UK still has a very special place in my heart....It strikes me that the island is suffering so much a little....
well brum has changed a lot, i dont know when you were last here but the city centre is unrecognisable compared to the mid 2000s and the ethnic demographic has changed enormously.
@@YvonneHoerde well the 1960s bull ring, rag market, pallasades shopping centre, new st station and central library are all gone now, Some of those changes might have been new when you were here.
I have lived outside the uk now for 16 years. The sense i have going back is still good people in general trying to make the best of a difficult situation.My old home town feels sad,much of the industry has gone and the big business is now the University with the students.This has changed how it feels.The street where i grew up in a council house just feels less loved,smaller,somehow less at one with itself. The town centre is a disaster. We need a completes re think on urban planning. The shops are not coming back.
But I can also report similar conditions in Germany as soon as you leave the Hamburg area and look at the west coast region for example. Small towns whose centres are empty, hospitals that are closing due to ‘reforms’, poor roads and public transport that has been cut to the bone. A decline in the provinces for about 25 years...
Love the Landscape of Scotland and Cornwall as I was there many years ago by train. Loved the friendly, lovely people as well. Food not so much, sorry. Those hedges between fields, the walls out of natural stones along the narrow roads, the wild coastline of Cornwall, strawberry fields (forever), the old trees, castles, lakes. As I am writing that I got the feeling I have to go back there, which I will. Sorry to hear the economic struggle. Hope, the famous british humor will help people through hard times. In Germany we could do with that ...
I'm from Preston, I went to the Cotswolds on holiday this year, it's obviously beautiful but still has problems, not to the same extent. The local council has pedestrianised my town centre so people just drive to out of town retail parks and shop there. It's either badly researched or deliberate, I favour the latter as property becomes unrentable, councils buy it and then sell it to big developers for city housing. The national problem is we have been systematically asset stripped for the last 40 years, there's very little left to sell now.
Ohh i love Preston. I'm in Australia now. Is it worth coming back to visit or will i just see a rundown shithole and be depressed seeing it? It was great with all the good pubs and the occasional trip into the shopping center.
@@DavidBamber-m8j A lot of the pubs are gone in and around the town centre, half the shops are empty the rest are coffee shops, vape shops, betting shops, tattoo shops. They demolished the market and replaced it with an artisan style bollocks thing. The guild hall was shut 6 years ago, the bus station has been cut in half. I don't go anymore it's depressing. The council are criminals, I could put everything right in 12 months. My mate emigrated to Melbourne area in 98 and when he comes back he can't believe the mess.
@@69waveydaveyThats criminal, they must be spending the all council money on illegal immigrants hotels or lining their own pockets. Its a shame with the pubs, i would love to have a pint at The Bridge Inn in Penwortham.
In 2022 I returned after 27 years in the Far East (Japan, HK, Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand). I returned as Covid was in the rear view mirror here, but still a topic people thought about in the Far East. It's actually why I returned (my daughter had 2 years of online schooling with no end in sight). I had always said I'd never live in the UK again, but after almost 3 years, I'm still enjoying it. I was amazed how liberal the country is, how many opportunities (my niece is on an apprenticeship earning £20k with a good future once she's no longer an apprentice), how prosperous everyone is, how well the NHS works (and it's free), government schools are also as good as I remember but with the added bonus of looking after mental health. Just like you, I love the countryside plus also the history. I have set up a UA-cam channel so I can share this great country with my friends overseas. Cycling is really easy here and so I visit a lot of places by bike. I guess such a long time in a totally different culture and moving to Southeast England has given me a very different experience to you.
30 year old Brit here living in the North. Firstly should say that I do love the place, people are great, four national parks within a 2 hour drive, amazing history everywhere. However I generally agree with your assessment, and it largely feels this way because of growing regional and socio-economic inequality. I think the Foundations report was pretty spot on. Your comment that England is a poor country attached to a rich city is also true. It’s not just London, there really is a huge divide between North and South(East) that I genuinely don’t think politicians and decision makers understand. It’s starting to feel extremely grim in many Northern towns. I think the decline has felt particularly acute since the pandemic. Politicians should be paid more but maybe Parliament should meet in the provinces. It also feels that people are becoming more individualistic as living standards are declining. More money into expensive financed cars, less into supporting pubs, local shops, cultural centres. You’re right that the weekends are often the exception, but it’s hard for town centres to stay vibrant on just a couple of decent trading days a week. The media also don’t help, whipping people up into a frenzy over the latest focus of the culture war, when while these are important questions, the economy should be front and centre of the news. Wages in the UK are truly appalling. Even in London most people’s salaries are terrible considering the wealth of the city. This is one area where I don’t think Brits really appreciate how much we are declining relative to other countries. Most people have no sense of what it means to be rich or how unequal our country really is It means that governments can continually try to convince us that the noble thing for us to do is tighten our belts, make sacrifices, be resilient and we’ll survive. I don’t think people buy into this anymore. It’s too easy to see that we’re declining compared to our neighbours. Like you said, you only have to hop over to Ireland to see the stark difference. I do feel there’s something simmering in people, you can see it in the protests against inheritance tax on farms, or the fact that it’s no longer taboo to point out the NHS has failed, I’m just not sure how Britain will capitalise on that sense that enough is enough. I hope it doesn’t lead to division among people.
I am always fascinated by the way you think. Because it’s something I am trying to avoid being too deeply into thinking about something. My mind is way too stormy and distracted and it requires reining in by doing meditation to let those thoughts ebb and flow, until I can focus again. Another thing that’s interesting is the choice of music, it made me feel like I just broke up with someone and needed to move on.
@ What fascinates me was not really the content, but the low energy from the content, every time I watch it, it’s as if I can feel a part of the pain, melancholy, loneliness, sorrow and discontent. And it’s very consistent. I am just very curious about it, even though I personally also need to rein in my thoughts, because I don’t want to ruminate too much.
Kia ora Brother, It is so beautiful seeing England and Ireland, and you with your feet on the ground there. I can't imagine what a heart throb it is to be back "home". I am on the other side of the world and I have been nowhere near the mother country. However, I have spent a lot of my life seeing incredible television programmes etc made in England. My Wiltshire partner and many Kiwis always watched Coronation St, saw the culture, heard the accents... and I learned that English pubs were really special places to meet up regularly. It is such a beautiful image. When I see the English countryside my heart throbs. Research is affirming connections between wellbeing and nature eg melodious birdsong, colours and things. I wonder if my ancestry comes through me, or is it just a nostalgia from what I have seen on the screen, or is it is simply because it is just so bloody beautiful. I watched footage this week, of soldiers preparing for battle in 1944. An American GI was posted somewhere in England, and had a few hours of leave, which he spent in a city, maybe London, where he was walking through no end of bricks and rubble. The GI was very, very affected, seeing the strength and positive vibe of the people all picking up rubble. I cannot describe the gratitude and awe when I see these things. Hearing Churchill's voice, and seeing things that I cannot comprehend are very inspiring and utterly awesome. I connect the friendliness and kindness of the English with the goodness and civilized characters of our previous generations. I watched a British A and E programme and noticed the nurses somehow sounded closer, more connected than all the Kiwi nurses I know. Similar, buf thd Bruts say "love" and seem totallg on the same wavelength as their patients. Beautiful empathy and communications. Seeing people playing footy is another thing that feels very deep meaning, because it goes back so many generations. Football and rugby for our nations are so vital and deep in connecting people and communities. A Fijian flatmate got me into watching rugby, but actually, my Southland father's brothers were always keen on rugby, and caused much banter. It continues among the children today. Nostalgia is a real, real thing. I am fascinated by the different things that motivate people. I feel that rich people from other countries come to Aotearoa, including Brits. A lot of Americans want to come here now too. I feel some people look around for a "better" place and do comparisons of FDP etc, etc. Invariably one place will be more affluent than another. I have 3 properties. A unit in a caldersac, beside bush & native birds, tui and close to the hospital and city in a caldersac. Just one fruit tree, nice neighbours. Another place- woolshed- beside a river, waterfall and much native bush, supportive No running water or flush toilet, plenty more land fof grazing, gravel road etc. Typical supportive Kiwi farming community. And another city house, with all the most beautiful soil, fruit trees and a community I have mutually nurtured for 28 years. I am thankful they aren't in different countries because I love each connection and each place for many reasons. Life could be easier with less affluence and less choices to choose from, provided you are happy with what you have. If not happy, some inner work will help. This is how I view that. I am very, very grateful for the Maori influence in my life. I learn more about connection to land and being a steward. And the responsibility to family and community. A place having more or less money to throw around is less important, but yes, there can be more potholes, crime, drabness, poverty. That's where I find many people who will help and who are real. In NZ there is always an opportunity to give food, kindness, or even money to the homeless, alchoholics and drug addicts. They may have been smashed around by life. Those people have often had interesting lives. We have more drug addicts on the street now. With Jacinda gone now, they are homeless, and new kinds of drugs keep coming. A lot comes back when you give. But it seems to come from having that mindset and a responsibility to give back to the original place you belong to or wherever you put your roots. I have thought about characters too. Usually one sibling has a big enough heart to take care of the elders. No one really sees their load. I would love to hear more on this very broad topic, as we all get to an age of deeper reflection and acceptance. I see that many people have their hearts in two or more different places and sometimes they don't feel they truly belong in any one place. Yet if is a human need to belong somewhere and usually with other people. I love your honesty, Bro and these thoroughly good videos that really evoke...something in the heart. Greatest of love to your family, Bro.
@_permanence Yeah, I know. Thanks mate. I don't know if it is a familiarity from so much British stuff I have seen via tv, or through dna from all my great grandparents, or something I have built up in my mind, But I think people have romanticized NZ too, because of the natural beauty, race relations, gun laws, or Jacinda or something. I know a lot of people watch the allblacks, our haka, & like our hikoi we have been on this week. A lot of people from colonized countries like our 22 year old wahine toa MP doing the haka in parliament, our 23 year old wahine Queen etc. A lot of people moved here...from South Africa, England, America, India and places but still have to adjust to Kiwi culture shocks down under.
Hurrah for a thoughtful video and Ed West's moderate essay. One of the unintended benefits of home-schooling in lockdowns has been to cure my children of the self-loathing indoctrination endemic in our schools and public discourse; AND to restore a sense of purpose in what it means to be English, how we got into this mess, and how we fix things up. The result is three happy teenagers enjoying life, reading again, and talking about starting their own families one day. Everything makes sense to them now. The future is in our foundations: family, faith and freedom.
As an Australian who each day feels more like a 3rd class citizen here, despite my ancestors contribution to developing this nation, I would move to the homeland of my great grandparents in a heartbeat, if I could. They came out from Cornwall in the 1860s and established farms in the new colony of South Australia--the driest state on the driest habitable continent. I visited Cornwall a few times in the early '90s and it felt like my cultural and spiritual homeland. Yet, it would be hard to secure residency despite my roots, unlike the access others have to residency without having any cultural or loyalty ties to the nation.
It's not perfect, but it's getting crowded with people that are culturally dissimilar to Brits. But, you guessed it, holiday in France, ditch your ID papers and get onto a rubber boat, can be crowded though, over the channel, get picked up, put into 4* accomodation and looked after, all free due to the largesse of the British tax-payer paid by this feckless government and the incompetent one before .
Your main points are valid. The Uk does feel and look poor in many places, although Worcester and Hereford are not examples of this in my view. There is a connection between rural beauty and a lack of wealth creation . One of the reasons the UK countryside is so beautiful is that development within it is effectively banned or made so ridiculously onerous as to be effectively impossible, this point is made in depth by the article you refer to. Many rural areas are now inhabited by well off retired people, some of whom would rather new development didn't happen. I enjoy your German films very much and appreciate your perspective, keep up the great work.
What were people expecting would happen when the UK decided to cut itself off from it's main export markets? I'm from Manchester and have been living in Berlin, Germany, for the past 30 years. I used to regularly visit my old haunts and say hello to friends and family. I don't do that anymore, its got to heart breaking. Everyone is either struggling in low paid jobs, out of work or they've moved away, some of them have even emigrated. Berlin is not one of the best places to live in Europe, but it's not a tenth as bleak as what is happening in the North of England.
The Yorkshire Dales , The North Yorkshire Moors, The Lake District and the stunning (and empty) county of Northumberland are "In The North". You can stick Berlin; been there done it.
@@mikethespike7579 Less money allocated to local councils, hence worse local services, ...the death of the town center, a rail system with the highest priced tickets in Europe, weak government over successive decades in relation to immigration, persecution of free speech, woke ideology that's infected every aspect of British life, a weak justice and police system.....etc etc
@@SuperNevile The Yorkshire moors, Dales and Lake District are alright I suppose, but nothing against stunning (and almost empty) Meklenburg-Vorpommern with its extensive lakes and waterways. You can stick The North, I've lived there and done it more often than you''ve had hot dinners.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your home country. I live abroad for more than half my life and I share your feelings when I go back to where I grew up. It is part of my life and don’t want to get rid of it, but my new life is the life I prefer.
I’m English but left for New Zealand 21 years ago with my wife and young children. I watch with dismay how our homeland that we grew up in has decayed and seemingly has lost hope. I see my two grown up children now thriving with so many opportunities in NZ and Australia
Shout out to England for being home to the best music ever created in history, at least from a rock standpoint! Beatles, Stones, British invasion bands and the Progressive/art rock scenes of the 70s (Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ELP etc...)! Always appreciative for this. Love from Canada.
Watch out, when it comes to Rock / Metal, Japan is at the very least hot on our tail! Bloody Japanese women have all but taken over my Rock / Metal playlist at this point!
My tastes run more toward Byrd, Tallis, Handel, Purcell, and more 20th century composers like Vaughn Williams (one of the best, and one of my favorites), Barber, Elgar, and so on. England has so many fantastic composers, not to mention the literary giants that came from the British Isles. I would love to spend a couple years just visiting England.
Good morning all. If you live in England or the UK how do you feel about it right now? If you've visited recently what were your impressions of it?
Hi . I moved back in 2021 after covid and for my daughters schooling. State school still good in england. However i moved back abroad again as cost of living rent bills vs salary i was on 27k per year is shite. Just surviving and cant save so yes. Im not sure ill move back which is a shame.
Some of your observations in the UK were pretty universal, but i'm unsure of your reflections of life, earnings, transport in Germany.
I've lived here now 34yrs your reality's around the Frankfurt area 🤷♂️ i cannot say, i take your word, but here in NRW i dont share your optimism 🙏
@@nails3394 Not everywhere in NRW but sure around the Ruhr area the people are the rudest, most unkind and negative you can meet in Europe. Been 30 years abroad and coming back for me is a shock, repulsing me.
Live and work in Berlin, back in Brighton just now to catch up on some stuff. The UK is changing and not for the better, but some are trying to change the dependency.
I want to leave and keep trying, theres nowhere in the UK I desire to live
I am an old lady who cannot afford to travel, and therefore have to limit myself to an armchair view of the world. Having said that, I do keep up with things and have noticed that the entire world is experiencing growing pains. No place is as homogeneous as it used to be with good and bad results. There are twice as many people on this planet now as there were when I was a child. People’s problems remain more or less the same as they have always been: food, shelter, etc., and changes in technology throw in new issues.
The only control that we seem to have is over our own sphere of influence. We can strive to do the best we have with what we’ve got and spread as much kindness and good as we can within our own little world. It may not seem like much, but imagine the changes if everyone tried it? It gets easier the more you practice it, and when you fall down on it get back up and try again. None of us are perfect and we all have our own demons, but it is surprising how good it feels to approach life like that.
For someone who has never travelled, your comment was the best of all the ones I have read thus far (have not read them all obviously 😊)
The issues are not just the UK..the same exact issues are affecting many countries.
Lots of people blaming the wrong things...very narrow minded and short sighted views
I don't like what is happening nor do I have a solution...but I wish those in the UK realized it is definitely not just their country that is affected .
I'm Canadian..and we have huge issues there too. I love my country still. Currently residing overseas...so I'm getting a glimpse of life in another country. Guess what? Same issues. ...😢
I hope you have a lovely day. Thanks for your common sense response 😊
I hear you love and agree with you most emphatically. I'm sure you'd be a lovely person to have a cup of tea with if I ever did venture back to the UK from my home now in Western Australia. Good on you.
What a lovely message ❤ We just moved to Scotland from CA and wholeheartedly agree with what you’ve shared. Every country has its pros and cons, but we couldn’t be more grateful to live here. The UK is not perfect, but we are loving calling it home.
@@SimpleScottishLivingthank you uk is still beautiful and still in my heart ❤
@@HelenT-xv6zm best comment on the Internet
As an Italian who lived in rural England for 6 years, I can say it is impossible (to me) not to miss the British countryside. It does and will stay always in my heart
È tutto bello i primi giorni ma per vivere è orribile cosi come l'Italia.
yeah but Tuscany..........
Italy looks like the UK in that regard...
thats what comes to mind when i think of england, it's countryside.
Da che buco di culo di città italiana vieni? 😂😂😂
German here and I absolutely agree: English countryside has a unique beauty. The little villages with old houses and romantic gardens, the deep green pastures with grazing sheep and cattle, the soft hills and meadows abundant in wild flowers, it always give me a feeling of peace, harmony and wholeness.
I also live in Germany. Germany is simply beautiful too I have to say, I love the beautiful green rolling countryside here. It really depends on where you are I guess, I live in Bavaria, near Allgäu. But there is so much beauty in all corners of Germany too (I get to see a lot of regions and cities as I travel a lot for my job).
@@ulli2915 You missed a significant issue in all that wimsical, English beautiful countryside you described - rivers full of sh!t and sewage polution.
@Ayeright. Lke the Rhine and the seine. All those swimmers getting sick in the Olympics.
The countryside is still beautiful for now. Stay away from major cities though.
My only observation. Why is every man growing a beard. Do they think that their Islamic overlords will assume that they are. ‘ of the faith’? I’ve got news for you all. You’re the wrong colour. That beard won’t protect you!
"a poor country attached to a very rich city" that's sad.
It is, I think it’s quite a British problem. Yes France has Paris but it also has other cities like Marseille and nice…when people hear I’m from the U.K. the follow up question is (everything, without fail) ahh from London?
@@britingermany pretty much
That's probably the most accurate description I've heard of the UK. We headed home to the west of Ireland back in May after being away for a few years and the difference between Ireland and the UK was eye opening. People were much happier, the infrastructure was so much better, everywhere was tidy, people took better care of the place. The UK by comparison looks unkempt, scruffy and neglected, nobody seems to care. And its not just Ireland, this year we've also visited The Hague and Maderia and found the same. Its very sad to watch.
@@jbconno it's sad to watch. I'm glad Ireland is doing well though
As Metallica said, Sad But True.
Britain’s decline over the last ten years is staggering. This is combined with a deliberate attempt to suppress any pride left in the country. It is all rather disappointing.
Much of British wealth is held offshore by its richest citizens and corporations depriving the treasury if much needed tax revenues.
I'd say it started to be much more obvious from 2008 onwards but it was probably much earlier that the rot had really set in (I remember when the hand-car washes started and I knew something was badly wrong!).
But if you look at the trade figures the balance of payments were more or less in balance till about 2000 and then they became truly catastrophic (that's essentially an export of huge amounts of money and after a while that shows).
Pride about what, exactly?
There's a fine line between pride in the country, and nationalist racism. Britain has been struggling along that line for a while now.
Started post 2008 after New Labour bankrupted the country. We've been living off the country's credit card ever since and that's maxed out so it's unlikely to improve.
As an Irish person I love the English villages .
So historical and full of charm.
Don’t let them deteriorate like the cities.
The villages will be fine - the moneyed classes have fled the decaying towns and cities and turned them into nice enclaves nobody else can afford to live in.
@@wilfulsprite555Yes, that's what I was about to write. The villages have long been embalmed by the upper-crust who romanticed that way of life and had the money to indulge in it. See the coastal towns of Cornwall or the Cotswalds cottages.
London and Dublin are now like Dystopian crime ridden cesspits.
Them who?
@@wilfulsprite555 so then money folks will keep the illegal migrants out?
I live in New Zealand, and I lived in the UK from 1997 to 2006. I can't believe that 68 million people are trying to live on an island the same size as my home country. When I last visited the UK in 2019, I couldn't get over the urban decay and the traffic congestion in many of the towns I visited.
@@EV-KillaNo New Zealand is slightly larger than Uk. There are just over 5 million people in NZ. Just over 1 million people live in Auckland so a fifth of the population.
You could say very similar things about Germany and a whole host of European countries though...Denmark has the same population as NZ and is a lot smaller.
The UK is smaller than NZ.
@@mikebe2090 It's 1.7 million in Auckland these days, actually about a third of the total.
@@EV-Killa UK approx 244,000.00 sq kilometres. NZ 268,000.00 sq km.
I grew up in England in the 70s and 80s - in the mid 90s I left for Canada for a two year stint. Life happened and I did not return. I now live in Normandy France and have done so for 18 years. As a nature lover I 100% agree with the sense that there is a majesty to the English countryside that I’ve never experienced elsewhere. It’s steeped in magic and Arthurian legend - so atmospheric - very special indeed. As an expat I’m extremely nostalgic for England but am so disappointed when I visit which I do 3 or 4 times a year. It’s dirty, disheveled, and frankly sad. The roads are rammed with cars and drivers are impatient and bad tempered. So many people are overweight and/or apparently poorly educated. The cost of living is off the scale meaning “high” earners (relatively speaking from a European pov) actually live very modest lives. I could go on (and on) but suffice to say I struggle to recognize the England I knew growing up.
Very accurate sumnation of England today.Massively ovecrowded with lowering standard of living.Mismanaged with poor governments for twenty plus years.No sign of improvement either.In fact heading downhill rapidly.The 'people'oblivious to their plight.
You are totally correct. England exists only for the very rich everyone else just "gets by" or not ..The countryside which yes can be magnificent is unfortunately seen more and more as an asset to be exploited rather than cherished
100% agree. We left the UK for Australia 16 years ago and every time we go back understand why we did. The Northern towns are totally run down and depressing. We're from burnley and it's so sad to see the town now, full of charity shops and pound stores and everyone looks depressed 😮
Depends where you frequent in Egland. If you live in a relatively poor town or city it looks a bit run down, but go and live in a decent town and you will see an abundance of wealth and quality people. Shropshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire to name just three counties have some stunning towns brimming with money and wealth.
@@iancollinge1614 There are lots of wealthy towns in the north places like Harrogate, Buxton, Lytham St Annes, Heswall, Alderley Edge, Knutsford, to name a few. If you're only going to go back to Burnley, then no wonder you think the UK is depressed.
Your description of what you see mirrors mine exactly. My profession took me from Ireland to England in 1982. When I left Ireland it was a poor country with a lack of infrastructure, but I was happy there and I think most people love home. I enjoyed rural England but after a year went North to Scotland where I have been ever since. I love the landscapes of Scotland and the fact you can get away into the wilds for days. I made good friends. When I got to Scotland, I saw similar run-down towns and districts on the outskirts of Edinburgh. This got worse after Thatcher closed the coal mines and communities lost their income and their pride. I still see many deprived areas and major social and health problems have not improved. Nor has the infrastructure, much anyway. In contrast, when I go back to Ireland for a visit, the changes that have happened in the same time period are immense. This as you described, the infrastructure, the standard of living, the career opportunities, and societal attitudes. I don't understand why the same progression and improvements have not occurred here in the UK, and I would say there's actually been a decline. One reason I believe might be a factor is the generally poor education system. I was working with men some of whom could barely read and write, badly let down by the state. Their kids were no better off and were condemned to low paid jobs, each generation as poor as the last. People with money in Edinburgh send their kids to private schools and pay for a decent education.
I'vd spent a lot of time in Germany over the past 20 years. My wife is German. We've travelled a lot in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland. The atmosphere, the average level of prosperity, the quality of life, the infrastructure, the quality of housing, the good affordable food are all markedly better than here. It gives me no pleasure to say so. And as I get older, I don't want to live in a country where the earliest a doctor can phone me is in two weeks time and the earliest he or she can actually see me is after that, depending. Scotland is a beautiful country, and with good and very funny people, but like the rest of the UK, there is no progress for the past decades and actually it has gone downhill with no hope in sight. The UK is failing its people. I believe much of this is due to the feudal nature of land ownership and wealth, which is controlled by 5% of the population who mostly went to the same schools and are well-connected for the rest of their lives, as are their kids. There is a class structure here which keeps things that way which I have never come across anywhere else. There's the problem. The British are overdue a revolution.
Yes, the English class system is pernicious. If the ruling class had to go to state schools, maybe the other 93% would get the same education and opportunities… I'm Irish too and think of the English, in the main, as decent and tolerant folk who have been badly let down by their governments. They deserve better.
you're absolutely right to pin the blame on the asset owning class (whether ancient or corporate). Deference to literal land Lords is a millennia stretching obsession of England (and the neighbouring territories it took over). I think it's because there was no proper revolution in the last few hundred years as happened in most of Europe where there was either country defining revolutions or major land wars that caused the mechanisms of the state to start fresh. No such thing in UK where there is no constitution and clear continuity with the feudal. Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries/break with catholic church were big deals but mostly served to consolidate power into monarchy. I somewhat believe the beginning of the curse for England basically started with the Normans who followed a caste system based on birth right (if your parents were peasants that's as far as you could be), Anglo-Saxon culture had some smatterings of class mobility in contrast.
But I'm glad you said what you did, so often on a video like this it will all be blamed on a few refugees who drowned in the channel.
It seems that being in the EU was beneficial for Ireland?
Just look at the folk who are in charge at OFCOM, not a single one of them ever did a job or work, they are all part of the coterie of folk who control us and run our lives. This has to change !
In 1973, when they joined the EU, Ireland was the poorest country in Europe, now it's one of the richest in the world (re: GDP/person). They invested EU grants in infrastructure and training the population and reduced the corporate tax rate, all of which made it attractive for inward investment. In the 1960's I'd cross the border from NI to SI to see relatives in Donegal and it would be holes in the road, donkeys and bicycles once across the border. Now I feel poor when I cross the border - the economics have reversed - NI is kept afloat by a £14bn pa "block grant" subsidy from the GB taxpayer.
I'm from England, but I moved to the US about 15 years ago.
Visiting the UK is a very bittersweet experience for me. It's lovely to see my family and friends, but heartbreaking to see the decline.
I think the change is more obvious when you see it in snapshots like I do. When you actually live there, the change is harder to recognize because it happens so gradually.
I'm from Birmingham, and it's almost like visiting a third-world country now. My family and friends all seem to be struggling to get by, and there seems to be an air of defeat or despair hanging over the place.
Oh and in the USA it is different, you just have to look at Detroit, San Francisco and co.😂
@@Habakuk_ That's a trap a lot of people fall into - assuming that all of the US is like Detroit.
The reality is that, while there are indeed ultra-violent and run-down places in the US, thry are actually very small geographical areas, sometimes just a few city blocks. It is very easy to avoid places like that.
The vast majority of the US is very safe. I am in far more danger when I visit my family in Birmingham - it has 47 times as much violent crime than the place where I live now.
I think the difference is that there are places in the US where you can still live well. Yes there are a lot of awful places in the US. But the UK has nowhere where you can make a career AND have a family anymore. London is awful, and all other cities pay pennies! Coming back feels like going back in time 20 years. @@Habakuk_
@@thepenultimateninja5797 You sound like you're falling into your own trap and assuming that the UK is all like Birmingham. That's a big city which of course has big city problems. But if people leave the cities and visit some of the smaller towns and villages, you'll find more of a community where people help each other out. It's a shame to see people constantly running down this country like it's the third world.
I moved from Wales to the USA, nearly 20 years ago. I have been back and fro a few times. The latest was last year. I noticed this last time there was a dramatic change in the country.
People were miserable - same as before. That's no change. The biggest thing was that the shops and banks had pretty much vanished from Cardiff center. It had become cafes, pubs and restaurants. A lot of shops had just vanished. Swansea had a lot of shops but look carefully and they were all shops selling very cheap goods and some didn't even turn their lights on, presumably in order to save money.
Over previous years I have noticed people had become more miserable and whiny than before. Prices seem to have rocketed but the quality has not.
As a dual German/British citizen, I have lived extensively in both countries.
Germany has just as many problems as the UK, especially in large cities like Duisburg, Köln, Berlin, and even München, which I visited recently and was shocked how dirty it has become.
Germany is also going downhill.
You're right. Maybe not quite as many problems as the UK. It's difficult to say.
A lot of the West is going downhill, unfortunately.
Köln is my favourite German city. I found the people really friendly there. Munich is my least favourite.
Germany appears (if you read some articles) to be going downhill partly because of a lack of investment over the last 25 years. It may get a lot worse.
@@skymanste7630 not as fast as the UK tho
I’m the same. The downfall of Köln is really sad. People at work used to deny it but they don’t any longer. I’m not bashing Germany as I really like it and unlike others I really enjoyed Munich. There are many obvious reasons why.
@TB-vm9yr That's not true, internet shopping and newcomers have killed your towns and cities too. Don't get complacent. Look at France, that's how we will all go if we dont wake up.
@ hmmmm, funny how internet shopping is in Europe too but it seems like its England with filthy derelict town centres. So sad 😢
Where I live in northern England (I've been away for almost 30 years) all I see when I visit are towns closing down, streets of bookies, shops selling lottery tickets and cheap booze, gambling arcades, pawn shops, thrift shops, charity shops, closed down pubs, closed down business. It's like the government just left these towns alone. I live in a developing country, but man, even the poor here live so much better than the working class in England.
Governments have abandoned these towns. Towns that made Britain rich in the Industrial Revolution. What a betrayal.
The decline everywhere is really depressing. I live in a city in the South West that is supposedly "rich", but even here you see decline. Public transport is really bad, the costs of housing is extortionate and for a University city there is only one bookshop, Waterstones which is run by capital venture company. Recently went to Padua, Italy a similar size university city, counted 7. Cycling from work the other day was asked by a kid of 16/17 if I wanted to "smoke heroin". On saying no he then proceeded to chase me insisting that I really should. Independent businesses really struggling here..
It's not economic decline, it's changing economic habits. People now shop online and believe me there is a lot of wealth being made online. It's less visible, but just because it's doesn't show up on the high street doesn't mean wealth is not here. The high street is not where it's at any more and has just been left behind. Lots of people with new luxury cars where I live and most are self-employed working online.
@@andrewwatson5509 The visible decline is physical. Wealth is now invisible online. II's still there, but people shopping and work habits have changed. There are many wealthy people living good standards of living but they work online not on the high street. You rarely see old banger cars on the roads these days or even cars over ten years old, most drive new or nearly new cars.
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb Good points, but that doesn't change what the street looks like. I've lived all over the world and let me tell you, streets shouldn't look like that. Shopping has gone online where i live now, and it's very vibrant, and not full of exploitative businesses. Then there are the deaths of despair, higher in england now than ever in history. You make a good point, but it doesn't hide the bigger problem.
I’m English and have lived here all my life. For the last few years and as I approach retirement I love this country more and more. When I drive back home to Salisbury to visit family, the landscape with its gently rolling hills feels comfortable and familiar. There are more beautiful parts of the country but where I lived until I was nineteen, still feels like home.
You live in a beautiful part of England and I think you are sheltered from much of the visual decline. Where I am, there has been a massive change in the demography and more charity, pound shops and pot holes. We have move out to a village which is a lot nicer. Enjoy your retirement and make sure you have one in the Haunch of Venison...Great pub!
The landscape is racist. lol.
You need to get out more, maybe not, it’s for the best.
I can relate, I am or was a Wiltshire lad up to 1973.
I went to secondary school in Salisbury. I have mixed feelings about Wiltshire
I left England in 1978, I returned in 2019 for a whole 5 days, 5 days too many. The place I visited was the place of my childhood, a place I had left behind in 1958. My impression was one of shock, it was empty, desolate and the people once vibrant and colourful were now grey and indifferent. My childhood memories were erased within 5 days.
Oh no sir, It has been "enriched" with the wonders of "diversity" and "Multiculturalism" you white bigot! (Sarcasm)
My home, such as it was, was England in the 1990s and you can't get there from here.
That's a sad experience. Hope things will change again someday. There is no substitute for home. Cheers from Germany.
I have the same experience with the US. But I still have the treasure of my memories. They were not erased... even if it was an island in time
I grew up in England and am a fairly regular visitor back from NZ. The down turn between my visit in 2019 and 2020 was marked. It was saddening to see such a decline.
Thankyou for this video, it's very interesting. I'm an 83 yr old Englishwoman. That word "pride" is such an important word. It doesn't matter what you've got, you can always 'improve' on it in 'some' way and feel pride about that! My two darling grannies in my childhood (each morning) swept their steps and paths outside. Front of house was important. I hate litter and don't understand lazy people who discard it. I've travelled a bit and had some nice holidays in the past, but there is something about my own country. England is where I always felt safer somehow (up until modern-day anyway!) At my school (1950s) we were taught to love and respect our country, so growing up it came so natural to feel "pride" and "patriotism" - two words that now, many 'label' you for! I love Englishmen, whether they're rich or poor, high-class or any other class, they will usually help you in a crisis. My husband is and always was a typical Englishman, reserved, inner-strength, but nobody ever got the better of him. No fuss, he just gets on with it. But I love the Welsh, Scots and Irish too - our islands are very precious. But England is my home - so English-folk please look after our unique countryside, and farmlands, and don't leave your litter! Things have changed SO much since my younger days, and I'm glad I was born when I was. But our long history, and walking in the countryside, canal and river walks, popping into a small village church, cliff edge-views on the English coast, visiting our cathedrals, watching county cricket on a summer's afternoon, and so much more, all serve to remind me that England is well worth preserving.
English, Welsh, Scottish, etc...
I note your comments regarding litter. I am aged 70 and live in the North East, I go for a 30 minute walk every morning and pass approximately 10 litter bins, enroute I pick up every piece of litter big and small and probably deposit litter into at least 6 of them. Our society would be so much better if we all made a small contribution, for example, donating to the blood bank or helping an elderly neighbour. Sadly people seem obsessed with staring at their mobile phones, even parents with young children on the school run.
I visit the UK regularly, mostly London, and every time I go there, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse. I’m not sure what it is, but the feeling is that it doesn't even belong to Europe anymore. It's quite dirty, and I feel unsafe in certain neighborhoods
It’s a real shame!
import enough third world non-Europeans and that's what you get.
Just say what you're thinking - Lots of brown and black people?
@@RussellsParadox7 Well yes, foreigners make home feel foreign
@@Mario-or8yq well done you put your big boy panties on and admitted it.
A Pole living in the SouthEast of UK since 2016. True. There is a lot of classist division, sadness and misery but equally I find so many positives : small businesses grit& spirit is second to none, history & nature appreciation lives on (NT/English Heritage are such a precious undertakings), poetry& story telling, folk music & dance (think morris), art (even amateur), comedy (stand ups !), sports, embracing queer community (how many countries in the world are so accommodating?), volunteering / charity culture, etc. I could go on... This is very much home here ❤ Investments are very much needed 📈
But because of open door immigration the moneys not there!
I am a Pole who has lived in various places since 1999, most recently in Yorkshire. I love this country, its greenery, and the incredible number of historical places to visit.
Thank you both for your belief and contribution to the country
@@calconi6427 ❤️
Sat in Herefordshire as I write this, I’ve worked all over the country and Europe and to be honest I’m so grateful that I call this place home!
Herefordshire really is a hidden gem in the UK…
@@MP-mr8rj that’s amazing. No one has ever heard of it when I tell people where I’m from
I left the UK in 87....When I returned for a visit 10 years ago, my home town of London seemed so grey and dismal and the people were pretty much the same. The countryside however was like a lush, green, wonderful manicured garden, nothing like it anywhere I ever saw in the USA however, it didn't compensate for the feeling of it no longer being the country of my youth. The countryside being a facade hiding the truth of a fading economy and a population dissatisfied with just about every aspect of their lives. Never went back and don't intend to
The economy and the division among everybody has made this the worst year in the UK for me.
1997 was even worse it's when the cancer set in
@@chucky2316 The cancer set in when neoliberalism took hold in the 1980's. This is when restrictions on financial markets were removed which ultimately allowed the conditions which led to the 2008 world financial crisis. Austerity became a political choice and the resultant cuts in services and investment was laid at the door of every scapegoat government could find. These narratives prevented people focussing attention on the actions of the financial institutions which caused the crash and who were bailed out with billions from the public purse. The financial institutions continued their policies unchecked. Billionaires become ever greater in number. Everyone else is put under pressure. Division results.
@@I7275-p2dgreat post. People have a short memory re 2008.
Ive never once heard a migrant say "thank you", never once heard them say "hey wait a second-- you are calling the british people racists... You should see the way they treat "outsiders" where i come from; actually the british people are quite welcoming and very open.. It surprises me every day how not xenophobic this nation is"
@@sempercompellis It’s a shame that you feel that way. I’ve always been grateful for being born here and in discussions I’ve always disagreed with blanket statements like “England is a racist country” or “Britain is racist”.
So I don’t fit into the archetype of “migrants” you are describing.
However I stand by my comment that there has been division this year. I didn’t mention this side or that side being bad. I just merely pointed out that the conflict hasn’t been nice to witness.
You are right about childhood experiences. I'm German married to a Brit living in Germany. I've been going to the North of England since 1977. Every time we go back now, it has changed for the worse. Nearly all pubs and nightclubs we used to go to, are shut. Nearly all shops especially big department shops are gone. Everything looks run down, boarded up, filthy and dirty. You mentioned the state of roads and infrastructure. We don't go to the town centre at night anymore. It doesn't feel safe. But the countryside is still the same. We went to Devon and Somerset this summer and it was lovely. There weren't as many holiday makers as in the 90s, and hardly any dutch, french or German tourists.
Interesting and sad at the same time. There’s something really soul destroying about experiencing a run down tired town that has obviously seen better days.
@britingermany that's true. Especially when your memory tells you differently. Huddersfield had a thriving indoor market. You could get everything there. They closed it down. It is going to be redeveloped but no idea when it is finished. I can't imagine where all these new shops are going to come from.
Having to get a visa approved and get your passport will play a major role in Germans, Dutch and French tourists choosing someplace else to visit when back in the 90‘s you could just hop over the Channel for a long weekend, basically decided two days prior after watching the weather forecast
Thatcherism destroyed Britain.
@@Rubicola174 I know that Brexit upset us Germans especially.
The news about the Water Companies not working according to European standards and using loopholes in the law to let raw sewage run into the lakes and ocean made an England summer trip distasteful
Thank you for your comments about Ireland. We have a shared culture of love of countryside and animals.
"The English landscape at its finest-such as I saw this morning-possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess. It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term 'greatness.' And yet what precisely is this greatness? I would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it." (K. Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day)
I'm English born and bred, also from the rural Midlands. I like living here. I avoid the big cities, but they've always seemed like dumps to me. The smaller towns and villages are fine in my opinion. I have a decent job, which mostly allows me to work from home, I enjoy walks in the green hills and our National Parks, I enjoy visiting all our history (love National Trust and English Heritage properties as an example) and I have lots of friends and family nearby. I'm not saying it's perfect (where is?) but I thought some might like to hear from a Brit who likes living here and isn't perpetually complaining and whinging. We're not all like that. 😂
well most of us aren't fortunate enough to be near the national parks and work from home. I mean the salaries here in UK are really low and it's pretty much impossible living on your own as a grown adult on a 30k salary nowadays. Things don't seem to be getting better either and violence is really high comparedo to France or Ireland just to name a couple of neighbouring countries. Quality of life is infact significantly lower when compared to the rest of Europe.
Just walked out in rural Staffs near Croxton Abbey.Lovely rolling hills,autumnal trees and few people around except in a traditional pub having sunday lunch. So far so good.But spent Saturday evening in central Manchester,full of drunks homeless tent village in the main square and a dreadful train trip back home full of drunk and vaping kids in dirty t shirts yelling nonsense. Yep heaven n hell coexist in Britain.
The problem is, just having a lovely countryside isn't much of a saving grace. Why would Scotland be suffering from one of the worst alcohol and drug epidemics in the world, when they have right to roam over unrivalled beauty? Besides, the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world - fun fact. It's all just farms and terrible, depressing terraced houses. We have no right to that land, we can't camp or go off grid. It's just an occasional novelty to get away from the grind on the few days it happens to be sunny on a weekend.
UK rates higher on the QOL index than most European economies@@danp420
That precious countryside is slowly being lost to development. An overcrowded island is slowly getting more and more crowded with a projected population of 70 million next year. If the UK doesn't stabilize the population, future generations won't have the ability to enjoy what we have now.
02:40 - Ireland doesn’t have the diversity yet - but they’re working on it.
Come to Dublin. You'll change your mind
I have recently lived and travelled in England. I've also lived and worked abroad including the Gulf. In 2024 there are parts of metropolitan England - London, Manchester - which looks and feel like countries where Sharia law operates ( I know what I'm talking about because I lived under Sharia law for 4 years). My own country, Scotland is beginning to experience the same type of mass immigration.
@@phillipecook3227 I made no mention of Sharia law. You said Ireland doesn't have diversity yet i said come to Dublin and you'll change your mind. I live in an apartment complex 6 minute walk from the main road. I counted 9 people from Africa during that walk. That's diversity if that's the nice term you'd like to use. I personally would use another term.
@Zoe-dr5ps I know you didn't. I did.
@@Zoe-dr5psWe all came from Africa.
I am originally from Frankfurt and live now in Oranmore county Galway for the last 22 years. Before we moved to Ireland, I lived for almost 10 years in London and Kent. I was quite touched when I saw your pictures of Galway after watching so many of your videos from Frankfurt. Two places, that are very close to me. Your channel is amazing, honest and very informative. I’m enjoying it very much.
As an American I can relate. Growing up in the 90s things felt so much nicer, there was so much optimism. People were kinder, the world felt full of possibility. And in the past 25 years, aside from a brief pause for a couple of them after the financial crisis, it's just been spiralling downward. There's so much hate and finger pointing. No one wants to work together for a better future anymore, the older generations just want to check out and bury their heads in the sand and the younger generations can't handle it all on their own... it's just overwhelming gloom and depressing. I'm leaving as soon as I can, there's no point in hoping for things to change any more.
I was born in the UK, my father was British and I visited a few times back in the 80s, and it was everything you'd expect. I always wanted to visit again ... until lately. It's something disturbing I don't want to see, like a bad thing happening to an old friend.
I left in 95 for NZ and I agree so much with this film. I popped back last month for the first time since 17 and I did notice how things had slipped. Chunks of Norwich were boarded up and very seedy. Seedy quite literally in the case of the gardens around the castle: the flowerbeds were now nettle patches.
Being in NZ one gets exposed to Maori lore and they have a wonderful piece of wisdom that says you always feel different about the land where your ancestors are buried.
Now for Italian wisdom: " Fish rot from the head". Root and branch reform of Westminster badly needed.
ive been to NZ and to be honest i wouldnt choose to live there,theres areason so many kiwis move to aus
@@ramsey633 We're all different - long term immigrant to NZ and love it here. Aussie is great too, but prefer it here.
Hence the Scottish independence movement. We get it.
All wealth in the UK goes through London and a lot stays there.
Look at London spending on the arts compared to the rest of the UK.
@@gordonwilson1631 " all the wealth ....." You wouldn't talk about Kensington Palace by any chance?
I wonder how much of it has gotten worse with time, or if it's just our perception. My grandparents lived in Norwich and I remember visiting in the 80's as a young kid, when the rag and bone man would still come with his horse and cart into the street. Across the road from my grandparents there were prostitutes and junkies. Sometimes kids would turn up at the door trying to sell their parents cigarettes, so they'd have money for food. The houses at the bottom of the street had corrugated sheet roofing. I also remember an entire family walking on the street barefoot... My grandad passed away a few years ago; I hadn't been back to the area since I was a teenager. The whole vibe had changed, but very much for the better.
Australian here. I've recently visited England and Scotland for the first time since Brexit and covid hit. What struck me is how dirty many of the old buildings were in many places I visited and 'down and out' types hanging around in some of the cities and villages. But on the plus side, it is as beautiful as ever and some places seemed like they hadn't changed at all. It's still one of my favourite places to visit and I will be back.
It’s always good to hear the opinions of someone who has a proper experience of ‘living’ in two countries. It’s a sad summary of the uk though☹️
For me it was really illustrative to go around Ireland a month before. That really put things into perspective
I'm German and have lived in the UK for over 50 years now. In this period I've travelled all over England, Scotland and Wales and yes, a lot of places look rather run down due to lack of investment. But it is not just the lack of investment that makes the towns look run down, it is the people that make it, they don't look after the places where they live, don't show any pride.
My son is British and we spend our holidays in Germany, visiting two or three cities and monuments or other attractions and always end up for a few days in Berlin visiting relatives. Berlin, unfortunately, has changed and certainly not for the better. Everywhere you look there is graffiti, litter, pavements in some parts of the city are covered in dog shit and, just like in the UK, there are places where alcoholics spend their days getting drunk and begging. I won't even start talking about the junkies.
Yes I would say that is a valid point. Pride seems to have been vilified as a dirty word, but it doesn’t have to mean nationalism. It can just mean that you make an effort to keep the streets clean, maintain buildings and trim your hedges
@britingermany exactly
@@britingermany Agree, there has been a decline in the culture overall, years of 'progressive' parenting and education have left us with a zombified youth hooked on TikTok and Netflix. Noone gives an eff about civic pride or their environment.
Graffiti, litter, dog shit etc. will always proliferate if there are not police and municipal workers employed to look after the place. A small minority of people can make anywhere look terrible. It all comes back to austerity.
If you want to see people with civic pride not littering and keeping everything tidy, travel to the Baltics. They are still so happy having gotten rid of Soviet occupation over 30 years ago! They are still striving forward.
I've been in the UK for a year after 23 years living elsewhere and it's even more depressing than the last time I lived here. Can't wait to be out of here again tbh.
I couldn't agree more, I can't wait to move to Europe
@@danp420 You are in europe.
@@matthewhalsall5743 obviously meant the EU I will be moving to Italy
@@danp420 interesting choice- 350K Italians live in the uk. 60K uk citizens in Italy. Perhaps if you can work remotely
Could work. But getting a job there is very tough Italians tell me.
Two factors at work here. 1. 14 years of Tory asset stripping - budgets for public services either slashed or pushed into the private sector where delivery has been cost-engineered to hit the minimum acceptable quality standards and maximise shareholder profits and... 2. A lot of the regions previously received EU investment for infrastructure or cultural projects - investment that the previous Government failed to replace (a tiny proportion of the Levelling-Up budget was actually allocated/taken-up - and where it was, it was disproportionately allocated to wealthy conservative supporting areas) . Ironically the towns hit hardest by the loss of EU investment were those most enthusiastic about exiting the EU. Radical social change is required.
Thank you for sharing this. I'm from the UK originally and emigrated to Australia. I also miss the countryside and that certain sense of magic in the rural parts of England. I'm sad to hear things are not in a good state. Hopefully public investment can help to turn it around. It was cathartic to hear your thoughts and feelings. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching. I hope so too…
.There is nowhere on Earth that I would rather have lived/ I am 70, born 2 miles from Central London in 1954, and just 2 miles from Brixton and Peckham in the other direction. It was a great place to grow up as there was so much going on, both, locally, and in Central London but by 1983 I felt my Culture was being diluted. It was not the same area anymore and changing fast.. When my car was stolen in Brixton the A.A. Recovery Guy had an AXE on his patch, such was the danger. I only, moved 11 miles to the periphery of S E London and Kent to this very house in 1983 and I have had another 41 wonderful years here in a safe area with 76 Open Spaces within a 6-mile radius," using" London and enjoying the Countryside..
I have lived in Germany now since 1986, my trips back for England and Family R&R are always uplifting and grounding. Nice presentation, but did make me feel a bit sad.
Sorry to hear that….I tried to add as much nuance as I could. Which part of England are you from originally?
Regarding German bridges falling down, at least Germany has bridges. Right in the middle of Portsmouth, there's never been either a bridge or a tunnel across the harbour to Fareham, there are no bridges linking Liverpool city centre to the Wirral - just car tunnels.
Newcastle is 1 of a very few UK cities besides London that has a beautiful collection of bridges from various eras in the city Centre but only in the city centre, leaving neighbourhoods in the east and west of town cut off from the other side of the Tyne with an 8km gap from the middle of town to a single car tunnel in the east and a 6km gap to the next bridge in the west.
The west of Glasgows built-up area has it even worse with a 10km gap between bridges. There are no bridges at all between Tower Bridge and Dartford in all of east London for about 24km. In German cities, whether on the Rhein, the Elbe, the Main, or the Danube, there don't seem to be situations like this. Most British cities don't have a major river through them so if all cities that do were to build a bunch of bridges, you still wouldn't need as many as Germany has. Sunderland does have a good selection of bridges across the Wear.
Imagine if you had to travel via central Frankfurt to get from Schwanheim to Grießheim or to get from Offenbach to Fechenheim. Imagine if Frankfurt only had buses, half the amount of S Bahn with bigger gaps between stops and no tunnel taking you into the city centre, no U Bahn and 2 tram lines and you have to buy seperate tickets for each of these modes.
Imagine if only 4 German cities had any kind of underground rail and only 7 cities had trams and I mean only 1 line in urban areas the size of Hamburg (how it is in Birmingham). Now imagine you have to pay more to use a combination of local rail and bus as the buses use a completely different ticket system and even daily, weekly and monthly tickets are only valid on buses. An annual ticket between 2 stops on a regional train costs over €1000 and is only valid between 2 specific stops.
That's what the UK is like. I know you can use the oyster card in London on both bus and rail but again, it's cheaper if you only use buses (and the tram in Croydon). I've never seen that in Germany. A single ticket always seems to be valid on local bus, tram, U Bahn, S Bahn and even regional trains for 90 minutes - 2hrs as long as you don't go back on yourself. Daily and monthly tickets are also valid on all the same modes. Amazing!
That’s an interesting point about transport. Before the Deutschland ticket it was a mess. Different Bundesländer had different rules of ticket validation and zoning systems. I totally agree with you now. With the Deutschland ticket you can just get on to any bus tram or train without having to think about it too much. And yes the infrastructure in Germany is miles Better than anywhere in England…to be honest the roads seem to be quite a lot better in Wales than they are in England
However I think we could use a few more bridges across the river Rhine, particularly between Basel and Frankfurt. In Karlsruhe they're planning to build a second one additionally to the one near Maxau. So far the next one north of Karlsruhe is in Germersheim more than 20 km away. And south of Karlsruhe you'd have to go to Kehl which is connected with Strassburg by a bridge. Additionally there are a few places where the Rhine can be crossed using a ferry.
It was the same in Cardiff. No pedestrian bridges at all across the River Taff between the city centre and Western Avenue, but people fought to have two pedestrian bridges built from Bute Park to the other side of the river.
The River Thames in East London is very wide, so the only way across it is by ferry or tunnel. At least there are pedestrian tunnels from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs and Woolwich to North Woolwich. They are scary to use at night, though.
there are actually two Mersey tunnels from the centre to the Wirral
@@sturman80 thanks. I've edited my comment.
I was in England in October traveling from North Yorkshire to just North of London over two weeks, and I have to admit, I had the same feelings. The country has changed, but not for the better. The countryside is the same, but the people seem stressed. From stories I heard, services are not working as they should. Maybe it was the mostly grey weather, but I found it depressing. If I was to go again, I'd want to stay somewhere away from London in the country, but my siblings live near London, so I would have to visit them.
You mean Londonstan?
@@dianafarmer5445 No I don't. Apparently you do, but that say more about you, than it does about me.
It's only a "minor" change, Jon, but when I grew up just 2 miles from Central London in one direction, and 2 miles from Brixton and Peckham,I never heard a foreign language on our streets from my birth in 1954 to circa 1970 (other than the occasional Restauranteir or Ice Cream seller). Every child in every local Primary School and 98% in my Grammar School was White/British Indigenous. I moved in 1983 just 11 miles to the periphery of S E London and Kent,to this very house and it has been a fantastic move. NOW if you get on a bus in Inner London,in any, away direction from the centre then only around 5% are from that same racial Group, all in my lifetime and my old school is only 5% White/British.
THAT is being swamped and leading to a loss or serious dilution of Culture not an absorption of others into our way of life which is fine.
@@Isleofskye Being born in 1952, I had similar experiences as child living in a one room flat, just North of Hyde Park and Kensington Garden. (It is now a >1,000 pound a night hotel room.) The foreigners I remember were ex POW's, Italians and Germans. I do also remember a few French onion sellers on bicycles. My father died in a road accident when I was five, and we sofa surfed for a year. (I changed school 4 time in 8 months) until we were given a council house a little North of London. There was one coloured boy in my class at junior school there at that time. I can still remember his name. Going on, after five years of no pay rise and misery under Maggie, I moved abroad in 1986, and spent a year learnning German. In my first job, I trebled my previous UK pay. (UK pay is far too low and exploitive. My present pensions are more than the average UK pay for instance.) In my last job 90% of the workers were foreign, so I have lived as a foreigner, in a foreign country, and therefore have a completely different attitude. I think what bothers you is the lack of integration, which I can understand.
@@Isleofskye Born in 1952, I grew up just North of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in a one room flat. (Now a >1000 pound a night hotel room) until I was five years old. I remember German and Italian ex POWs, and a few French onion sellers on bicycles. My father died in a road accident, and after a year sofa surfing we were allowed a council house a little North of London. At my junior school there was just one coloured boy.
Going on from then, in 1986, after five years of no payrise and misery, I moved to Germany and spent a year learning German. In my first job I trebled my previous UK pay. (My present pensions are more than the average UK pay, which shows just how underpaid Brits are.) In my last job 90% of the employees were foreigners. Having been a foreigner working in another country, I have a very different attitude to you. I think what irks you, is the lack of integretion. I know that can be difficult for foreigners, as the natives resent you, and are not friendly in some countries. I have experienced that, havng also lived outside of Germany, but Germany has been for myself, very open and welcoming.
I've never been to the UK or Germany; thank you for your perspective of how things have changed, the facts you bring about income, your reflections of the differences around the country. And thank you also for your ultimate message of there are always reasons for hope, that you'll always feel you belong and will have pride when you return. Very strong message and (at least from my perspective on what seems to be a rapidly changing USA) very much needed.
I'm British born and, since Brexit, dual German citizen living in Germany the last 25+ years. I'm from the East Midlands and totally agree about the long slow death of market towns in England over the last decades. It's so strange to visit the UK and try to deal with any kind of customer service (public and private) - it's like the people are only 50% awake somehow - difficult to explain but that's the closest I can get. Many people just seem workshy - they don't seem trained properly or just don't care. London and the South-East seems like a foreign country, not because of immigration but the level of investment and opportunity is so different. It's sad.
Yeah the differences between long and the rest of the country are becoming more and more pronounced.
Not my experience on my trip last year. Excellent customer service. No complaints.
Hello from Germany. I don't think that the people there have become work-shy. In my opinion, it is rather that the work of the people is not appreciated. Wages too low, overtime not being paid and that they have no certainty how long they will have the job. All of this destroys people.
@@Toddel1234567Thank you. The lack of job security was one of the gifts of Thatcher that destroyed a nice, comfortable Britain. People here are stressed because of poor work conditions and nasty managers- another gift of Thatcher to Britain. The situation has continued the same, even though we've had Labour in power part of the time.
@@parsaeye Yes the UK would have been better right now with 100,000 miners producing coal that there is no market for. Those wonderful British Leyland cars that bought new , had to go right back to the garage for repairs and then started to rust at three years of age. My family bought a new Daimler in 1982 and it pumped petrol from one tank to the other until fuel flowed out in a trail behind the car- talk about a fire risk.
Mrs Thatcher had some task.
I've lived overseas for nearly 20 years, but was born and grew up in the south of Scotland. I agree completely with your observations. Outside of the cities, we have an incredible country, with warm, friendly people. But it's all being hollowed out economically. Many blame Brexit, but I view that as a consequence of this hollowing out, rather than a cause. People saw things getting worse in their communities, and were led to blame that on EU bureaucrats by tabloid newspapers and opportunistic politicians. But the real problem is the "business model" of the country - one which favours finance over manufacturing, universities over trade schools, and cities over communities. So, there is little to entice me back to the UK - which makes me more sad.
Completely agree with this.
Running on empire became running on empty.... The gammon fools
Exactly right.
This.
Thank you for this video, i always loved to come to UK and it's so sad what you are saying. I'm not British, I'm italian, I live in France since 2017 and I have the same feelings about my own country. So many good memories BUT it's not the country where I grew up. Italy always had a lot of problems but now it's worse and it could have so many way to be a GOOD place to live. I hope a new better era for all the countries, the earth need our respect, everywhere.
For me, I don’t care how cold it is, I will always live in the UK 🇬🇧 nothing beats trekking over beautiful rolling hills in cold crisp weather - makes you appreciate the warmth, don’t get me wrong, I love travelling overseas but nothing beats the thought on seating on the plane ✈️ back home 🏠 of putting the kettle on and putting my slippers 🥿 on when I get home 🏡 xx
I found your channel earlier today and it’s been five videos in a row, ever since. What a blast! Excellent work, man
Born in Dublin I was reared on British comics, tv shows and music. I lived in England for 2 years, my 2 brothers have been living there for 30 years. I've been living in Germany for 47 years. I still have a deep affinity with English culture and I find the present political and economic decline profoundly sad. There are so many factors contributing to this, but therein lies a long discussion.
I'm Irish and was born in Dublin in 1968. Ireland was monetarily the poorest country in Europe. I took the boat to Wales in 1988 when I was 19 to go camping in Snowdowia and I was AMAZED at how much better the infrastructure was. It was like another planet compared to what I was used to when growing up. How times have changed. But.... I don't think Irish people are any happier than they used to be. Indeed the rates of anxiety and worries for the future among young people are probably much higher now than they used to be when I was a kid and people had less money.
In 1997 I moved from England and was considering either Ireland or Scotland. I ended up in Scotland but have regretted that since, particularly after Brexit. Ireland is now the only English speaking EU country but these days I could not afford to buy a house there. In 1997 there were still plenty of cheap rural cottages available.
I used to visit Ireland regularly in the Sixties and Seventies with my parents and it was noticeably poorer than England. Also, on holidays to Spain and Italy, I noticed that they were considerably less affluent than England. Britain's decline almost seems like planned obsolescence.
Yeah I remember going to see cousins in Ireland in the 90s and it felt like a poor country. We went on holiday to France and it was scruffy and smelly.
Now it's the other around. I live in France and when I go back to Britain it makes me very sad 😢
Wealth doesn’t bring happiness. I think it can kill it.
Ireland has become richer by essentially running a hard right wing economic policy of low tax (almost a tax haven). They got loads of structural funds from the EU prior to Easter European counties - they don’t have to spend on defence that’s essentially backstopped by the Uk. They are a major back office for london finance also. Plus uk is a major product market😊
I left the UK in 1993 and I am from Bristol. Quite frankly there are only three things I miss about England - the countryside, village cricket and country pubs. Regarding the English countryside I know what you mean. There is something magical about it that is difficult to put into words. I've read all of Thomas Hardy's novels, some twice.
Why did I leave? The English class system of course. Briefly, it's the only country in the world where people of different classes speak the same language but can't understand each other☺☺
Well done for breaking out.
Where did you move to? If you don't mind me asking
The laws since 2000 are gradually killing off the village pub and cricket has declined. Used to be that every village had a cricket team. It's every third village now.
Interested in where you were bumping into the upper class and couldn’t get on with them?
Something tells me you miss more about England than England misses about you.
Same in Tuscany, Italy, the countryside and the medieval villages and towns are unique and beautiful there, something you can't find anywhere else on earth.
and the quality of life is so much better in Italy, and overall people seem to be doing better in Italy than us in the UK, I have visited last year and planning on moving to central Italy soon.
@@danp420Come on Mate they are not. Every nation in Europe has big problems. You are unnecessarily negative. You have English self-loathing whereby you compare everything unfavourably. You exaggerate the negative and eradicate the positive. It's that kind of sickness we need to expell from this nation quicker than all the bad newcomers we have.
Its all connected with PRIDE (not the LGBT variety). Once the majority of a population is no longer proud of its country, it's a downward spiral. I've just come back from Japan where they appeared to me to be very proud of themselves and their country, and that was reflected in their cleanliness, their attitude, and culture. A wonderful country. It made me ashamed and sad to be British. We need to be much more positive about our history and who WE are as a nation.
It's complicated. Was with you until the history bit. As history is a big part of our culture; coming to more of a shared understanding about that is probably something we need to work on atm. - ie let's have a national conversation about it.
I think 'having a national conversation' is another part of our culture and one that I am proud of.
But will this survive the social media internet? We are all on a different page, quite literally! :-P
I understand Japan operates very tight immigration controls. Coincidence?
@@wkt2506Couple of points. Firstly a " national conversation" to discuss what exactly? Immigration? Watch what happens if you try to express any opinion other than mass immigration has been a good thing for the UK. But it's really pointless because the conversation you refer to should have taken place 30 years ago before the advent of mass immigration which has altered large areas of the UK beyond recognition, especially metropolitan areas.
Yes, our history is checkered, just like every country's. But we can stand up very proud for having ended slavery and given the world many great innovations and systems of law and democracy. Colonialism is not something to be proud of, but in that era all nations wanted to expand their influence and we happened to be very good at it!
Ended slavery?? Who says so. The books written by Europeans? The rapist write a book saying he ended rapes?@HDSPKSRecords-gi1ob
Britain is a dump. Sorry I have lived now 55 years in the Netherlands. I was born in London and grew up in Edinburgh and at 18 I came here and never regretted it. I visited the UK many times but was never tempted to return. It is always so depressing to be back in the UK compared to Europe. Now the UK is out of the EU we can move on. We have our problems but nothing compared to the UK which has still a fundamental class structure and a totally undemocratic electoral system. The 1% that own the country will never accept a decline in their wealth. Until then it will continue being a lost country.
I would get that European superiority complex off your face if I were you.
Europe is slowly aging and wages there are pretty much falling off the cliff with a welfare state that is on the verge of collapse due to it being structured like a Ponzi scheme.
Blame boarding school culture for that.
When Britain was a real world leader and one of the great world powers it was less democratic, aristocratic values and the class structure were much stronger. The decline in British innovation, power and development seems correlated with the spread of mass democracy and democratic values. This is not a judgement as such but more a surprising observation.
@courtilz1012 It was also pushed through boarding school culture. 1% of those who have left school attended a boarding school, and they are disproportionately represented in top jobs in the media, law, the City, the Civil Service, the armed forces, medicine, and politics. Now only 0.5% of children are in boarding schools. I want to see boarding banned. Boarding schools exist in other countries but not as many.
@@courtilz1012
" _decline ... seems correlated with the spread of mass democracy and democratic values_ "
That's a view that's increasingly been forming in my own head. You can have too much democracy, and its associated 'values'. The current state of the US would seem to be an example of this.
I just came back from a trip to the UK, (my last time was 4 years ago just before lockdowns) a few days in Preston, another 3 in the Yorkshire Dales and 3 in London.
I've been to London dozens of times, and yes, even Oxford Street looks more rundown, a bit unkept. Many many closed and boarded up shops on other high streets at the edges of London.
Yes the countryside is different and small towns are beautiful and the people there, despite the struggles of a dwindling economy have pride in their communities and are trying hard to make it a good place to live.
I must say it was a good feeling to return to Vienna, my adopted city (home) to familiar places, foods, streets and can understand your feelings.
Who goes to Oxford street after visiting many times. It’s the no. 1 street to miss out. London looking much nicer now. These people here will disagree but they’re online negative twats.
I’m an Englishman living in Ireland and would love to move back home. It’s where I grew up and loved things like playing cricket on beautiful village greens, lovely English villages (there are hundreds of them), and like you said….the glorious countryside. Can’t wait to get back….if I get the chance
England and the UK is a beautiful place, its just the people that run it. As long as you have an us and them attitude the 'underclass' is so far removed from what you would called civil society
The Norwegian youtuber Bull Hansen, who has visited England many times over his life recently made a video with the exact same feelings after his recent visit. From the comments all the British people agreed with him. One huge difference in the UK compared to just 20 years ago is an extra 8 million people. That's the equivalent of adding the whole population of Austria to this island.
Bull-Hansen's just a racist sh1t stirrer. Listening to him you'd think the apocalypse had had to the entire UK. I live in Gloucestershire not too far from the Cotswolds and it's still lovely here. Nearby Chiiping Norton in Onfordshire is beautiful too. Bull-Hansen talks bull from a little rock shelter he built in the woods, lol :)
If only they were all Austrians....that would be a net positive one hundredfold
...
@@charlesedwards4160
It has to be coming to the Cotswolds they have let too many in they can't all fit into London
The level of immigration is ridiculous and UNSKILLED which is beyond ridiculous
@@charlesedwards4160 Perhaps leave your affluent isolated bubble. ,He is well aware there is still nice places in England, but noted many negative changes compared to his many past visits, and most British in the comments were agreeing with him.
The population has increased from 60 to 68 million in 20 years, which is actually a very small rate of increase. A lot of developing nation's populations double in the same timeframe
With that said, I've also seen the statistic somewhere that the UK has barely built any new housing in the last 40 years so I'm sure 8 million extra people explains the ludicrously expensive house prices
We went back to visit Huddersfield in June. I worked there in the early 2000 and hubby studied there in the 90s. We were so sad to see the place as it is today. It looked such a mess, dirty, lots of shops boarded up, shop lifting during the day. The countryside around it was as beautiful as ever though.
Out of town retail parks and companies like Amazon has made the old High Street a thing of the past. We have all caused this problem but most seem to not see their part in it and look for someone to blame
@@AreJayCee Yes, I absolutely agree, 100%. And we also have lots of shops closing (we are in Germany now), but Huddersfield really shocked me. The difference to 20 years ago was unreal. Maybe our memories tricked us?!
@alexandratimmis7722 We all look back with rose tinted species mate
You beautifully well spoken and so articulate !! Thank you for the wonderful insight and often different perspective,so clarifying for today's world. ❤ 🌷💛🌻
Thanks a lot. That’s very kind of you to say
I recently came back to England after almost 40 years abroad and living in two different countries, one in Europe and the other (my favourite) living in Asia. Believe me, it has been difficult psychologically getting used to things. It's culture shock in reverse. Things have changed so much since I left. The one thing that hasn't changed and that I really detest are terraced houses. Where I was in Asia everything was modern with skyscrapers, plus people were not living in bubbles, it was easy to make friends, also most people seem unhappy here, although now, being back for a little while, I can understand why. Sometimes I wish I could live back in Asia, but England, even with all its problems, is my country and I appreciate it much more now than before.
I feel the same way about the countryside and have never considered leaving the UK for that reason. I love travelling, but I always get very homesick after a couple of weeks and don't think I could ever seriously think of living anywhere else, even though there clearly are greater opportunities available in other parts of the world.
I also think you have touched upon the biggest problem the country is currently experiencing - peoples attitude and the general feeling of hopelessness and pessimism. I can't blame people for this at all, as we have had decades of politicians lies and broken promises, but this is not unique to the UK and all countries go through good times and bad
An American here, I always have said that I love visiting the UK for the fine weather, the friendly people, and the beautiful scenery. I leave for my 39th trip to the UK. One of my friends in the UK asked me why I didn’t try to immigrate. My response was: “Then I would have no where special to go.” GOD SAVE THE KING!
I do that with Sweden 🇸🇪 😊. I ADORE that country so much.
Fine weather 😂
I have the same feelings when I come home to the Netherlands from a long trip abroad. Unique landscapes are somehow part of your personality.
Last summer we cruised around the British Isles. We only visited Holyhead in Wales and the state of the area was shockingly depressing and also was the Isle of Man. Liverpool was beautiful and refreshing (except the many homeless people). Scotland and Ireland were attractive and inspiring. It was good to come home of course.
What was depressing about the Isle of Man? Was thinking of visiting. Maybe I will not now.
@silversurfer6758 The locals are so proud of being independent whilst being in de same Customs Union as the UK and being fully depending on UK for healthcare and education. The infrastructure is poorly maintained and the energy sector is based on natural gas so the average person suffers due to Energy Inflation. The price of fresh food is super high. Rich people that profit from the banking system have a decent life but the rest are struggling according to the tour guides.
@@CrownRider Thanks for your reply and insight.
Great video, I'd love to make one myself as I left the UK in 2001 and went back last year (2023) after 22 years and decided to cycle the whole of the UK over summer. I was shocked! The first thing I noticed after arriving from France was the reluctance of shops and services that accept cash, which was a problem as my two foreign bank cards allowed me to withdraw cash but not to pay by card. Then there was the poverty that I saw in the cities. Closed shops, druggies, alcoholics... On a positive side the countryside and villages were still beautiful, and drivers approach to cyclists had improved since the 1990s.
It is coming to 10 years since I came to UK, for what I expected to be a 6 months of work.
5 years ago I decided that I no longer want to live here, but I do not want to leave empty handed. So I enrolled in a university. As part of the studies I spent 5 months in Augsburg, which only reinforced my opinion about leaving. Next summer will be the time for a big move.
The Netherlands will be the target, but Germany is not off the list either.
Germany is getting worse. 6 years in the beautiful south, I'm looking for my next 'home'.
Where are you,my friend and why the disillusionment?
I really appreciated the balanced views in this video. I was expecting something more polarised and I'm glad this has hope, nostalgia, affection as well as a realistic objective viewpoint.
A romantic attachment to nature formed during childhood is a very important part of British culture. It’s in the stories and poems which British kids are exposed to.
I must say that when I travel back there wealth disparity is fully on display. There seems to be a lot of poverty, but also a lot of really fancy cars buzzing around and some gorgeous houses.
The absolute horror I imagine anyone coming back to the UK would experience after a long time abroad is terrifying.
I often think what would the men who sacrificed thier lives on the beach’s of Normandy think if they came back today.
I've tried to describe the English countryside to Canadians but I don't have the skill, or it is not possible.
It is small and magnificent, soaked with stories and journeys.
Thanks for your respectful and honest video matey.
I'm American. I love The South. I haven't lived there most of my life. Born there. It feels free and friendly to me. I've traveled somewhat. I appreciate how people are friendly in other places, or staunch, or quiet. I've been to Europe. The different foods are wonderful. Nothing like Virginia and Tennessee to me. Kentucky. The mountains.
I agree with a lot of the comments in the video as a UK ex-pat. However, I was a kid in the 70's and early 80's when things were pretty bad, maybe even worse, and they turned it around. So, it can be done. Or at least that's what I try to tell myself to not be too depressed.
Demographics is the fundamental issue and is not easily resolved
@johnmurray2995:
Yes, I remember the 70s and how depressed it was.
Britain IS going through a difficult phase. I don’t see why it shouldn’t make it.
@@ElSasser2007 When you say Britain, what do you mean? The land or the people? When the British become a minority in 20 odd years, will it still be Britain? When white British are a hated minority and 2nd class citizens, how will they make it?
@@theorisoe3630 ^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^
@@ElSasser2007 It's demographics. Britain will still be there. There will be people in it. But they will not be us. We are having no children, and are being replaced by different races. It's what is happening. It's impossible to reverse. It is no wonder the people are depressed. Only a down trodden, defeated and demoralized nation would allow that to happen. No nation has ever experienced this, and danced in the streets while it was happening. We shouldn't expect it here either. It's delusional. The British were too polite to say anything. Like the dodo, we didn't know how to fight back.
I'm English and have seen the deterioration over the last 10 to 15 years, perhaps more. The country was a much better place in the 1990's and early 2000's. I see there as being several factors:
1) Economy. We no longer make anything. But we import almost everything. Every time we buy something it has been made in a cheaper location. The means we are exporting our wealth and will inevitably become poorer.
2) Past governments have borrowed money to patch over short term issues, creating a longer term problem. A lot of our taxes now go to pay off those loans.
3) We are being taxed more and fined more but get less for that money. This is also inevitable in a declining country. Every bit of money that can be extracted from the reducing number of workers will be extracted. Fines are everywhere for the least infraction because councils and governments see that as extra tax.
4) There is division between people. I probably can't say why that is but many of us know. We need to get back to being a community and helping each other.
The only way to fix this is to start manufacturing things and for people to buy locally rather than find the cheapest provider. We also need to pull together in local communities. But I can't see that happening. Honestly I think for many people the UK is in terminal decline.
Got to make it attractive for manufacturers move back,but with minimum wage ever increasing, demand pushing price's up causing inflation,I heard today labour will push us into hyper inflation.We need less people thats the direct cause,along with wor which made us lose cheap energy prices, pandemic too,plus mass movement of people ever increasing record numbers causing crisis in every department
Came back to the U.K. after years abroad, I’m now leaving 3 months after I arrived and cannot wait to get out. The country has became a disgrace.
Same here. I’ve stayed for three years to give it a chance, but have become depressed for the first time in my adult life! At least now I know, and won’t harbor any unrealistic romanticized ideas about life in the uk.
And same here. I left UK for Thailand in 2003 and in short it was life changing. Kept a place in UK though (family here), and am back now but am looking to rebase. The recent budget confirmed my opinion that hoping for politicians to turn things around is a false hope - they don't even understand the problem. Most likely moving to South West France, but both Netherlands and Denmark have both been very good to us...
@@CaldonianDude I wouldn't assume France is in a less perilous situation.
@@AvaMann-q5u Maybe. But, from what I've seen it looks good right now: better weather, better infrastructure, better public services, cheaper houses, and much earlier retirement...
@@garyrea2320 goodbye.
Isle of Wight is amazing! Lewes, Glynde, Devils Dyke etc so amazing. Devon also mindblowing. I lived in Surrey in Guildford. The landscapes like paintings, polite people, clean roads.
What about Derbyshire, The Yorkshire Dales, The Lake District and majestic Northumberland? To name but a few.
Been living abroad for 30 years. I am still British and still culturally different from where I live. The land is beautiful in the UK but going back feels uncomfortable. Problem feels the people. We have created a culture of no change, don’t try, reject…. Deteriorate. The stupidity of Brexit is really an example. Negativity everywhere you go.
Oh lovely Benjamin what a super Sunday surprise to hear your voice from your own turf! How our nostrils are filled again when we stand on origiinal soil.... Petrichor... Thank you dear Friend for speaking your heart. Yes, home is where one's heart is - sometimes simultaneously in two countries....❤❤
Thanks a lot for your encouragement and support 🙏. I really appreciate it
@@britingermanyOnly a pleasure! 😊
Ive got to offer a counternarrative. I was brought up in central Manchester and spent a lot of time in liverpool in the noughties. The sense of hopelessness, destroyed areas of cities- ghostliness and lack of any money was acute in both cities. Blocks of manchester centre were derelict and or carparks. The contast to now is insane. Still has a long way to go- but its getting towards being a smart modern city now. Liverpool too, has come leaps and bounds in just 20 years. If we talk about lack of investment- there is no parallel to the lack of investment now to that which the north/midlands and industrial communities suffered in the 70s/80s.
That said, what britain has lacked, aside from investment is an industrial strategy to get that. It has one now. Finally.
We need a strategy to make sure the wealth of our rich city reaches the regions.
A lot of the problems with towns and cities could be resolved with some common sense regarding local government funding- by need. Business rate retention etc. The policies of the last 14 years have led to boom areas and sink towns once again. Shocked pikachu face.
This is totally unrelated, but why do people in Liverpool bang on about their historical contribution to pop music? Manchester & Manchester alone has done ten times over the number of awesome bands & "one hit wonders" singles compared to anything Liverpool ever achieved! I'm born & bred in Sydney Australia. 🎉 It's a 10:00pm noise curfew in my apartment building.........
But, BUGGER 'em! I think an hour more of The Stone Roses is what the neighbours need! 🎉
@Luke-yh6nm im from manchester, so- tribally im geared to agree with you. Not to mention- happy mondays, chemical brothers (met in manchester) simply red- the buzzcocks- morrissey/smiths- joy division- new order- the fall- (if we can claim it)the charlatans- and just to join our two nations- the beegees lived in chorlton after Australia.
That said liverpool have aside from the obvious - the las- cast- the farm- echo and the bunnymen- my faves the zutons- and - and i think this might be the clincher- atomic kitten. Its a tough call.
I'm from the highlands and I've been living in Greece for 15 years. Before that I was in Canada for 5 years. Yes, I think we do romanticise things in our minds when we are away from home. However, a few years ago I went back home for about 9 months as a very dear friend was ill with a brain tumor. It was my first time back home in a while, and I was shocked, at the prices, the culture, the 'unfriendliness' (especially in bars) and the general hard life that people seemed to be living. This was Inverness, honestly one of the best places to live in the country, but after enjoying the friendly laid back culture of Greece, where trouble is fairly unusual, it was shocking to me. My overall view of the UK is that London gets everything, the money, the transport, the investment, while many other parts of Britain are fairly neglected. I'm back in Greece now and to be honest there isn't anything that makes me want to live in the UK, I'm sorry to say.
I love Greece too but they have globalists leaders and the worst demographic dynamics…. They will be replaced too.
I was taken away from England in 2002 when my mum decided to move us around the world, and I only managed to come back a couple of years ago. I can’t describe how much I missed my home country and county of Yorkshire, when I finally managed to return and the rain hit my face for the first time, I literally cried. Having travelled around the world I realise that despite our issues we truly are a great country. I became much more patriotic when I was away and I wish more people over here could realise that we don’t have it as bad as we think.
Having said that, now that I’m back I see the issues we do have, and I’m not sure if we’ll ever get back to how things were when I was a kid. The country is going through a transformation, and not a good one, and the worst thing is I’m quite sure it’s intentional.
Thanks for the video, I feel very similar to how you feel.
Nice video sir. Very well put together.
I grew up in South Africa and when I was at school in 1967 the librarian trusted me to take one book every weekend from a large series of about 24 books in the reference section called 'Britain Beautiful'. The series has masses of black and white pictures of every shire/county in Britain. These pictures were imprinted on my memory for life. I moved to Germany many years ago. My parents were German and this gave me the opportunity to get a passport and live in Europe. I have lived in Europe for 21 years, 6 of them in Britain. Although I had been to the UK several times as a young man. It wasn't until my 6 year tenure that I experienced the British countryside and it didn't take long for the black and white memories to turn to colour, leaving me speechless at the beautiful vistas I was able to view. The beauty and natural splendour of the British countryside has a regal grandeur of colour that makes Britain completely unique. There are many places in and around Europe and even the world that are breathtaking, but for me Britain will always be one of a kind, which I fear could be lost given the situation and the influx of migrants who do not share the same core values as the British public. The absurd statement that the British countryside is not black enough is a sign that wokeism, political correctness and diversity have no regard for the traditions, values and continuity that bind a country together and will be lost if not curbed in time. Look at the state of the countries from which these diverse immigrants come, where the landscape isn't soiled with dirt and pollution. I know I will be accused of being racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, which is fine, but my words are true. I remember feeling so very English as I walked into the rural villages and realised that the history of the land must never be lost!
My family left England when I was a child - but I've always felt a pull - like salmon returning to the spawning grounds - about wanting to go back and wander the green fields, footpaths and explore the small towns. I fully recognize this an idealized version of what England once was. Nowadays, many of the inner-cities are in dreadful shape, and the 'shops' just franchised Americana. Also, I'm under no delusion that ex-pats would even be welcomed back?. Still, the unexplainable want to - full circle - end back where I started out - lingers on.
Same. It’s nothing I’ll ever act on, but England is always in my heart. :)
Yup! Me too. Left in '57 as a child but the romantic in me still longs for the UK countryside. Now that I'm old I seem to return for visits more often - even though I'm sad each time I go.
ofc you would be welcome back! You're English and always will be, come back any time old sport, we want you back.
Yes, it is. It's my country, and I'm pretty ancient now. But I fear under successive governments we're in great danger of losing our flora, our fauna, our landscape. This year the birds, insects and small mammals are seriously reduced or absent. I live in a rural area, and we had no butterflies, not bats, no songthrushes, few swallows, few swifts. The last government didn't bother at all, with two environment ministers who ignored their role completely. The current government seems bent on ignoring the reaity of rural life, farming life, our domestic natural environment, and appears determined to view it as an expendable resource. Our rivers and waterways are toxic with sewage and effluent, yet the government is still not going after the big payouts made to water company CEO's. They're reneging on their promises on the domestic environment, on water, on farming, and I fear for our countryside lest is become a cash cow and a holiday venue, and nothing more.
Well said !
Thanks for the vid. There is always no place like home.... I have lived in the Uk for one year in my late 20s. I have to say I still miss the landscapes and I would love to see everything in Birmingham, where I lived then, again. In a way, the UK still has a very special place in my heart....It strikes me that the island is suffering so much a little....
well brum has changed a lot, i dont know when you were last here but the city centre is unrecognisable compared to the mid 2000s and the ethnic demographic has changed enormously.
@@jonathanjonathan7386 It was in the mid 2000nds actually. I was quite young then...
@@YvonneHoerde well the 1960s bull ring, rag market, pallasades shopping centre, new st station and central library are all gone now, Some of those changes might have been new when you were here.
Missed the tory pocolypse then. Set us back 20 years
I have lived outside the uk now for 16 years. The sense i have going back is still good people in general trying to make the best of a difficult situation.My old home town feels sad,much of the industry has gone and the big business is now the University with the students.This has changed how it feels.The street where i grew up in a council house just feels less loved,smaller,somehow less at one with itself. The town centre is a disaster. We need a completes re think on urban planning. The shops are not coming back.
But I can also report similar conditions in Germany as soon as you leave the Hamburg area and look at the west coast region for example. Small towns whose centres are empty, hospitals that are closing due to ‘reforms’, poor roads and public transport that has been cut to the bone. A decline in the provinces for about 25 years...
Love the Landscape of Scotland and Cornwall as I was there many years ago by train. Loved the friendly, lovely people as well. Food not so much, sorry. Those hedges between fields, the walls out of natural stones along the narrow roads, the wild coastline of Cornwall, strawberry fields (forever), the old trees, castles, lakes. As I am writing that I got the feeling I have to go back there, which I will. Sorry to hear the economic struggle. Hope, the famous british humor will help people through hard times. In Germany we could do with that ...
Unfortunately that's the last thing we're currently loosing. First it was our food and the humor will be last
@@ciaranRealmodern British food scene is booming. Great these days.
come back, our German friends are always welcome.
@@jonathanjonathan7386 I actually want to cycle this time
@@karinkoch8443 well, i recommend the A39 from minehead to ilfracombe via lynton ideally hiking from lynton to ilfracombe along the coastal path
I'm from Preston, I went to the Cotswolds on holiday this year, it's obviously beautiful but still has problems, not to the same extent. The local council has pedestrianised my town centre so people just drive to out of town retail parks and shop there. It's either badly researched or deliberate, I favour the latter as property becomes unrentable, councils buy it and then sell it to big developers for city housing. The national problem is we have been systematically asset stripped for the last 40 years, there's very little left to sell now.
Ohh i love Preston. I'm in Australia now. Is it worth coming back to visit or will i just see a rundown shithole and be depressed seeing it? It was great with all the good pubs and the occasional trip into the shopping center.
@@DavidBamber-m8j A lot of the pubs are gone in and around the town centre, half the shops are empty the rest are coffee shops, vape shops, betting shops, tattoo shops. They demolished the market and replaced it with an artisan style bollocks thing. The guild hall was shut 6 years ago, the bus station has been cut in half. I don't go anymore it's depressing. The council are criminals, I could put everything right in 12 months. My mate emigrated to Melbourne area in 98 and when he comes back he can't believe the mess.
@@69waveydaveyThats criminal, they must be spending the all council money on illegal immigrants hotels or lining their own pockets. Its a shame with the pubs, i would love to have a pint at The Bridge Inn in Penwortham.
In 2022 I returned after 27 years in the Far East (Japan, HK, Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand).
I returned as Covid was in the rear view mirror here, but still a topic people thought about in the Far East. It's actually why I returned (my daughter had 2 years of online schooling with no end in sight).
I had always said I'd never live in the UK again, but after almost 3 years, I'm still enjoying it.
I was amazed how liberal the country is, how many opportunities (my niece is on an apprenticeship earning £20k with a good future once she's no longer an apprentice), how prosperous everyone is, how well the NHS works (and it's free), government schools are also as good as I remember but with the added bonus of looking after mental health.
Just like you, I love the countryside plus also the history. I have set up a UA-cam channel so I can share this great country with my friends overseas. Cycling is really easy here and so I visit a lot of places by bike.
I guess such a long time in a totally different culture and moving to Southeast England has given me a very different experience to you.
30 year old Brit here living in the North. Firstly should say that I do love the place, people are great, four national parks within a 2 hour drive, amazing history everywhere.
However I generally agree with your assessment, and it largely feels this way because of growing regional and socio-economic inequality. I think the Foundations report was pretty spot on.
Your comment that England is a poor country attached to a rich city is also true. It’s not just London, there really is a huge divide between North and South(East) that I genuinely don’t think politicians and decision makers understand. It’s starting to feel extremely grim in many Northern towns. I think the decline has felt particularly acute since the pandemic. Politicians should be paid more but maybe Parliament should meet in the provinces.
It also feels that people are becoming more individualistic as living standards are declining. More money into expensive financed cars, less into supporting pubs, local shops, cultural centres. You’re right that the weekends are often the exception, but it’s hard for town centres to stay vibrant on just a couple of decent trading days a week.
The media also don’t help, whipping people up into a frenzy over the latest focus of the culture war, when while these are important questions, the economy should be front and centre of the news. Wages in the UK are truly appalling. Even in London most people’s salaries are terrible considering the wealth of the city. This is one area where I don’t think Brits really appreciate how much we are declining relative to other countries. Most people have no sense of what it means to be rich or how unequal our country really is It means that governments can continually try to convince us that the noble thing for us to do is tighten our belts, make sacrifices, be resilient and we’ll survive. I don’t think people buy into this anymore. It’s too easy to see that we’re declining compared to our neighbours. Like you said, you only have to hop over to Ireland to see the stark difference.
I do feel there’s something simmering in people, you can see it in the protests against inheritance tax on farms, or the fact that it’s no longer taboo to point out the NHS has failed, I’m just not sure how Britain will capitalise on that sense that enough is enough. I hope it doesn’t lead to division among people.
I am always fascinated by the way you think. Because it’s something I am trying to avoid being too deeply into thinking about something. My mind is way too stormy and distracted and it requires reining in by doing meditation to let those thoughts ebb and flow, until I can focus again. Another thing that’s interesting is the choice of music, it made me feel like I just broke up with someone and needed to move on.
I'm bipolar. I never know when an episode is coming on. Medication and ECT can only work so well.
@ What fascinates me was not really the content, but the low energy from the content, every time I watch it, it’s as if I can feel a part of the pain, melancholy, loneliness, sorrow and discontent. And it’s very consistent. I am just very curious about it, even though I personally also need to rein in my thoughts, because I don’t want to ruminate too much.
The British countryside is indeed magical. The orcs haven't ruined it yet.
@@MassiveChetBakerFan Yeah, the countryside is magical if you ignore the rivers full of sh!t and sewage polution.
They are trying their hardest to destroy it though.
Kia ora Brother,
It is so beautiful seeing England and Ireland, and you with your feet on the ground there.
I can't imagine what a heart throb it is to be back "home".
I am on the other side of the world and I have been nowhere near the mother country.
However, I have spent a lot of my life seeing incredible television programmes etc made in England. My Wiltshire partner and many Kiwis always watched Coronation St, saw the culture, heard the accents... and I learned that English pubs were really special places to meet up regularly. It is such a beautiful image.
When I see the English countryside my heart throbs.
Research is affirming connections between wellbeing and nature eg melodious birdsong, colours and things.
I wonder if my ancestry comes through me, or is it just a nostalgia from what I have seen on the screen, or is it is simply because it is just so bloody beautiful.
I watched footage this week, of soldiers preparing for battle in 1944.
An American GI was posted somewhere in England, and had a few hours of leave, which he spent in a city, maybe London, where he was walking through no end of bricks and rubble.
The GI was very, very affected, seeing the strength and positive vibe of the people all picking up rubble.
I cannot describe the gratitude and awe when I see these things.
Hearing Churchill's voice, and seeing things that I cannot comprehend are very inspiring and utterly awesome.
I connect the friendliness and kindness of the English with the goodness and civilized characters of our previous generations.
I watched a British
A and E programme and noticed the nurses somehow sounded closer, more connected than all the Kiwi nurses I know. Similar, buf thd Bruts say "love" and seem totallg on the same wavelength as their patients. Beautiful empathy and communications.
Seeing people playing footy is another thing that feels very deep meaning, because it goes back so many generations. Football and rugby for our nations are so vital and deep in connecting people and communities.
A Fijian flatmate got me into watching rugby, but actually, my Southland father's brothers were always keen on rugby, and caused much banter. It continues among the children today.
Nostalgia is a real, real thing.
I am fascinated by the different things that motivate people.
I feel that rich people from other countries come to Aotearoa, including Brits. A lot of Americans want to come here now too.
I feel some people look around for a "better" place and do comparisons of FDP etc, etc. Invariably one place will be more affluent than another.
I have 3 properties. A unit in a caldersac, beside bush & native birds, tui and close to the hospital and city in a caldersac. Just one fruit tree, nice neighbours.
Another place- woolshed- beside a river, waterfall and much native bush, supportive No running water or flush toilet, plenty more land fof grazing, gravel road etc. Typical supportive Kiwi farming community. And another city house, with all the most beautiful soil, fruit trees and a community I have mutually nurtured for 28 years.
I am thankful they aren't in different countries because I love each connection and each place for many reasons.
Life could be easier with less affluence and less choices to choose from, provided you are happy with what you have.
If not happy, some inner work will help. This is how I view that.
I am very, very grateful for the Maori influence in my life.
I learn more about connection to land and being a steward. And the responsibility to family and community.
A place having more or less money to throw around is less important, but yes, there can be more potholes, crime, drabness, poverty. That's where I find many people who will help and who are real.
In NZ there is always an opportunity to give food, kindness, or even money to the homeless, alchoholics and drug addicts. They may have been smashed around by life. Those people have often had interesting lives. We have more drug addicts on the street now. With Jacinda gone now, they are homeless, and new kinds of drugs keep coming.
A lot comes back when you give. But it seems to come from having that mindset and a responsibility to give back to the original place you belong to or wherever you put your roots.
I have thought about characters too. Usually one sibling has a big enough heart to take care of the elders. No one really sees their load.
I would love to hear more on this very broad topic, as we all get to an age of deeper reflection and acceptance.
I see that many people have their hearts in two or more different places and sometimes they don't feel they truly belong in any one place. Yet if is a human need to belong somewhere and usually with other people.
I love your honesty, Bro and these thoroughly good videos that really evoke...something in the heart.
Greatest of love to your family, Bro.
Nostalgic for an imagined past that was never yours. Seems like you’ve romanticised the UK by watching television from afar.
@_permanence Yeah, I know. Thanks mate. I don't know if it is a familiarity from so much British stuff I have seen via tv, or through dna from all my great grandparents, or something I have built up in my mind,
But I think people have romanticized NZ too, because of the natural beauty, race relations, gun laws, or Jacinda or something. I know a lot of people watch the allblacks, our haka, & like our hikoi we have been on this week. A lot of people from colonized countries like our 22 year old wahine toa MP doing the haka in parliament, our 23 year old wahine Queen etc.
A lot of people moved here...from South Africa, England, America, India and places but still have to adjust to Kiwi culture shocks down under.
Hurrah for a thoughtful video and Ed West's moderate essay. One of the unintended benefits of home-schooling in lockdowns has been to cure my children of the self-loathing indoctrination endemic in our schools and public discourse; AND to restore a sense of purpose in what it means to be English, how we got into this mess, and how we fix things up.
The result is three happy teenagers enjoying life, reading again, and talking about starting their own families one day. Everything makes sense to them now.
The future is in our foundations: family, faith and freedom.
As an Australian who each day feels more like a 3rd class citizen here, despite my ancestors contribution to developing this nation, I would move to the homeland of my great grandparents in a heartbeat, if I could. They came out from Cornwall in the 1860s and established farms in the new colony of South Australia--the driest state on the driest habitable continent. I visited Cornwall a few times in the early '90s and it felt like my cultural and spiritual homeland. Yet, it would be hard to secure residency despite my roots, unlike the access others have to residency without having any cultural or loyalty ties to the nation.
It's not perfect, but it's getting crowded with people that are culturally dissimilar to Brits. But, you guessed it, holiday in France, ditch your ID papers and get onto a rubber boat, can be crowded though, over the channel, get picked up, put into 4* accomodation and looked after, all free due to the largesse of the British tax-payer paid by this feckless government and the incompetent one before .
Your main points are valid. The Uk does feel and look poor in many places, although Worcester and Hereford are not examples of this in my view.
There is a connection between rural beauty and a lack of wealth creation . One of the reasons the UK countryside is so beautiful is that development within it is effectively banned or made so ridiculously onerous as to be effectively impossible, this point is made in depth by the article you refer to. Many rural areas are now inhabited by well off retired people, some of whom would rather new development didn't happen.
I enjoy your German films very much and appreciate your perspective, keep up the great work.
What were people expecting would happen when the UK decided to cut itself off from it's main export markets? I'm from Manchester and have been living in Berlin, Germany, for the past 30 years. I used to regularly visit my old haunts and say hello to friends and family. I don't do that anymore, its got to heart breaking. Everyone is either struggling in low paid jobs, out of work or they've moved away, some of them have even emigrated. Berlin is not one of the best places to live in Europe, but it's not a tenth as bleak as what is happening in the North of England.
If you think that's the only reason for the changes to Britain, then you're ignoring an awful lot of other things.
@@dirkbogarde44 What things am I supposedly ignoring then? Please, don't be shy, oblige me with a few of your wisdoms.
The Yorkshire Dales , The North Yorkshire Moors, The Lake District and the stunning (and empty) county of Northumberland are "In The North". You can stick Berlin; been there done it.
@@mikethespike7579 Less money allocated to local councils, hence worse local services, ...the death of the town center, a rail system with the highest priced tickets in Europe, weak government over successive decades in relation to immigration, persecution of free speech, woke ideology that's infected every aspect of British life, a weak justice and police system.....etc etc
@@SuperNevile The Yorkshire moors, Dales and Lake District are alright I suppose, but nothing against stunning (and almost empty) Meklenburg-Vorpommern with its extensive lakes and waterways. You can stick The North, I've lived there and done it more often than you''ve had hot dinners.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your home country. I live abroad for more than half my life and I share your feelings when I go back to where I grew up. It is part of my life and don’t want to get rid of it, but my new life is the life I prefer.
Yes. Maybe that is just the shared experience that people have who decide to move abroad
I’m English but left for New Zealand 21 years ago with my wife and young children. I watch with dismay how our homeland that we grew up in has decayed and seemingly has lost hope. I see my two grown up children now thriving with so many opportunities in NZ and Australia
Shout out to England for being home to the best music ever created in history, at least from a rock standpoint! Beatles, Stones, British invasion bands and the Progressive/art rock scenes of the 70s (Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ELP etc...)! Always appreciative for this. Love from Canada.
Watch out, when it comes to Rock / Metal, Japan is at the very least hot on our tail!
Bloody Japanese women have all but taken over my Rock / Metal playlist at this point!
Moody Blues.
My tastes run more toward Byrd, Tallis, Handel, Purcell, and more 20th century composers like Vaughn Williams (one of the best, and one of my favorites), Barber, Elgar, and so on. England has so many fantastic composers, not to mention the literary giants that came from the British Isles. I would love to spend a couple years just visiting England.