Blaise Tapp: Forget the so-called good old days community spirit is alive and well
Communities, we are told, aren't anywhere near as strong as they were when, say, Baby Boomers were growing up in the '50s and '60s.
Back then, people knew the names of all their neighbours, not just the ones they could hear through their walls, with blokes meeting down the pub on the corner before tea every day, while wives always made sure there was enough food for surprise visitors. While I have no idea whether this blissful portrayal of neighbourly love seven decades ago is wholly accurate, society has long since accepted the 'fact' that communities today aren't as close knit as they were before most households took ownership of a telly. Which is why anybody with an agenda - politicians with ambitions loftier than their ability, talkshow hosts with airtime to fill or that red faced bloke at the end of the bar who believes that anything that has happened since 1974 is a load of old rubbish - bore on about a return to the 'good old days'.
Sure, times have changed and people's horizons now extend far beyond the end of their road but that doesn't mean that they have stopped caring about where they live. I saw first hand evidence of this at the weekend during a visit to the South West when we watched the town where we are staying explode with pride as it celebrated its annual street carnival.
This was a classic community event, with more than 50 floats, including a bus, an HGV, a customised Mini and a disability scooter. Tourists and locals alike lined the narrow streets in their thousands to laugh and cheer as volunteer after volunteer meandered their way by, some more slowly than others due to the fact that liquid refreshment was central to proceedings. What struck this onlooker was how every generation and section of the community was represented, meaning that this longstanding local tradition has an excellent chance of continuing long into the future.
This glorious scene has been repeated across the country this summer with people in villages, towns and cities turning out in large numbers to celebrate where they live. At the heart of every one of them is local pride as this can be the only reason why anybody would give up so much of their time to prepare and participate in such an event.
Never mind the good old days, I am happy to report that community spirit is alive and well in 2025.