Newcomers? or Incomers?

Sat 28 Feb 2015, 08:08

October 1991, I got the keys to my first house in Charlbury. I'd moved up from North west London as my work had relocated to Oxford Airport. My best friend and I took a break from stripping out the old kitchen which I had to get ready for my wife and 1 year old son. We popped into the farmers, where you used to get ham egg and chips for £3. My first trip to the local pub, As soon as we got settled and were chatting away in our South of Finstock London twang. A shout from across the room boomed in a real Charlbury accent ' eeeeer! You ain't from round these parts' Too start a conversation like that where I grew up never ended pleasantly. I turned around to greet my new found 'local friend' and said Hi. about four hours and 6 pints later we fell out of the pub after have been made to feel welcome and never finished the kitchen that day. I've raised 4 wonderful kids here, 20 years with the Fire Service, 7 years coaching the kids football. I wouldn't call my self a Charlbrarian in the sense people talk about ( I still have a London twang) but I have lived here longer than anywhere else I have lived, I now work close to where I grew up but i do not want to move away. This place is great, Charlbury is a part of me and mI proud to say the kids turned out ok and mostly non- ferril

Thu 26 Feb 2015, 18:10

My contribution was intended to be taken in the spirit in which the original comment by Charlie M was written.

Thu 26 Feb 2015, 11:29

Sorry that Angus' contribution has taken a turn for the serious. Though I was pondering a more serious suggestion myself along the lines of the Charlbury Citizenship Test. This was to think about some way that we could honour all the voluntary work that is undertaken my so many people in this community to make all sorts of mundane and exciting things happen. I'm told that at one point the idea of creating 'honorary citizens' was mooted. Any other ideas for how we might demonstrate the value we put on all this affort?

Wed 25 Feb 2015, 15:40

Charlie M contributed, "Does it really matter what you are, as long as you love Charlbury, and as long as you have not moved here just as a property investment?"

Why single out those who move to the town with a property investment in mind? What makes Charlbury different from anywhere else? What makes that motive different from any others?

Wed 25 Feb 2015, 12:53

Russell, you may not qualify as a Charlburian, but as a terribly superior Cornburian. we have to cross a cattle grid to get to your house.

Wed 25 Feb 2015, 11:49

Perhaps a scout/girl guide badge scheme could be introduced.

A service badge based on years and a series of skill badges based on clubs and societies supported and member of?

It might then encourage broader participation in local groups if people felt their sleeves looked a little empty. Particulalrly on the mandatory church parades for the whole community once a month.

Though on reflection this is beginning to sound like 1930s Germany!

Wed 25 Feb 2015, 11:48

Yes light relief after the Bull Thread, thanks Liz

Wed 25 Feb 2015, 09:43

I'm not sure what it says about me, but somehow I find it immensely reassuring that the community is able to have such a daft conversation...

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 21:10

If people can cope with five years, or even five months, of Lord of the Flies style feral children I suspect any problems with anyone wanting to come here will be minimised! I'm all for the badge scheme as long as I can smugly list may 'charlbury Societies/groups/events I have participated in'!

Excellent thread, gave me a great laugh on the crammed full 3:52 out of paddington today!

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 16:40

Observing some of the children kicking hell out of the bus shelter at Fiveways after dark, I think some of them have already turned feral.

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 15:45 (last edited on Tue 24 Feb 2015, 15:50)

The children may well turn feral, which is worrying, and we will need to work that one out, but I imagine the dogs would quickly sort themselves out. In fact I suspect that my own dear dog has already got his eye on a number of possible owners, from the way he turns on the charm.

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 15:09

Liz - what concerns me about your suggestion is this: if someone fails The Test after ten years but has already had children born here, do they have to leave them behind when they up sticks and go? What about dogs? The thought of feral packs of abandoned children and pets roaming the back alleys of down-town Charlbury doesn't bear thinking about!

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:53 (last edited on Tue 24 Feb 2015, 14:07)

Perhaps if we all wore a badge with the number of years we've lived here on it?

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:53

How about you either have a child or a car, but if you have either you can't have a dog.

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:50

We live the wrong side of the tracks to even consider ever being Charlburian.

Rather than one child policy how about one car!

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:38 (last edited on Wed 25 Feb 2015, 09:29)

Well I am not one for labels, and this coming December I will have lived in Charlbury for 20 years. Does it really matter what you are, as long as you love Charlbury, and as long as you have not moved here just as a property investment? As for me, I love the place, and am blessed with many wonderful friends, as well as the best neighbours you could ever wish for, and as far as I am concerned they (not the neighbours!) will carry me out of here in a bin bag! :-)

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:20

Excellent idea Liz, another thought might be to introduce a mandatory one child policy to all "New-Incomers" (!).

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 12:49 (last edited on Tue 24 Feb 2015, 13:04)

I think we ought to introduce a Charlbury Citizenship Test that people would have to take once they have completed 10 years in the town. Obviously anyone who showed extreme promise could take the test early, and those that pass will be allowed to stay here and call themselves Charlburians. But we wouldn't allow re-takes for anyone who failed and they would have to sell up and leave. That would free up quite a lot of houses, eliminating the need for any new housing developments.

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 11:45

I wouldn't stand a chance: not even born in this country. But, my child was born IN Charlbury (home birth) and has never lived anywhere else, so can I be Charlburian-by-proxy?

Tue 24 Feb 2015, 11:35

Can anyone clarify the question raised by Amanda's latest posting in the Rushy Bank thread?
I accept that (as I have been told) I "Will never be a Charlburian", just as I can never be a Man of Bosham, although I was brought up there; but I was also told, as I approached 20 years in Charlbury that that landmark would make me an "Incomer" rather than a "Newcomer".
Intending arrivals will surely want this important point cleared up. Will they have to wait 20 or 25 years for this privilege?