"In Blackmwore By The Stour..."

There's life in them hills, luv.

William Barnes once wrote a poem. It was called 'The Blackmwore Maidens'. And it goes something like this:

"THE PRIMRWOSE in the shade do blow, 
The cowslip in the zun, 
The thyme upon the down do grow, 
The clote where streams do run; 
An’ where do pretty maidens grow 
An’ blow, but where the tow’r 
Do rise among the bricken tuns, 
In Blackmwore by the Stour. 

If you could zee their comely gait, 
An’ pretty faces’ smiles,
A-trippen on so light o’ waight, 
An’ steppen off the stiles; 
A-gwain to church, as bells do swing 
An’ ring ’ithin the tow’r, 
You’d own the pretty maidens’ place 
Is Blackmwore by the Stour. 

If you vrom Wimborne took your road, 
To Stower or Paladore, 
An’ all the farmers’ housen show’d 
Their daughters at the door; 
You’d cry to bachelors at hwome— 
'Here, come: ’ithin an hour 
You ’ll vind ten maidens to your mind, 
In Blackmwore by the Stour' 

An’ if you look’d ’ithin their door,
To zee em in their place, 
A-doen housework up avore 
Their smilen mother’s face; 
You’d cry—“Why, if a man would wive 
An’ thrive, ’ithout a dow’r, 
Then let en look en out a wife 
In Blackmwore by the Stour.” 

As I upon my road did pass 
A school-house back in May, 
There out upon the beäten grass 
Wer maïdens at their play 
An’ as the pretty souls did tweil 
An’ smile, I cried, 'The flow’r 
O’ beauty, then, is still in bud 
In Blackmore by the Stour.'”

Now. Barnes was a poet from my neck of the woods. He was from a small hamlet outside a town called Sturminster Newton. And he was famous for writing poems in the dialect in my region. The dialect is now fallen out of use but I like it. It reminds me of home.

This particular poem is about an area of Dorset called the Blackmore Vale. Which, as it happens, is my stomping ground. I wasn't born there but I've grown up there. I've grown up there, went to school there, had my first kiss there, it's a special place for me. First arrived there when I came home a few days after being born, (this was the mid 90s remember), and stayed there permanently until I was 18. Then I made a small foray into Newport in Wales, then I returned after that didn't work, and now I've called Winchester a second home for the past 3 years.

But now I'm coming to the end of my undergraduate experience, it's allowed me to think about things. Not only about my desired location, but also where my life is going.

The fact is, although I'm quite adaptable to short term situations, long term ones still scare the crap out of me.

Two of my closest friends are getting married to each other this year. And this scares me slightly. Because, it doesn't feel that long ago that we were all running about the town and having carefree fun. Now we actually have things to do. Mortgages to find, jobs to get, bills to pay.

Things are changing very fast and I'm not sure that I like it. In fact, I admitted to my friend, Sammy, earlier today, that I'm a teeny bit terrified about the change in dynamics. It's over-whelming and, although I understand change has to happen, it doesn't stop being scary right now.

There are however, 3 constants in my life that make that change less terrifying.

The first is my family. My mum's always there for me, even if we want to kill each other sometimes. My Nan's a phone call away, one of my aunts are a phone call away and many of my cousins are there if I need them. Yes, my family is far from perfect but at least most of them are prepared to help me when I need it.

The second are my friends. I genuinely could not ask for better friends. They mean everything to me and I could not be without them. I'd do anything for me and I know they'd do anything for me too. They're amazing and I love them all in turn.

The third constant, however, is what this particular post is about. The county of Dorset. My home.

My relationship with Dorset hasn't always been amicable. For years, I hated it. Where I grew up, there wasn't a lot to do. And I resented it for that.

We had to go 45 minutes or so in any direction to reach anything vaguely fun like a bowling alley or a cinema. (Still do)

We didn't really have a functioning swimming pool for years except the local hotel. The hotel pool is great but it's not fantastic for general exercising. The "other" pool didn't really open properly until I was about 15 after a massive renovation project. After that, it was only open a few months a year and was pretty much desolate until, eventually, the expensive roof they put on collapsed in on itself and, at present, has not reopened.

We had multiple cafes. LOADS of cafes. Though we didn't often have the money to frequent them. And, if we did, they were usually filled with families or judgemental old people who would rather see us young folk wiped off the planet or something.

Throughout my teenage years, I couldn't wait to leave Shaftesbury. Or Dorset for that matter. I couldn't wait to be rid of that stupid town and everything it didn't have to offer. I was going to do something with my life. I was going to live in Wales or something. OR ABROAD. Yeah, aboard sounds good...Canada looks nice...Maybe Germany...who knows!

But that was teenage me. I'm a bit older now and, I've realised something.

There's no place I'd rather be.

I'd rather live in that stupid town than not. I'd rather settle back in that area than be too far away. My desire to leave the area has faded for a number of reasons.

It's home. First and foremost, it's the only home I've ever known. Shaftesbury has given me stability and a place to call home. Which many other places could not. I know it would've been the same if I'd spent so long in another place but, still.

It gave me a childhood. Not having anything of any note for kids to do there, it meant that my friends and I had to make our own fun. Which we took full advantage of. And I feel very privileged to have the childhood I've had.

Not only that, it gave me the opportunity to make and perform music to the town. The people of Shaftesbury love a homegrown talent. And they're very accommodating with it. Especially when it's young people performing. Without that platform, I doubt we'd have done as well as we did.

But it's given me everything a location can offer. It's beautiful and I'd love to return and improve upon it. I personally think young people are slightly neglected in the decision making processes of the town council so I would love the chance to come back, sit on the council if I can and try to make the town slightly better for young people/

It's not the best place in the world and it's by no means the most fun. But it's home. It's familiar. And I love it.