I have been reading a book about an English teacher who went to Japan to teach schoolchildren our language.
Chris Broad had a number 1 best seller with “Abroad in Japan” and now runs an equally successful YouTube blog about life in the land of the rising sun.
I had to laugh when he came up with the acronym ‘C.A.V.E.’ to describe some rather miserable people he had encountered on his travels.
I am extending his idea to ‘cavemen’ and ‘cavewomen.’ I had better explain that the initials stand for people who Complain About Virtually Everything!
I have a few of those following my blog and it is getting rather tedious. It’s time for them to ‘smell the coffee’ which basically means facing reality head-on and dealing with it effectively. Experience things as they are without any illusions or delusions.
Bath is not a genteel living museum but a vibrant city – full of all age groups and cultures – and dealing with the same problems as any other city in this country.
They all have installed bollards and are all making efforts to open up pedestrian areas for people – away from traffic and pollution.
We need to encourage new clean industries, build affordable homes for our residents, encourage small businesses, invite our overseas visitors to spend more than a couple of hours in our city and make the experience of being here even nicer!!
I am not going to sit in a bubble and moan about everything. We do not exist in isolation. I have the power to accept or refuse comments. Constant moaners are no longer welcome.
PS. I am pro-Europe, hate all that the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage stand for, and have never voted Conservative in my life!!
I so agree with you. Bath has a tendency to be so overprotective of its heritage that we are afraid of adding value to the community by acquiring beautiful buildings and public objects to enhance our environment. And scared to improve what we have in case there is criticism. For positives look at the acquisitions made by Bath Abbey over the past few decades. For negatives look at the trees at the centre of The Circus.
Good on you Richard – keep up the good work !
Sounds like the book would be an interesting read. The word Moaner is a word I have understood to be used by a person who does not agree with your expressed opinion. I fully accept their is a problem nationwide even worldwide. So here in Bath where the Council is on a War on Motorists there is a lot of opinion opposing these closures. There are a lot of Bathonians opposing this War but no way can be labelled Moaners when they speak the Truth,
Couldn’t agree more, the moaners are usually the people least likely to volunteer, help or be useful.
Yes indeed! There are always moaners who have the loudest voices too- empty vessels make most noise!
Keep up the good work, Richard- as you say, there are so many good things going on and Bath is a fine place to live in.
I agree 👍 💯 totally true.
We are community and need do all we can to preserve ‘ our ‘ natural communities. Definitely not the ones drawn on a map for ‘ our ‘ benefit.
Haves B&NES ever asked us to help define ‘ these LTNR ‘
It’s so crass to make up communities that don’t include intimate knowledge of where we live.
Where iscthe consultation on this 🤔
It doesn’t exist because we weren’t consulted.
🙃 as far as I know.
Show us the results of that consultation 😔 if it happened.
Re moaners: would it be an idea to ask these moaners what they can suggest as a remedy for what they are complaining about? No point in moaning unless they have a solution…..
One of the things to be careful about is that Bath has that very rare accolade of having two World Heritage listings, one as a city with a style based on architecture demonstrating how the attractiveness of the golden ratio can be enhanced by sight lines and green spaces, and the other as a Spa Town with much in common with similar spa towns across Europe. Many of the visitors come to enjoy either or both of these. Recent council plans have identified important green open spaces as development sites, have permitted developments too tall to fit into the “human scale” attribute, and in a design that stands out in distant views as being inappropriate. UNESCO and their administration arm ICOMOS are now giving stark warning that such developments are putting the World Heritage entries at serious risk, and reminding Bath that losing their Spa listing will also lose the Spa listings of all the European similar towns. Vibrant doesn’t have to mean sticking out like a sore thumb. It is possible to build modern buildings with the historic characteristics, but the council planners decry these attempts as “pastiche” which ought to be a compliment but they use it as an insult.
Thank you for speaking out Richard: life is too short to moan about everything – look for the positives in life instead is a better approach!