A Newcomer’s View of Village Life
By Julie Peterson
In the summer of 1997 we purchased our house in the village of Bramdean. Our initial thoughts were firstly ‘What had we done?’ The house had been badly neglected to say the least for many years and the garden lay a mass of nettles and weeds. Gradually we managed to get going and cleaned and mended decorated and hoed. What really springs to mind while we were busy in our garden was how many kind friends and neighbours were only too happy to lend tools, machinery and their time. Having previously lived in a town this was certainly not the norm. Since moving to Bramdean we really had no idea of just how our lives would change and just how friendly village life was. We had gone from knowing two neighbours in our town to now knowing or having some association with almost half the village. We now enjoy the countryside and also spend the odd evening at The Fox as well as supporting most village hall events. As we now have small children I have found it a pleasure to get to know other mums with small children in the surrounding area and enjoy meeting up on Thursday afternoons at the Mother and Toddler Group in the village hall.
A concern to us when we first moved to Bramdean was the lack of younger people. However, as more and more families move here I realise we need not have worried at all. Who would have thought ten years ago that we would now be actively involved in village life, serving on committees and helping with fund raising events. I am sure this life would not suit everybody, but it certainly suits us.
