Socialising in rural Britain: Pretty Boring?

Some people have described the British countryside as the most beautiful agricultural region in the world. I would not go so far, but definitely waking to the sound of bird song and a view of countryside that has been unchanged for 150 years does have a certain charm to it. However the benefits of living in the countryside spread beyond that, a pleasant, safe community, the freedom of being able to breathe air that (apart from an occasional passing tractor) is unpolluted.

Living in such a peaceful environment has a few distinct drawbacks however. The first being unless I’m interested in the thirty first annual meeting of disgruntled farmers of Wem then there is very little normal teenage stuff to do. The second is that to go anywhere requires a huge logistical effort on the part of a parent or a friend’s parent. And finally, more than often the anti-social hours that my friends and I have to work due to trying local employers means that there is often little time to go and be 16.

When considering what to do with my weekend, rarely does popping across to the nearest city and going clubbing cross my mind. This is due to the fact a small fortune will have to be spent on the train fares and the fact that my fake ID is by no means a guarantee of entry to a night club. True the same risks are taken by every underage "clubber", but for most people failure results in a ten minute trot back home. Failure for me on the other hand would be a waste of a huge organisational and logistical effort.

However even when hitting the town is seriously considered getting a willing parent to drive me down to the nearest train station can be a big challenge. Finding a working cash point to allow me to pay the exorbitant price of the night on the town even more so. And then finding out that no trains actually return to the local train station before the end of the weekend often puts a dampener on any excitement that I could well have built up. But on the rare occasions that flukes of fate mean that hitting the town is possible, then I guess it could be said that even us simple country folk "can have it large".

However going clubbing is far from the only way to socialise. In the countryside the high school becomes far more of a base around which social activities can revolve. In cities there is less of an emphasis put on the importance of socialising, this is left to the discretion of the individual. In my particular school pupil’s private parties and sixth form doos can quite satisfy the less adventurous of the partygoers. Even for the really wild students a good base can be got from the organised activities.

Nevertheless for the less ardent partygoers of the student population much socialising can be gained from joining a sports club. Admittedly a little thin on the ground the sports clubs of the rural community can often seem far more like home than the bombed out inner city equivalents. And innovation can often be born from necessity, my friends and I have found a local pond whose waters are clean enough for enjoyable swimming, fishing, boating and general messing around, in which we spent many happy summers days.

When socialising, the Youth of the British countryside might not have the choice of venue that our counterparts in cities enjoy and they may lack the spontaneity that city life makes possible. Nevertheless if you look hard enough, are able to adapt and have an open mind there is by no means nothing to do in the countryside. How do you find socialising in your country or region?

Ben Campbell Bishop Heber High School