First It Was The Post Office . . .

Hello friends!

It's not strictly true to say first it was the Post Office. In the interests of accuracy, first, it was actually HSBC Bank. What am I talking about? Rural closures. They seem to be the scourge of the 21st century.

I will never forget the day HSBC closed it's doors.  The small city where I live has a population that varies between 1500 and 1800 people. in recent years, mainly due to the deluge of second home ownership and holiday homes we have been nearer the 1500.  However, in the Silly Season {tourism} our population swells to well up in the thousands daily.   

Growing up, there was always a full complement of services. Several small independent grocery shops. A Post Office. Two bakeries.  A butcher. A chemist. Two newsagents. Three banks. A doctor. A dentist. Two junior schools. A Grammar school. So on, and so forth you get the gist. The day HSBC closed its doors heralded the beginning of the end.

One Christmas Eve, I was coming home along the bottom of the Cross Square and outside HSBC was a trailer full of the office furniture and final bits and bobs being removed upon the closure of the bank. I think the saddest thing of all was that sitting on top of everything was the Christmas tree replete with lights and decorations. It seemed a foreboding symbol of what was to come.  

A few years earlier due to a fire burning down one of the buildings, the two junior schools had amalgamated. But no one saw that as foreboding to the diminishing services in the community. that was to come.  It was something that happened and common sense seemed to say that the two schools would be better merged into one.

Time passed. Shopping habits seem to change as supermarkets established themselves. slowly the daily shop was replaced by the weekly shop, and one by one as the owners of the independent grocery shops retired so their shop doors closed for the very last time. Then one day it was announced that Barclays Bank was closing and overnight, we had gone from three banks to one bank. Not very long after that, our Post Office closed. We now have a part time counter that isn't even owned by the post office. It is owned by a local chain of shops where money comes before customer service. Then towards the end of last year, our last remaining bank closed in the village.  Our nearest banks and post office are now a 17 mile drive away, Or approximately one hour in each direction by bus.  For good measure, the bus services have been cut as well. So you can no longer catch a bus in, nip round and do your shopping quickly and get the next bus back. Now you have to stay in town for at least an hour, sometimes longer.  A trip to the bank can take half a day.  And only then if your bank still has a branch in Haverfordwest, which most don't so the nearest is some 55 miles away in Carmarthen.  So, a full day out!

Just as we start to wonder how on Earth we're going to cope comes the sledgehammer news that our local GP practise is closing at the end of October this year. There have been protests aplenty. There have been meetings of the community. There has been a protest march. And all of these events have been attended by hundreds of people. The GP practise doesn't only serve the village, it serves much of the peninsula, several thousand patients.  One of two things will happen.  Either the Health Board will step in and take it over, or we will all be dispersed to neighbouring practices up to 20 miles away.  

To visit my new GP, I could be faced with a 3/4 mile walk to the bus stop, up to an hour-long bus ride, another walk on arrival, and up to four hours to wait for a return bus home.  Alternatively, I could pay out around £150 for a taxi.  It does not bear thinking about.

So, moving swiftly on . . . let's pick up on my ICAD art again.

Off Prompt Gel Pens

Ranunculas Mixed Media

Alternating.  Gel Pen

A

Beach {off prompt} Ink

Gold Mixed Media

Crystal Metalic Paint

Tulips  mixed  media

Hummingbird  Gansai Tambi metallic paint

I have never seen a hummingbird, much less draw one, so found online some royalty free images to create a best guess composite.

Until next time

Stay safe stay well

Debbie xx