Insights from walking around England and Wales: #16 Engage people who are at the periphery

We’ve all felt ourselves as outsiders on occasion. If someone reaches out to bring us in, we’re grateful. And if no one does, we feel worse.

The walk brought that home, numerous times. Indeed, by definition, the whole year was spent on the periphery of England and Wales. But one night stood out.

Just before Christmas 2018, I was enjoying the hospitality of a boisterous family on the Isle of Anglesey. Picture Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, but around a kitchen table, the dark of winter staved off by candlelight and the social energy. Animated conversations, spaghetti bolognese spilling off our plates and down the children’s T-shirts, and wine glasses magically refilled. ?Then, like walking out across rocky, seaweed-covered flats to a tidal island, danger suddenly appeared. My host, ‘David’ asked me what I thought of the Welsh coast path. I said I was impressed and had noticed signs saying that the EU paid for the upgrading. Like the children’s party game where everyone freezes when the music stops, the hubbub around the table ceased.

“We must get Brexit done,” David said, grimly. “Out here, our own government has forgotten us. They don’t care about our schools, our bus services, our health centers. They wanted us to vote to stay in the EU. But we told them to bugger off.”

Nods of agreement from around the table, even the five-year-old.

David was on a roll. “These civil servants in London, they’re accountants. They cut our post offices, close our libraries, and reduce our bus services. In the summer, they visit, because their grannies live here, or so their children can play on the beach. Then they go back to their plush jobs and expensive houses, and everything is closed. The grannies watch TV alone all day because there are no buses, and the local post office has closed.”

The evening had turned serious. What he said resonated: I had walked through those closed-up coastal towns.

Luckily, one of the children let out an enormous burp. The tension lifted, and the jollity returned.

Personally, I thought that Brexit was a mistake. But the strength of feeling here at the periphery was inescapable.

A longer version of this post can be found here .

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