There’s No Place Like Home
I was on the train home from Liverpool Central Station to my house in Halewood, Liverpool one Tuesday night. I was reading about ways in which you can deal with home-sickness.
As I flicked through comments on a forum I read what I thought was another one of those annoying quotes that your friends tag you in on Facebook, the ones that are meant to leave you feeling empowered, the ones that you feel obliged to ‘like’ before you continue swiping down the news feed.
The quote read: ‘The reasons I moved away from my home town are the same reasons I want to return to it.’ This, as I’m sure any Cumbrian who has left Cumbria for a considerable time can imagine, particularly resonated with me.
I’m a 23-year-old Whitehaven lad who moved to Liverpool 18 months ago. I moved for the lifestyle, the shops, the bars, the restaurants, but first and foremost, I moved for love. Before moving, I worked in Cumbria for two years after leaving university. To be honest, I resented my home town. I begrudged Whitehaven for ‘not having much about it’, for being ‘50 years in the past’ and for feeling like my opportunities to grow as an individual were stifled.
18 months on, and being someone that comes home on a monthly basis to visit family, I’ve realised that I’d completely disregarded Whitehaven’s, Cumbrian charm.
If you’ve ever been to Liverpool, you’ll know that the city centre is relatively compact with everything in walking distance. My current office is close to the docks so I went down there last week, looking out at the Mersey and the Irish Sea. I felt the closest to home I’ve ever been whilst living in Liverpool. I closed my eyes and heard the rigging of sailing ships clatter against masts, gulls screeching, and I realised that I couldn’t be away from Cumbria forever; that at some point, I had to return.
This might sound melodramatic, it might sound like I need to get a grip, but it got me thinking about what it is about Cumbria that I miss the most. So here’s a list:
· Being the only one in the city centre wearing shorts, “Its 12 degrees…Why aren’t people sweltering?”
· I never had to explain to anyone that I wasn’t a Geordie: “It’s close to Scotland, mate”
· You don’t have to endure the boring conversation about what you did for a living on a night out, you just always assumed it was Sellafield
· I’m the only one who says “eh” after most of my sentences
· There’s no Cheese XL crisps
· When you live in Liverpool you can’t use “I was stuck behind a tractor” as a valid excuse for being late to work
· The wide variety in restaurants will never provide the Cumberland sausage, chips and peas with a pint of Ennerdale Blonde that I need!
· Ennerdale
· St. Bees Beach
· The taste of Hartley’s Ice Cream with flake and ‘flavour’
Strangely, moving away from Whitehaven has made me love it more than I ever did whilst. I appreciate the things that I previously took for granted, and in some cases, actively disliked.
When walking into a pub in Liverpool I find myself looking for someone I know, listening out for a chorus of people calling each other Marra. When I go back to Cumbria, I often find myself in St.Bees, the place I was brought up. There’s something nostalgic and comforting about going in to The Oddfellows Arms and sitting on the window ledge seat next to everyone’s coats, then walking down Main Street to the Queens and playing pool with a pint, knowing someone you knew would walk past and acknowledge you at some point.
If you’re like I was and you’re looking to move away from Cumbria, I’d say go for it! You need to see what’s out there, and I genuinely feel like I’ve found a second home in Liverpool with my girlfriend. But I’d also urge you to look at Cumbria, Whitehaven, St.Bees (even Thornhill) as an outsider, realise that its charm and it’s people aren’t like those you find anywhere else in the UK. That it’s unique nature is something to cherish. You’ll move away and you’ll probably love it, but you’ll probably also find “the reasons you left are the reasons you want to return”.
I love living in Liverpool, but Cumbria is my home. For now, I’m a Scouse Marra.
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