Country Living: Our Man in Arundel

Ford – just down the road from Arundel – isn't very big. A pub, a church, a station and some industrial units. Oh, and the prison. At the railway station there's a brass plaque in memory of Frank 'Ford' Rowe. I didn't know Ford Rowe. But I know he made a difference. I know that local people liked him. That's pretty much what we'd all want from life, isn't it? Making the world a better place for other people?

My mum was brought up in a little village not very far from here. One of the residents had a child. The boy was called... actually, it doesn't really matter, because he was usually known by his nickname. As a toddler, he'd take his clothes off and would wander outside his garden in the street. Therefore his nickname was... hmmm... if it's all the same with you, I don't think I'll tell. You see, he was known by this nakedness-related name all the time he lived in the village - well into adulthood.

And those are the two sides of "country life" - a.k.a. community - that attract and terrify many of us. May we all make a positive difference... and not acquire comical nicknames!