Metropolis

I bring you the ceaseless activity of the main road in Tiptree on a Saturday mid-afternoon. It may not be the most bustling metropolis at the moment, but currently all of our commercial premises are going concerns with none empty at all. We also have every type of useful shop and business we need within the village, so we are very fortunate indeed. However, many new people are moving - mainly from outer London - into several housing developments built in former fields on the outskirts of Tiptree, and I am a little anxious about the effect this is already starting to have on the village during the week, when it gets much busier than in this Saturday afternoon blip. All access roads into the village are little more than country lanes, and they are frequented by increasing traffic they weren’t built to accommodate. Also, our one GP surgery and dentist have long been much oversubscribed and are struggling to manage the sheer numbers of patients. I know we’re not the only village this is happening to in England, I just don’t want this lovely place to get so big that what makes it such a friendly and pleasant environment to live in disappears altogether. But - I shall enjoy it all today, tomorrow, for as long as possible and as much as possible, and try to avoid the busy times whenever I can.