I received a call from my cousin in Keswick recently. She gave some impressions of her home in Keswick and how it is changing in line with many other villages & towns in the UK. Many of the old shops have been superseded by new ones that cater for the outdoor life; boots, anoraks & camping life. There are wine shops & fast-food outlets catering to the tourist trade. My cousin says that she is forced to travel miles out of town for her weekly shopping because everything costs more & catering for the remaining locals is uneconomical. A lot of the properties belong to second home & buy to let owners. Towns like Keswick can resemble ghost towns in the winter. A lot of our ancestors and childhood memories are associated with these towns & villages and social cohesion was certainly different when I was a child. Most of our ancestors did not leave a written record of their lives, a few precious photographs are all that remain, some happy or not so happy memories and vague recollections of grandparents are all that some people have. What will happen to these towns like Keswick, where the young local population are forced to move away because they cannot afford the housing that are being bought by wealthy second home owners. A hundred years ago in 1925 things were very different and I wonder what society will think of us in 2125; no doubt they will wonder at our antiquated technology and feeble attempts at family history. Life is a very precious thing, make every day count, try to be kind to everyone because one day we will be a memory.
Teasdale Family History 