It’s 525,600 minutes or 31,536,000 seconds. No, not the length of the Eurovision Song Contest or even the time it took Gordon Brown to become one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers in recent history. It’s just one year, which is the age of Vine.
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We are bombarded by gloomy forecasts. Each day there is talk of unprecedented changes to the way we live. The global credit crunch is upon us and the US economy seems certain for a recession according to many commentators.
Financial firms in The City have announced cuts and UK consumers can’t help but feel a little worried. More so, if like many people you own shares or need to borrow money – for a mortgage, for instance. Many people have relied on rising equity on their home to continue spending, while the total UK debt now exceeds £1.3 trillion. Accountancy firms have predicted record insolvencies in 2008 as people are unable to get cash.
And then there is climate change, immigration, teenage violence, predictions about mass obesity and so on and so on. In an age of dramatic change, it is natural for people to look for certainty and continuity.
 Another typical day in a busy market town
It is a another typical day in a small but busy market town in Kent. Local traders are making their daily deliveries to their customers in the High Street, parking up while they transport their goods by hand and waiting for a signature on their paperwork.
Ladies are walking and chatting as they make their way up and down the pavement, maybe they are discussing the latest fashions that they both saw in the window of one of the new shops. Office workers cross the street, hurrying back to work, taking care of the traffic. A policeman stands watchfully at the side of the road reassured that all is well and thankful that his shift is almost over. Perhaps he is wondering whether there might be more excitement in a large city.
Of course, this is Sevenoaks but the scene is set over 100 years ago. Most of the shops and businesses have long gone, only to be replaced by others that also vanished. It is a natural process of urban evolution that these days happens more and more quickly and is usually unstoppable. But sometimes these changes can have a negative impact on us all and we should not be afraid to speak out with a common voice.
When we look back at the changing face of Sevenoaks we should also focus on the fundamentals of community that are less subject to change. We all need friends and neighbours to enable us to feel that we belong to a place and this can help to soften the blow when our surroundings are subject to continuous change.
There is however one part of Sevenoaks that we should all fight to preserve and that is the glorious green spaces that surround it. They are now under extreme pressure and with every square metre of concrete that replaces it, we know that the space will be lost forever. Imagine that in 100 years time the people of Sevenoaks look back at the old fashioned digital photographs of the area in 2008, would we want them to be able to still recognise it, albeit with a wry smile?
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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 April 2008 )
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It will soon be time to celebrate the ancient festival of Ostra or Eastre, just two of the many names derived from the mythological goddesses of spring and fertility. This traditionally occurred around the spring equinox – when the length of the day and night are equal. Many cultures recognised this was an important time of birth and renewal, following the darkness of the long winter.
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Short story: The deadly storm |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 February 2008 )
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Where has all the colour gone? The monochromatic winter months seem never ending and they conspire to drain our enthusiasm and energy. It is the change in the quality and quantity of light that causes the problem. The shorter days don’t have the same light intensity that we get in summer. By December, we often get up in the dark and come home from work or school in darkness.
The timeless cycle of light and dark determines our sleeping and waking patterns. In the days before electricity when life was hard but simple, people used to wake and get up with the dawn light and sleep when it became dark. Now, we override these natural rhythms and manipulate the hours of light and darkness to suit our modern lifestyles (and the unsympathetic requirements of our employers).
It is all very SAD. Recent research suggests that nine out of ten people eat and sleep more in winter and that long stretches of grey skies make them more down in the dumps - give them a break, even researchers have to earn a living. Hibernation is somehow seen as socially unacceptable and the midwinter blast of holiday sun can often exacerbate the problem when you return.
There is however an activity that can ease the anxiety, panic attacks, irritability and concentration problems that are associated with mild Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yes, that’s right - simply get outside into the little light that there is and walk. Perhaps the sight of the first snowdrops or the first pale green buds that peep out tentatively will provide a much needed boost and act as a reminder that the storms, floods and other forms of meteorological mayhem that now define summer, is not so far away.
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In the last issue of Vine I bemoaned the lack of edible fungi in the fields around Sevenoaks. Well, I am not alone. Further research has revealed a serious problem this year. Professional pickers struggled to find any varieties in autumn, blaming the warm spring, wet summer and dry autumn. Even imports were affected. As you probably know, fungi do not need to produce mushrooms in order to survive and this year they just decided not to. It is claimed that the season has been the worst for decades. OK, it might not be the the most dramatic example of the problems that climate change can cause, but I like mushrooms.
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Mark Fountain's Ramblings 
