As a village, Wombourne has loads going for it, good shops, lovely surrounding countryside and fantastic amenities i.e a leisure centre (with pool) within walking distance, a library and plenty of pleasant cafe’s/coffee shops. It also has pleasant pubs within walking distance and of course it’s own cricket ground and floodlit tennis courts. What more could anyone want? If there is a downside I would say it lies with some, but not all of the people who reside there. People from this village seldom venture far away, so a lot of people are related or have grown up to marry someone from the village. There is very much an insider/outsider mentality that prevails amongst many which can be pretty toxic, particularly if you end up on the wrong side of it.
Wombourners love a bit of gossip, it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, just as long as it’s juicy enough to pass on. Someone can be demonised on the basis of ‘such and such said’ and that’s enough. It gets passed on to Billy, Jack and their wives. Truth goes out of the window and rumours become facts. This doesn’t just apply to adults, children can be victims of it too, groups of gossiping women stand outside the local schools spreading their hate mongering with no foundation. The fact that someone is related to someone else, or has lived in the village all of their life carries more weight than someone actually being a decent or honest person.
Narrow minded is an understatement, Wombourners are mostly pro-age and anti youth, it is practically a crime to be a teenager and hang around with your mates. You will be accused of everything and anything, again doesn’t matter whether true or not, all that matters is that ‘somebody said so’. You can live a pleasant life in Wombourne, you just need to detach yourself from this low level mentality.
There are nice, educated people in the village but again they seem to detach from the ‘central hub’ of gossip. Also, it is a fairly safe area comparatively speaking with fairly low crime rates, and even the local council estate does not have an aura of fear or violence as in inner city areas. The people are friendly and down to earth, if anything I would say the ‘social climbers’ and ‘want to be’s are the worst. Usually women who are ******* off the back of their husband’s achievements and are relatively comfortable. They have too little to occupy their minds and too much time to comparing cars, houses, clothes and their little darling’s achievements at school. They should try reading a newspaper or watching the News to see what really goes on in the world if they wish to feel truly enriched.
