Going slow leads the way into the future
Let's Talk|August 2020
Taking stock of how we want to live is a ‘lockdown lesson’ that many have learned in recent months. But for one Norfolk town, it has been a way of life for the past 15 years, as Clare Haylett explains.
Clare Haylett
Going slow leads the way into the future

This has been the year of lockdown and restrictions. With so many of our freedoms removed, we’ve been forced to slow down and re-evaluate what’s important to us.

One town in our region has been setting the ‘slow’ agenda for the past 15 years, and reaping the rewards. Aylsham has been part of the global Cittaslow (pronounced ‘cheeta-slow’) movement since 2005. Literally translated as ‘slow town or city’, Cittaslow was set up in the 1990s by a group of Italians who wanted to combat the stresses of modern life.

So while we contemplate a radical fresh start for when the pandemic is all over, might Cittaslow provide a route map on how that could be achieved, and how we might organise ourselves very differently?

Patrick Prekopp, chairman of both Cittaslow Aylsham and Slow Food Aylsham, says that quarantine has been an opportunity to reassess and reprioritise what’s important to us.

This story is from the August 2020 edition of Let's Talk.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the August 2020 edition of Let's Talk.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM LET'S TALKView All
STOP ME AND BUY ONE: Nigel's on the way with his 1981 Bedford
Let's Talk

STOP ME AND BUY ONE: Nigel's on the way with his 1981 Bedford

It’s something we all recall with delight. “Mum, it’s the ice cream man!” Let’s Talk’s motoring man David Clayton meets someone happy to be the owner of a Bedford ice cream van. Bring on the Strawberry Mivvis, choc ices and 99s ...

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
Beautiful Hill: Normandy Origin For A Name Meaning
Let's Talk

Beautiful Hill: Normandy Origin For A Name Meaning

Let’s Talk’s surnames expert Derek Palgrave, from Suffolk, researches three more of our readers’ names, the first of which probably stems from the geographical presence of a beautiful hill.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2020
Words of wisdom about a hobby so many of us love
Let's Talk

Words of wisdom about a hobby so many of us love

Let’s Talk’s gardening expert Charlotte Philcox has been trawling through some books to find words of wisdom from so many people about gardening and farming. Here she shares just a few.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Vicki remains so positive despite missing her panto
Let's Talk

Vicki remains so positive despite missing her panto

For actress Vicki Michelle, Christmas usually means performing in panto. But, due the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be different. Vicki speaks to Rachel Banham about her plans for the festive season, her outlook on life and her fond memories of filming in East Anglia.

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2020
Two centuries on Thomas would be DELIGHTED WITH HIS SUCCESS
Let's Talk

Two centuries on Thomas would be DELIGHTED WITH HIS SUCCESS

He was a man without sight but with such vision. Derek James remembers Thomas Tawell who died 200 years ago.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2020
TURNING 50
Let's Talk

TURNING 50

Here at Let’s Talk we recognise that our magazine is targeted at those aged 50 and older. So we hope we are always fair to our readers and to the older generation in general. But it seems many believe other media and businesses do not treat older people in the best way.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2020
THE CHASE COULD BE ON FOR a Norfolk home for Bradley Walsh
Let's Talk

THE CHASE COULD BE ON FOR a Norfolk home for Bradley Walsh

He is one of the most popular celebrities on television at the moment. He’s a comedian, singer, actor, personality and probably the best quiz show host doing the rounds. David Clayton looks back to when Bradley Walsh came to Cromer.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
The calendar is rolling around to the WINTER SOLSTICE
Let's Talk

The calendar is rolling around to the WINTER SOLSTICE

Claire Manion, of Norfolk-based Broadsky Astrology, looks at how we have always honoured the winter solstice, our shortest day.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2020
PEACE, GOODWILL AND PROSPERITY must surely follow
Let's Talk

PEACE, GOODWILL AND PROSPERITY must surely follow

In view of such uncertainty hanging over the rest of this year – and possibly well beyond – it was hard to come up with a suitable offering for December in his usual style, says Keith Skipper. So, he has decided to settle for a festive story set in 1951, that he wrote some time ago.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2020
Friends
Let's Talk

Friends

Readers of our short stories don’t have to have long memories to recall work by Anne Maxwell, who had a previous short story entry published in the summer.

time-read
7 mins  |
December 2020