Forget the so-called good old days, community spirit is alive

Communities, we are told, aren't anywhere near as strong as they were when, say, Baby Boomers were growing up in the '50s and '60s.

- 

Back then, people knew the names of all their neighbours, not just the ones they could hear through their walls, with blokes meeting down the pub on the corner before tea every day, while wives always made sure there was enough food for surprise visitors. While I have no idea whether this blissful portrayal of neighbourly love seven decades ago is wholly accurate, society has long since accepted the 'fact' that communities today aren't as close knit as they were before most households took ownership of a telly. Which is why anybody with an agenda - politicians with ambitions loftier than their ability, talk s