Falling out of my dream-scape into a new day is often,
for me, a powerful and unsettling experience. Adjusting from the colourful and
too often complicated dreamscape can also be something of an adrenalin rush.
Colourful memory scraps fall away as soft morning light offers a more, hopefully,
stable landscape. Today was such a start that it made me catapult out of bed whilst
balancing my own reality! I don’t know whether you have read Jostein Gaarder’s
book ‘Sophie’s World’ but if you have then the significance of that moment will
make you smile.
Grabbing both dogs I then wandered down to the beach in
the early grey light to find a quiet spot on Preston seafront to watch the
warming sun creep up over Hope’s Nose. That moment as the golden light spreads
across the tranquil waters of Tor Bay is truly atmospheric. This life of ours tends
to be a bumpy business and so feeling the first rays of a new day wash over you
is like nothing else. This can be your moment of mindfulness meditation as your
breathing matches the rhythm of the new day. What a brilliant platform!
For me part of that platform was eventually sorting
breakfast for the two foreign students living with us at the moment. Sixteen
year old Nicole is from the Czech Republic and fifteen year old Adelina’s home
country is Kazakhstan. Both are studying English at the Devon School of English
in the middle of Paignton. Paul Hawthorne is the principal and the other day
invited me to come and have a look around.
I live not far from the
Devon School of English and the quickest route for me is through the Oldway
Mansion gardens. There is a temptation here to wax lyrical about the curious
status of this wonderful old estate as Torbay Council seeks to secure its future.
Answering public concern Torbay Council issued a statement recently which said
“"Torbay Council is
working closely with Akkeron to progress the development of Oldway into a four
star hotel. Discussions are on-going and we will make further announcements at
the appropriate time. The council is committed to securing the most favourable
outcome for one of Torbay's most prized landmark buildings." Hopefully you
will be able to make more of that statement than I managed to! Torbay Council
appears to be still looking after the estate and I have to say that the gardens
did look stunning as I wandered past. The flower beds were a riot of colour and
the grass had been freshly cut. People were also playing tennis but sadly the
once popular tea room café is now, like the main building, closed.
It
seems to me that Torbay has many historic buildings less famous than Oldway
Mansion that too often go unnoticed or end up at the receiving end of a
developer’s merciless sledgehammer. That might have been the fate of the
beautiful old vicarage next to Christ Church in Paignton had it not been bought
by the Devon School of English some years ago. What a quintessential location
for foreign visitors to study English and certainly my student guests all seem
to love it there.
I
do worry that the value of language tourists to the local economy is often overlooked
or worse still deliberately ignored. Let me give you an example. Some years ago
a German student on work experience with the Training Partnership in Torquay
came to join me for three months. He was well educated and not particularly short
of money. Whilst here he stayed with a local family boosting their family
income, enjoyed many meals in the various eateries, visited numerous
attractions and bought clothes in town shops. Recently he and his family came
back to South Devon for a two week holiday with friends! This is a great place
to visit and all these folk from different parts of the world become
ambassadors spreading the good news about our friendly community!
Sadly
I hear many negative comments about the number of foreign students in the area
and that really upsets me because they bring so much energy with them. Please make
them welcome and allow them to celebrate the vibrancy of our local landscape.
Why not tell them about the stunning sunrises over our sparkling sea and if you
have them staying as guests chip them out of bed soon after first light for a
‘dawny’ on the beach to celebrate the start of the new day as the sun lifts
from the distant horizon!
Keep
the smile!
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