Not So Nice Devon.

Today's post is a ramble rather than a diary post to fill in some background about myself and North Devon.

First- my interest in nature. I grew up by the sea and in the countryside and for the whole of the 25 years that I lived in London my goal was to move back to the country. From an early age I wanted to be a vet, right up to the time that I failed to get the grades that I needed to take up my offered place at vet school. In reality I don't think I would have been academic enough to get through the training. Instead I did a degree in botany with zoology before getting my teaching qualifications. Even when we lived in the East End I was involved with setting up community allotments, city farms, looking after and exercising peoples' horses and a local wildlife group. I think my eyes have become attuned to noticing wildlife and there would been as many photos even if I was in the heart of a city.

Second- why are we looking to leave the UK? North Devon is a beautiful place and I rejoice in the beauty I see around me even on the 15 minute drive into town. We chose to move here because we could have the sea and the countryside while still being a 4/5 hour drive from London where Peter's parents were still living. We've had some very hard times financially but now we are in the position of both working and having a lovely home. As a teacher my wage is set nationally but Pete works for the NHS who consistently employ people at a lower scale than those doing the same job in other parts of the country. He has to spend over half his salary on his car and fuel costs and even his 'work' miles are refunded at less than half the actual cost. If you don't like it - tough.

Here are some facts I've got from a council report and other web sources.

National average earnings- £32,000 ...... Devon £17,500 ...... N.Devon £15,000.

Devon is an area of under employment, part-time/seasonal/low wages.

Average house price in Devon £253,000 you need to be earning £36,000 to get a mortgage.

The business base is small...... relatively small proportion is knowledge based.

There is an outflow of young adults due to a lack of career opportunities.

High proportion of jobs in tourism/ services .

Education- because of the high house prices Devon gets one of the lowest amounts of funding per child in the UK. UK wide special schools/assessment units have been cut back or closed . Integration of children into mainstream education has been a cost cutting exercise with the schools getting the minimal amount of funding to provide extra support. Several time in the last few years I've seen reception classes (of 30) where the teaching assistant has been fully occupied with one or more children with behaviour problems. Last year the goal posts were moved to make it even harder to get support for children that need it. All children have to take formal tests (SATs) in literacy, maths and science at 7, 10 and 14 years. Schools are graded according the results and there is always pressure from the government to get improved results. So you end up teaching to the tests. That is not including the antagonistic, stress inducing inspections by OFSTED who often seem to be looking for things to criticise. 1000 schools currently do not have a Headteacher because the job is so awful.

Health- The health service is burdened by an ever increasing management layer. Several years ago our local, quite big, hospital resisted attempts to link it to The RDE hospital in Exter. Ostensibly 'to keep it local' but really the top management were fighting for their jobs. Result- many specialist services have been lost. Children needing night time admission have to go to central Devon. There are no childbirth facilities for twins or for any other prdedicted complications. Cancer treatments can only be given at Exeter or Plymouth. Anecdotally actual medical care can be poor. I sat with Peter while a consultant misdiagnosed his ankle problems, told him if he was lucky he might be able to do an office job and gave him the wrong exercise regime which set his recovery back weeks. Again when he damaged the ligaments and bone in his wrist it wasn't fully diagnosed and he was given exercises that made it worse. When he was taken in as an emergency they were about to send him home after a few days with no diagnosis until he asked questions about a not too obscure rheumatic complication which it turns out he has. I was about to have a D&C which had been cancelled once because I was too anaemic and the nurse told me that it would be ok because my red blood levels were fine. Amazing how they knew since I hadn't had any blood taken! I kept quiet as I didn't want to reschedule the op again. A friend had to be cut out of an upturned car and the ambulance men were surprised that she asked to be taken to N.Devon Hospital rather than mid Devon (it was nearer home), Despite a back injury and cuts she was treated brusquely and sent to organise her own trip home where a neighbour had to wash off the blood. She was so traumatised by the hospital that she still cries when she talks about it. I could go on and on with horrific things that have happened to people I know. Of course many people have perfectly satisfactory treatment including Vytas who had a 3" hole in his humerous repaired. Don't even start me on the lying NHS dentists who told me I couldn't have treatment on the NHS but of course I could go private at a cost of £800. I only found out their lies just in time and am having my root filling done at the Bristol Dental hospital.

So you see that if you have jobs and a home N. Devon is a wonderful place, overall it is an area of inequality and deprivation with little future for young people. My oldest boy, Vytas, did a physics degree at Leicester Uni and has left the area for good. Linas , once he has his IT degree will be looking elsewhere for work and is not ruling out the possibility of moving to NZ if we make it there. Romas is hoping to get a teaching/music degree and is a laid back surfer/drummer/outdoors person and he can't wait to get to NZ. There is no other family apart from cousins in Canada

I could go on and on about the stresses and strains of life in this area but that would be too depressing. Instead I will go and enjoy the sunshine and thank God for all the good things he has given me and my family.