Rowansford - The Town.

Rowansford is old. The first settlement was a Bronze Age one, but there’s more evidence of the Anglo-Saxon one – on the island in the middle of the river. There’s four bridges to the island now, but once upon a time there was just the one ford. There are even some stones still standing, and the oldest houses in Rowansford are all on the island too. As time went on, farms were built on the surrounding land, and the forest cleared to make way for plough and pasture. And Rowansford remained, essentially, little more than a village for many years. The Black Death passed it by, the river and the island keeping the villagers safe from outside infection, and the village remained much the same size until the railway arrived in Victorian times. And, with the railway, came the Victorians themselves – wealthy manufacturers for the most part, who wanted to live in the clean air of the countryside and yet be able to get to their manufacturies in the nearby town with ease. Rowansford suited them ideally. They beautified it, with a large park, complete with bandstand and glasshouses. They built themselves large houses for their large families, and passed a raft of by-laws to keep Rowansford as unspoilt as possible. The farms prospered, with the new markets that the railway made possible, and Rowansford became a quietly wealthy place. In the 1920’s, there was a further flush of building, as people wearied from the war wanted to retreat to a calmer, quieter place. But, thanks to those by-laws, the building was limited, and Rowansford remained pretty and desirable. And then Dr Beeching swung his axe, and the railway line was closed. The houses in the cheaper part of town began to be run down, neglected and decaying. The farms became less prosperous, and the heart slowly went out of Rowansford. There was still wealth in parts of Rowansford, but many of the big houses were simply abandoned, particularly the ones deeper out into the surrounding countryside. And then RMB laboratories moved into the area. It started life as a simple tin shack – later, it got proper breezeblock walls – a shoestring operation with a couple of small grants, a bold vision, and a lot of determination and good will. Twenty years later, the new facilities totally overshadowed the original shed – but they still kept it, still used it daily. Other companies were beginning to follow RMB laboratories, and the mostly disused farmland round the RMB site was being bought up and built on. And, finally, new houses were being built again at Rowansford. A new estate – mostly housing RMB workers! – had sprung up. Along with a new school, new shops, a new library – the old Victorian ones were on the other side of the town. Rowansford was waking up from its fifty year decline and coming back to life once more.
And behind the doors of the houses in the various parts of town, new stories were unfolding, waiting to be told.
The first of them – It’s Not Fair! – introduces some of the Rowansford inhabitants, and their lives in a changing town.
Link here: http://samelasstories.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/its-not-fair-prologue.html