We British don’t casually talk to people, do we? Well, I break that taboo. It some ways it is easy, my age and apparent physical breakdown removes so much potential threat. Neither do I have an ideology. They say that those on the left of centre simply fall back on the rightness of their beliefs. That they straight away expound their responses in a dogmatic manner. However, those like me, who sit right in the middle, don’t do that. Perhaps we dance around the conversation, trying not to antagonise in any way. I have no idea whether that is true because I just want to know stuff and if I think you know, I chat to you. Walking the most beautiful coast in the world, I am always talking to strangers.

Adders

I am writing a discussion document on whether our village might want to become a ‘Nature Village’. Okay, nobody really knows what that means but I have some ideas. However, there are a number of nature questions I cannot answer. The thing is, people out there know the answer so I need to talk to strangers. This morning, power walking, I caught up a man with a dog and said hello. The dog did not reply but the man did. I sensed that he had lived here a long time so I pitched in, “Have you seen any adders on this stretch of coastline?” Yes was his reply and I was engaged. He knew what I needed to know but he did not know that he knew it. It is amazing how many people don’t know what they know until somebody poses a question.

Talking to Strangers

When I last lived down here, Ann and I always chatted to a woman called Joy. Typically, we would meet in Highcliffe cliffs and she always had her dog Jeevah with her. She invited us to call on her and she gave us a copy of her book, Highcliffe’s Pot of Gold. Now, I use that book as a guide to what she saw in the cliffs prior to 2013. She saw adders but did not mention sand lizards. I see the lizards but Joy, sadly, is in her grave. However, upright older people saw what Joy saw and I need to speak to them. They are all strangers, but not to data.