SHERINGHAM DIARY 30 ~ Don't Mention The Actual War Commemorative Issue

We survived the straffing of Sheringham's 1940's weekend. My prejudices suitably adjusted in the light of experience. Lots of people coming together dressed in period clothes, swanning about whilst 1940's music played over the street megaphones, generates the approximation of a community gathering. Not entirely a local community, as folk come from all over the UK. Its an idealised version of community, culturally homogeneous, not remotely diverse , but resolutely white. The fact that their were Caribbean, Indian and Black American servicemen in the UK, is something that Sheringham's 1940's weekend is apparently not yet prepared to pretend happened.

Though this communal vibe was something of a surprise, it is sad if the only way we can connect with a unified collective sense of ourselves, is to pretend we live in an entirely different era. An era where we were fighting a war, ironically given Brexit, to save Europe and ourselves. An event sentimentalised, mythologised and attended by people, who for the most part, were born well after it happened. Leave supporters have used the war years as a template for the guiding spirit of our future relations with the world. Bound up in the desire to believe and behave 'as if.' this sanitised version of our history was not the result of wartime propaganda nor post-war mythologising, but entirely true.

The wartime spirit has become a lazy touchstone for all that the modern day UK has difficulty finding or summoning up. Having become as a society increasingly individualistic, selfish and socially cut off from one another. The blame by some is laid at the feet of immigration, everyone whose not white and British, the liberal minded, atheists and gay marriage or any other prejudice you might want to throw into the mix relating to the state of the nation.

The wartime style envelope appears similarly accommodating and elastic around the edges. Quite a few fifties Dior new look dresses creeped in,  the 'Pythonesque' sending up the war look itself, and one person bizarrely dressed up as a 1980's Dr Who. Any gathering of like minded people bringing their individual enthusiasm to a collective context has a similar feeling to it. Whether this is a pop concert, a football match, a religious gathering or climate change rally, its something we come together to align ourselves with and share.

The Courtyard Cafe & Wine Bar, is near by where our shop is located. They hold a street party with tables running down the middle of the courtyard for the entire weekend. This made casually browsing the shops either side of it, somewhat restricted. It was a health and safety nightmare with mobility scooters and zimmer frames with shopping trolleys attached, daring to venture in. All accompanied by the ubiquitous 1940's music played very loud. After an entire weekend of six hours a day being constantly forced to listen to 1940's music, I'd liken the experience to aural water boarding as a method of torture. The jiggly jaunty thum thum thum of the double bass that underpins a lot of the music, i found emotionally draining.

Not to mention the ration books. The town produces a ration book, in it are named participatory shops in Sheringham and you go round getting your card stamped by these retailers. On paper this sounds like a great way to encourage people to discover shops they might not normally encounter. The reality is that its mostly tiny tots and surly teenagers, and there's a constant stream of them dashing around. None of them spending money with us. On the Saturday I lost count, there were countless dozens of them. If I'd charged £2 per stamp I'd have easily doubled my days take. One Courtyard shopkeeper is considering not putting themselves in the ration book next year. It felt, to them, counter productive to be stamping a succession of ration books, whilst paying customers were being kept waiting. They have a point. it is more than a bit tiresome.

Though there was little purchasing going on on the Saturday due to the excessive congestion, our daily take was about average in the end, composed of a handful of decent purchases. But Sunday being less congested and frenetic in The Courtyard turned into our best Sunday's business since we opened. So there was one silver lining.

Dressing up events, mostly due to Sheringham's 1940's Weekend being such a success since it started in 2003, are tempting more North Norfolk towns to join in. Cromer has its 1960's Weekend, Wells-next-the Sea its Pirate Weekend, and North Walsham has recently announced that from next year it'll host a Medieval Weekend. These at least have the virtue that they are either still within living memory, or are so far beyond it no one can pretend its anything other than a theme park type event, that however rollicking, its all a cliche bedecked fantasy.