i think in the uce, the big challenge we have is that we view culture through the eyes of very much of middle class, aspirational culture. And then probably disregard maybe other forms of culture which aren't viewed as culture. So in a working class community, perhaps going to the workingman's club, or going to the pub actually is is a key part of the culture there. But if we get into a position where it's ony what we're want to do is going to bring all this theatre and highbrow culture to you, that isn't necessarily what people want. Paul bachelor: People's quality of life and the way they live is very important.
Is it possible to ‘level up’ the economy and help struggling places halt decline and become more prosperous? Paul Swinney is Director of Policy and Research at the think tank Centre for Cities and his research focuses on city economies and their development over time. He considers what strategies might be implemented to support declining town and city centres and if the government’s Levelling Up agenda is likely to deliver concrete results.
The prize-winning poet Paul Batchelor was born in Northumberland and often explores the lost worlds of Britain’s mining communities, and the memories that have survived. The title of his new collection, The Acts of Oblivion, refers to seventeenth-century laws that required not only the pardon of revolutionary deeds, but also made discussing them illegal. His poems rebel against such restrictions, and against forgetting.
In the forest landscape of northern Varmland in Sweden lies the village of Osebol. In just five decades, the automation of the lumber industry and the draw of city-living, has seen the adult population dwindling to a mere 40 residents. Marit Kapla grew up there, and in Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village she has returned and gathered the stories of all the inhabitants – from those whose families have lived there for generations, to the more recent arrivals. They tell of their griefs and joys, resentments and pleasures, and despite the village’s decline, life goes on.
Producer: Katy Hickman