I grew up next to Northolt airport , on the edge of London then , now swallowed up in the sprawl of it . Although a townie i used to go 'wild' , living in camps in the local woodland and living off the land , and whatever i could nick off the milkman , eggs , bacon , milk , cheese etc , i was very streetwise too , lol .
I had 2 allotments , between 11 and 17 , that supplied all the veg for the whole family , 9 in total .
Then went to work in a factory , doing the system thing .
Moved to Wales when i was 20 . Kept hundreds of chickens , ducks , geese , guinea fowl , pheasants ,as well as working on sheep farms , pig and cattle farms .
Did my survival thing , building a stone house , (10'x10' lol) , in the woods and living off the land .
Worked in an abatoir , tannery , knitting factory ( don't know what that was about ?) .
All the time i was learning old skills , stone work , making cart wheels , blacksmithing , basket making , anything i could learn about old crafts etc .
Then had a car smash and it all went wrong .
At 26 i was buggered . Every bone busted , massive head injuries , a mental and physical wreck . It took me 10 years + to get over it and learn to do everything again , albeit in a very different way this time .
Now i am 56 and i am living the life i want , soon to go offgrid completely . I have my dogs and horses , will be getting sheep , cattle , goats , poultry once i have the house up .
Townie ? , countryman ? Weirdo ? Whatever , i am me , doing my thing and watching the world go to ruin in it's quest for money and power , always more , more , more .
I don't follow the main road , i tend to make my own track , but could never go back to a town life , not under any circumstances . Whatever time i have left will be lived my way right or wrong .