49 Up Page #15

doing, say, in seven years?

I can think of all kinds of

things I'd like to be doing.

The real question is,

"What am I likely to be doing?"

Um...

What are you likely to be doing?

That's a horrible question.

I tend to think

the most likely answer

is that I'll be

wandering homeless

round the streets of London,

but with a bit of luck,

that won't happen.

Can I just point out some of

the considerable disadvantages?

First of all,

they are geographically...

By 42, Neil had moved to London

and was a liberal democrat

on Hackney Council.

While I was in Shetland,

I felt very strongly

that I should become

involved in politics,

simply because I felt I

was not achieving anything

in the ways I really -

I really wanted to.

(Michael) So, didn't expect

to see you driving, Neil.

Well, neither - if you'd asked

me that question a few years ago,

I would have been surprised,

but it was my brother's wife's car,

and fortunately, she was about

to change vehicles at the time,

and they let me have it

without charge,

which was really

a very magnanimous gesture.

At 49, Neil has left London,

moved to Cumbria in

the north west of England

and become a member of

the local district council.

(man) ...Fairly simple.

It was a committee decision,

majority decision.

His own group on the establishment

committee agreed with the decision.

Councillor Hughes.

Well, for councillor Niland's

information -

Councillor Cook has reconsidered his

opinion he ventured at that meeting.

I'm a liberal democrat,

I'm standing for the county

council for this seat,

which is 400 square miles in size,

so it's a huge,

a huge constituency,

and this is only one

of the 84 seats.

Who has the seat

at the moment?

It's a conservative councillor

at the moment.

Big majority?

Significant. There's a lot

of work for me to do,

if not this time,

maybe next time.

What are the chances this time?

I'm doing my best.

Funnily enough,

when I first came up here,

I was considering

giving it up altogether,

but after only about two days,

I just got involved again,

so maybe it's impossible

to give up politics.

I have a great deal of respect

for the liberal democrats,

but I think that I won't

vote for them this time,

because I'll vote for Mr. McClain.

And in particular, he's keen

on to preserve our way of life

in the country with hunting,

in particular.

Well, it's going to

very disadvantage us

because we have changed

our farming policy

since foot and mouth

or any type of dairy cows.

Certainly more people vote. Perhaps they

see the impact on their lives more starkly

than people do in the city.

I found in London,

many parts of London,

there was a huge apathy

because it seemed -

Like they used to say,

"It doesn't matter who you vote for,

the government always gets in."

When I saw you seven years ago,

you seemed content, happy

in London, so why the change?

I neither felt that I was

satisfying the community around me,

nor did I feel

I was satisfying myself,

and that was obviously

not an ideal situation.

At 42, when Neil first arrived in

London from the Shetland Islands,

he lodged with Bruce.

He was a model host,

although he did always

insist on measuring

the amount of bathwater

that was in the bath,

and I am not quite sure

why that was.

He'd find the fridge a bit noisy,

so he would turn it off,

or if I had to hoover,

he'd walk round the block or...

No, I accept that I wasn't

the model lodger in every way,

and, however, that only emphasizes

how patient you actually were.

I've had little contact with Bruce.

We've exchanged one or two letters,

but maybe ours was a friendship

which flourished -

And it was a genuine friendship -

In the circumstances in which

we found ourselves in London.

I think that's what happens in life,

that people you're close to, and

then circumstances drift you apart,

and you find other people,

and you wonder now and again

what's happening to them

and hope they're all right,

but that's what happens in life.

In the winter, if you

lived in the country,

well, it was just all wet, and there

wouldn't be anything for miles around.

I feel, especially sometimes

when I'm on my own,

that I'm losing touch with

the way other people live.

(Michael) Do you worry

about your sanity?

Other people

sometimes worry about it.

Like who?

As I said,

I sometimes can be found

Behaving in an erratic fashion.

Sometimes I get very

frustrated, very angry

for no apparent reason,

for a reason which won't be apparent

to other people around me.

Do you ever think

you're going mad?

I don't think it.

I know it.

I, uh... Well, 'cause...

We're not allowed to use

the word "mad," but, um...

I think most people

are mad here, really.

How's your health?

It's probably very good

at the moment,

and living

in this rural setting

is obviously healthier than

living in the middle of a city.

There is less stress.

I ended up with

a former council flat,

which is nothing luxurious,

but I was lucky to get it,

and as soon as I could see

the view out of my window,

across the stream and trees

and the hills in the background,

I knew I was

in the right place.

I know that many people

say they feel closer to god

in the countryside.

I wouldn't want to be

simplistic about it,

but because one is much closer

to natural life,

one's therefore much closer

to the springs of life.

Yes, I'd say I believed in god.

Are you religious?

Well, I go to church

with me parents on Sundays.

I don't know even now whether

I do believe in god or not.

I've thought an awful lot

about it, actually,

and I still don't know.

How has he been treating you?

Well, I said to somebody

last week

that I preferred the old

testament to the new testament,

because in the old testament,

God is very unpredictable,

and that's, I think,

how I see him in my life.

My Jesus

My saviour

Lord,

there is none like you

Tower of refuge

and strength...

I bring Jim and Ann

and Bruce and Julia

and, uh...

Doreen.

...Doreen as well

and also...

I was first a lay reader

in London.

After completing

a little more training,

I was re-licensed

by the bishop of Carlisle.

Nature's lovely, nature's made

by god, but it's lovely...

Gives me the peace of mind

to accept when things

don't go the way they want to.

Politics can be

a very bruising game.

I will maintain my faith,

I will continue to trust in god.

I'm absolutely sure

that my faith

has helped me through

these difficult times.

Would you ever see having

a career in the church?

While I have a dedication

to the church,

I haven't experienced what I'd

call a calling into the priesthood

or anything of that kind,

so the answer is no

at the moment.

When I grow up,

I want to be an astronaut,

but if I can't be an astronaut,

I think I'll be a coach driver.

If the state didn't give us

any money,

it would probably just mean crime,

and I am glad I didn't have to

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