Living the dream in Cornwall – but John's heart remains in the Black Country
After a lifetime in or around the Black Country, John Hackney and his wife Angela decided to follow their dream and move to the coast.
Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. Cornwall is beautiful, but there is a distinct lack of crusty cobs to be found.
John was 73 when he made the move from Stourbridge to St Merryn, near Padstow in 2019.
He loves the stunning coastline and the quieter pace of life. And he will often tease his Facebook friends back home with idyllic pictures on the beach or his latest clifftop walk at sunset.
But he says the Black Country will always be part of him and he will be thinking of it today as it celebrates everything the region has to offer.
"I miss the Bathams and Banks's beers," says John, now 76.
"The closest we have in Cornwall is Tribute, which is brewed in St Austell, and Doom Bar, but they are not quite up to the Batham's standard."
John enjoys the Cornish pub scene, but says it is a very different environment from when he lived in the Black Country.
"When I lived in Kingswinford, the Park Tavern was my local. Now it's Rick Stein's Cornish Arms.
"I haven't had a decent crusty cob, with cheese and onion, for donkey's years. Crusty cob versus Cornish pasty? Crusty cob every time."
John, also misses the famous Black Country baltis.
"Weybridge is the nearest large town, and there are a couple of curry houses over there, but you don't have the variety of different curry houses that you have in the Black Country," he says.
"I know it's not quite a Black Country thing, but I also miss the Staffordshire oatcakes. Whenever anybody is coming down, I always put an order in to get me two or three months' supply of oatcakes, so I can put them in the freezer."
As a trained artist, John is in his element living within a mile's walk of the nearest beach. He used to provide graphics for the Express & Star, but now spends his time on commissions for paintings of the big Cornish sea and endless skies.
Painting at the coast or at his studio offers him plenty of peace and quiet, but he has always enjoyed the more hectic world of live music, once touring with bands and selling their memorabilia.
He says he misses the vibrant music and entertainment scene of the Black Country, which provided the soundtrack of his youth.
"I grew up with my friends in the late 60s and early 70s, when the Midlands was an important area for rock 'n' roll, with Slade and bands like that.
"My best friends were in a band called Trapeze, and three members of that went on to great success in Deep Purple, Judas Priest and Whitesnake.
"I do miss having the clubs like the Lafayette and JB's up the road from me.
"I remember when I was a kid, my grandfather would get a charabanc for us to go to the Grand in Wolverhampton or the Dudley Hippodrome where we would see the pantomime. If you want to see live theatre, you have to travel to Truro."
One thing he doesn't miss, though, is the traffic of the Black Country, which he says seems to be getting worse every time he pays a return visit.
"It's so much quieter here," he says.
