Hi everyone, how's it going? It's been more than a week since the end of NaPoWriMo and I, like probably most aspiring poets out there, have been taking some time off. On the day after NaPoWriMo officially ended, I set out for the Cotswolds with the family, and spent a few days checking out village after village before heading further east where I stumbled upon Bicester, a town in between Oxford and London. I followed signs for an outlet called Bicester Village, and what I found required a blog post of its own.
I realise that what I'm about to say is probably redundant. It's not exactly original to express amazement at the affects of consumerism, but since I come from a village which has only one shop, I feel that I have to address it for my own sake if not for the wider world.
So what is Bicester Village for those who haven't heard? In short, it's a village outlet in the centre of Bicester itself, complete with its own railway station. I was later told that it's the second biggest outlet centre in the UK, the first being Oxford Street in London, which is in itself an achievement. You can calculate the scale of my ignorance when I tell you that I thought that Bicester would be a small place with a high street or two, not a town with an entire outlet complex. Equally ignorant of me was my assumption that Bicester Village would be similar to the shops at Centre Parcs. When we arrived, my assumptions were blown clean out of the water.
I have seen places like Bicester before, namely when I went to Florida as a child and walked through the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. The outlet has a distinctly American-style design and layout, with long streets packed to the brim with every brand imaginable, some of which I'd never heard of before. Indeed, there are so many brands I wouldn't be surprised if they have a greenhouse in which they grow new ones. It reminded me of the titular park in Jurassic World, which attempted to satirise the ever-increasing consumer culture which pervades modern society, while also contributing to it because of the huge amount of product placement.
For a poet from South Wales, this was all a bit overwhelming. When you arrive at Bicester Village, you don't have time to notice the rows of daffodils and bamboo lining the path at the entrance, because you become mesmerised by the sheer volume of money and products on display. It turns out the railway station is specifically designed to cater for the large number of tourists who come to shop at the centre, many of whom are Chinese. Apparently, after Buckingham Palace, the outlet centre is the most visited location in the UK by Chinese tourists. Given the glossy sheen of the place, the abundance of stock on display, and the five-star-hotel style of service, it's easy to see the attraction. Some of the cars in the car park even carried diplomatic number-plates, so the embassies clearly enjoy Bicester as well.
But for someone like me, the whole enterprise smacked of artifice. I completely understand why many people buy into (literally and metaphorically) the brand idea, as they are often quality goods which carry with them a level of prestige. However, in the end it is a triumph of presentation over substance; a bit like the many attempts to regenerate Newport. The moment everyone starts buying from expensive brands in an attempt to seem trendy, you end up in a situation where you can't distinguish one jacket or pair of jeans from another. It's a trick, one which convinces you that you need to own many things to be content. As many people have said over the years - much more comprehensively than me - the reverse is often true.
I'm aware I sound like someone who's just realised that the sky is blue, but after so long away from the kind of consumerism which abounds in Bicester Village, being exposed to it again was quite a shock. Still, having recovered from my brush with wealth and having returned from the Cotswolds, I can now get back to the business of poetry. Keep a look out for new features on Mametz Wood in preparation for my upcoming poem on the subject, as well as a new installment of Frynwys Features which will be on this blog soon.
Hope you're all having a great start to the summer!
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