“Blow-in”: A Reflection from Ipplepen
By David Palethorpe
I live in a fantastic part of the world—South Devon—in a little village called Ipplepen.
And yes, there are those wags who, every now and then, amend the name at the beginning of the village name with a “N”, and occasionally the end with an “is”,
Oh what wags they are!!!!
You can probably work out what that spell.
If you have any command of the English language, it won’t take long.
And if you’re from the United States, don’t worry—just ask any schoolchild.
They’ll explain it to you, probably along with why fart jokes are so amusing.
But despite the odd bit of childish humour, it really is a lovely village.
We’ve got just over 1,100 homes and around 2,500 residents.
It’s very self-contained.
What makes it even more special is that the parish—and by that, I mean the people who live here—own the community assets.
During the COVID lockdown of 2020, that spirit of self-sufficiency and solidarity shone through.
It’s a village that looks after its own.
So why am I talking about this?
Well, I’ve been visiting Ipplepen for over 35 years and have lived here for the last 12, since my retirement.
And despite that, I’m still what’s known as a “blow-in.”
That’s the local term for someone who wasn’t born here.
In fact, there are people who’ve lived here for over 40 years who are still called blow-ins.
That got me thinking—especially when listening to the latest political pronouncements from the ReformUK Ltd party (or whatever version of it exists today—Brexit, UKIP, the Blexit Party…).
No doubt there’ll be another rebranding soon—perhaps something like the FrumpMusk party if Farage, Musk and Trump have anything to do with it.
Back to ReformUK Ltd the party that is very fond of telling people that immigrants—“foreigners”—should be sent back.
But there’s a problem with that logic.
Most people living in the UK today are descended from people who arrived after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Yes, we were invaded and conquered by William of Normandy—or William the Bastard, as those who dislike Europeans might gleefully point out.
So, really, we’re all blow-ins.
Which begs the question:
How far back should we go before we start deciding who belongs here and who doesn’t?
If we follow the logic of Reform UK, perhaps we should only allow people whose families were here before 1066 to stay.
Fortunately, that would include mine—our family name originates from a small village in Nottinghamshire called Pelthorpe, which I guess would disqualify me because it came under the Danelaw whilst the South was being ruled by King Alfred.
But I digress – What about everyone else?
Are they all to be labelled “economic migrants,” “illegal immigrants,” or “foreigners escaping persecution”?
Would we deport the descendants of those who helped rebuild this country after the war, or staff our NHS and care homes today?
If we did, I could assure you that Torbay Hospital here in South Devon—and hospitals across the country—would fall apart.
This isn’t about being anti-immigration.
It’s about recognising that almost all of us are here because of migration.
We’re a nation of blow-ins.
The only difference is how many generations back your family arrived.
Let’s not forget that.
Especially when someone starts waving a flag and telling others to go “back where they came from.”
Because if we followed that line too far, there wouldn’t be many of us left.
On the bright side I guess I would end up somewhere in Denmark or Sweden so perhaps I shouldn’t be so against being sent back to where my ancestors came from.
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