THERE’S NO GOIN’ HOME:

GHOST TOWNS

Ella Duke
 The specials – Ghost Town

"When I think about Ghost Town I think about Coventry, I saw it develop from
a boom town, my family doing very well, through to the collapse of the
industry and the bottom falling out of family life. Your economy is destroyed
and, to me, that's what Ghost Town is about.“
drummer John Bradbury,
 What is a ghost town?
◦ A ghost town is an abandoned village, town, or
city, usually one that contains building or
infrastructure such as roads. A town often
becomes a ghost town because the economic
activity that supported it has failed, or due to
natural or human-caused disasters.
◦ What natural or human-caused disasters do you
think can make a ghost town?
◦ The term can sometimes refer to cities, towns,
and neighbourhoods that are still populated,
but significantly less so than in past years.
Imagine!
◦ Close your eyes

◦ Block everything out of your mind

◦ Think about where you live

◦ What would it be without anything

◦ How would that make you feel?

Why did they happen in the
1980s?
◦ The main impact was the economy.

◦ Margaret Thatcher inherited a weak economy,

◦ The result was a dramatic increase in unemployment, from 1.3
million in 1979 to more than double that figure two years later
◦ Although inflation decreased and output rose before the end of
her first term, unemployment continued to increase, reaching
more than three million in 1986.
 How does it relate to us now?

◦ COVID!
◦ The Rolling stones made a song in 2020 called 'Living in a ghost town’
How does ghost towns relate
to Road?
◦ We can not say they live in a ghost town but we can say it may end up in a
ghost town due to some characters being unemployed or homeless

What characters in the play are unemployed or have been mentioned to not
have a home?

◦ BUT they might already live in half a ghost town as they only talk about the
road and not the village so they could be living with half the village already
gone due to unemployment or other circumstances.