Twiverton is not just famous for being "very old". It is also famous for being the place where the 18th century novelist Henry Fielding wrote Tom Jones (1749). The house he once lived in was still standing in the village until 1963.

Henry Fielding (1707-54): "Read in order to live."

The City Fathers could have converted Fielding's house into a visitors' centre to rival that of the Brontes in Haworth. Coachloads of Japanese tourists could have been accommodated in the car park of the nearby football ground. Instead they chose to raze it to the ground and build a retirement home for casino owners from Florida in its place.
The tourist revenue could have funded the very things that Twiverton lacks: an open-air swimming pool, tennis courts, a concert hall, a library, and some well stocked shops. However
Pete O'Clarke's old man (resident of prefab number number twelve) says that a boost in tourism is the very last thing which this place needs. "Just look what it has done to Bath! The place has become a traffic polluted cesspool!" For Pete O'Clarke's old man the beauty of life in forgotten places like Twiverton is that people are forced to rely on their own creative resources. As he told a reporter from the Bath & Wilting: "Being in the sticks promotes self-reliance and the inner cultivation of the self. After doing a course at Bath Technical College some young 'uns want to turn this place into flaming Hampstead! The whole point of The Twiverton Way is that you have to find The Path yourself."
You would never know from watching Pete O'Clarke's old man put on his oil-stained overalls and wriggle under his motor bike and side-car to carry out vital mechanical repairs that he is a leading practitioner of Daoism, the two thousand year old Chinese religion/philosophy renowned for unlocking the secrets of wu wei (action through inaction or effortless effort.) When he spotted some kids trying to move a massive boulder which had fallen into the middle of Pennyquick Brook he told them to leave it well alone. The words he spoke on that day have made a lasting impression on everyone. "Just hang on a moment, lads, and wait. It will only be a matter of time before the force of the water has reduced that massive boulder to a tiny pebble." Such are the fruits of effortless effort!
Pete O'Clarke's old man's decision to build a weightlifting gym in his back yard - the one that was to be the springboard for so many prefab youth joining the legendary Le Club Musculation -was also prompted by Daoist insights. Breath training and cultivation of the martial arts was a central part of the gym's daily routine. "Breathe slowly, sharpen your thinking, move with deliberation, read up on both the philosophy of the East and the West, and soon you will be on course for finding The Way!"