I returned to beautiful UK seaside town after 30 years away - one thing broke my heart

As I walked around the UK coastal town on the edge of the Lake District where I grew up with many happy memories, I couldn't help but feel some sadness. Millom, nestled among Cumbrian mountains, might not be one of the country's best-known towns, but it certainly left a lasting impression and very much shaped me as a person.

As I retraced my steps from our family home in Seathwaite Close to the bottom of Lowther Road, I came across the infant school that gave me the very best start in life. Turning down St George's Road, I passed Millom Park and the children's play area, where I spent many hours as a boy. In the thriving town centre, I remembered my mum dragging me round the shops. Further along the road, close to the railway station, was The Bridge Cafe, where I used to pop in for sweets on my walk home from Black Combe Junior School.

Millom was - and is - only a small town, but as a child it felt like my entire universe. In many ways it was, because like any quintessentially English town, it had everything you needed on your doorstep.

Built around its ironworks in the 1800s before they closed in the 1960s, it also had a powerful sense of pride and community. Everyone seemed to know and look out for each other.

It looked exactly the same as when I left in 1995, aged nine, and when I last visited in 2005. And while that brought back many nostalgic memories, it also broke my heart.

It appears that little investment has been made in Millom since then, whether in new homes, shops or community facilities.

All I noticed was that the old Safeway is now a Tesco, and many of the shops that had such a strong presence seem to have long gone.

If you speak to people here, often one of their first remarks is that little money has been put into their area.

It's a great sadness. By contrast, Canary Wharf in east London, where I now work, didn't even exist when I was born but has been steadily transformed from barren wasteland into the bustling heart of London's financial district.

Of course it's not really an even comparison, but it feels desperately unfair that some areas of the country have had millions and billions of pounds of investment while a town with such a rich and vibrant history has barely been given a thought.

There are other potential factors. The historic shipyard in nearby Barrow-in-Furness was a major local employer for Millom workers. The loss of 10,000 jobs in the 1990s has surely had an impact.

Cumbria did not have a university until 2007 and for years many people saw the shipyard and Sellafield nuclear power station, now being decomissioned, as the only major career routes. Many dreaming of different lives must have surely upped sticks and left.

Millom's location right on the north-west coast also means the town is more difficult to reach.

But if we can get investment flowing into even the most deprived parts of this country, surely we can manage it in a town with such amazing natural assets.

Where Millom has undoubtedly flourished is in its community spirit, which remains as bright as ever.

When I visited on a sunny Monday afternoon, I spoke to Nicola Armstrong, owner of The Bloom Room in St George's Terrace since 2012. Hers is a remarkable tale of success - a completely self-taught florist who's won national awards and exhibited at London events.

"From a tiny little town, I've gone to a lot of places," she says - but she never forgets one of the big reasons for her success.

"I wouldn't have got where I am without this community," she explains. "They're my biggest cheerleaders."

During my visit, I also passed Coordination Group Publishing (CGP), whose colourful and entertaining study books were an enormous help during my GCSEs and A levels. It is still one of the UK's leading educational publishers.

While shops have closed, one that has remained is Ferguson's, which has been a steadfast presence in Millom for 70 years. Owner Arthur Ferguson turned 100 this year and is believed to be the UK's oldest shopkeeper.

While I was in Cumbria, I also visited Barrow to see its dramatic transformation as it builds the next generation of nuclear submarines and becomes the beating heart of Britain's defence.

I only hope some of the £220million of government funding going into that regeneration for the national endeavour will benefit Millom, even if only indirectly, because this small town and its people deserve only the best.

Whatever happens in the future, I know that if I come back in another 30 years, Millom's soul will remain as strong as ever.