Author Topic: Childhood Revisited  (Read 670 times)

strawy

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Childhood Revisited
« on: 23:55:06, 05/05/20 »
As i now live 3 miles from where i grew up,i thought i,d do a walk to my childhood "haunts"..


I hate urban walks,but i do them now..



Sadly nothing worth photographing,i did take some,but deleted them,the old rail track is a cycling freeway with hanging baskets of dog crap...
The main entrance to the countryside was blocked,new housing planned,farms demolished...
My nana,s small street is now a mile long...
My old school is now called an academy ??
Took me nearly 4 miles to hit open country(used to take us 5 minutes)..
I did still recognise the exact spot i kissed Anne H at 13 years old..
Passed thru the newest estate,its built on an old chemical works,it was toxic,always warned to stay away as kids..
My 1st potato picking farm has disappeared,but some good news,the river Tees is still there..
A 10 mile walk,an Aldi,1 M&S,3 co-ops,3 cooplands bakers & a herons foods on my route,mixed emotions along the way,i still hate urban walks  >:(
And my old local pub was closed  ;D

Jac

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #1 on: 07:26:25, 06/05/20 »
That is a truly sad post :(  I feel for children who now can't access countryside from home without parental assistance or a car ride.
Do the walk again and take more photos. The sense of shock and loss will not be such a surprise a second time around and you may spot things you missed.
So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

richardh1905

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #2 on: 07:37:58, 06/05/20 »
Sounds grim, Strawy. Hopefully they will slacken the reins a bit soon.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

gunwharfman

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #3 on: 09:59:41, 06/05/20 »
I like visiting places in my childhood and have done it a few times. Cranbrook, Kent where we used to go hop-picking, the High Weald Trail passes through the town. The 'hoppers huts' we lived in were still there but they're pig pens. The oast house nearby is now a beautiful private residence but basically very little in the area has changed, except all the hop fields are now gone.

Vinters Park, Maidstone where we shared a Nissan hut with another family. all gone, now a local football field, the rest of the area is a TV studio. My bother used to push a large pram, 3 children in it, I had to walk, to the Boxley cherry orchards across a large field, gone, now a modern housing estate.

Langly, Maidstone, when I was 5 we lived in a corrugated iron hut. I remember it well because I was 'forced' to go to school from there, (I was born to labour, not to go to school!) a walk across the field into the little school, now a private house. The floor outline of the hut, a recatangle of grass can still be seen but the hut itself has gone.

fernman

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #4 on: 10:08:46, 06/05/20 »
Sometimes it's a mistake to return. I once went to have a look at the avenue in Rhyl where I lived for the first five years of my life. It never had tv aerials sprouting from every roof when I was there, nor were the kerbs lined with parked cars. Worse still, the large concrete blocks (tank traps) at the end of the road had gone, this was where we used to walk straight onto the beach. I remember nothing but sand dunes there but now acres of static caravans stretched as far as you could see, and a golf course.
And with the town's current reputation I'm almost ashamed to admit I was born there.

gunwharfman

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #5 on: 14:17:02, 06/05/20 »
The year before last I visited Foots Cray Church, which now in south London? Many of my relatives are buried there. The trees adjacent to the church were swarming with shrieking brightly-colored cockatoo's. In the winter months, we all used to park our caravans on a bomb site opposite Foots Cray School. All gone, it's now a large housing estate.

Mel

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Re: Childhood Revisited
« Reply #6 on: 19:35:52, 06/05/20 »
That's a shame that things have changed so much from your memories strawy  :(


A couple of years ago I revisited my childhood stomping ground and, although still very much rural, was saddened to see housing estates on the fields I used to play on.  But I'm glad I did the walk.  Lots of nostalgic memories, most of them good. 



 

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