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I've just got back from Sheffield. I went up Division Street. It's changed dramtically since I was a kid. What used to be an industrial back street to Sheffield's main shopping strip has become a world of fashion and trendy bars. The Fire station's gone and the cutlery firms have gone.
One place that survived, and has been there as long as I can remember, is Rare & Racy - a second-hand book/record store run by two brothers. Not only has it outlived much of the industry and commerce around it, it's also survived most of the other record and second hand book shops in Sheffield.
What makes it special for me is that as a teenager through to my 20s, I'd go there almost every Saturday to trade vinyl. It sold, and still does, obscure music that you won't find in the likes of HMV or Virgin Records. It's where I experimented with the wider styles of music and it's great to see the shop is still going strong.
What things in your life have been important and why?
Grandkids, it's what us olduns live for. Retired early... best thing I ever did. Took a while to relax and get used to the slower pace. Grimsby Dock Tower, a constant reminder of permanency and my home town.
Have been and still are important - I think the reasons are obvious.
Family.
Health.
But I'm not sure they are the examples you wanted.
Just thought of one - my birthplace - Margate, Kent always brings back happy memories when I visit.
Dreamland is just about surviving for this summer but not sure for how much longer.
The countryside, the smell of freshly cut hay and freshly ploughed earth etc.
I grew up in the countryside and at a time when we were allowed to play out all day. I roamed the fields and woods, had lots of encounters with wildlife and I would feel deprived if I couldn't get out there every day.
Chris.
p.s. and my grandkids of course
I'm the one that's supposed to be having a mid-life crisis this week Pete.
I was in London last week on the Victoria line and part of me was tempted to not get off at King's Cross and head back to my B&B, but to instead travel on and visit my place of birth. The more I thought about it the more I realised it was probably better to remember it and other places from that time as they used to be rather than having the illusion spoilt.
Other places I have returned to recently have disappointed because of the changes that have happened.
Flowers have alwasy been important to me.
My mother was a keen gardener and I remember the picnic on the lawn with the pink saparonia tumbling over the borders, the smell of Daphne, the pleaseure of the primrose and wild violets.
I get great pleasure from my garden full of perennial flowers, but I also love walking the hills and woods locally and rediscovering the wild flowers each season.
Last September, my Mum passed away after a long illness. I cared for her for 30 years (since I was 11) and her passing left a huge void that proved quite hard to deal with. So, the things that have turned out to be really important to me - my faith, close friends and family, the things/abilities that enable me to help others.
I don't feel attached to my place of birth (Belfast), it has changed almost beyond recognition, I've been away for 19 years.
Jo
i moved to the states 5 yrs ago, everytime i go home though i find so much has changed, buildings have gone and new ones built in their place (usually blocks of flats) so much so in fact that i no longer feel like i'm home anymore, England is still important to me though and like my wife says, you can take the Englishman out of England but you can't take the English out of the man....lol i still prefere the British way of life though and go back whenever i can, just love the old English pubs, real ales, daily newspapers and British people.
Very interesting. I too would have exactly those priorities Jo and I also grew up in Belfast. I went back last year to Glencairn estate where I grew up and it was exactly the same as I remembered it and Shankill Road hasn't changed much either. I feel no longing to go back but I'm very proud of my upbringing and proud to be Northern Irish if that makes any sense. I've lived in Scotland for the past 14 years.
Going past the house where I was born brings back memories to me that remind me of my childhood, parents and grand parents. It was in the village of Cornholme, on the borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire, between Todmorden and Burnley. I remember the gas mantles ( there was no electricity), we had a radio that ran off a wet cell, that was what looked like a toffee jar filled with an acid and two metal plates with wires coming from them to the radio or wireless as it was called then. I also remember that in the early morning you would hear a siren going off, then minutes later you'd here what sounded like hundreds of clogged feet marching to the nearby cotton mill. Then later on you'd smell the new tarmac being laid on the road outside, so I would go out and watch the man on the steam roller.
All this flashes through my mind every time I pass my old house as I call it. It is important to me as it brings back the image of loved ones that have passed away.
I too was born and bred in Sheffield (Walkley)
spent a happy childhood roaming Rivelin Valley hiking over the Bole hills and swimming in the River Don at Hillfoot Bridge I left in 89 but try and get home every few years and always do the Rivelin Nature Walk with my sisters we have a story of our childhood on every bend and I am so happy it remains the same way that I remember from being a kid
I too could not believe the changes in the city centre when I was back last year
Quote: Grandkids, it's what us olduns live for.
Have two of mine staying with us this weekend. Wouldn't trade places with anyone or anything right now... Luke is 8 and Katie is 5 btw. I have other grandchildren but very difficult to see them - they live in the north of Norway!
Quote: Grandkids, it's what us olduns live for. Retired early... best thing I ever did.
Too true Col.
Didn't retire, made redundant and decided to take the hint and retire anyway ;o)
I always say that waking up in the morning is a good start to the day.
After that it's all a bonus?
LoL
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