Childhood Revisited

It’s true what they say……As you get older, you spend more time thinking about the people and places of your childhood. Sometimes these memories become hazy and seen through rose-tinted glasses (or beer goggles depending on the time of day). It becomes even more confusing if, like me, you have moved around a lot during the course of your life.

With this in mind, the other day I decided to take my reminiscences one step further. With the aid of Google Street View, I took a trip down memory lane, starting with the house where I had my earliest childhood memories. Sure enough, the house was little changed, even after 60 years. The only significant change was what used to be a patch of waste-ground next to the property, had been built on. Slowly, forgotten images started to return.

My parents couldn’t afford to buy the house outright, so they shared it with my mom’s sister and her husband. My folks had the upper storey and my aunt and uncle had the ground floor. Even with my Granddad living with us, there always seemed to be plenty of room.

Further images started to return…..like the time I decided to run away from home. I couldn’t have been more than 2 1/2. I packed my little case and grabbed my teddy bear and I was off! I got as far as the front gate before my mom suggested that, if I was going, it might be a good idea to put some pants on. Then there was the time I got bored with playing with my cousin Chris, so I shut him in the blanket box in the bedroom and sat on the lid. When my aunty Betty came looking for him, all you could hear was muffled screams, with me sat there looking innocent. Ah! happy days. I also remembered sitting in the bedroom window on cold and frosty mornings, waiting for my dad to come home from his night shift at the refinery. Thursday’s were always the best, because he always bought my comics then (The Dandy & The Beano).

Sadly, my grandad died when I was about 6, after a long, adventurous life (more of him later). And we moved to a house of our own about 1/2 a mile away. But that’s a story for another day……if anyone’s interested in hearing more of an old man’s ramblings lol.