Your original home town.

[Tenkaykev]

I grew up on the Isle of Wight. Nothing ever changes there…

A group of us used to visit the IOW for a week once or twice a year. We'd hire static caravans on a small family run site on the outskirts of Freshwater. We'd spend the week running and walking. We were in a pub chatting to the barman, he said he'd come down from London to do some holiday work and never went back. He said he'd previously suffered from asthma and that had cleared up, he was of West Indian origin and said he said that the IOW was so laid back it was a hidden gem and the Jamaica of the UK

 

[MontyVeda]

sell Lancaster to me monty.
...
My dim memories are that it seemed curiously modest for a county town
...

It is small for a county town, having little more than 50,000 people... plus a good fifteen thousand students to give the locals fifteen thousand things to constantly moan about. As for selling a city to someone... i can't. It has my friends and my mother here and I guess that's all that's kept me. I think I like the area more than the city (it's small so there's little on offer).

The seaside is that way⬅️, the Lakes are just up there↖️, the Dales are over that way↗️, Bowland is literally over that hill➡️ Pendle and the Pennines are down yonder↘️ and the pancake flat Fylde is just down there↙️ so for cycling, it's a flat or as hilly as i want and I'm out in open countryside in minutes. I wouldn't want to live anywhere bigger than the little city.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I was born on the top of Shooters Hill, SE London, in the War Memorial hospital two years after the middle of the last century. Grew up in Eltham Park, where there were no pubs and only one Off Licence, built on the bridge over the railway near the station. The 'No alcohol' edict, I believe, was due to the original land owner being a Scottish chap whose religion/beliefs abhorred the devil's brew! (Hence most of the roads in the area being Scottish)
Eltham High Street, however, made up for it with 13 pubs. Not many finished a pub crawl there
I've not been back for many a year having left the area when I was 17 due to the scene I wanted to escape, and the 27 year old lady I was involved with was getting a bit too intense

I lived two roads away from Bob Hope, the 'American' TV & film star, but never knew him.

I might pop down for a sentimental ride around there sometime soon. 🚲

I did that pub crawl in my school days, a barley wine in each, though we didn't end it on the High Street but in the Yorkshire Grey at the bottom of Eltham Hill. A school friend lived opposite the pub. I doubt that there can be more than 5 pubs remaining and the Yorkshire Grey is now just the name of the roundabout, the pub now being a MacDonalds.

I've got to take my mother up to the hospital you were born in on Tuesday - it's now focused more on later stage of life affairs than start of life ones.

I was born in Leeds and lived there till I was 9. I still go back every now and then though I have no friends or family there any more. It is a very good place for beer these days, particularly the craft beer side of things. My taste for beer has remained a constant.... One of the houses I lived in has remained, out in the east of Leeds, the other has long since gone, and it's pretty much the same with the schools. One infants remains, the other 2 have long since gone.

 

[cyberknight]

lived in a small village with 2 corner shops , one has been converted back to a house and its now merging with other towns as the march of new houses push the boundaries .
If i could i would move back to the old village in an instant but assuming i want to cycle commute to my current job its a bit far for me

 

[Tenkaykev]

I did that pub crawl in my school days, a barley wine in each, though we didn't end it on the High Street but in the Yorkshire Grey at the bottom of Eltham Hill. A school friend lived opposite the pub. I doubt that there can be more than 5 pubs remaining and the Yorkshire Grey is now just the name of the roundabout, the pub now being a MacDonalds.

I've got to take my mother up to the hospital you were born in on Tuesday - it's now focused more on later stage of life affairs than start of life ones.

I was born in Leeds and lived there till I was 9. I still go back every now and then though I have no friends or family there any more. It is a very good place for beer these days, particularly the craft beer side of things. My taste for beer has remained a constant.... One of the houses I lived in has remained, out in the east of Leeds, the other has long since gone, and it's pretty much the same with the schools. One infants remains, the other 2 have long since gone.

We're visiting Leeds in May. Both North and Northern Monk Tap rooms are on the list of places to visit. 🍺🍺

 

[Saluki]

I was born in London and was there for a whole 5 days before foster care down south somewhere then the outskirts of Norwich at a few weeks old.
I left Norwich 1980 and swore that I would never return. Work brought me back mid 90s, that and University. I was gone again my 1998 then back for a year in 2015, then back again in 2020. Moving to a little house here in 3 weeks. I have an 18 month plan of staying and shall then see how I feel in Autumn 2023. I don’t want to stay much longer.
Norwich has 2 shopping malls, half empty, way too many betting shops, tons of charity shops and you can’t move for coffee places. Like most cities, I guess. It’s currently under siege from roadworks and traffic is a nightmare, even cycling into the city to go to work is way slower than it ought to be as you simply can’t cross. One of the main roads is closed due to a damaged water main, and has been closed since 17th Feb now. The knock on effect is that cars are choking all the little roads.
The great glass elevator at the side of the castle is ugly beyond belief, but it does help the less able bodied visit the castle. The marketplace is still there, still thriving. There are some fabulous buildings in Norwich and 2 nice rivers for kayaking along.
The city life, though, is not for me but, my plan, is 18 months in the little house with big garden and then swap back up to West Norfolk. I can breathe better there.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

We're visiting Leeds in May. Both North and Northern Monk Tap rooms are on the list of places to visit. 🍺🍺

They've put a Salt brewery outlet between the central North bar and NM's Old Flax store. I'd recommend a Huckaback (NEIPA) on the way between the two.

 

[Tenkaykev]

They've put a Salt brewery outlet between the central North bar and NM's Old Flax store. I'd recommend a Huckaback (NEIPA) on the way between the two.

Many thanks for that information I'll be sure to pay them a visit🍻👍

 

[gbb]

Helston Cornwall. Only lived there the first year of my life. Coming from a RAF family, i have no roots really although i do love the south coast. Best and formative years were spent in Nottinghamshire. For some God forsaken reason, i ended up in Peterborough.

 

[Cerdic]

A group of us used to visit the IOW for a week once or twice a year. We'd hire static caravans on a small family run site on the outskirts of Freshwater. We'd spend the week running and walking. We were in a pub chatting to the barman, he said he'd come down from London to do some holiday work and never went back. He said he'd previously suffered from asthma and that had cleared up, he was of West Indian origin and said he said that the IOW was so laid back it was a hidden gem and the Jamaica of the UK

Jamaica of the UK! I like that!

The whole Island has beautiful scenery but around Freshwater has some of the best. Great place to go for a cycling holiday. A bit hilly but the views are worth it!

The Island has everything really. Lovely countryside, beaches, pubs, dinosaurs, and a hovercraft…

 

[cookiemonster]

Nottingham born and bred. Moved to Bristol for 3 years in the late 80's before moving back to Nott'm until relocating to Carlisle in 2005 here. I've been ever since.

I go back periodically to catch up with family and friends, but I'd never move back.


It was, but not any more.

Proud of my Nottingham roots, but not of what it's become

Mr Cookiemonster was born in Nottingham. English mother, Father from Hong Kong..

 

[yello]

Coincidently I was talking about 'home' with my wife this morning. How our definitions change over the years, as we move away from our birth places, and our parents pass etc. Also the whole sense of belonging that gets bundled up with the word. My wife is Swansea born and lived there until she moved to London at 18. I'd lived in 3 different places before I was 5 when we (as a family) moved to another hemisphere, then 8 places before I was 10. Consequently, my definition of home is different to my wife's.

On returning to the UK, and staying in and exploring my birth town, I realised I had no emotional ties to it - though it was a little surreal seeing the sign at the railway station as the train pulled in for that first time; the same name as is written next to 'place of birth' on my passport. The realisation was not shattering, simply an awakening to what was understandable. Similarly I realised I wasn't 'English' (whatever that might be) despite having spent years being called a 'pom' and, tbh, seeing myself and identifying as such. I was a hybrid of sorts. Again, no biggy. Just is what it is. I then left my birth town and London became my home, and its multiculturalism both more 'homely' and less intimidating.

Home for me (as the Paul Young song goes, though without the romantic lonely wanderer association!) is wherever I happen to be living at that particular time. The identity issue, well that's another matter and certainly for a different thread. Where I live in France is now my home, and whilst I'll never be French, I feel only slightly more foreign here than I did on my return to the UK.

 

[All uphill]

Ive been back to Diss a couple of times. Nothing much has changed. The person selling chips at the market is the grandson of the lady who served me in 1970s. The bookshop and ironmongers still survive.

I was brought up 20 miles away from Diss near a small town where there have been radical changes in the last 50 years.

A bypass has been built.
The cinema has gone.
There's now an Indian restaurant .

 

[PeteXXX]

I did that pub crawl in my school days, a barley wine in each, though we didn't end it on the High Street but in the Yorkshire Grey at the bottom of Eltham Hill. A school friend lived opposite the pub. I doubt that there can be more than 5 pubs remaining and the Yorkshire Grey is now just the name of the roundabout, the pub now being a MacDonalds.

I've got to take my mother up to the hospital you were born in on Tuesday - it's now focused more on later stage of life affairs than start of life ones.

I was born in Leeds and lived there till I was 9. I still go back every now and then though I have no friends or family there any more. It is a very good place for beer these days, particularly the craft beer side of things. My taste for beer has remained a constant.... One of the houses I lived in has remained, out in the east of Leeds, the other has long since gone, and it's pretty much the same with the schools. One infants remains, the other 2 have long since gone.

Only Hardcore pi55heads made it to the Yorkshire Grey
Well done, indeed 👅

Yes, I saw that it'd become a Maccy D when I called in for a coffee on the way back from (I think) the 80 mile short Olympic route ride, starting somewhere south of the South Circ.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Manchester is where I was born and brought up. I left in my late teens to join the forces and see a bit more of the world and I've now ended up living elsewhere for twice as long as I lived there.

I do go back very occasionally, but only once every two or three years or so, usually for a work trip.
My primary school is long since demolished, but my two homes still exist and I've gone to have a look at old stomping grounds which is always evocative. I have really mixed feelings about Manchester, part of me loves it, there's a certain spirit and a friendliness in a lot of the people, and the history and culture is amazing. On the other hand there are shocking drug issues especially in the centre, and the crime levels are still too high for me. That's what caused the remainder of my family to move elsewhere in the end, so now I have no direct links to the place. My relatives are all in Lincolnshire and Kent these days.