Sometimes a single picture has the power to call up thoughts of home.
It’s not something that happens that often.
The North has been my home for forty five years which is far longer than my life in London and I am very happy here but just occasionally I am reminded of what I left and Ryan's picture has done that for me.
Of course given the size of the place most Londoners define themselves by the bit they come from and for me it is south east London.
I was born in Lambeth, lived for a while on the borders of Peckham and New Cross and ended up in Eltham.
All of which means that I only really feel I have come home when the train pulls out of Charing Cross Station across the river towards Waterloo.
Now it is easy to over sentimentalise the Thames but as I write this I realise just how much of my early life was spent close to it.
As a kid we would play on that bit of beach in front of the Tower or down beside the Naval College and a little later spent lots more time just sitting on the ferry.
So much so that recently on our way back from Kent and having messed up the M25 we found ourselves passing the old house at Well Hall and I knew that we would have to make the crossing at Woolwich.
The wait to embark took far longer than the crossing but it was magic and Tina who is Italian loved it.
The river is no longer the busy, noisy thoroughfare I remember from my youth but the smell and the views were still pretty good.
So I will close by thanking Ryan for posting his photograph and giving me permission to use it.
It was taken early yesterday morning as he headed home from the night shift and reminded me of smiliar trips.
Picture; crossing the river Monday November 3 2015 from the collection of Ryan Ginn
It’s not something that happens that often.
The North has been my home for forty five years which is far longer than my life in London and I am very happy here but just occasionally I am reminded of what I left and Ryan's picture has done that for me.
Of course given the size of the place most Londoners define themselves by the bit they come from and for me it is south east London.
I was born in Lambeth, lived for a while on the borders of Peckham and New Cross and ended up in Eltham.
All of which means that I only really feel I have come home when the train pulls out of Charing Cross Station across the river towards Waterloo.
Now it is easy to over sentimentalise the Thames but as I write this I realise just how much of my early life was spent close to it.
As a kid we would play on that bit of beach in front of the Tower or down beside the Naval College and a little later spent lots more time just sitting on the ferry.
So much so that recently on our way back from Kent and having messed up the M25 we found ourselves passing the old house at Well Hall and I knew that we would have to make the crossing at Woolwich.
The wait to embark took far longer than the crossing but it was magic and Tina who is Italian loved it.
The river is no longer the busy, noisy thoroughfare I remember from my youth but the smell and the views were still pretty good.
So I will close by thanking Ryan for posting his photograph and giving me permission to use it.
It was taken early yesterday morning as he headed home from the night shift and reminded me of smiliar trips.
Picture; crossing the river Monday November 3 2015 from the collection of Ryan Ginn
No comments:
Post a Comment