London - Reminiscing

Yesterday, I spent a day in London. Shopping. Tourist. It was a long day and I was exhausted by the time I got back. I hopped on the Oxford Tube. Now there's an interesting anomaly. The London Tube is an underground train. The Oxford Tube is a bus. The Oxford Tube is a regular bus from Oxford to London. The trip there was interesting and I think that's another blog. This one is about reminiscing.

As we approached London, I looked out the bus window and realised we were on Bayswater Road and I was immediately thrown back, literally 40 years to 1968 when I first lived in London. I knew, without a doubt, exactly where I was and where I would end up. It didn't matter that the shops and roads had changed. I knew that in a few minutes, Edgeware Road would be on my left, Marble Arch would be on the right and Oxford Street straight ahead. I could even see in my minds eye, what it looked like 40 years ago. I only lived in London for about a year. I had not really spent much time on Bayswater Road, but it was all very clear where I was, and where I was going.

I got off the bus and had to retrace my steps back to 1968. First, I took photos of Marble Arch. The whole area looks different than I remember. There are more cars and I'm sure they have changed the roads around. I can't say for sure, but it's not quite the way my mind's eye sees it.

Here's Marble Arch.

I never knew the history when I was living in London. Too busy being a Londoner, working and being 22 years old. Today I discovered that Marble Arch used to be the main entrance into Buckingham Palace until it was moved to it's present location in 1851 when extensions to the Palace meant that there wasn't room for it at Buckingham Palace.

From there, I started to wander up Edgeware Road. This area looks totally different than I remember. All the shops have changed and I am sure the cinema I worked in for a short time was on Edgeware Road, but there is no sign of it now.

This was the view up Edgeware Road. Lots of traffic, noise, people and shops.

I was intrigued by this sign. That was certainly different from when I was there.

I stopped for coffee, a bite to eat (pee stop as well!!) and a chance to get my bearings. I had bought myself an all day ticket for buses and tubes in London so decided to hop a bus and head up to Clifton Gardens near where I used to live.

As I got off the bus, I looked around and nothing looked familiar. So I started walking. Suddenly, everything was familiar, but unfamiliar at the same time. I realised that somewhere in this new block of shops was where our old cafe was. The one we went to when we had a bit of cash and didn't feel like cooking. The cafe was cheap and old and obviously didn't stand the test of time. But I think it is where Cafe Rouge is today (the red sign in the middle of the photo). Maybe. Maybe not. But it definitely was somewhere in this block of shops.

This was the road I walked down most days. I would take a bus up Edgeware Road to Clifton Road and then walk down this street to our little flat on Warrington Gardens. I wrote about the flat on another blog and might dig it out when I get home and re-post it. I will see.

And then the church, on a little island in the middle of the roads.

And then there it was, the place where I used to hang my hat and call home. Or was it. I had discovered on my last trip that the old building, of cheap flats and bedsits had been totally demolished and replaced with a modern, high class, expensive flats. The old place no longer existed.

This was then:

This is now:

It used to be part of a row of terrace houses, broken up into smaller flats and bedsits. Joan, my friend, and I had the rooms right at the top, under the eaves so if you forgot and stood up too quickly you could knock your head on the ceiling.

I remember being very disappointed in 2002 when I discovered what had happened. I expected changes, but not that the whole building would be gone. Such a shame. Although it was pretty ramshackle. I remember running down the stairs one day (yes, I ran down stairs in those days), grabbing the railing as I went from one level to another, and the railing coming adrift and me falling.

There was a public phone on one of the floors. That was where I met my husband to be. In that phone box. On the floor below us lived the only man. I thought he was the bees knees and so did most women. Australian he was. One day, we heard someone go from his flat to the phone, so being the idiot I was (and still am), and figuring he was probably ringing some female, I ran down the stairs, opened the door to the phone booth, and said “who told you you could use my phone?” thinking to embarrass him. Well, it was me who was embarrassed. It wasn't Greg. It was a man I had never seen before in my life!!

So there you go. I did a bit more wandering around the area, took a few more photos, and then caught the tube to my next stop.

That's all for now folks.

Madeleine

Friday, 16 January 2009