Your childhood home

[Smee_1972]

Where I lived as a kid is only about a mile or so away from where I live now. I drove past the other day, pulled the car up in front, and just had a look.

That house is where my best memories still live. Has anyone ever actually been back inside their childhood home? I am dying to do so, but something tells me it would be a bad idea (even *if* the new owners don't think I am trying to burgle the place) - it would not be as I remembered, and I am sure I would hate whatever they had done to 'my' house!

Just wondered if anyone else here has seen their old home, and what memories it had stirred.....the first thing I always think when I see my old house is that it's smaller than before...or am I bigger?



~Smee_1972 x

[sixtyten]

Re: Your childhood home

No,but went back to old primary school and had a look round.Everything was tiny

[andria]

Re: Your childhood home

I drive past my old home everyday on my way to and from work, sometimes sneak a quick look inside when the blinds are open, but don't think i'd want to go in, i have my memories and i wouldn't want anything to spoil them.

[x-Nadine-x]

Re: Your childhood home

oh i wud love to go bk to the house where i grew up i often dream about it sad i know but sadly i no its never gonna happen i do see it now and again wen im feeling down i go sit down the road and just watch...lol i bet the street think they have a stalker....hahahaha

[Stockcarfan]

Re: Your childhood home

I still live in the same house.

[Cal]

Re: Your childhood home

when i was a kid my mum and dad had a pub in Kendal.......everytime i go back there i call in ,have a drink and bore the *** of my wife with stories of my youth there.

many a happy memory

[Grackle]

Re: Your childhood home

I went back once, a couple of years after we moved. I didn't go inside, just looked at the outside, and was disappointed by how it looked - my Grandmother's rose garden was overgrown, and the front wall, which had been quite a feature, as it had a sort of zig-zag top (like the top of a castle) was a mess, with the formerly-white stucco was peeling off.
The last time I was in the area, about 15 years after leaving, I visited friends in the town (Ilford), but decided I didn't want to look at the house - or even the immediate neighbourhood - because I wanted to keep my memories.


Opposite the house was a Territorial Army base, with an incredible old house next to the road - all fancy brickwork and even a tower that looked a bit like a candle holder. Beside that was a huge horse chestnut tree, so the kids on my street always had plenty of conkers in the autumn. They pulled the house down shortly before we moved, and I heard that they cut down the tree and built a primary school on the property.

I'm sure that the row of shops at the top of the road would have changed totally, and lost the character I remembered. When I was a kid, there was a bakery that still baked on the premises, a butcher's, a greengrocer, a regular grocer, an ironmonger, a junk shop, a chemist, and a few more that I don't remember exactly – there might have been a shop selling sewing supplies. On the opposite corner, there was a sweet shop - a real, old-fashioned corner shop, with sweets in big glass jars, and a tray of "penny" sweets, like mojos and those rubbery shrimp sweets. It also sold newspapers, soft drinks, icecreams & ice lollys, and a few toys. Looking back, I can't imagine how they fitted everything in, as the whole shop was only about 10' x 10'. Even to a small child, the place seemed small and crowded.

[old git]

Re: Your childhood home

Would love to go and have alook at the old place,but i grew up in a flat and they were pulled down about 10 years ago

[Marine Boy]

Re: Your childhood home

A place in South London until I was 6, then another house in Surrey from 6 to early twenties. I've been back to look a the outside of the London house a couple of times and actually lived near the Surrey one into my thirties so saw that often from the street. A few years ago, my parents actually contacted the current owners of the latter and went to have a look round. The very 70s wooden-effect cladding my father had fixed to one wall of the lounge was still there!!

[Aidanagain]

Re: Your childhood home

Having grown up on a farm in rural Ireland, my folks are still alive there thank God. I live about 10miles away & spend weekends there when Mrs.Aidan is gone to her folks ( about every 2-3 months ).
There wouldn't be the same level of house-moving in the country ( not here anyway ) as in the cities I'd imagine.

[rossobantam]

Re: Your childhood home

I grew up on a farm of sorts in the middle of nowhere...dad worked for the River Board

Its about 5 miles from us now. I was back there 2 days ago...it has a half mile private drive though, so hard to see much. Google Earth proved useful in showing how its changed...centre top on photo below, pump station to right (river all dried up...was once full of fish :cry

Lived there from 8-18....nearest house 1/2 mile, nearest village 2 miles.....kids today would say "boring! What did you do all day?" Mates nearby & cousins would come over....we explored! Played on/in the rivers (ice hockey in winter!), Pooh sticks on the streams with the boats from my Airfix Pontoon Bridge; building dens in the woods, etc etc just the best time ever.

Dad regrets not buying it...£30k in 1978, but that was a lot of money back then, and wages were poor. God knows what its worth now


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[kazboot]

Re: Your childhood home

As someone who was born behind Kings Cross railway station in a flat and lived most of my younger life in Luton, I am properly jealous of your idyllic childhood, rossobantam.

Mind you what games we could make up with pieces of concrete!

[Berny]

Re: Your childhood home

My home was a 3 story railway house in the 70s, we had no electric on the top floor and no indoor toilet and a large tin bath we hung on the fence and bought in on a sunday to use in front of the coal fire, we had one tap in the kitchen and it was cold so we had a washing boiler we had to heat the water in for it, the great thing was we were a stone throw from the picture's and never had to wait in the que's that went all up the alley to the top of the road and past a bus stop on a saturday morning, we would wait till it had gone down and walk round without a wait, saturday morning pictures for us kids was the best afterwards we had a disco upstairs in the ballroom and i remember clearly dancing to a group called Columbus who were playing get it on by T-Rex, me standing dancing in my hot pants oh if only i had a time machine lol

[branny]

Re: Your childhood home

Pretty much every building that meant something to me in my childhood has been flattened. The terraced house we lived in (moved out in 1979), my Grans house (2 doors away), my primary school, my secondary school, the church i was christened in, the shops i used to visit. All been levelled. My mum and dad still live in the house we moved to in 79. My Grandparents moved just over the road and lived there til they died.

[HG]

Re: Your childhood home

My childhood home brings back so many memories. My cousins lived 3 doors up and my gran in an adjoining street. There were a group of streets all adjoining with loads of kids in each, so plenty of friends to play with. Infact many of the friends I had then I still have now. We had a car park to play football in, a set of delerict garages to explore, a park to play/hang around in and when in teens drink in. We also had woods to play and make dens in.

Sadly the area is now a student ghetto although i do still like to visit it sometimes to bring back some memories.