Walk 1

First off, my photo for 1st Jan 2010 (hopefully 1 of 365)

New Dyson and Band Hero!

Photo 2 (2/1/2010)

Birds huddled in a tree above the River Stour

Then my very first of 52 walks with my camera (doubling as photo 2 of 365)

When we bought our new bedding I decided to go for a firm pillow with neck and upper back support in the hopes of stopping the back pain and headaches I have been waking up with. Martin opted for the softer spring type pillows. After one night of struggling on something resembling a block of concrete on the bed and another night attempting to siddle onto Martin's lovely comfy soft pillows, I gave in and resigned myself to going back to Dunelm and getting two softer pillows for myself.

Canterbury is a nightmare to park in, it always has been, so now I park for free in Sainsbury car park on the outskirts of town and walk in. Armed with my camera and wondering what to take photos off as I walked towards the shops, it suddenly struck me that even though I have lived only 7 miles from the centre of the City since I was 13 years old, I do kinda take the place for granted. As I looked up at the site of the new Marlowe theatre being built, it seemed a shame that so many of the places I ignored in my childhood had since vanished under the heading of progress. I resolved to take some photos of how old haunts looked now (since I couldn't really go back and take photos of how they were then. What a pity I had not taken any way back when).

So The Marlowe theatre building site. A brand new theatre, bigger,better and more exciting than ever before is now being built on the site of the old theatre.

New Marlowe Theatre as it starts to go up

Actually its not the old theatre because when I first moved here back in 1969 the original Marlowe was in the back streets way across town. A really small 'rep' that few people went to. In 1984 it was moved to the redeveloped Odean cinema (about the worst place for a theatre, the acoustics were appalling Finally this year it was pulled down and the new development is being built on the same site.

Not only did I go to school in Canterbury but for 2 years I worked there too. As I said, parking was a nighmare, but if you knew where to go, there were places. Just where the car is seen turning into Orange street, is a car park which , despite being a fair way from my office was always empty, so I used it frequently.

Orange Street car park

Once as I pulled out and turned up the road, the engine stalled and then hit the dead spot on the starter motor. Stuck blocking the road, I realised I had no idea how to open the safety catch on the bonnet. I needed to do that so that I could hit the starter motor whilst rocking the car in order to release it from the dead spot. Embarrassingly, with a long queue of traffic attempting to get by, I had to stop a small lad (probably about 11 years in age) and while I held his ice-ceam cone, he freed the bonnet for me!!

This is the gate to Kings College. A very private and presigious college attached to the Cathederal.

King's College gate

For many many years I used it as a short cut across town. By going in the City Gate entrance to the Cathederal and then slipping past the 'No Public Admittance' sign in the cloisters, it was possible to walk through the College gardens and out into the back street just behind the High Street. Of course this became impossible when they started charging to get into the Cathedral, as the toll booth was placed on the City Gate entrance, and the short cut was just not worth the £2 entry fee.

Simple Simon's or The Parrot.

During the 70's it wasnt as popular a passtime as now, going out for a meal was a special occassion. The really 'happening' places to go around here were The Bow Window where you needed to book a good month in advance, and Simple Simon's in Canterbury. I longed to go there and find out what all the hype was about but somehow we never seemed to get there. Early last year I walked pasted it again, and once more resolved we would visit it next time we were going out for a meal. Sadly before we managed that, it changed hands and name and although it is still getting fair reveiws in the local papers, it no longer holds the appeal of the place everyone was going to in my teen age years.

Canoe launching spot by youth club

Finally, just opposite where I parked my car for this walk, a bit of the River Stour. On this very spot, and from the concrete landing on the other side of the river, I spent my Friday mornings having canoe lessons. When we got into 5th year (Year 11 nowadays) we had the choice of sports at school, swimming lessons at the local pool or canoe lessons. The canoe lessons were run by and just behind the local youth club The Longbridge. It really hit me how times have changed since that time.The youth club was known as The Longridge, it is now The Riverside club. It is far more built up rather than the one story 1960's wood and glass build. The river now has a heavy security fence protecting youngsters from falling in, whereas it just has a boat house with a small padlock and free access - in fact many teenage romances were conducted on the bank behind the boat hut when the youth club held their weekly disco's.

And the strangest memory is that we were allowed to walk there and back every Friday on our own. We never had a teacher with us, the lessons were done by a very compatent yet rather gruff/strick youth worker. No register was ever taken, and since our sessions ended with just time for us to walk back for lunch, no register was taken until afternoon. Very very strange and very different from now. Despite the cold, the wet, and the miserable teacher, I enjoyed every minute of my canoeing which is a big thing to say since I hated any kind of school sports or PE.


So one walk down, 51 to go!

I have also done some scrapping and nearly have a double LO completed, just some journalling stripes to add before uploading. So I am very pleased with my challenges so far!