I moved to Plymouth, to be with Dearly Beloved in 1996. It was a big risk, as although I was leaving a complete and utter b*****d, I was leaving a home. Little did I know I was actually walking towards: safety, love, happiness and had truly found the happy ever after I had always wanted. Little did I know that brassy old Plymouth would find a place in my heart for ever more. I don't miss the bustle of Plymouth but I still love the place and today it was part of our
staycation. We parked up in town and walked out to Plymouth Hoe and the first thing you see is
Smeaton's tower. I love to go up inside but we kept our money in our pockets today and just enjoyed the walk and the scenery.
When I first moved to Plymouth,
Tinside Lido was derelict and it wasn't until a few years later that it was brought back to life. I used to love to collect my daughter from school in
Stonehouse and take her to swim and meet Dearly Beloved there after he finished work. Even on an overcast day, it truly is one of Plymouth's many jewels and it feels so part of our family.
Our family days out usually involved the Hoe and the
Barbican as we had no car when the kids were small. The one we had went for a
burton and we couldn't afford to replace it for years. Foster Mummy will laugh when she and I remember a colleague of ours offered me her bike to which I sarcastically replied "I'll just throw my two kids on the back of that, shall I?" She shut up and realised my predicament! It's actually easier than you think to bring two kids up without any money as we could treat them with the slightest thing. For them, a walk to the Hoe with an ice cream really was a day out. It's where we took them to ride their bikes, skateboard and roller blade, for picnics and swimming off the Hoe.
As our circumstances improved and I went to the local university, we could afford the occasional night out and if we did, we would head for the
Barbican. It's steeped in history, where the Pilgrim Fathers left for America
and one of the few areas of Plymouth that survived the Blitz. When I graduated it where we went as a family for dinner, when I obtained
QTS (qualified teacher status) it's where I celebrated. In fact, when I became a teacher and actually had a salary and we could squeeze the budget it where I danced the night away with Tasha and Pam on the tables of the Cider Press, the Three Crown and The Dolphin..............in true
Janner girl style of sinking a few bottles of
Lambrini between us before we went out, drinking coke with sneaked 'handbag scotch' before making our way home. No one believed we were teachers when they were stupid enough to chat us up.................they never got far!
It's all cafe society now, lattes, espresso and
mochachinos! No more cheap lager, wet tee shirts and bar top dancing here anymore! Oh well, even Plymouth had to succumb to gentrification in the end!
Now it's floating gin palaces,
shore front serviced apartments and chic restaurants..............it's a different place from even a few years ago. Our walk in the sunshine continued down memory lane.
Plymouth always has the ability to make me feel welcome, to make me smile and remember the real affection I have for the place. Below The Giant Prawn. It turned up as a piece of public art to be met with derision...............I loved it and still do; he's so
spiky and mythical and frames the
adjacent scenery of the Aquarium. So Deary
Prawny, it was good to see you again.
Then there's exhibit #2................The Royal Navy! Dockyards and Warships! I lived in Ford, with a clear view of Ford Hill a 1:9 hill!!!! or it felt like it and on the route of the Royal
Marines daily run! Oh how I miss the sight of
Lycra in the morning! The other unknown part of Plymouth is the fact that there are two barracks actually in the heart of Plymouth, 29 Commando (always pronounced two nine) and Royal Marines
Stonehouse, as well as the part of the Navy being based
permanently in Plymouth. They are just there, part of the place....................or as they are now............not! If it's quiet, it's because they are deployed. From the times of Drake, Plymouth has always been a garrison town, unlike some, I don't think it's to the detriment but the addition of the diversity and flavour of Plymouth.
Below is me, with West Hoe in the background. A walk here today with Dearly Beloved really felt as if we'd never left the place.
Below is one of the massive reasons that Plymouth is such a brilliant place to bring up children. The free summer play schemes, which move from park to park throughout the summer holidays, along with subsidised play sessions in the swimming pools and recreation centres.
Here they closed the streets, and provided tonnes of fun for children and families and it costs nothing. Plymouth City Council!!!! I miss you as Cornwall Council does sod all for families in Cornwall, doesn't fund play schemes and forgets that there are children here at all. I used to go to the local library with a note book and write down the dates and times of free activities across the city, sometimes there were mini-music festivals in the parks too and brought so much happiness to local people: us included.
Below is another reason that I love Plymouth. It's culturally diverse. Below is the Greek Orthodox church, nearby is Plymouth Synagogue which is just around the corner from Plymouth's minster church, St Andrews and the Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St. Boniface. It has a growing Islaamic community and everyone seems to rub along quite nicely. Polish, Latvian and other Eastern European immigrants blend in harmoniously and it does mean you can buy food of any variety! It's one of the elements of life that I miss in Cornwall. Also, unlike a few people in Plymouth; I think it adds to the colour of the place.
Our walked nearly ended as we left West Hoe and made our way back via Milbay docks and to the town centre where we were parked. Oh I really, really miss my trips to France. Brittany Ferries is French owned and run; so the staff aboard are French, the announcements are always in French first and the sight of the ferry always reminds me of my holidays. Watch this space because in 2012 or sooner! I will be back on that Ferry. When we returned from France, I used to feel for the people who would drive off the ferry and have a ten hour journey home to the north of England, when I knew I would be in my front door within five minutes. Foster Mummy, if you're reading this!!! 2012! Your tent next to my tent!!! Deal?
So we finished our walk down memory lane and made our way back to Cornwall. The Torpoint ferry carried us over the six minute crossing and within twenty minutes we were in the different world of the sedate town of Liskeard. We just went for a walk, and ambled slowly through the summer crowds but it was so good to go 'home' to Plymouth for a few hours.
I moved to Plymouth, to be with Dearly Beloved in 1996. It was a big risk, as although I was leaving a complete and utter b*****d, I was leaving a home. Little did I know I was actually walking towards: safety, love, happiness and had truly found the happy ever after I had always wanted. Little did I know that brassy old Plymouth would find a place in my heart for ever more. I don't miss the bustle of Plymouth but I still love the place and today it was part of our staycation. We parked up in town and walked out to Plymouth Hoe and the first thing you see is Smeaton's tower. I love to go up inside but we kept our money in our pockets today and just enjoyed the walk and the scenery.
When I first moved to Plymouth, Tinside Lido was derelict and it wasn't until a few years later that it was brought back to life. I used to love to collect my daughter from school in Stonehouse and take her to swim and meet Dearly Beloved there after he finished work. Even on an overcast day, it truly is one of Plymouth's many jewels and it feels so part of our family.
Our family days out usually involved the Hoe and the Barbican as we had no car when the kids were small. The one we had went for a burton and we couldn't afford to replace it for years. Foster Mummy will laugh when she and I remember a colleague of ours offered me her bike to which I sarcastically replied "I'll just throw my two kids on the back of that, shall I?" She shut up and realised my predicament! It's actually easier than you think to bring two kids up without any money as we could treat them with the slightest thing. For them, a walk to the Hoe with an ice cream really was a day out. It's where we took them to ride their bikes, skateboard and roller blade, for picnics and swimming off the Hoe.
As our circumstances improved and I went to the local university, we could afford the occasional night out and if we did, we would head for the Barbican. It's steeped in history, where the Pilgrim Fathers left for America and one of the few areas of Plymouth that survived the Blitz. When I graduated it where we went as a family for dinner, when I obtained QTS (qualified teacher status) it's where I celebrated. In fact, when I became a teacher and actually had a salary and we could squeeze the budget it where I danced the night away with Tasha and Pam on the tables of the Cider Press, the Three Crown and The Dolphin..............in true Janner girl style of sinking a few bottles of Lambrini between us before we went out, drinking coke with sneaked 'handbag scotch' before making our way home. No one believed we were teachers when they were stupid enough to chat us up.................they never got far!
It's all cafe society now, lattes, espresso and mochachinos! No more cheap lager, wet tee shirts and bar top dancing here anymore! Oh well, even Plymouth had to succumb to gentrification in the end!
Now it's floating gin palaces, shore front serviced apartments and chic restaurants..............it's a different place from even a few years ago. Our walk in the sunshine continued down memory lane.
Plymouth always has the ability to make me feel welcome, to make me smile and remember the real affection I have for the place. Below The Giant Prawn. It turned up as a piece of public art to be met with derision...............I loved it and still do; he's so spiky and mythical and frames the adjacent scenery of the Aquarium. So Deary Prawny, it was good to see you again.
Then there's exhibit #2................The Royal Navy! Dockyards and Warships! I lived in Ford, with a clear view of Ford Hill a 1:9 hill!!!! or it felt like it and on the route of the Royal Marines daily run! Oh how I miss the sight of Lycra in the morning! The other unknown part of Plymouth is the fact that there are two barracks actually in the heart of Plymouth, 29 Commando (always pronounced two nine) and Royal Marines Stonehouse, as well as the part of the Navy being based permanently in Plymouth. They are just there, part of the place....................or as they are now............not! If it's quiet, it's because they are deployed. From the times of Drake, Plymouth has always been a garrison town, unlike some, I don't think it's to the detriment but the addition of the diversity and flavour of Plymouth.
Below is me, with West Hoe in the background. A walk here today with Dearly Beloved really felt as if we'd never left the place.
Below is one of the massive reasons that Plymouth is such a brilliant place to bring up children. The free summer play schemes, which move from park to park throughout the summer holidays, along with subsidised play sessions in the swimming pools and recreation centres.
Here they closed the streets, and provided tonnes of fun for children and families and it costs nothing. Plymouth City Council!!!! I miss you as Cornwall Council does sod all for families in Cornwall, doesn't fund play schemes and forgets that there are children here at all. I used to go to the local library with a note book and write down the dates and times of free activities across the city, sometimes there were mini-music festivals in the parks too and brought so much happiness to local people: us included.
Below is another reason that I love Plymouth. It's culturally diverse. Below is the Greek Orthodox church, nearby is Plymouth Synagogue which is just around the corner from Plymouth's minster church, St Andrews and the Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St. Boniface. It has a growing Islaamic community and everyone seems to rub along quite nicely. Polish, Latvian and other Eastern European immigrants blend in harmoniously and it does mean you can buy food of any variety! It's one of the elements of life that I miss in Cornwall. Also, unlike a few people in Plymouth; I think it adds to the colour of the place.
Our walked nearly ended as we left West Hoe and made our way back via Milbay docks and to the town centre where we were parked. Oh I really, really miss my trips to France. Brittany Ferries is French owned and run; so the staff aboard are French, the announcements are always in French first and the sight of the ferry always reminds me of my holidays. Watch this space because in 2012 or sooner! I will be back on that Ferry. When we returned from France, I used to feel for the people who would drive off the ferry and have a ten hour journey home to the north of England, when I knew I would be in my front door within five minutes. Foster Mummy, if you're reading this!!! 2012! Your tent next to my tent!!! Deal?
So we finished our walk down memory lane and made our way back to Cornwall. The Torpoint ferry carried us over the six minute crossing and within twenty minutes we were in the different world of the sedate town of Liskeard. We just went for a walk, and ambled slowly through the summer crowds but it was so good to go 'home' to Plymouth for a few hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment