Visiting my place of birth after so many years I spied an old building that looked familiar that had been built in the 17th century during the English Civil war and added to over the years; how those brick walls brought back memories.
This old Grammar school in England which I attended so long ago had changed me from boyhood to youth and set me on the road to adulthood for it had made me what I am.
I parked my car and walked in through the entrance gate and found it was no longer a place of education for it was now converted to retirement apartments and no longer rang with the laughs and shouts of children but was a home for quieter persons such as myself.
In that room over there they told us the king had died and now we had a queen and up there in the headmaster's study I had received the cane for misbehaving.
I closed my eyes and I could imagine the games we played in the schoolyard and my nose could sense the playing field with newly mowed grass for us to play our sport on and I felt like weeping.
In my last year there I was admonished for holding hands with a girl as I walked home with her; how time have changed.
Image found at www.heritage-explorer.co.uk
Yes, times do change, and nowadays quicker than ever, especially with all the new technology. I studied in an American high school in New York in the 70s and a few years I looked for it on internet and found out it doesn't exist anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnd even if you do go back, as i have done to my old school (which was founded in 1727 and has been in one location since 1927), it's not the same.
ReplyDeleteWow...with the right timing, one could conceivably have gone through an entire lifecycle in that building!!!
ReplyDeleteyeah... (I thought the same as zoe) "full circle, anyone?"
ReplyDelete(while not anywhere near as powerful as music, did you get any reverberations, the full on memories when you were physically in the place from your youth?)
It is very interesting to revisit places from childhood, if they even still exist. My first school was torn down after an earthquake made it totally unsafe.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought as Ivy on this.
The first school I attended has been gone for years, but I do have a picture of it and just looking at it brings back a lot of memories...good and bad. Of course many things have changed since then and given the same circumstances today...there would be a different outcome as to how each was handled and the outcome.
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome, Old Egg! I could so relate to what it's like to revisit the places of our youth, we have changed greatly over the years, and much to our dismay, so have they. But all the memories remain sharp and clear for us to savor forever! Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful building filled with memories. I can almost hear the laughter and the buzz of activity in the hallways. It looks like a lovely place for a retiree to live.
ReplyDelete