Well.......for no sensible reason that I can think of......I find I now do the same with "Houses I Have Known".......a short history of buildings I have lived in and, of course, the associated 'natural' history nostalgia they invoke.
Why? ......I hear you ask.........as well you may...... er....I have no idea.......nevertheless...actually, trying to find images of each particular abode via the witchcraft of the Great God Google was an interesting exercise in itself and sparked a whole shed-load of off-shoot investigations in a whole host of directions, laterally and loosely prompted by typing in simple addresses and the bewildering variety of results it engineered....the wonderfully wobbly world of t'internet has a lot to answer for......
My early childhood was spent in a very typical urban environment...…all purpose-built housing estate/Scout Hut behind the shops and Church based Community centre.
But it did spawn what was to become a lifelong interest in ornithology, outdoor adventure and obviously, an aspiration to become a real live professional explorer when I grow up.
Dutch bungalow of renown.....with much climbed roof accessed from bedroom window...just a bike ride away from the much visited woodland nature reserve...and blurry pic courtesy of old estate agent ad....the real house was never out of focus..as far as I can recall.
Fossils, Fluorspar, Finch and Cydrax......
Blatantly obvious bird-hides home-made out of soggy sacking and errant tent poles.
Then.........
Wonderfully , a move to idyllic rurality........to what was to become the 'family' home for all time.
Village location, mid Northumberland surrounded by glorious field, wood, stream and country lane.... a free, natural playground of boundless dirty-kneed adventure, and total release for a boy of horizon seeking intent...
Badger, Fox, Tit and Wren.
Horses, Dogs, Chestnut and Elm, Oak, Ash and muddy animal print. Streams coursed, trees climbed....Foggy Bashers and Conkers.....
Endless sunny days of wandering in ever increasing circles amongst the folds and features of the local landscape. Hours sat in trees or by the bank of a stream......just being there. Or.....long winter walks in Christmas card white and wind-chapped autumn blusters along bare-hedged dampened lanes...
Onwards and ......downwards.....a brief first time sojourn in teenage rebellion.....an angst ridden episode of Kerouacian proportion in.......a distant city ( I have trouble believing it even now, that I should in my 17yr old wisdom decide to ' run away' to the bumhole of all cities (sorry)..to exist in sordid isolation.
A first floor cold water bed-sit in horrific inner-city squallor...
Loved every minute of it...! Weirdly.
Made friends, found life, and fully explored the underbelly of city existance.....I did not have a clue what I was doing. Heigh Ho.
Watneys Red Barrel, hedgehogs, bluebottles and illicit chemical recreation. The life-style of this misguided choice pretty much ensured that any interest or acknowledgement of the natural world was well and truly submerged in alternative activities. A time was had.
Next......in almost unbelievable contrast......a sublime residency in a stately home set in its own grounds and enveloped in beautiful rural surroundings once again.
I shall not bore you with the details of how this came about, but my home (and place of work) became a suite of rooms in the staff wing of a rather splendid English country pile.....
Rook, Crow, Pheasant and Wagtail.
Pigeon, Dove, Robin and Blackbird.
Rabbit, Deer, car-bodge and Folk music....
This return to a more natural surrounding reminded me of, and reinforced my interest in, the wonderful world of ' naytcha'. A vague mish-mash of daily happenings all taking place amongst beautiful countryside...... village pub on the doorstep. Sweet.
ERM......and then this happened....
I went to live on an island in a windmill....nearly.
.....Rented rooms in house next door, but spent most of my free time, when not beach combing and traipsing around the local countryside, imbibing Rye and Dry in featured old mill.
Funny old life, innit.
Skua, Fulmar, Gull and Cormorant.
Cow, Donkey, Butcher's Van, Demis Roussos and waffles.
Don't ask, I shall never be able to explain...
Upon return to the mainland m' hearties......
A spacious, if ramshackle, several bedroomed, out of focus terraced flat in a semi-rural setting......very sociable environs and comfortable lifestyle of little responsibility......but with, by now, an undeniable obsession with climbing up rocks on the sides of mountains. To the exclusion of all other aspects of life.
Raven, Grouse, Buzzard and Tubular Bells.
Cortina, pine forest and frame- rucsac and crampons.
(another blurry pic from annals of estate agency records)
And then....because of stated fixation with hauling my bones up any piece of vertical rock I could find, a whole series of temporary homes were experienced, in various parts of this country .....and others....including residencies in articles not usually regarded as living spaces per se...
Cottages
Hostels
Vans
Caves
Drying Rooms
Tents
Bothys and Bivvi bags...
.....and sometimes, proper grown-up houses....well, the floors of which that were borrowed from long suffering friends and acquaintances.....
Eventually settled in Gods own garden for a while....playing outdoor games and being paid for it.......bliss.
Too involved in activity to notice individual nature thingies!
But still recognising that all encompassing contented pleasure of being in, being part of, and being totally immersed in that mountain environment.
Every morning rising to be greeted with the sights, sounds and 'feel' of that treasured landscape....the air itself almost tasting of outdoor adventure....
Of course, yin to my yang then ensued...
A move to work in an inner-city based outdoor training establishment meant....
city street upstairs flat in amongst millions of other ......but .....
Backyard birding became important....
Sparrow, Starling and Tit on bird feeder and table the saving graces.....
Prowling cats and lead-living dogs abound...
An odd dual existence experienced as I plied my trade of outdoor activity amongst the brick walls, bridges and shopping- trolley infested waters of a ravaged cityscape....
But next came...
....a glorious return to rurality.......and some.....
A small roadside cottage in beautiful vale as my games of outside pursuit take me and my young family into pastures anew.....bliss re- visited.
Otter, farm stock, and all manner of upland wildlife of both fur and feather variety....
Bivouac nights and canoe trips. Jess the Dog.
High moorland and fellside softened by wooded valley and tumbling river. Felt rather than observed natural surroundings flush with flora and fauna.
Contrasts R'Us......as ever...when reality demanded change...
A modern housing estate visitation was dubiously experienced upon return to urbanity until.......
.....a quirky family home on the very edge of this urban unvirons, backed onto farmland became the longstanding, happy place of choice.
Back garden wildlife and regular forays to nearby rural places satisfy the nature longings within......
DA da daaaaa.......
Changes in personal circumstances dictate I then go live in a cupboard in a wing of a large country house for a while....
Strangely.......became a much liked abode for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was immediate access to the large country estate in which the house stood.
Kids camping in the grounds and sleeping on floor....
Amateur woodland husbandry and greenhouse herb growing...
Of course, then came the flip-side....
....a strangely pleasant period of upper flat living, again, in city center as personal circumstances change once more!....
Scraggy mobs of starlings, gulls and tired looking blackbird, thrush and spuggies.
Nearby country park an absolute god-send of natural tranquility....if a little litter and charva infested...
So.........
.....a latest move to a pleasant terraced house back in my 'home' small country town.......but.........watch this space........rumblings of a move to the long-wished for rural remoteness are being again evoked...but meanwhile, as has been previously reported elsewhere in these bloggy scribblings, I enjoy the proximity of woodland, river and 'country' life.....and take real joy in living amongst the local landscape.
No buildings were harmed in the making of this blog.
....and some pictures have been changed to protect the innocent.
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