Going Back

It's been a long weekend, but a great one. I'm going to cover the wedding in a separate blog, because I don't think it fits with the first part of our trip up north...

The plan was to go up earlyish on Friday morning so that we'd have time to spend a couple of hours in Sheffield on the way up to the hotel in Bradford. It's been a long time since I'd been back ( I last popped in for a couple of hours in 2001, but only got as far as the city centre then) and I felt it was time to see some of the places I used to visit. It wasn't that I was feeling particuarly nostalgic, i just felt that it would be nice to go back and show Steve those places that were important to me, and it gave me an excuse to tell some old stories and just see how things had changed.

It was odd really. In some ways things had changed immensely... there's been massive regeneration across the city and yet it still feels the same. The skyline looking out to Park Hill flats hasn't altered a great deal, which was quite reassuring... it's just there are a few more shiny new buildings in the way!

Broomhill was our major target though. This was where the bulk of my first two years were spent and its one of the prettiest areas of the city, with it's big stone houses, old tree lined streets and it's little shopping centre... it's still my favourite area of the city.
We parked round the corner from my old hall, Stephenson and wandered up the hill (of course) to the shops. Had lunch and went to Galaxy Four for a few presents for a couple of up coming birthdays and then had a wander around.

We couldn't get into the hall to have a look as there's lots of building work going on, but we did have a wander up another hill to go and see the flat at Endcliffe Terrace, where I lived in the second year. This was my biggest reminder of how things move on. It's been ten years since I was last there and although the flats themselves hadn't changed much, the view across the field was really a potent reminder that nothing lasts...
Sorby and Earnshaw, the two halls opposite were being demolished as we stood there. It felt really strange to see them going, especially as I'd spent the best part of year staring out of the window instead of writing essays! I remembered happily running around the halls during the massive snowball fight that took place between then two halls one freezing night in my first year. Earnshaw won that night and I dared not say I wasn't at either of the two halls, just in case they turned on me!
I suppose that the visit did make me feel less nostalgic for that time, if nothing else. As I've been told before, you can't go back and driving up to Walkely, which has become a bit rougher than it used to be, well, I was quite sated on seeing the past and was happy to go with a smile and leave it all behind.

We drove out of Sheffield with me telling stories of those days with a big smile on my face. The past remains where it should be, but its always nice to revisit!