England – Page 15 – Where is Phil now?

Let me introduce my flat.

May 2019 – St Leonards-on-Sea.

I may have mentioned this in a prior post but I cannot quite remember. I know I have talked about looking for a flat to buy, and I know I talked about the, often fruitless, search. I also know I have mentioned that I offered on a flat, but I am not sure if I mentioned that after seven long, slow months of faff I actually got the keys and as of 14 March I now own a two bedroom flat in St Leonards-on-Sea on the lovely East Sussex coast.

The flat is on the third and fourth floor of a Victorian block that was built for the navy in 1884 to house retired admirals. It was built as six four story houses but was sold and subsequently divided into flats in 1928. In the section I am in there are 4 dwellings. I am in the roof and the floor below in the middle of the building. My kitchen window is under………..↓

The property is a ten minute walk to the beach and is most of the way up a hill, but I can see the sea from the sitting room and the master bedroom and that is what I wanted the most in a flat. The building looks amazing, it needs some tidying up, but I love it and I love this view even more.

The flat didn’t NEED much work, though it wanted some. When I first put the offer in I was planning on getting a few things done before I moved in, tidying up more than anything else; painting a couple of rooms, moving some of the power points, changing some of the plumbing. Little things. However, not completing the sale until so close to spring meant I have now changed plans somewhat. With so little time before summer I have elected to just get the bathroom and bedroom painted, then worry about the rest come the autumn and winter. Maybe doing the painting myself.

We have stayed a few nights in the flat. I have started buying furniture, so there is a bed and a couple of chairs, and most importantly a TV. I am aiming for a 60s/70s look, so the great choice of vintage and antique shops in the area are a boon. I must admit I never expected to be visiting antique shops. Ever.

I have broadband so can work if I want to, however not having chairs to go with the table means I cannot quite work there yet, soon. The intent will be to work every second Friday and then spend the weekend there. We are very much looking forward to that.

Here is a quick walk through…

The third floor comprises a small entrance hall, a kitchen and a large sitting room. The sitting room was one of the two things that attracted me to the flat. It is really big. It was also the cause of the long delay in the purchase process. The room used to be two rooms, and this is how it is shown on the floor plan I was given. I wanted the floor plan to show the single room as it is now, which has now been resolved. The fireplace and surround are unusual I know, but they definitely appealed. I still like them but I am not quite sure what to do with them. Things won’t necessarily stay this way.

The furniture in this image is from when I was looking at the flat.

I have bought a couple of pieces of furniture for the room, some chairs and a dining table. At the time of writing I do not have the chairs to go with the table, though I have bought this awesome 1960s sideboard from a local antique shop, and the pair of speakers from one of the charity shops. I am going for a mid-1900s vibe, so will be looking for furniture and fittings from the 60s and 70s. Oh yeah, I also bought a TV, believe it or not this is the first flat screen TV I have ever owned.

This is all my stuff 🙂

The kitchen is small, El and I struggle working in it together, but I am sure we will get used to it. I haven’t done anything to this space yet apart from buying my own fridge and washing machine. I may paint it one day, but it will the last room I do. I owned a few bits and pieces, the pot on the stove top is from a wedding present from 30 years ago. Everything else in sight is new.

The sticker has now been fully removed from the fridge 🙂

The hall is OK, not desperately in need of a paint, but I will probably do it in the autumn, it is just a little scruffy.

Upstairs, on what is the fourth floor of the building and into the roof space are two bedrooms and the bathroom.

Like the kitchen the bathroom is quite small, unlike the kitchen the bathroom was painted dark blue and was really dim. It also had the only bit of double glazing in the flat, which was a bit grubby and added to the gloom in the room. This was the first room I changed.

As mentioned earlier the intention was to pay people to do a load of the work I wanted done to the flat before I fitted it out with furniture and settled in. Being so close to summer, and not really thinking that I would not be able to just ring a painter and have them start immediately, I have resolved to just getting this and the master bedroom painted now and doing the rest myself later.

The painter has only been working on Saturdays so this has taken quite a few weeks, but the bathroom is done and the bedroom is well under way. I have had the bathroom painted white, just to make it more useable and give it a bit more space, being in the roof and having a sloped ceiling does close it in.

To increase the amount of light coming into the room I removed the double glazing from the window, the good thing was there was no howling gale coming though the sides of the remaining window. Phew. I also removed a cabinet off a wall and painted the side of the bath a dark grey, a theme I will have throughout the flat.

The master bedroom is really big, almost too big. It also has two sloped ceilings, but is large enough for it to cope. I have bought a bed but have not assembled it yet. We are sleeping on the mattress on the floor, which has now been moved to the spare bedroom while the master bedroom is being painted.

The spare bedroom is smaller, but as you can see below, will easily take a king size bed. It is currently full of stuff while the painter is in. It has the single sloped ceiling which means a little bit more storage space, though apart from the kitchen, storage is not really an issue.

I have a desk for the room, and it will be a second work space for when El and I are both wanting to work there.

I am loving the flat, really enjoying buying things for it and fitting it out how I want it. For the first time I can buy furniture without having to think of things the kids cannot damage. I can buy adult things, and things that reflect my taste and personality. Yay!

I will post an update in a few weeks, once the bedroom has been completed and we have moved in, and when a few more furnishings have been found.

A trip to the 60s, under Euston Station.

Sunday 24 February 2019 – Euston Station London.

Wow. That was a pretty cool day!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but this was definitely better than I expected. It was also what I needed to get out of a fairly long photographic malaise. I haven’t been wanting to go out just with the intent of taking photos for months, so paying for an expensive event was a good motivator to get out.

I am not sure how often London Museum/Hidden London run this photographic event, but if you are interested in seeing a very small and normally unseen part of London’s history, have an interest in photography and a good tripod; this event, while not cheap, is very worth investigating. Hidden London run a number of tours into disused London Underground stations, most of these are very busy and are not specialist photography tours. This tour is different, focused on photography, with a maximum of eight people, split into four groups of two and across four zones s no-one gets in anyones way. The visit allows for two hours underground, though I would have liked at least one more.

Steve and I met outside Euston station and were joined by the other six members of the group along with three staff from Hidden London. Our bags were searched (I guess for hidden bombs) and we donned hi-viz jackets; promptly covering them in camera and tripod bags. We were escorted into the station, through the ticket barriers, down to the Victoria Line platform, and then through one of those locked doors that you see every day and sometimes wonder what lurks behind.

This door took us to a short set of up steps that used to be the end of the platform, and back to the 1960s…

Once inside and the door closed to the normal people we were given a quick safety briefing and then a history of the tunnels, what we were about to see and a quick look at the four locations we would shoot in.

The mainline station at Euston was served by two underground lines. The first stage of the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opened in 1907, and The City and South London Railway, running from Stockwell to the city, was extended north to Euston in the same year.

The two lines, from competing companies, were separate and had stations on either side of Euston mainline station. However, they did agree to building an interconnecting passageway that contained a ticket hall and lifts to the mainline station platform.

The two above ground station buildings for those underground lines were closed in September 1914 after the two railways were taken under the ownership of the Underground Electric Railways of London, though the lifts and the tunnels remained in place. Eventually these two lines turned into the two branches of the Northern Line. Eventually the interconnecting tunnels were closed in 1967 when the Victoria Line was opened.

One of the key attractions for the tours is that tunnel walls are still liberally adorned with posters from the weeks and months before closure. Mostly they are badly damaged, though some are in remarkably good condition given they have been stuck to walls for over 50 years

After the brief history lesson on what we were seeing we were split into four groups of two, Steve and I pairing up. We were given a guide to ensure nothing untoward happened, and I guess to make sure we didn’t scarper into the tunnels for further exploration, though it was tempting…

We were allowed 20 minutes in each of the four zones, there was enough room for two people to take photos without getting in each other’s way. Steve and I have shot together before so know how we work. We are quite different in style and method, which is even better.

Our first 20 minutes was spent in a section with a number of posters as well as one of the old lift shafts. With the advent of the Victoria Line the lift shafts and old tunnels are part of the air conditioning system for the Victoria and Northern Lines. Nothing was wasted. My attempts are capturing the lift shaft failed, for some reason I did not think to bring a flash… I did have a tripod, though shooting vertically was quite difficult.

There were a few old posters here, but none of them were in particularly good condition. Though tatty and old is good.

The airconditioning is all quite modern, and I was surprised at how small the units were, probably explains why the Victoria Line is so hot in summer !

A lot of the old tile work in these stations is from Leslie Green, the man pretty much responsible for all the design and tiling in 50 stations built between 1903 and 1907. His work is iconic, and glorious and you always know when you are in one of his stations.

Section two was also comprised of two shooting areas, the first along one of the vast air venting tunnels. There is nothing pretty in this dark section, just dirt, dust and rusty pipes. It is very dirty here – we were warned before coming to not be wearing our finest. The plates making up the air conditioning ducts are all stamped with their details, size, bolt holes, batch and date manufactured. This one is from 1965. I love that sort of detail!

The second part of this section allowed us to peer down into the Victoria Line and the tops of the trains as they passed. It had been surprisingly quiet so far, but coming through the vents was the sound of a busker playing a bouzouki or similar instrument, it was eerie and appropriate. I have never noticed the vents before, and have yet to see them now I know they are there. I am not entirely sure how they can be some invisible, they are hardly small. It was quite fun watching people move on and off the trains, and seeing the trains whizz by underneath.

Section three was the main passenger link between the platforms of the two lines. It also contained the lovely tiled ticket office, which I managed to take a very poor photo of as I ran out of time due to there being so much to see.

Strangely none of the posters had a year on them, even the ones with dates.

This is my favourite of the posters.

Section four was the most one most used by those who work on our tube system while we sleep. There are stacks of tools, and large metal components, brooms and a bunch of stuff that I did not recognise at all.

There were a number of posters here, a lot had been ripped and damaged over the years and it was really interesting to see the layer on layer on layer of paper that had accrued over the years. Though the famous Psycho poster is still there 🙂

I had a bit of a play with some long exposures at the far end of the tunnel. It was quite dark here so perfect for attempting some ghostly walking, though I ran out of time to get anything I really liked.

Far too soon the visit was over and we had to down cameras, pack bags and head back above ground. I really could have done with another hour or two, and to have been able to explore a little further…..

It was a fabulous experience, and one I would highly recommend. Do the photo tour rather than the general one as you get to take a tripod and spend some proper time.

Thanks Steve for organising, and Hidden London and London Transport Museum for making it available!

For Kevin. Rest in Peace my friend.

Tuesday 5 March 2019 – London.

This is a tricky one, not sure how to start this or even if it will be finished, though I am guessing if it has been posted then finish it I did.

I have been thinking about death a bit this year. My friend Kevin getting ill last year and being a few years younger than me opened this door, and subsequent events never allowed it to fully close.

Visiting the spot where we scattered dad’s ashes in 2007 with Mum, El and my sister when we were in New Zealand in January naturally makes me remember Dad. Fond memories; he was a good and gentle man and a great father and granddad to my children. If I had turned out to be more like him, I would probably be a better person. I am lucky that I have fond memories of him, not everyone is so lucky.

As I noted four of five posts ago, when we were in New Zealand I was reading about eligibility for Superannuation, the NZ version of state pension and was horrified to find that I may no longer qualify for it unless I go back to live there for five year between now and 65. 65 is not far away, retirement is for old people, old people eventually die. There always seems to be too much to do, and now there is less time, and who really knows how much there is. It made me think of wasted time, unfinished things and unvisited friends; then money and all that tiresome stuff I shouldn’t dwell on.

Mark Hollis, a musician, and the singer and song writer of the band Talk Talk, passed away on Monday 25^th Feb. I was a little shocked, he was only 62, not much more than five years older than me. 62 used to be so old. Now, as I close in on 60, 62 seems so young. I was not a massive fan of Talk Talk when they first arrived deep in my punk/post-punk phase in 1982, I discarded their pretentious poppiness as a far too clever Duran Duran. Ten years ago I rediscovered them and the final two of their five LPs. The two LPs are considered post-rock masterpieces, the genesis of the genre, and the genre that has dominated my listening for those ten years. Tracks from 1988’s ‘Spirit of Eden’ and their last LP, 1991’s ‘Laughing Stock’ are always on an active playlist, and I have been listening to them almost exclusively since Mark passed away. They are broody and dark, vocally almost indecipherable; but the music is wonderful and complex and in its way, uplifting. It started me brooding on life’s shortness again.

On Monday it was announced that Keith Flynn, the singer from the band The Prodigy, had died. I was never a fan of the band, but was familiar with them. As it was announced on the TV news they showed a clip from one of their hits, ‘Firestarter’, a song I actually liked. I could see the clip was filmed in the tunnels under Euston Station, a place I had the pleasure of photographing last weekend. It was going to be next blog post. Seeing the video connected me to Keith, via the location, and on to thinking about people dying too young again. He was 49.

This finally brings me to Kev

I met Kevin in Da Nang, Vietnam on the 4^th April 2012. Kevin and I were both there, along with a small group of Kiwis and Aussies, for the wedding of our mutual friend Dan. Kevin was there with his partner Phil and was a seasoned traveller, way more comfortable with life somewhere alien than me; and I had been on the road for three months. Kevin is a big personality, very much a life three quarters full guy, genuinely fun, nice, open and friendly. A few years younger than me he is a Kiwi, but has been living in London for a long time. After the wedding, as we went our separate ways, Kevin and I agreed to catch up when I got to the UK. Me on the left, looking leaner and browner than I am now, and Kevin on the far right, with Leonie who joined me on my Africa adventures later that year.

Hoi An

I was fortunate to arrive in London just before Kevin and Phil went away for a few weeks over Christmas and into 2013. I was offered Phil’s flat in She Bu (Shepherds Bush) as a place to stay while they were gone, an offer I took up. It was while I was staying at Phil’s that I met El. I absolutely believe that without that opportunity we never would have met, life would be totally different, and not in a good way.

Not long after Kevin and Phil returned to the UK, I disappeared for a few weeks travelling. Backpacking in wonderful Sri Lanka, boat diving off the coast of Malaysia and visiting my family in New Zealand. I arrived back in the UK in late May 2013, with no job and no home. While I was looking for a job and while El and my relationship slowly bloomed I stayed in Kevin’s spare room in, as he called it, ‘Fairy Towers’; a twenty floor council tower in London Bridge. I ended up staying there for a year.

I loved my time in Fairy Towers. Kevin was rarely there, spending a lot of time with Phil so I pretty much had a central London flat all to myself. It was such a cool place to live. I took a lot of photos from the balcony.

View from the flat P1030019 View from the flat 2

When Kevin was staying, often after a row with Phil, we spent a lot of time walking (and talking) around the south side of the Thames; to Greenwich, the Elephant, along the river,. All over central south London. They were great walks and talks, discussing love and leisure, travel and home. Family a lot. I eventually left in 2014 when I moved to El’s house in Walthamstow, where I am now.

Tragically Phil passed away in mid 2015, from a heart related illness. It was very sudden, I hadn’t seen Phil in quite a while, though had kept in frequent contact with Kevin, continuing walks and cheap meals in a favourite mixed Asian cafe on the fringes of Soho and Chinatown. Our catch-ups became less regular after Phil passed, though picked up again for a while after Kevin met Adrian later that year.

I received a very excited call in summer 2018 and Kevin told me that he and Adrian were going to get married this year, and they had some big plans for travelling in the interim. It was great news and I was glad Kevin had a new partner and opportunities to continue doing what he loved so much.

I received another call in early autumn and had lunch with Kevin in Brixton. He told me had been feeling unwell and had finally gotten round to going to the doctor, to discover he had stage 4 stomach and oesophagus cancer. It was terrible news, though in his normal highly optimistic way it was all going to be fine; bit of chemo, maybe some surgery after and all will be well. Sadly that was not to be the case.

Kevin and Adrian moved the wedding to December, I hadn’t seen Kevin in a couple of months and was frankly shocked at how frail he looked, he had lost a lot of weight as he had not been able to eat. It was great to see him, and see how happy he was, knowing he was being well looked after by his mum and his sister’s family and Adrian. Kevin and Adrian entered the ceremony to the sound of a waiata, a Maori song which was utterly beautiful and made me cry. It was a wonderful occasion, made more poignant with Kevin’s illness and prognosis.

I met Kevin travelling, and travelling is where Kevin was truly happy, he has seen far more of the world than I. He developed a number of friendships in his travels. Kevin managed to get a final trip in this year, visiting his beloved India, Australia and NZ. He arrived back in London on 22^nd February, was admitted into hospital and passed away with his family a week later.

I had been meaning to visit him in hospital that week, but like so many things, I didn’t get around to it.

Rest in peace, Kevin. Without your enthusiasm for travel I would not have seen as much as I have, and would not yearn to do more. Without your friendship I would not have stayed in London, I would not have met El and I would not be as happy with life as I am. xx

Phil and Kev Dec 2018

My photography exhibition!

Thursday 11 October 2018 – Walthamstow.

I am going to say I was very nervous about tonight, an opening viewing of an exhibition of photos I was showing at Buhler and Co, a lovely cafe just down the road from where I live. I was worrying that no one would turn up, that something stupid would happen; like a picture would fall off the wall. Stupid worries, but worries none the less.

This exhibition had a rather short gestation; it was not even in my thoughts three months ago. I have been seeing a career coach off and on over the past 18 months. Among the many things we have talked about is that a lack of confidence holds me back from doing some of things I think I would like to do or try.

This includes my photography. I know I take good pictures, I am often told I take good pictures; however, I still doubt my ability. Apart from posting photos as part of this blog, and putting some on IG I do not do anything with them. I have been taking photos for a very long time, but have few prints and do not display them anywhere.

There is a biannual art trail where I live, and two months ago my career coach, Nat, challenged me to organise an exhibition for the next event, in June 2019. I visited Buhler and Co to ask them if they had wall space I could use next June, but those walls were already booked. What they did offer me was the space to use for two months from October 9^th. Oops, that is a bit close!

I really struggled with choosing a theme for the exhibition, and I had already decided that I was going to print some big images. I didn’t want to display a stream of small images. Less and big was my plan. If I was going to put things on a wall I may as well put big things on a wall.

There were a few weeks of stress, consternation, worry, doubt and all the other emotions I have when trying to do some creative, Here are the 11 images I chose to display.

The first four are all printed at 50*50cm.

The next seven were printed at A1, the biggest prints I have ever made.

There was a lot of work, and not a little expense in getting this set up. I had a lot of help from friends and of course some magnificent support from El who kept me sane and kept my confidence up as I want through the various phases of doubt and frustration.

The opening evening went really well, there were a lot more people there than I expected, pretty much everyone I invited turned up, along with a couple of people I did not know. It was a good night, and left quite late, but very happy.

Roa @ Stolen Space Gallery

Thursday 20 September 2018 – London

I am a big fan of the work of Belgian artist Roa. On the street he often paints large black and white murals of rodents, birds and other small life. There are a number of his pieces scattered around London, though I do not think he has painted here in a while.

These are from an old work from, I am guessing 2013, on the back of a housing estate up Bethnall Green Rd. I remember at the time it took us ages to find it. It has been partly painted over since it went up, but I am glad it is mostly undamaged. Some street art respect I guess.

I was thrilled to attend the opening night of a new exhibition at the Stolen Space gallery on Brick Lane. He has exhibited here before so I was looking forward to this show very much, El came along as well and we met my old street art hunting friend Darryl too.

The work was very cool, like the last time, painted onto cupboards, both found and made, with the inside of the doors displaying the inside of the animals. Lovely.

It was a very cool show. If only I had a few thousand to spare!

was also very excited to discover that while he was in London, Roa painted down at the end of the market in Walthamstow, double yay. The mural is fabulous, but in such a narrow alley it was impossible to get it all in.

A birthday trip to Bristol.

Sunday 16 September 2018 – Bristol.

Staring out of the hotel window, I waited for something to happen. Street walkers, workers or cleaners, a homeless person looking for somewhere to rest weary feet, maybe students heading home, something. Maybe even a passing bus, or better still one that stops to disgorge a wobbly drunk or a hurried worker returning home.

But no; nothing, nada, not a thing. So here is a picture of a bus stop at night with nothing happening. I do like the photo though.

It is Saturday night; late evening to be honest, we are tired and full from a long day and an excellent pre-birthday meal, and we are in Clifton, Bristol. Nothing happening out the window, good. Perhaps a full night of sleeping ahead!

This morning we were up early as I drove us and a car load of Charlie’s possessions down to Exeter as he prepares to start his third year of university. Charlie had made his way down earlier in the week which was convenient as the car was chocker with his stuff and he would have been strapped to the roof, or vice-versa.

It is my birthday on Monday, so we decided to break the trip to Exeter up with a night in Bristol, and have a birthday meal there. I love Bristol, but in a different way to how I love Edinburgh. My experience of Edinburgh is hotels, clean streets, old buildings, nice restaurants, wine and whisky. My Bristol experience is the complete opposite. Staying with my daughter, Meliesha in over-full shared houses in run down suburbs, cans of Polish lager, street art, loud dance music, mad conversations over shared vegetarian meals and drinking in student pubs.

On the way to Bristol we took a side trip to lunch with Meliesha, and her boyfriend in a small off the beaten-track pub near the M5. For the life of me I cannot remember where it was. It was good to see Meliesha again. She has been in Ireland and is soon back to Spain. Oh, the life she leads.

El and I took a hotel in Clifton, away from the city centre and club districts, a bit more genteel than Stokes Croft; and close to the wonderful suspension bridge. I was hoping it would be quiet, but it wasn’t really. There was not full night of sleeping ahead.

We arrived mid afternoon and took a walk to the bridge. Built in 1864 it spans the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, it is a magnificent thing and a big tourist draw. There were a lot of people there. We took a walk around Clifton village, which we both particularly liked. It is resolutely middle class, there is no graffiti and street art here, no huddled street drinkers, except in the village street fair, where beers were expensive.

As it was my birthday weekend El had booked us dinner in the Clifton Lido Restaurant. The restaurant is in the local outdoor swimming pool. All that was available was an early evening booking so there were still a number of people swimming below us as we ate, which was quite relaxing; for me anyway, I wasn’t swimming. The restaurant is fabulous, the food was interesting and lovely, great wine range and the service was outstanding; all represented in the price on the menu, it is not cheap. I hardly ever recommend places in posts, but I do recommend The Lido. It was a wonderful birthday meal, thanks El 🙂

After dinner we walked back to the bridge to allow food to settle before heading back to the room, where i didn’t sleep due to noisy people on the street, and then the paper thin walls in the hotel as the late night folk came home at 3. Oh well…

On Sunday morning we had breakfast in one of the local Clifton cafes, which was almost as good as dinner; there is some fantastic eating to be had in Clifton, and Bristol. We were not in any rush to head back to London so walked down from Clifton into Bristol itself.

I wanted to have a walk through Stokes Croft to look for some of the street art that was there, I was a little surprised at how run down Stokes Croft looked early on a Sunday morning. It seemed to be a worse than I remember. There were a lot of homeless an street drinkers out, not that I am blaming them for their predicament, nor for the states of the street. I was just shocked at the numbers. Things are worse here than I thought; Brexit surprises me less when I leave the shelter of my London bubble, I can see why people want change. Though Bristol was a staunch ‘remain’ city.

I took a photo of on old piece of Phlegm street art, he is still my favourite.

We walked down and around through the city centre aiming for M Shed, one of Bristol’s museums. There was an exhibition of Bristol music, which I thought was excellent, though they didn’t mention one of my current favourite bands, Spectres, who are Bristol residents, which surprised me a bit as they have some notoriety and should be locally known, and celebrated.

Another good weekend away. I love this country xx

Back to St Leonards

Saturday 01 September 2018 – St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings.

I am a bit drunk as I let myself in through the front door of the airbnb I am staying in tonight. The house is Tudor, according to my host, it is the second oldest building in Hastings. I struggle with the lock, it turns 180 degrees to home. My (wine, gin, whisky) addled brain eventually works it out and I am in. Creaking quietly up to my first floor room, every board of this ancient staircase creaks. My door squeaks open and bangs closed, the latch doesn’t work. I then realise no one else is home, and the floors and doors can make whatever noise they want.

Barefoot I feel every dip and rise in the wooden floor, it’s not just the old walls that are uneven. In the morning I discover the floor has quite a slope, perhaps I was less drunk than I thought.

The room is lovely, white and wooden, noisy from the street. Headphones on I try Eno’s ambient Descreet Music as a means to sleep, whisky helping. Though morning may have regrets. Much like today almost did.

20180831_234213

This is my third visit to Hastings and St Leonards in recent weeks. I have offered on a flat in St Leonards. Two bedrooms, the top floor of a building built by the admiralty in 1884 to house retired senior naval officers, it is red brick and I really, really like it. The flat is in the roof, pretty much under the word ‘flat’ at the start of the sentence, in the picture below!

20180811_115157

However…….

I fell in love with the first flat I saw online when I started looking for flats in this area a few weeks ago. It is not this flat in St Leonards, but one in Hastings old town. It disappeared off the market almost immediately, before I could get down to see it. Last week it was online again.

The vendor of the St Leonards flat had yet to get back to me on my offer, it had been rather cheeky. In case if fell through I decided to come down and have a look at this Old Town flat as a plan B. El and I came down last weekend, and it is really, really nice. Just off the high street, out of the way up a steep path and view over the roofs of the old town and out to sea is magnificent. I decided I would offer on it as well and see how things worked out.

As this place is so close to the centre of old town nightlife I thought it wise to come down for a Friday night, find an AirBnB nearby and see, and hear, what it is like of evening. IS it really noisy? Is there closing time trouble? Junkies and drunks sleeping in doorways etc.

After booking an old town AirBnB the St Leonards vendor accepted my offer, I gave the Hastings old Town vendor a chance to do the same, but they didn’t so St Leonards here I come. My first property purchase in the UK. Assuming all goes through of course.

Even though staying in the old town is not relevant I went ahead anyway. St Leonards does not have a lot of night life so the old town, a 30 minute walk away is where we would likely go anyway.

I caught the train from London after work, sneaking off slightly early and getting a train from Victoria Station just before 4:00. The Victoria to Hastings line is the slowest of the three from central London, taking just under two hours. It is a direct train, but it stops in a lot of places. I like trains so was not unhappy with the trip and I should get used to it.

However….

Walking alone out of Hastings station into the early evening sunlight I was overcome with a wave of despondency. Why was I buying here? Not wanting to come across sounding like a complete middle class snob, but it was all so chav. Street drinkers, bad tattoos, run down cars, smokers in doorways. I know everywhere is like this, but I want it to feel like I am perpetually on holiday when I come here. I had a moment of regretting buying here, even though the weather is nice, it just feels a bit grim in this part of Hastings. My steps were heavy as I made my way down from the station to the sea front.

As soon as I hit the sea, my mood lightened. Walking along the promenade towards the old town and watching the skates and bmxers, the dog walkers and the families strolling I knew that I had made the right call. The brief flash of regret was regretted and disposed of.

I dumped my bag in my room in the creaky old AirBnB, after a quick chat with the owners I made my way out the door again. They have lived here for five years and are now looking to move to St Leonards themselves, somewhere quieter.

Tonight is the opening of Coastal Currents, a month long annual art event in Hastings and St Lenoards. The opening party is free and is being held in the big waterfront bar where I spent my first evening last time I came down. It is early evening am hungry, I checked out the pier, but didn’t fancy eating here. I did stop for a glass of wine and to take a few photos up the beach.

I was warned by the BnB hosts that I might find it hard getting a table in any of the eating places. It is the last weekend of the holidays, the weather it lovely and the art festival opening is on. They were right. By the time I had walked to St Leonards, taken a walk by my flat to see what the street was like on a Friday night (dead) there were no table at any of the cafes. I made my way back to the sea front and stopped in to the Goat Ledge cafe for another glass of wine and an excellent fish burger and fries. It was pretty packed, but it was nice sitting on the beach listening to the dark sea behind me.

As I was leaving a load of people on brightly lit bikes riding from Hastings pier to the opening party stopped in at the cafe. I took a few photos.

I was lured in to the opening party by the wonderful sounds of Velvet Underground on the sound system, though discovered this was just a trap, once I had bought a gin and tonic the music had turned to some terrible house music. Not knowing anyone here I didn’t hang around for long before walking back to Hastings. There are some lovely Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian buildings along here, slowly being repainted and during the day it is quite nice, the evening equally so.

As I arrived in the Hastings new town I heard The Ruts, ‘Babylons Burning’ being played loudly by a cover band from the local ‘biker’ bar, crossing the road I stopped in for a look, just as the band finished. The pub is not my cup of tea, but I could see myself in there for a punk rock covers band on the odd and right occasion. I put a tick in the positive box and walked on. Two doors up from my BnB there was another pub, there are a lot of pubs here, all open and doing business, another good sign. This pub had a blues band going, knowing I would not be able to sleep and as it was close to throwing out time I ordered a Jamesons and sat at the back and enjoyed their last couple of songs. At last orders I had one more drink and basically waited till the place shut before heading to my room, and then not sleeping for a while.

I was up early on Saturday and off before 9:00, stopping for an excellent coffee on the pier and an OK fry-up in a greasy spoon cafe.

I walked back to St Leonards, past the flat for another look, it is just as quiet today. I would have expected nothing else. The flat is in Helena Court, at the top of Pevensey Road, a ten minute walk up a hill from St Leonards station and the main shopping streets. It is not somewhere you would go unless you needed to. There are a lot of hills here. Once I have settled and the flat is mine, I will post some photos of the interior.

There is a lot happening in St Leonards, it is another glorious day, loads of people about, there is street market in Kings Rd, the cafes are bursting, there is chatter and smiles. I stopped at a specialist photography gallery which had an exhibition of photos of David Bowie and talked to the owner for a while. Everyone I have met here has been nice.

I think I will be happy here !

Flat Hunting, St Leonards version

Wednesday 25 July 2018 – St Leonards and Hastings.

Oh I do want to be by the seaside.

I know I have banged on about it often enough over the past couple of years, but I have finally done it. I have found a flat I want to buy!

After months of procrastination, mind-changing (and laziness) I took three days off work this week to use up the last of my annual leave allocation. I spent the time in St Leonards and Hastings looking at flats. I eliminated Hastings during the week and decided to focus on one area and not two. I did the consult the font of all knowledge on things local; the ‘Down From London (DFL)’ BookFace group before making that decision. Though both places have their social issues; this is quite a deprived part of Britain, St Leonards just seems quieter, and that is important to me.

I arranged four flat viewings through various agents for Tuesday and took the train down on Monday morning, planning to spend those days looking round the area, doing some writing, photo editing and generally catching up. I didn’t too much of the writing and editing and catching up, but I did read most of a book.

I booked myself in to a lovely Victorian B and B on Pevensey St as two of the flats I wanted to view were in the street, so it made sense to stay in the area. The other two were on Warrior Square, which I think will just be too noisy. Though one of those Warrior Square flats was lovely. The B and B was brilliant, full or Victoriana, Russian and English religious icons and symbols from China and the far east. The owners were very well travelled and I was a bit jealous of all the things they have accumulated on their travels, though the house is very busy.

As it is a Victorian B and B there is no TV (thankfully there is wi-fi J ) and no shower. I was forced to lie in a bath each night and read my book, something I very much enjoyed.

On Monday night I had dinner and a glass of wine at Azur, a beach side restaurant and bar, it was OK, but it did have a great view though!

After breakfast on Tuesday I stopped for a great coffee at Graze. Key for me in enjoying this as a place to buy is to find one or two places that I can stop for coffee or a glass of wine, as well as having the option for a more traditional pint-of-beer style boozer pub. I have to have places that cater for me. Graze had a very good wine menu and I went there later in the evening for dinner, and again for more wine on Wednesday. One box ticked.

Tuesday I was meeting an ex-work colleague for lunch about three miles out of town, along the very long seafront, towards Bexhill. It was a glorious day and perfect for a walk. I took pictures as you would expect.

A lot of photos…

I even took some images that may (or not turn up in the exhibition I have in October. I have decided to print some really large (A1) prints of close-ups of plants with huge amounts of blurred backgrounds. I brought the big old Canon 5d with me so I would be forced to actually take photos seeing as I was lugging such a weight around.

I was knackered after a very hot walk so caught the bus back to Hastings after lunch. With some food and water inside and the lunch time and bus ride sit down I was re-energised and took a walk around The Stade. The Stade means ‘landing place’ in the ancient Saxon language and contains the largest beach launched fishing fleet in the Europe. It is a pretty cool place, full of old and new fishing boats, ancient and not so ancient tractors and bulldozers used to move the boats into and out of the water. Photographically it is a great spot, and another reason I have chosen this as a place to live, even if it is just part time.

Wednesday was flat viewing day, I didn’t have a lot of time for much else, I visited a couple of local shops to chat to the owners. There are a number of small independent shops around St Leonards and Hastings, lots of antique shops, second hand places, a great wine / beer shop and I even discovered a good record shop. It is all looking up. Everyone I spoke to was positive about the place, it is on the up. Though incomers like me are not 100% welcome, or so I understand. I saw no negativity.

The good news is I really liked one of the flats, it pushed all my buttons and I loved it when i walked in the door. Pending a visit at the weekend with Eleanor I will offer, I really value her opinion and she will see the things I miss and view it with head and not heart!

I did not do too much after the viewings, it is tiring looking at flats. After a rest I walked down to the waterfront for lunch at one of the beach cafes. I tried Goat Ledge and had the best fish-finger sandwich ever, another bonus find! After lunch (and a respectable gap, I was a boy scout and know you cannot go swimming immediately after eating) I took to the sea. It was not too bad. It is a pebble beach, and stretches for miles in each direction. It never gets crowded!

In the evening I met up with some of the Bookface group I am a member of and went to see a local light jazz singer perform at an album launch in one of the pubs in Hastings Old Town. The music was tiresome, but it was good to meet and chat to others who have made the move down from London, and see that there is some nightlife as well. The pub was packed, as were some of the others.

Thursday, I was back in the car and back to London. Mission accomplished. Successfully. I liked St Leonards and Hastings.

El and I came back down the following Saturday, she loved the place as much as me, though pointed out it needed a lick of paint, and a bit of love. I never noticed the paint. I have offered, it has been accepted and I am now in the process of purchasing.

PPS

I seem to have lost interest in the blog in the last few weeks, I have huge backlog of things I would blog if I had the time and the motivation, but it is waning. This wont be the final post. I am thinking of just doing some photo posts for a bit until I catch up with myself. I also want to write better, and that takes time and I have to be in the right headspace, somewhere I do not find myself in very often these days.

There will be more, maybe once I have moved.

Thanks to those who read me. xxx

Greensted Church. The world’s oldest wooden church.

Saturday 21 July 2018 – Chipping Ongar, Essex.

I love the names of some English Villages. ‘Chipping Ongar’, it couldn’t be anywhere else but England. It is not too far from home, just north of the M25 motorway into rural Essex.

Though we didn’t go into the village, our destination for this drive was Greensted Church in the countryside outside.

Greensted Church is the oldest wooden church in the world and one of the oldest wooden buildings still standing in Europe. The wooden walls date back about 1000 years, the brick work from the 16th century and the white wooden tower from the 17th.

It is a beautiful building.

A walk along the River Lea

Saturday 14 June 2018 – Walthamstow to Liverpool St.

I am pretty sure I start every post off with the fact that I have been very busy and I am way behind with writing and photo-editing. I can at least say this time that I am up to date with photo-editing. However, I am now six weeks behind in post writing, with five left to do to just catch up, and now I have two big things on that are consuming all my non-working hours.

After a small amount of negotiation I have an offer agreed on a flat purchase in St Leonards-on-Sea, on the East Sussex coast. I have taken a few trips down there over the past couple of months, more on those trips in a later post. Naturally I am very happy with this. Though of course it will mean I will have a lot less money.

I also have an exhibition of photography coming up in October. My favourite local cafe are giving me their walls for two months and I am going to show 13 photos, they will be big photos!

That is the future dealt with, now back to the past!

It was one of those nice Saturdays back in July, the middle of the longest and hottest summer for many a year. There was a record out I wanted to buy and I thought it would be a good idea to take the 8 mile trip to Brick Lane on foot. Most of the journey is quite nice, along the River Lea and canal tow paths.

I also wanted to get some images I could use for the exhibition, some close up shots of grasses and plants as I passed through Walthamstow Marshes, the Middlesex Filterbeds and along the Lea itself.

So here they all are!

It took me three and a bit hours to get to Rough Trade, and they didn’t have the record I wanted. I was in no way disappointed, it had been a great walk.