Hunter Davies on walking down memory lane
Attending a special event in Durham was the ideal opportunity for our columnist to take Miranda on a trip down memory lane.
Image credit: MH Jeeves
Attending a special event in Durham was the ideal opportunity for our columnist to take Miranda on a trip down memory lane.
Miranda and I have just been on a tour of the UK’s northern provinces. I felt like a Roman emperor going up to see the legion on Hadrian’s Wall, inspecting the forts and mile castles, saying, "Well done, chaps. Keep it up."
As if I don’t give Miranda enough excitement. I have been to Norfolk to see her old home, schools and her two sisters, so fair do’s, I wanted to take her to where I grew up and was educated.
We went first to Durham and had a night in the castle, the home of University College since 1837 – by a total coincidence, staying in the same room on Hall Stairs I had in my third year back in 1957. Miranda swooned at the beauty and wonder of it all, never having been in Durham before.
We had a grand dinner in the castle’s Great Hall and also joined a procession in Durham Cathedral. Guess what that was for?
Then on to Carlisle to visit my younger brother Johnny, who has just had an operation, poor lad. We stayed at the Crown & Mitre hotel, the poshest place in my day. Now it’s not quite as posh. Unlike me.
I have become a proper toff.
Oh yes, have you guessed yet? We also took in the council house where I lived, which is now private and ever so smart; the primary school I went to, Stanwix; and Trinity School, now a comprehensive, which was the grammar school in my day.
Next stop, Lakeland and Loweswater, where my wife and I had a stunning holiday home near Crummock Water for 30 years, living there every summer.
It was bliss. I had tears in my eyes taking Miranda round, showing her the treehouse that I made for my children, the fells we climbed, the lakes we swam in.
My wife’s gravestone is in Loweswater church yard, so that was another tear-jerker. Miranda was as affected as me, but then she is ever so sensitive and empathetic.
Finally, to Kendal for the 40th Lakeland Book of the Year awards, which I began in 1984. We had a look around the town and I reminisced about Alfred Wainwright, how I met him and his wife. Wainwright was one of the greatest ever Cumbrians, even greater than Melvyn Bragg and Eddie Stobart.
OK, Wainwright was born in Blackburn, but he put Lakeland on the map in every sense.
One of the many joys of being old – and there are many – is that you have seen and done a lot, so when you revisit some of the architectural wonders and natural gems this country has to offer, such as Durham and the Lake District, they spark off such happy, emotional memories. In my case, almost 70 years ago.
So, you get double the pleasure, double the value, double the oohing and ahhing as you endlessly rave about the lakes and fells or the magnificent Norman buildings, before you go on to drool about "In my day, pet…"
Miranda loved it all and was very appreciative, but I think I did go on a bit with memories of my olden days.
She managed not to say so. Showing respect. And you know why?
I was in Durham at a degree ceremony, during which I got an Hon. D. Litt. So, it is now Dr Davies, if you don’t mind.
Ladies, any personal problems, don’t be afraid to contact me.
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