Folly to Google the Past.

[Maxi]

Might be the new series of doctor who starting this easter saturday,and i am a fan,but,using google maps,for the first time in 32 years,its that long since i left the place,i saw,in crystal clear photos,the house i grew-up in,the street,the area.all changed,all of a muchness,could be anywhere,as enya sang,anywhere is.yes,never ever ever go back.hold the memory of what it was.better that then seeing a different place,time.for,in my mind,its back then.oh never go back,even virtually.ve never been back in reality.just as well too.tonight i saw a place not the one i grew up in.a very altered and alien scene indeed.cant go back.

[TriciaA]

I know what you mean about going back....
A few years ago, well about 8, I decided tp pay a visit to the village where I grew up. It was my first time back in over 26 years. I had been living overseas for many years.
I had very mixed feelings, everything looked so small, there were new housing estates. The railway station/tracks where I spent many hours playing as a child was gone and new homes put in place.
The house where I lived was still standing but in need of repair. Many memories came flooding back (my childhood wasn't the best)
I am glad I did return though, despite having the mixed feeling.
A few weeks ago I learnt that the house I grew up in had been demolished and yet another housing estate was build. Upon hearing the house was no longer standing, I have to admit I did/do feel a sense of loss.
Google street maps grabbed my interest and I spent some time a few months ago, looking for streets/countries where I have lived over the years. Lots of lovely memories and pretty amazing to see areas/streets/beaches where I walked along.

I know going back isn't for everyone but I am happy I took the plunge and went to my old village

[rosemary]

I cant go back to the past....still living in it . Never left this town and although lived in 5 different flats/houses ,including present one, they are all close enough that I drive past the older ones at least once a week.

[Lazydaisy]

My cousin is a midwife, and a few years ago, visited a Mum in our Nan's old house, and asked if she could a look around!Nan had no hot water, no inside toilet, no modern conveniences at all,so it had changed dramatically, but Carol said it still felt like Nan's house!
I have seen the house I grew up in, and it hasn't changed much(although it is only a few miles away and I could easily drive by it!)
I have just googled the whole area, going along the route I used to walk to the infants school which is still there. I hadn't realised that you can see vulnerable areas in the school, and straight into the windows to see the layout of a classroom.I am quite shocked. I was just reminiscing, but it would be very easy for someone with nasty thoughts on their minds to make plans. I did enjoy the look back, even seeing the place my Mum and Nan used to stand to meet me, when I first started school(so that I could see them out of the classroom window).

[Boggle]

Did some going back a few times.

About nine years ago a close friend died and I travelled to the city where we grew up for the funeral. After the wake I drove around a few old haunts - still unsure if I should have done!

Another time I drove to see my grandmother's old house - it was empty and sad looking - went again a few years ago and it has been converted to three town houses - looks Ok but its character had gone - though she would be pleased it was no longer empty.

[Penny]

I went to have a look at the cottage I was born in and lived in until about the age of 6. It is now a holiday home with the obligatory wooden duck in the window, stripey blue curtains and some stones from the beach beside the front door.

When we lived there my parents rented it and it was quite basic. We had to go outside to the toilets which were up the garden path but it did have 2 "holes" side by side. Crime was almost unheard of then and I remember my Dad had his pushbike stolen one night and it was the talk of the village for weeks. My Dad cycled about 7 miles to work and then 7 home again on very rural roads and there was no public transport so for us it really was a serious crime.

[Scally]

My great-grandfather lived in style with many servants in a splendid colonial-style mansion in Buenos Aires, as a very talented young prosperous import/export merchant. He raised three children by his wife, and another by his kids Scottish nanny/governess. In his many crossings of the Atlantic he resisted the normal temptations of cards and drink , and learned languages from the book: by the end he was fluent in 14 languages in all. Sadly his company was ruined after the First World war, when the Argentine currency crashed and he became effectively bankrupt.

The Scottish nanny was unfortunate enough to die of fever when the child was only a year old, so my Great-grandad's long-suffering Swedish wife adopted the black sheep and raised him as one of her own - that is pretty unthinkable these days, isnt it? The illigitimate boy, Richard went on to become a very successful chemist and millionaire inventor, whilst one of his brothers became a very controversial government minister.

My very glamorous and beautiful granny was christened "Carmen Mercedes", and back in Europe in the early 1920's, in her late teens, in the face of economic adversity, learned the trade of bookbinding, married a handsome young businessman, and went on to live to the fine old age of 89 with nine grandchildren of her own. Every Christmas and easter she would send us the finest continental chocolates and eggs. My grandfathers retirement package included a chauffeur and mercedes car - he would drive us to the seaside, in his uniform!

Sadly, the spendid mansion in Buenos Aires was demolished many years ago to make way for a housing estate...

[TriciaA]

What a lovely and interesting story Excalibur - thanks for sharing:)

[Lazydaisy]

Great bit of family history Excalibur.Why is it that colourful family stories sound so wonderful.

I hadn't realised that we could google foreign countries. My Grandad was a Barnados boy at the turn of the 20th century, when his parents died, and he was sent to Saskatchewen. I have just been able to look at some of the area. He was one of four children, the two eldest were sent out to work when their parents died, and he and his brother went to Canada. They were never altogether again in life, though their sister tried desperately to get the boys back. She even got married(which ended in divorce), thinking that would help their case.I have been looking at some of the history, and Barnados can give me all the relevant paperwork, but it was emotional looking at Halifax,Nova Scotia, where they landed, and then some of the places I knew he went to in Saskatchewen.Thanks Rob, it would not have occurred to me, if you had not mentioned your family history abroad.

[Guest]

I have just googled the whole area, going along the route I used to walk to the infants school which is still there. I hadn't realised that you can see vulnerable areas in the school, and straight into the windows to see the layout of a classroom.I am quite shocked. I was just reminiscing, but it would be very easy for someone with nasty thoughts on their minds to make plans. I did enjoy the look back, even seeing the place my Mum and Nan used to stand to meet me, when I first started school(so that I could see them out of the classroom window).

I was too young to remember meeting my mother when coming out of school. I remember walking to school with my brother but can't remember walking home with him. I remember which side of the road we walked on, where we crossed it and the unarmed* policeman doing '*lollipop' duty on the corner. The policeman's gone. The junction's the town's first mini-roundabout now. The town now boasts one set of lights (ped crossing) and 4 one-way streets.

Our previous house is now a car park.

Mike.