Sunday, March 16, 2014
Being tourists in our home town of Crawley.
Sunshine - places to go to, but no car to be used.
Plan A had to evolve into Plan B - a happy decision.
Plan A had been to go by bus to Horsham and have a picnic in the park.
Would you believe it the bus to Horsham doesn't run on Sundays! We could have got there with 2 separate time consuming bus rides, but decided not to bother.
So for a couple of hours we became tourists in our own town.
The old gates to The Memorial Gardens.
We both have memories of activities in this park from our childhood - the playground, sports and so on.
The Roll of Honour marks the names of Crawley men who lost their lives almost 100 years ago in the First World War.
Bill's great uncle was Alfred Ellis - you can see his name.
He died in 1914 (November 7th) aged 22. Nobody knows how or where. There is no grave. His name is on The Menin Gate at Ypres.
The memorial Gardens are always popular.
Pictures like this might appear in the newspapers under the headline "Phew! What a scorcher"
And for mid March it has indeed been a scorcher.
Under water sculpture.
The Crawley Bandstand.
It was a feature of Gatwick Racecourse. It was erected in 1891 on the racecourse.
The race course has long disappeared under airport buildings and runway.
The bird sculpture in Queen's Square.
Bill sits and waits as I look for the best angles for photographs.
Family group sculpture.
Erected in 1959 to symbolise the growth of the New Town.
Erected on the side of a shop, quite high. It was the new big Co-op in 1959.
Shame it now has to be covered by netting to keep the pigeons off.
Decorated rocks at the Queen's Square end of the Broadwalk.
Time to halt awhile.....La Rusta beckons.
Well, of course Bill had the eggs benedict - loaded with bacon.
And he had..........
I designed my own non cheese pizza........ham and pineapple.
It worked really well.
After a relaxing break amongst the friendly staff and customers of La Rusta we continued on our way.
The Brewery Shades.
Lovely pub.
And we could all get used to the outdoor living.
The White Hart - another popular town centre favourite pub through the ages and also now.
Strolling home past the George Hotel.
Not a pub anymore.
May I just add a gripe here about orange carrier bags?
I loathe them!
OK, they have their uses for carrying shopping and lining kitchen rubbish bins.
But when they become litter, as they often do - that orange is just awful; more awful in my eyes than any other litter.
Though all litter is an abomination.
The Ancient Priors - I still use the old name.
It has been many things in its time.
At the beginning of the 20th century it was an antique shop.
If the small town of Crawley could have an antiques shop in its centre 100 years ago, you would think that the huge town of Crawley should be able to support a good antiques centre now.
The Ancient Priors has been a restaurant, a wine bar, a hair dressers......I had my hair cut there as a child, and now it is an Italian restaurant establishment.
You can see that the building has become more timbered in the last 100 years.
St John's Church.
Over 60 years ago, Bill was a choir boy at the church.
We travelled home by bus......I do hope that bus passes for the elderly are not taken from us.
And the Spring delights of our own front garden delighted us.
It was a lovely afternoon - free from tension.
My man has dementia and sometimes life can be fraught - it helps to get out and give him lovely treats.
Some Memories of Crawley people might remember Bill.
Plan A had to evolve into Plan B - a happy decision.
Plan A had been to go by bus to Horsham and have a picnic in the park.
Would you believe it the bus to Horsham doesn't run on Sundays! We could have got there with 2 separate time consuming bus rides, but decided not to bother.
So for a couple of hours we became tourists in our own town.
We both have memories of activities in this park from our childhood - the playground, sports and so on.
The Roll of Honour marks the names of Crawley men who lost their lives almost 100 years ago in the First World War.
Bill's great uncle was Alfred Ellis - you can see his name.
He died in 1914 (November 7th) aged 22. Nobody knows how or where. There is no grave. His name is on The Menin Gate at Ypres.
The memorial Gardens are always popular.
Pictures like this might appear in the newspapers under the headline "Phew! What a scorcher"
And for mid March it has indeed been a scorcher.
Under water sculpture.
The Crawley Bandstand.
It was a feature of Gatwick Racecourse. It was erected in 1891 on the racecourse.
The race course has long disappeared under airport buildings and runway.
The bird sculpture in Queen's Square.
Bill sits and waits as I look for the best angles for photographs.
Erected in 1959 to symbolise the growth of the New Town.
Erected on the side of a shop, quite high. It was the new big Co-op in 1959.
Shame it now has to be covered by netting to keep the pigeons off.
Time to halt awhile.....La Rusta beckons.
Well, of course Bill had the eggs benedict - loaded with bacon.
And he had..........
I designed my own non cheese pizza........ham and pineapple.
It worked really well.
After a relaxing break amongst the friendly staff and customers of La Rusta we continued on our way.
Lovely pub.
And we could all get used to the outdoor living.
Strolling home past the George Hotel.
Not a pub anymore.
May I just add a gripe here about orange carrier bags?
I loathe them!
OK, they have their uses for carrying shopping and lining kitchen rubbish bins.
But when they become litter, as they often do - that orange is just awful; more awful in my eyes than any other litter.
Though all litter is an abomination.
It has been many things in its time.
At the beginning of the 20th century it was an antique shop.
If the small town of Crawley could have an antiques shop in its centre 100 years ago, you would think that the huge town of Crawley should be able to support a good antiques centre now.
The Ancient Priors has been a restaurant, a wine bar, a hair dressers......I had my hair cut there as a child, and now it is an Italian restaurant establishment.
You can see that the building has become more timbered in the last 100 years.
St John's Church.
Over 60 years ago, Bill was a choir boy at the church.
We travelled home by bus......I do hope that bus passes for the elderly are not taken from us.
And the Spring delights of our own front garden delighted us.
It was a lovely afternoon - free from tension.
My man has dementia and sometimes life can be fraught - it helps to get out and give him lovely treats.
Some Memories of Crawley people might remember Bill.
