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Christalla's avatar

Thank you for this - everything is so alive! I particularly love how the modernist housing seems to rebuke the Victorian for its excesses. I'm now wondering how different architectural styles would view each other.....

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Caroline Howard's avatar

I feel there could be a rich seam there - Brutalism bullying Mock Tudor? Rococo flouncing out after a spat with Po-Mo? The possibilities are endless!

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Christalla's avatar

Oh my goodness, yes London buildings would have so much to say to each other! My view of London will never be the same!

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Anna Sayburn Lane's avatar

Lovely piece. I'm 5 minutes walk away from Sydenham Hill woods, in one of those low, modern 60s homes. I walk in the woods most days, the hornbeams and oaks and beeches are old friends. Bat-watching on a summer night is fun too!

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Caroline Howard's avatar

Ah, it's lovely to hear that you are a local, Anna! It must be wonderful to have those woods on your doorstep. Such a magical spot.

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Anna Sayburn Lane's avatar

It really doesn't feel like London most days. When we first moved here I felt like Snow White skipping through the woods with woodland creatures helping carry my shopping bags on the way home from the station!

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Caroline Howard's avatar

I love that image!

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World Stories, Told My Way's avatar

Beautiful writing, Caroline. What a lovely thing to do, to go back and remember this place of memories together.

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Andrew Eberlin's avatar

Very evocative. Thank you.

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Caroline Howard's avatar

Thanks, Andrew!

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Debbie Liu's avatar

Beautifully evocative, Caroline. I read it twice. I felt I was there with Simon, exploring his childhood home.

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Caroline Howard's avatar

Thank you, Debbie. Writing it, I felt a sense of nostalgia for a place I didn't know!

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Jon Nicholls's avatar

Splendid, especially the "non-negotiable" height of the trees and the word "hibernaculum". Re-visiting old homes is a perilous business.

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Caroline Howard's avatar

It is a risky endeavour indeed. We were lucky that the place was mostly unchanged, and looked so beautiful on a summer's day.

I must admit that the word hibernaculum was new to me to when I researched the piece. I must try to embed it in my vocabulary by slipping it into a few conversations soon...

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Jon Nicholls's avatar

I wonder if animals revisit old homes? Do creatures have a sense of nostalgia or the uncanny?

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