Leaving Home

I'm off on my travels again today; this time to a part of the south of England which is very familiar to me but which I haven't managed to visit for a while. I'm on the 10:30 from Edinburgh to Kings Cross, thence to Ashford on the HS1 and then by bus to the wee town of Tenterden. The bulk of Cameraman's family lives in Sussex and Kent and I'm joining him today before we set off again on Saturday. I've been visiting this part of the world since 1975 and indeed lived there or thereabouts for six years. My first job upon leaving Aberdeen was in Dartford. I thought I was going to the Garden of England so imagine my surprise when I saw the cement works etc along the south bank of the Thames estuary. Before long I'd sorted myself out, met Cameraman and learned a huge amount. As people tend to do in their first jobs. For example, I'd never been accused of having 'an accent' before, particularly by people who steadfastly refused to accept that, to my ears, it was in fact they who spoke with an accent. I'd never heard the expression 'Up me Nan's' before (meaning 'visiting my grandmother'). 'Up your Nan's' what?' I used to ask. It fell upon bemused ears. Despite the oil industry changing Aberdeen in the 1970s it was more or less a white Scottish town. Living on the fringes of SE London/NW Kent and then in Southend-on-Sea exposed me to many different traditions and cultures. I was lucky enough to find out quite early on that although I wasn't really cut out for school teaching (despite some good experiences and sound mentorship) I had both an aptitude for and enjoyment of working in FE and with adult learners in general. It all did me the world of good and I'll always have the fondest of memories of those years.

Anyway, here I am crossing the border at Berwick-upon-Tweed heading south. I can't tell for sure but I think my blip is pretty fuzzy but the train was picking up speed - so that's my excuse.

Not home again for 10 days or so. Travelling even further south at the weekend.