Down Memory Lane

A visit back to the old hunting grounds today, which in a sense were a home from home.
This is the headquarters of the Daily Echo and its associated newspapers in Hampshire, located on the outskirts of Southampton, and was for a few years my base as business editor in the south with the Newsquest Media Group who by that time were the parent company of the Echo.
Those that had worked with the newspaper at its previous base in the city centre had long felt the  then new open plan newspaper building  and publishing centre lacked the soul of the old place in the city centre.   But 45 Above Bar as it was known was to make way for a vast new shopping mall and the move out of town became a fact of life.
Today, I still read  FaceBook posts of those who like me knew both places, and most look back with affection on the city centre base and have few kind words about the newspapers of today..  Times have changed; fresh ownership,  new  approaches to publishing brought about by the growth of the internet and online publishing.
I make a return visit every year at about this time; for years Mrs F has been a fan of a wall calendar produced by the company and I am charged with collecting one every January.  Mind you last time I was here there were only two people in the editorial department that day that I knew.
I well remember advice I was given shortly before I left by an accountant  who said don’t bother going back— in  a few weeks you’ll  not find anyone you knew, and they certainly won’t know who you are.

Nevertheless I did feel a pang of nostalgia today.