Changing Face

Even when you make regular visits to the city centre, the changing face of Southampton is unrecognisable from the city I once knew.
Think back not too many years and this was one of the principal through routes for traffic.  Now it is a landscaped pedestrian area in the shadow of the city’s ancient city walls.
From a bank of newly opened  restaurants and eating places there’s an outlook which puts the charm of the historic city walls cheek by jowl to the  architectural trends of the 21st century. Even high rise office blocks built in the 1960s have not stood the test of time and have disappeared under the planners’ vision for the future, creating a shopping and entertainment phenomenon.
I took a stroll through the city centre today, and while I have to admit the changing face brings a fresh and welcome dimension to the area, I couldn’t escape a touch of nostalgia. After all, while I and countless others enjoyed the sunshine and had the choice of all manner of international cuisine, this is not the Southampton I once knew.
Perhaps the devastation to the city of wartime is now a fading memory, although the bold regeneration of the centre at the time engendered the trend for a city to take a brave stance on creating courageous moods and needs.
 
Nostalgia or not, I can see myself returning, still proud of the city where I have spent a near lifetime.