NOT Just a hole in a wall

Friday 17th March 2023

Time to leave Fareham, but not before I'd made my little pilgrimage along a dual carriageway, past this brick wall (hoping it was still there).

Why? It's just a derelict wall. Ah, but it has a story. As a child, we had an annual holiday to stay with my aunt and uncle and to visit Nan and Grandad, who lived in a static caravan. The van was at the back of the site adjacent to this wall. The wall was the boundary of a large house and Grandad had negotiated with them that he could cultivate some waste ground at the bottom of the property, to grow flowers and vegetables. That had been his trade all through life and this was a good retirement project. Whenever we visited, he took us through the gate to see what he was doing. As a child, it was very exciting. 

Just a few years after he died my Nan had to move as the caravan site had been sold for a dual carriageway to be built, which runs right over where their caravan had been. However, they left the wall and gate, just set back from the road. That was about 43 years ago. Ever since, it has been my little pilgrimage site and I call it "Grandad's wall". It's about ten years since I've been down that way and there has been more development so I didn't really expect it still to be there ... but it was. I had to park and walk back to get a picture and say "hello".  Now it is preserved forever on blip! 

We then had a very good journey home, despite 20 mins of sitting on the M40 without any traffic moving and the engine turned off. A very successful week of seeing family and reliving childhood memories.