The House By The Track
I was born in a hospital in SW England and was taken back to the family home where my sister of five years was waiting for me. She took little interest in me at the time, it has been mentioned. I suppose my flat head did nothing for me, although I didn't cry hardly at all and was not much trouble. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!).
We lived in an old house, it felt much older than it's years as it had been built at the beginning of the 1900's probably in the year 1909. So by the time that I was born in the early 1950's it was getting on for fifty years old. I was not aware of it at the time, but looking back the area I lived in was quite a concrete jungle. When I married and later moved out into the suburbs, I was pleased to be living somewhere where houses had pretty gardens and there were trees and public parks.
Our house was built so close to the railway line that I reckon there was hardly twenty feet from the corner of the house and any train that ran along the side of it. I have never seen any house nearer to a railway line than that, it just wouldn't be possible. There was a five feet high retaining wall which separated us from the railway line. When the signal fell down, trains would sometimes stop and people could look down into our room from the train. My mother was not impressed! She would grumble every time it happened! I have always loved trains and the noise was something I was always used to. It beats the sound of heavy traffic any day, to my mind. Steam trains were still in use in those days and they ran on coal, of course, and often belched out horrible black smoke! Trains now are much cleaner.
We had a triangular shaped garden at the side of the house which my mother did her best to keep tidy and I loved it. At one point there was a trellis on which a beautiful pink rose used to climb. It had the most beautiful centre and smelled so lovely. If I see anything similar now, it makes me feel quite emotional.
Now, in my retirement years, I live right by the side of a dis-used railway line which once connected two cities. It is the very same line as I lived by as a child, but is further out of the city. The line is now a cycle track which is used mostly by serious cyclists travelling to and from work every day and at weekends by families and dog walkers. It seems quite strange to me that life has brought me full circle, as it were. I started out living by the railway track and I have finished up living by the railway track.
In my ground floor flat I have peace and quiet. The line is below us, being a drop of about forty feet from the back of our fence. We cannot see anyone using the cycle track, but sometimes we can hear them talking as they cycle along as the sound echoes.
Not only is the track a good facility for cyclists and helps alleviate the awful traffic congestion we have in our city, but it is also a haven for wildlife. Further along the track I have seen lots of rabbits. Badgers, foxes, squirrels, rats and birds often visit us. My latest bird visitors are Black Caps which are grey birds, with a cream breast and a black 'cap' on their heads. I feed the birds regularly and really enjoy bird watching and have never been able to do this anywhere else where I have lived. I must say, I really love it!
April 2018