Sometimes I get homesick for London. Which is weird, because
I was born at the other end of England, in the North.
Up until the end of the 1980's I'd hardly ever been down to the capital. Then
the magazines that I worked for began to invite me down there to press launches
and the like. It was a boom time in my area of work.
I got offered some regular teaching down on the south coast and I began stopping
off in London, staying with friends. Then my sister moved there too.
Finally, in 1992, my long term relationship in Manchester came to an end and,
co-incidently, I was offered the job that I'd always wanted: as a features editor.
So, I left to take the job of my dreams, working on a magazine on the South Bank
of the River Thames.
Imagine that, two weeks before one of those 'significant' birthdays, suddenly
I had a fab job and a flat all to myself in Wimbledon.  The
picture at the top of the page shows the view of the London skyline from the kitchen
window of the flat.
I was on a 'high' for the first three months. Every day, seeing the buildings
and going to the places that I'd grown up with on TV. Soho was taking off as the
gay capital of the UK and I was single for the first time in nearly nine years.
One sunny Sunday afternoon summed it all up. I was cycling southwards across one
of the bridges over the Thames and I just thought 'wow'.
To see the Houses of Parliament and all the other landmarks like that. Something
about the warm air in my face and the movement as I crossed that bridge, created
a special moment.
Favourite London places: Columbia Road Flower Market
But the other side of the coin was the workload and the
stress. I began to feel tired all the time and I couldn't sleep. And, though I
was on a good wage, the money came in and then all went out again every month.
I was doing three times the amount of work compared to before, but I was no better
off.
Luckily, the way the magazine was heading meant that going back to working freelance
for them was the most sensible thing to do anyway.
Ultimately I did very well out of it. But, when I left, like all freelancers,
I faced a three month gap before they would pay me.
So I decided to head back up north where the cost of accommodation was much lower
and where I could get by for that couple of difficult months.
Favourite London places: Columbia Road Flower Market
I lived in London again for four months in 1995/96, this
time in Bow in the East End. However the accommodation didn't work out. Many working
people down there share a house or flat, and that's not something I'm prepared
to do unless it's with a boyfriend.
 |
|
There's even a gay bar on Columbia Road: The Royal Oak |
I continued to visit London regularly up until 1997 when
I moved to Manchester. I haven't been down since then and suddenly I'm starting
to miss it in a big way. Of course I have a soft spot for Manchester, but London
really is something special to me.
So, what's going through my head at the moment is that I don't see myself still
living in Manchester a year from now. I'm going to be living either in London
or abroad somewhere.
Webcam pics from
this day...
Click here to visit the Badpuppy website
GETTING IN TOUCH
See the contact
page for full details of how you can reach me by e-mail or chat.
All content is
�copy; Copyright GarySevenUK.com 1999-2006.
Read more here
|
