Bangor & beyond… Piecing together the street I grew up in.

The picture above is of the little street I grew up in. If you look closely, you can see that the photo is in two parts: both were pieced together by me, but neither were actually taken by myself. Confused? Then let me explain.

Due to the time difference of living in Japan, the majority of the stuff I see on my Facebook feed is from my friends here in Tokyo. So I did a complete double-take the other day when a photo of a street just down the road from my house in Northern Ireland popped up on my screen. The photo was included on the FABB page (For a Better Bangor) – a group that “was created to allow members of the Bangor community to express their views, opinions and ideas on an evolving Bangor and to understand the processes at play in shaping the town.”

It’s a very strange feeling seeing a place so familiar just pop up on your screen out of nowhere. I must have walked up and down this hill over a thousand times. I messaged the photographer who is a guy called David J Campbell – and it turns out he lives just five minutes round the corner from where I grew up. I told him that the photo brought back a lot of memories, and in return he kindly walked round to my old street and took a photo of it as well! Now, he didn’t know exactly where I lived so my house was cut out of the shot. But using Google Street View I tried my best to stand in the exact spot David stood and managed to capture an image from here in Tokyo. I pieced the two together and completed the picture.

As a child, I couldn’t have asked for a better street to grow up in. All of us kids were the same age, and because it’s a cul de sac there is absolutely no reason to go up there unless you live there. I grew up with a sense of community – and to this day my nextdoor neighbour invites the whole street into her house every Christmas morning. Us kids may have grown up – but our street will always hold us together.

I like that the picture was incomplete to begin with. It somehow felt like a fitting end to the story that I would have to complete the tale. Thanks to David for taking the time to send me the pictures – and here are a few of my own from my last visit home at Christmas. Bangor, no doubt I shall see you soon.