No trip to Derby would be complete without taking the girls to all the significant sites of my childhood. This time, it was great to have Evie as our tour guide to provide deeper insights into our pre-Australian life.
We started in Kimberley, past the home of my Nursery school and headed to Nuthall. There are so many places to see – the place that Mum & her 2 sisters and 3 brothers grew up, the church where Mum & Dad got married, the home built by mum & dad that we left in ’83, the flat that we lived in while the house was built, my Grandmother’s bungalow, and Dad’s local pub ‘The Three Ponds’.
We snuck down the drive of our old house… I remember the driveway being really long and dark, but as an adult everything appears to have shrunk! I also took everyone cross-country through the fields to sneak a peek at the back of the house – it’s amazing how familiar it was and how many memories returned as I caught glimpses of windows and the gardens.
We also headed down to my old primary school – Horsendale. I remember it being huge, but again it appears to have shrunk. Realistically not much had changed, and according to Facebook sources one of my teachers only retired last week! Horsendale Avenue was also the location of the first house I lived in, and passing it brought back many memories of 1p sweets and times as a little girl with Mum & Dad.
The girls thought the story of Rachel & my quest to be the Incredible Hulk one Saturday morning was particularly funny. Poor Poppy woke up with a hangover to find his 2 innocent daughters (about 2 & 5 at the time) had decorated the whole house with green paint handprints… I don’t think he would have seen the funny side at the time!
Evie then took us to Nottingham to see Poppy’s old school – Nottingham Boys High. He was immensely proud of his school, and I can understand why. The school was founded in 1513 and it’s impossible to comprehend the history that would be contained in its walls. A 500th anniversary for a school is mind-boggling.
We couldn’t pass through Nottingham saying g’day to Robin Hood, and checking out England’s oldest pub at the base of Nottingham Castle. For the record, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem was established in 1189 – makes Nottingham Boys High seem positively young!
We spent the afternoon at the centre of the universe, Ilkeston. While the title was bestowed by my Uncle Richard, it’s fully and affectionately accepted by all members of our family. It was great to catch up with all the Moulds clan, including 4 cousins, their partners and Andree & Richard’s grandchildren – Penny, Leo, Logan, Finley and Brooke are definitely some of the cutest kids around! It’s such a busy house, filled with so much love 🙂
We headed to Heanor for the last time to say farewell to the Gran and the Bamber side of my family. It’s been great to spend time with everyone, and particularly special to introduce Alex to Gran and Kate. It’s meant a lot to all of us.
So it was a very reflective day filled with too many goodbyes, but hopefully the girls have taken a little bit of my early years and our family history with them from this trip.
Love M & theBunch xx
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