(Two weeks ago yesterday)
Here I am with Steve and Craig, the first time we've been together for 24 years. I meet them at Uxbridge tube station at 1:00pm. Lunch in The Three Tuns pub. The U2 bus to Clifton gardens. As we step off the bus, there is a noise. A motorcyclist has come off his bike and lies prone on the road where I used to catch the bus home from school.
Walk up and see Abbotsfield, our old school, glowering under cosy autumnal skies. Getting on for twilight now. Gates open. We slip into the old metalwork / woodwork block, rumoured to once have been a mortuary when we were at school. Same old green walls. Same tiles on the floor. Get caught by the caretaker. Craig shows him his dog-collar (he's now a priest) and he allows us to look around the playground unmolested.
Shifting into the past. The playground looks larger than expected. Same old horror comic vibe that always accompanies these returns to where I spent my adolescence.
Bus back to Uxbridge. Back to the pub.
It was a good day.
