PONDERING POMPEY...

For a few months at the start of 1985, I stayed in a little bedsit at 5 Shearer Road in Buckland/Fratton, Portsmouth, at the start of my freelance comics career for IPC/FLEETWAY, and later (back home) MARVEL UK and REDAN, etc.  I had a small room, and shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, but I always ate out, not being one given to preparing my own grub.  Earlier tonight I was looking at a couple of items I'd acquired while ensconced in number 5 and I suddenly realised that I kind of missed the place.  It represented a time in my life when I was less than half the age I am now, and had it ever occurred to me to project my thoughts 35 years into the future, it would probably have seemed too distant a stretch to even imagine - an eternity away in fact.

However, from this side of the span, it seems like no time at all really, and I marvel at the speed with which the years flashed past while seeming to be almost stationary during the process.  Funny that, eh?  I wish I could jump into my private helicopter (if I had one) and fly down to Portsmouth, let myself into the building I stayed in, and re-experience the feeling of what it was like to live there.  I'm doing that now of course, but only in my mind - it would give it far greater clarity and closeness if I were able to do so in the place itself.  I still possess most if not all of the books, comics, and items I purchased in my few months down there, and they provide a nice reminder of a particular period in my life from long ago.  

I've also got photos of the room and area I stayed in, so if you're not busy watching paint dry, why don't I share them with you?  You'd like that?  Oh, good, 'cos I would too.  So here are some images recorded for posterity on a HANNIMEX 110mm camera (bought in Southsea on a previous stay in 1981) of where I lived more than half my life away.  If you're from the area, feel free to provide an update on any significant changes since I was last there.  These pics form a circular tour of my room (I'm sure you can work out which one it was), starting from outside the house and ending there.  I'll add some other photos of Portsmouth later.

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