The Nostalgia Trail and InMe

Date: 29th August 2008
Purpose of trip: Day - Revisit my old haunts

Evening - InMe in concert at Sheffield Corporation
Getting there: Bus to the station, train to Sheffield via Derby
Travelling companions: My ace travel buddy Pete

This was one of those very special days with happy memories not just at the end of it but also at the beginning. In its own way it was perfect but there were some hitches too. I'd wanted a sunny day to visit the restored Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. It was very warm. But no sun. Then the usual travel problems. Not the trains, for once, but the buses. Our local buses are generally reliable but today 2 buses failed to arrive and the third was too full to stop. So we walked 40 mins to the station, after which we'd missed not only the train we'd orinally planned to get but the two that followed it in the timetable. Miraculously, we arrived in Sheffield only an hour late.

Arriving in Sheffield is a real treat now. There is the most fantastic water feature at the station. It's almost worth the trip just to see it. But then there's a new attractive route into the city very different from the one I used to take when I lived there. It culminates in the fantastic new Peace Gardens.

On the way we passed what used to

be the Pond Street site of Sheffield Poly but is now Hallam University. This is what you can now see/read on the side of the building.

We walked through the newer features of the city centre, past a few less attractive parts to the Ecclesall Road area where I spent most of my student days. I regaled Pete with my tedious stories as I dragged him round all the places I had lived/eaten/shopped etc. We got philosophical at times and talked about how today would one day be part of the nostalgia trail. Then we made it to the Botanical Gardens themselves. Not changed too much since they were part of my everyday routine. We enjoyed watching the lively squirrels, admired Peter Pan and scared each other in the bear pit before going to eat in Yankees on Ecclesall Road before the gig.

Meanwhile, the police had descended on the Corp. Apparently the venue should only be admitting under 18s if they have membership. We waited in a long queue of confused youngsters to see if a confrontation between the management and the police would be resolved in our favour. Eventually we were picked out of the queue because we were parent and son. We think the unchaperoned youngsters probably made it in eventually but can't be sure.

InMe delivered. They were on stage for a little over an hour because of a 'curfew'. We don't know if they managed an encore as we had to leave at 10.15 to get the last train home.

I didn't get my camera out at the gig but Pete took this pic on his phone, hence the quality. But I think it's a great picture anyway.

Extra points for:

1. Everyone involved in the development of Sheffield. I'm heartbroken that we moved away before all the positive changes. I wouldn't need asking twice to move back.


2. Yankees on Ecclesall Road. Their food too is just as I remembered it. Pretty much the same menu and flavours. Nothing wrong with that. They must be doing something right to have survived all these years. Ditto for Uncle Sam's, just a few yards down the road, whose chargrilled burger aroma brought the memories flooding back.


3. Pete, whose ears must have hurt even before the gig but who never lets on how bored he is of listening to me talk about how much I love Sheffield and how great it was being a student there.
   
4. InMe. The metal equivalent of the chocolate brownie - just a little bit crusty on the outside but soft and chewy beneath the surface. Thanks, guys, for indulging us with some oldies and most of all for finishing with Chamber (see video at the end of the post). That song goes into my ears, straight to my soul and out onto my skin in the form of goosebumps.
   
5. Some great street art which pushed Pete's buttons.

Points deducted for:

1. The Corp for not doing things by the book. Get it sorted!


2. Grumpy railway station staff who have no concept of customer service. At our local station we have one guy who barely tolerates customers and has never been seen to smile. But there is another guy who will do anything for you. Let's hope he gets all the promotion he deserves!


3. British weather. Hot all day but no sign of the sun.


4. Teenage boys who decided it was appropriate to mosh to Chamber. Not this one, fellas.


5. The powers behind student loans who have seen to it that Pete will never have a student experience like mine.