WOW! Where has the last week gone? Not even time for golf. We have been having so much fun that we did not realise a full week had gone by - like the saying 'one is enjoying ones self'.
NB. With reference to the previous post - sorry to those not familiar with German cuisine – aschnitzel is a breaded escalope of veal and a Zigeuner one is served in a spicy tomato,onion and green/red peppers sauce with a Jager one being served in a creamedmushroom sauce.
Wednesday 13 Jun: Not a good start to the day, Linda seemsto have picked up a stomach bug and for obvious reasons wishes to stay close toporcelain so a lazy day planned. I did suggest that she could watch thefootball but for some reason she was not too impressed. At least the rain hasdisappeared and our neighbours have visited again, much to Daisy’s annoyance –she has started to slaver at the lips when they appear. They are pushing their PULLHEEMS(old army saying). Refuelled the Jazz – petrol is currently the equivalent of£1.25 a litre and diesel £1.12 a litre so do not feel too bad compared with theUK.
Thursday 14 Jun: Linda still a bit fragile but on the mend anda nice sunny, 18C, day so back to our quest to satisfying some nostalgic visitswith a run through to Verden (our home 1982-1984). On a roundabout route we passedthrough all sorts of old haunts – Celle, Hohne and Fallingbostel with allplaces having changed somewhat. Verden was a bit of a shock as the main barracks(Caithness) had become a council admin/civilian business centre and the secondarybarracks (Shiel - were Sandra’s stables used to be) have been knocked down and is now ahousing estate.
Our old flat was still standing with all the old quarters nowbeing used by German ish civilians and Linda took Daisy for a walk where over 28 years ago we used towalk Abby our Cavalier King Charles. Basically there is noreal sign of the previous British military presence.
Friday 15 Jun: Spent a day as Linda says ‘goofing’ around(it is great being retired) and contemplated our re-awakened memories from the previousday travels, a bit spooky, sad in parts but also some really very good times remembered.Linda did a bit of Kindle’ing and Neil with Daisy did some much needed physicalactivity in preparation for watching the football in the evening. A nice warmday 20C with a few showers.
Saturday 16 Jun: More supplies needed so a quick shoppingtrip into Soltau, it still amazes us what a nice little town Soltau has become.Started to work on our next move, trip out and our next site plan –provisionally hope to move to the Magdeburg area for a stopover on the way tothe Potsdam area – depending on site availability. It is now getting into thepeak season period so sites are a bit busy and slightly more expensive –anybody with relatives over here with verylarge driveways are requested to forward their details to enable us to do a bitof squatting. Hope to do a mass re-visit of old homes tomorrow so early night,no problems as this site is so quiet.
Sunday 17 Jun: Awoke to lovely sunny weather, good start toour ‘round the houses’ day, stayed bright and sunny all day with 21C. Early startand headed for Detmold via Rinteln (our son Terry's birthplace).
Shock, horror - most of Hobart barracks was still standing but in a very poor, dilapidated and boarded up state.The fence has gone and some of the buildings are being used for commercial purposes but basically a bit on an eyesore
The old Hakedahl school is a private kindergarten and the NAAFI is inthe same state as the barracks.
Both our homes Allandsbusch St (1974-1976) andSchillensbusch St (1978-1980) are still standing and occupied by German (?)civilians, with only the former visited.
After collecting our thoughts it was further onwards and we set off for Minden via Herford and Bunde and what was to be a bit more pleasing to the eye visit. Major changes in traffic and urban development made orientation a bit challenging but we made it to Elizabeth Barracks eventually - good type spookiness. The barracks has been fully utilised for housing, business and retail purposes, funny really as the main square is now the car park for the facility.
The old LAD (where Neil worked, sorry attended work) is now a driving school for light goods vehicles and the gymnasium is a supermarket. Our old house in Waterloostrasse (1985-1987) is still there with once again the estate now being German (?) families.
On a roll now, so many memories and places to cope with but we needed to complete the full set so after a quick refuel (McDonald's) we set off for Belm/Osnabruck - now that is going back in time, nearly 40 years ago when we first arrived in Osnabruck as a family. Osnabruck was in fact Neil's first posting from training and he joined the 1st Royal Tank Regiment in 1970 so one can presume that lots of you were possible rather small or just a twinkle. Belm apart from a bit more built up and the absence of the squaddies and their families was almost as remembered, the block of flats is still there and the supermarkets are just around the corner. Lots of memories here, including one about a little girl and some berries off a tree and a stomach pump!!
More shocks to the system when we saw the barracks, both were totally derelict, being left to rot and a very bad state. Both gates were wide open so anybody could get in/out, it did look like some people were living in the old buildings albeit with no electricity or water. Smartened up it would make a nice RV/Campsite - thinks....... no way!
We did have a quick look round inside, just for nostalgia and found Neil's original accommodation block and the LAD hanger, he could still hear 'Amazing Grace' from the days of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards as the band block was next to the LAD. Sad in some ways as Imphal Barracks used to be a good thriving British military workplace/community were we had so many happy times, it seems that in this instance we have just moved out and things have been left.
It just had to be done! A visit to the very first home for this part of the Gardiner family, easier said than done as we first lived in a German hiring which was a top floor flat miles from anyone/thing British and that was 39 years and 6 months ago so we were really taxing the grey cells. However we do remember the goldfish Sandra.
Things were not as bad as the days when one had to do '26 hours a day down the pit' but we had very few possessions (no washing machine, no car, no British TV and definitely no IT etc) but we were happy! Linda and Sandra tried to amuse themselves in the flat (surrounded by non English speaking Germans) whilst I took 2 buses to get to the other side of Osnabruck. No violins please - it helped make us who we are and to those who thought it might not last the first 40 years Wedding Anniversary is coming up.
The drive back to Soltau was full of "Do you remember............?", happy and sad memories and many reminders of our failing memories, names places dates etc.
ANOTHER BUCKET TOPIC ENJOYABLY COMPLETED!
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