Affection

 I have a proper affection for places.
I think we all do.
Our home towns, our favourite holiday destinations , places that mark significant milestones and times in our lives.
We all have love for a place.
New York City holds such affection from me, of course so does Trelawnyd, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, Sydney, Sitges in Spain and that grubby old dame of Yorkshire my beloved old home city of Sheffield all rank highly in in those places that have made me the person you see today.

As I was  driving into Llandudno this morning, the early morning Sun , made earlier by the clock’s change, lit up the Great Orme eastern face in a dazzling flash of golden warm light.
I stopped on the North Shore to take a photo of the peninsula and had a sudden rush of affection ( once termed SRAs) for the slightly fading but still valiant Victorian town.


The town is my place of work,
It’s Welsh but remains oh so different from Trelawnyd and indeed from its local hinterland,
And I regard it with some pride and like the Sun reflecting on the Orme, with a great deal of warmth.

105 comments:

  1. The affection for some places is deeply rooted in our psyches, isn't it. That is a particularly beautiful view, with the sea looking so benign and the glow of the stone. Wonderful. No wonder you hold it in affection. It is a forbidding sight in rough, winter weather?

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    1. Oh yes when it’s bad, the goats leave the Rock even more

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  2. Affection for places is pretty much the same as affection for people. You are prepared to accept and appreciate their flaws and imperfections.

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    1. Exactly that’s why you often love a place
      Sheffield’s eclectic look and feel always warms me

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  3. I know just what you mean. It's like a visceral pull.

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  4. We had a long weekend there a few years ago, we stayed in the not so Grand Hotel.

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    1. Yes, these days it's not so aptly named. Next time splash out and stay at Osbornes :-)

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    2. Yes another place I don’t think I will revisit sue

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    3. View was brilliant, lovely sunrise from our balcony

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  5. I love Llandudno and have visited a couple of times. We had planned to go again last year but Covid stopped us. Maybe this year we will get there again. I'll buy you a coffee if we do.

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  6. Anonymous8:59 am

    It is a great photo of the peninsular. When we were in Conway, I had no idea we were close to you and I was so sick and not on the ball. One of life's regrets.

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  7. For a long time now, I've not lived in the place which was, looking back, my favourite place to live (North London). I'm happier though, now, than I probably would have been had I stayed there. Place, I think, is important but it's probably one of the least important of the important things in life for me (that's not to underestimate it). I do love North Wales but, again, I like to keep it as somewhere I go to now and again.

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  8. It is a great photograph this morning. I have strong affections for a few places. You have made me think about it. Thank you.

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  9. I think our dogs are missing their Llandudno walks already. We'll have to take them to Morecambe now that we are allowed to travel a bit, but it's not quite so pretty as the prom at Llandudno.

    The places I hold affection for are Sark ... to walk down the high street is to be in another era as the postman goes past on his bike and the Doctors tractor overtakes ... Garstang, Ulverston in Cumbria and Llandudno in that order.

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  10. Lincolnshire - although when I returned to look around I realised I couldn't go back to living there.
    Venice - never tire of it.
    New York - adore it - farmer hated it like a true Yorkshire farmer I guess.
    Norwegian Coast - all hold a place in my memory.

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  11. I have lived in and visited lots of places during my life and have affection for many of them. But re-visiting nearly always disappoints me, probably because the friends and loved ones are no longer there or the experience doesn't compare to the original.

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  12. As Sue says, sometimes it's not good going back to places, especially if what makes them special were people who are no longer there. I'm a Mancunian, but Manchester holds nothing for me, whereas Liverpool, which is about 15 miles from me now, is special. xx

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    1. I doubt I will ever revisit New York for that reason

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    2. Perhaps someday you'll come visit and make wonderful new memories. Not bittersweet, just happy.

      xx

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    3. I'm another Mancunian who is always happiest when I'm driving away from the city. I left at 25 and I would never live there again.

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  13. Yes, curious how we are drawn to some places and not to others...they just fit. My place is Ludlow in Shropshire. Maybe I'll move there one day!

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    1. It's full of a sense of history. From the castle towering above Dinham bridge and the river, to the tiny streets with half timbered cottages, and the huge St Lawrence's church tucked away in the centre of the town, you can feel the presence of all the people who have lived there. I've shopped there weekly for years; there are still proper little shops where the owners know you, and Turb's favourite butcher throws him a couple of chunks of beef when he drags me in. There's also a vibrant and varied market (when Covid is not restricting it) with a stall on the Thursday farmer's market that sells the best scotch eggs! And all surrounded by the beautiful Shropshire hills.

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  14. Anonymous11:30 am

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  15. Talking of Llandudno we saw your goats on our news the other day - quite a sight at 6pm Melbourne time.
    Each time we visit Singapore the memories of life there in the 1960s come flooding back - I’m impressed by the changes yet mourn the loss of the slower way of life from those times

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    1. The new skyline must be amazing to see

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  16. I can't wait to get to my favourite place-I can usually find a spot to just relax and breathe slowly and sigh.It's from fields overlooking the sea x

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    1. Lovely I may organise a quiz , entitled my fav place

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  17. I need to stop and take more pictures. Not just on vacations but everyday.

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    1. We all do .... Steve on http://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/ especially so x

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  18. I know what you mean about affection. I’ve travelled a lot and moved around a fair bit (lived and worked on four continents and six countries) but the place I now live “fits” me better than other places I have lived.

    The feeling was pretty instantaneous. It took 12 hours to decided to sell up and move continents.

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    1. I’d love to hear of your adventures

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  19. Beautiful photograph ...... I am now thinking of places that I have an affection for ...... Venice, Amalfi coast, Siena, Cinque de Terre ... .. pretty much all of Italy, the Big Sur, Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion Canyon, Lake Powell, and much of the U.K. I could go on and on but I’m boring myself now !!!! XXXX

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    1. I know I’m going to love Italy
      My. Next visiting place

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  20. Whyalla, South Australia, cycling to the Foreshore cafe from my UniSA digs on a Sunday afternoon for a coffee and a blueberry muffin, the LLyn Peninsula and the garden at Plas yn Rhiw, and Ludlow - lovely town with a great market. Oh, and Trelawnyd.

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    1. Thank you for that last word. It made me a bit emotional

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  21. Anonymous1:18 pm

    A few weeks ago, I made a comment on this blog. It was the first time I have ever commented on any blog. The subject being discussed was emotive and relatable to me, I wanted so much to be included and I felt proud that I took the leap and participated. As I don’t have a blog and couldn’t think of a catchy name, I just signed it Anonymous.
    Since that time, I’ve read some vile comments directed at John regarding his previous relationship delivered by “Anonymous”. I ask - What drives someone to be so hateful towards another person? I’m calling that behaviour out for what it is – Disgusting - Stop it! I for one am offended for John by your relentless attack. You have put all the genuine Anonymous commenters to shame.

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    1. Professor Aristotle Not3:22 pm

      Why not just append your name, or any consistent name at random, as exemplified here, but used consistently, to avoid confusion? Most of us have a pretty good idea who the nasty Anonymous is anyway, unless John has managed to attract two of them?

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    2. Thank you two ...it’s nice to have people in your corner.. the trolls remain deleted

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    3. Anonymous10:51 pm

      I'm just a newbie at this Professor Aristotle Not. I came out of my shell for a peep. Thing is - I detest a bully. It's hurtful to read the vitriol slung John's way. I'll think of a suitable name to use but in the meantime I'm "Not The Nasty Anonymous".

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    4. I had someone on another blog I comment on pretend to be me and be very offensive x

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    5. Anonymous2:48 am

      Thank you heaps for the advice Flis, I will take it on board. x

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    6. Anonymous8:40 pm

      You assholes....john is just a sad overweight gay who lived through a more successful spouse

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    7. Anonymous10:50 pm

      What a sad sorrowful piece of humanity you are. NTNA

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  22. Spectacular photo, I know that feeling of comfort and attachment. It is good.

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    1. We forget to explain it sometimes relying on the nostalgia and affection of real people

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  23. Stunning scenery! I think the golden yellows and shade of lilac hues would have been nice colours to use for your home decor that you recently asked for advice about!

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    1. I may frame the photograph Simone x

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    2. That would be lovely. x

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  24. Cue ”In My Life” (Beatles). Lovely photo.

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  25. Love that photo!
    And that would be a place I'd like to visit.

    XOXO

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    1. There is a copper mine on the top of the peninsula which the Romans shipped copper to the entire world

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  26. I was born in Chicago but grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I still always feel like a tourist when I visit Chicago - stretching my neck to look up at the skyscrapers, watching the people bustling around, exploring the lakefront. I will be glad when I can make the trip in again after it is safe.

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  27. "Grubby old dame of Yorkshire"? What the? No way you'll be getting the freedom of the city now old chap.

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  28. Barbara Anne2:43 pm

    Beautifully written! That photo is stunning and it's wonderful that you had the forethought to stop driving and to preserve the moment.

    Hugs!

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  29. What a stellar photo, as well as lovely writing. i am thinking now of the the SRAs in my like.

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    1. S R A s can be for people too hart x

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  30. I love your picture. We all hold places close to our hearts...and I imagine that we all remember them as golden places, bathed in a rare light. Your picture brings that affection back to mind.

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  31. Anonymous4:42 pm

    Several generations of my family are buried in the churchyard of St Tudno, on the Great Orme. I love Llandudno, but don't live there. Lizziex

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  32. Absolutely beautiful picture!

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    1. It stopped me in my tracks this morning

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  33. I could easily develop an affection for the view alone. It's odd, I like where we live for lots of practical reasons, but don't find I have an affection for it. Likewise where I grew up -- New York. I enjoy the city and all it has to offer but I don't have an affection for it. There are places I do have affection for Sevilla, Boston, and San Diego -- of the places I've lived. I've visited places in other countries that immediately sang to me. Bergen, Norway, for one.

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    1. It’s the song I was after my friend well explained
      I couldn’t quite define the place as a song

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  34. Wonderful photo. We have been up the Great Orme once and visited Llandudno twice. Now we are allowed out, we are off to Portland this week, would love to live near the sea, but so lucky in the UK that the coast is not too far where ever we live. Different places definitely bring back memories.

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  35. Barbara Anne7:17 pm

    Oh, and wouldn't that photo look lovely on your yellow walls of the sitting room or the blue walls (coming soon) of your bedroom? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps?

    Hugs!

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  36. Great photo. Oban's the place, for me, although we only ever visit (and very regularly) but I do believe I could happily live there. The views, the sea, the proximity to the islands, the constant bustle and to and fro of big ferries and small boats. Love it.

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    1. It’s a perfect storm when you get it right
      Place, time, person ,

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  37. I have a deep affection for living near the sea. My first experience was in a home built on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic in Massachusetts and later a second home in Maine on Penobscot Bay. I never tire of the sea. I've spent time in Devon, England and have many fond memories here too.

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  39. this is such a lovely, nostalgic post

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  40. Beautiful photo John would look lovely framed. I have moved often but for the most part I have always loved living near the coast as then I feel connected to the rest of the world and can sit by the water and dream of what lies beyond.

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  41. Beautiful picture! Yea, I suppose we all have affection for our hometowns and places that are significant to us. (As the Beatles sang, "There are places I remember..")

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  42. Glad you gave Sydney a thumbs up...beautiful city !

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    1. I have some lovely memories of watching the flying bats circle the opera house at night

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