“And into the sea. Goes pretty England and me” – Damon Albarn.
My Days In England: Accessible Accommodation in the UK
My days living in England seem a lifetime ago now and in fact they were actually two decades ago. That’s quite staggering. I moved to Bournemouth in Dorset, England in September 2003. I spent just over 6 years in England in total, also living in Poole (Dorset), Dartford (Kent) and London. It was such an interesting time to be alive back then. I made a lot of friends there and ended up living in ten different flats over that period. Some of my rent was organised by the University – the halls at Cranborne House for example. A great thing about accommodation in the UK is that it can be made accessible to tenants who suffer from mobility problems thanks to companies such as Age Co Mobility. For the first time, I thought I’d share all 10 of the places I stayed in whilst living and working in England!!
1.September 2003 – September 2004 – 256 Holdenhurst Road, Springbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset
This was my first ever house outside my home country and I was in the cosy downstairs room. I lived here with Steve, Claire and Hannah for the first 9 months and it was a fun time. For the last three months of living here, I lived with Jody, Neil and Austin – they all moved in when the others moved out.
A sentimental trip to my old flat on Holdenhurst Road in Springbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset, England
2.September 2004 – July 2005 – 10 Alton Road, Wallisdown, Poole, Dorset
This was a huge mansion that we shared in a group of 12 of us. I knew them all and I also knew our neighbours – Lee, Ant and Natasha. In our semi detached mansion was a lads side and a girls side. Lads was me, Dan, Dancing Andy, Austin, Jody and Steve. The other side had Abi, Hannah, Claire, Leigh, Denise and Amy.
3 of my flatmates from those first two houses – Steve, Hannah, Claire and me.
3.July 2005 – September 2005 – Lower Floor, Cranborne House, Bournemouth, Dorset
We had a flat share for the summer whilst I worked by the beach. I shared a room here with Jody – we took it in turns weekly to share the bed. We worked together and it was an easy place to stay. We had other flatmates too, including Joanne Dark from Wales who was on my PR course.
4.September 2005 – July 2006 – 88 Ensbury Park Road, Winton, Bournemouth, Dorset
After that, I moved in with Clare, Matt, Dan and Jody. Jody was the only one who lived with me in three different places in England. We stayed here until I moved to London in 2006.
With my flatmates in 2005 in Ensbury Park Road, Bournemouth including Clare Tweedy who studied with me.
5.July 2006 – September 2006 – Wood Lane, London, England
When I moved up to London, I tried to budget on Wood Lane in Shepherd’s Bush. It was close to my job at Bite Communications at Ravi C P, but then after three months my mate John from Dartford offered me a much better deal, so I moved out to Kent and commuted to work everyday!
I moved up to London and stayed at Wood Lane in Shepi B
6.September 2006 – July 2007 – Wyatt Road, Dartford, Kent
I shared a house here with John. It was much cheaper than living in London and I enjoyed living in “the garden of England”.
My flatmate John from 06-07
7.September 2007 – October 2007 – Southbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset
After a jaunt around the world, I found a temporary room here in Southbourne. I shared with a lady here on an upper flat and I cannot for the life in me remember her name!
Interview with Ron Hands in Southbourne, Dorset, England: Author of ‘Growing Up With War’
8.October 2007 – September 2008 – Beswick Avenue, Bournemouth, Dorset
It was while in this house that I both broke my leg and passed my degree. Here I flat shared with Bow (from Hong Kong where I’d later live), Steph (who’d also later live in Sydney), Jason, Lewis, Amandip and Tom. I also room shared with my German friend Mona, and I worked on boats.
The Wightlink ferry lands on the ramp in Yarmouth – not actually the usual place to disembark but this was a busy summer’s day!
9.September 2008 – September 2009 – Southbourne, Dorset
I moved back to Southbourne the following year and this is where I lived when I dated Noemi. I shared here with Corinne, Richard and Daniel – 3 good friends. This was a fun place but I was too busy working in multiple jobs to appreciate it.
Dan Darch and me, with Cherrybear in Happier times…
10.September 2009 – October 2009 – Charminster, Bournemouth, Dorset
My final flat of the 10 in England was a room in a big house in Charminster. I had a couple of local pubs and my friend Natalja from Estonia lived with me here – we travelled Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia together! I also shared with Doina from Latvia and a few others. It was a quick one month stay with the nice landlady Naomi Osella.
Natalja and I enjoying our hot pot in the city of Tainan, 2009
After that, I haven’t lived in England since!