13/14 June: Lancaster

 In some ways, it feels that this is the one that I've been waiting for - even though I only lived there for three years, and not even the whole year. But Lancaster was the place where I was a Student, and the combination of a number of things meant that they were some of the most formative times of my life.

I was away from home for the first time; it came during that period between 18 and 21 where (at least for me) you do a lot of growing up; it was a Campus University, meaning you were somewhat in a bubble; and it was where I really came to faith and started exploring it. 

Looking from near the Castle
to the Ashton Memorial

I started off spending Saturday around the City Centre, and it was a strange mix of the familiar and the changed. Lancaster isn't a big city; in some ways it feels more like an overgrown Market Town, albeit with a lot more history than most of them. That in some ways acts as a preservative: in the city centre itself, while the pattern might change, the buildings often don't: the demands of conservation, of listed buildings, and the way that restricts development mean that a surprising amount of it  if not the same, retained a certain familiarity.

That in some ways is remarkable, given I graduated from Lancaster in 1994 - 32 years ago this Summer. I went back frequently for several years - partly through knowing people who were still students, and others who had stayed. The last time I was there though was a few years ago now - I think it might have been 2012, when some of us gathered there for a wander around the place we'd been at 20 years before. Sadly there wasn't going to be the opportunity to meet up this time round - but the odd message, the occasional photo, sent to one or two people helped make it feel a lot less melancholy than some of my other solo visits.

Starting at the bottom of town, near where I lived in my second year, I gradually worked my way up to the far end and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. The Pub that hosted a Folk Club was a wreck; no sign any more either as I walked past of Interstellar Master Traders, a Sci Fi and Fantasy Bookshop that I had to avoid going into too often, as it was impossible to walk out without spending serious money. The Library - still there. Victoria Square - still there, although fenced off in parts due to Lancaster Pride the next day. Even some of the takeaways and restaurants were not just there, but still had the same names - Pizzetta Republic, Etna's, Fortune Star, the Whale Tail (a Veggie and Vegan Cafe that opened while I was there) - all present and correct.

The Hitching Post

 Gradually up the hill, and the Canal - on one side, some Uni Residences that at least when they were built were called Chancellor's Wharf, and one of the most popular student pubs, the Water Witch, on the other side. And then, up to the RLI, and across the road - a nondescript Lamp Post, just after the Bus Stop. At this point on a Saturday, no-one standing by it - it's entirely possible that I am among the last generation of Lancaster students to know this as the Hitching Post. 

When I arrived in 1991, the Bus Service to and from the Uni wasn't particularly great. It was frequent, yes - but rather than going directly along the A6, it went up through Bowerham and around Hala before rejoining the main road meaning it took quite a long time. It also cost about £1.70 return - bear in mind I received a Student Grant of £2,265 for the year. Oh, and there were two competing Bus Companies, and they had a point where they weren't prepared to accept each other's tickets. So, many of us hitched the three miles to and from Campus. It was sort of semi-organised - a queue would form at the lamppost, sometimes shrinking rapidly if a bus arrived and the weather was poor. If you were at the front, you'd half-heartedly stick your thumb out, and sometimes someone would stop and give you a lift. At the Uni, there was a sort of shelter on the Roundabout for going the other way. The range of people that would stop was wide;  I can recall lifts in a Farm Van, a car on a rainy day where the windscreen wipers didn't work and we almost went into the back of someone, one of the Cement Mixers taking stuff up to one of the building sites appearing around the Campus, and on one memorable occasion a lady in a Maserati Convertible with the top down. The only thing they all had in common was that they stopped to give someone a lift - altruism in action. During my first year though, a new, direct service was introduced, and the fare reduced to £1 return - and Hitching began to die out. 

I walked back to St. Leonard's Gate, where I had lived off Campus, and noticed, and reflected. Back in my day, relations between Town and Gown were not always smooth; there were certain pubs you didn't go into if you were a student. There were certain areas where student houses abounded - but there were others with hardly any, especially on the Marsh and the other areas on the far side of the Railway Station. The students helped keep the town vibrant; but at the same time, the businesses tended to shape themselves around the students - and that wasn't always popular with locals. To some extent, and the Uni is much larger than it was in my day, the same is still true in terms of the businesses - not many places the size of Lancaster would have specialist shops for those into Table-Top Gaming for example. It's all maybe a little more "Bougie" than you might expect - but it also feels that little more vibrant, and certainly not struggling in the way some places I've been to on my travels have been. There are still gaps, as there are everywhere these days - but maybe less than there might be elsewhere. What the locals think I can't say.

Bowland Tower and Alex Square

On Sunday I attended the service at Lancaster Methodist - in my day it was still called Greaves, and it was where I went most Sunday Evenings. The Minister there now is someone who was one of the Deputy Chairs in Chester and Stoke when I was in Whitchurch - later on in the day, I was able to meet up with her for a short catchup before she took a service as part of Christians at Pride - and then, off up to the University Campus itself. 

Again, that mixture of the familiar and the changed; Bowland Tower still rises over Alexandra Square at the centre, and many of the residential blocks are still there; but the whole place has grown. It was expanding in my time - I lived in a brand-new block in my final year, and they were building a new Graduate College building just off the edge of the main campus - now, it's a whole extra campus in its own right, having it seems expanded down the hill towards Galgate. The place I lived in my first year - some of the smallest rooms on Campus, and probably barely bigger than the Study at the Manse - has been demolished, with new, five storey blocks in its place. 

As I sat and ate my Sandwiches on the steps of Alex Square, I could see how the remodelling of Campus has probably been largely for the better. It was never a particularly accessible place if you struggled with mobility; now, there's lots more in terms of ramps and slopes, and even a lift to get down to the Underpass where the Bus Stops are. It's still something of a Concrete Jungle along the main spine, but it feels a little gentler now; even Bowland Tower has been remodelled somewhat, and together with some of the older buildings has been made more attractive. There are more shops, and more takeaways on Campus; even Limelights, the Restaurant that was known to everyone, apparently even up to the Vice-Chancellor, as the Greasepit - despite several rebrandings - now looks, in its current incarnation, quite smart.

Which all in all makes the place that was such a part of my Uni Experience - the Chaplaincy Centre - feel a little neglected. There too there have been things done about accessibility - the doors in now open with a button - but I couldn't help but reflect, as I wandered in, how different it used to be. The only Sunday Service there that day- still in the Uni Term Time - was an RC Mass in the late afternoon; we used to have services in the Anglican/Free Church Chapel, and the RC Chapel, where we'd start together and then go to our respective chapels at 11:30am, then for those that wanted to there was a two-course Lunch that we'd share (for a small cost), a Bookstall, a Fair Trade Stall. Sometimes afterwards some of us would hang around one or other of the Flats, there as accommodation for Chaplains; they were almost always open and I was one of the regulars that haunted them. Mind you, back then there were multiple chaplains, several full time or doing a good number of hours; it seems that now, whether due to cost or simply availability, that's not the same story. 

The Anglican/Free Church Chapel

This was where my faith was formed; this was where I got involved; this was where I took part in services, and wrote a piece for a Carol Service that then had Jane, Local Preacher Tutor and wife of the Methodist Chaplain, commenting "You'll be asking for a Note to Preach next", only a small part in jest; this is where myself and Rachel were, together, Confirmed into the Anglican Church and Received as Members of the Methodist Church. That must have been a powerful moment - Rachel went on to be an Anglican Priest, I to be a Methodist Presbyter. This, for me, became a thin place - a place where I got to know more about God, and laid a foundation that has held firm throughout.

I had a cup of tea - the old Coffee Bar in the Central Lounge is now a Brew Room - and reflected, remembered, with joy and sometimes with sadness. No-one came in. But on my way out, I went and stood once more in the Chapel; I held my arms wide, gave thanks for how I had been blessed in this place, and asked that those here now, and those still to come, would be similarly blessed. I may never pass this way again - but it will always be a special place to me.