Memories of Christchurch

Some of you may have read my post earlier this week, just after the disastrous earthquake in the city in which I was born and brought up.
The news gets sadder every day, with about 100 now confirmed dead, and another 250 still missing. I have been thinking about my years there and the places I used to know well; these pictures are how I would like to remember the city.

For about 8 years of my childhood we lived in New Brighton. My strongest memory, apart from our big wooden two-storeyed house, is of the beach - stretching for miles, windswept, grey-sanded. There was a long wooden pier, dilapidated and dangerous, under which I very nearly drowned. Today there is a new streamlined pier.



When I was a teenager we moved to Sumner, another beachside suburb. In those angst-ridden times I often used to walk along the beach at night and sit on top of the Cave Rock (centre of picture). I always felt perfectly safe, and never came to any harm.



I attended Christchurch Girls' High School, in an old building only a block or 2 from the centre of the city. Today, there is a new campus on far bigger grounds, further out of the CBD.








Another view of the old building:

One of the best features of the city is (was?) Hagley Park, a huge acreage of recreational ground wisely set aside by the founders for their descendants.

There were sporting grounds, walking and running tracks, lakes and playgrounds.
A busy main road runs through the Park, and along both sides of it are beautiful cherries which make a stunning show in the springtime.

Of course they have been renewed and replaced many times over the years, but I am very proud of the fact that my father was responsible for the original plantings, when he was an elected member of the City Council.

Christchurch has always prided itself on its gardens. Through the city runs the Avon river (yes, named after the English one). I used to love being taken boating on the river,

and to the Botanic Gardens and Museum

In the background of these two pictures is the old University, which I attended. These days it is an Arts centre; I wonder how much of it has survived the quakes?

Christchurch had a small but busy port called Lyttelton. This is where the latest quake was centred



And finally, another picture of the iconic (yes, that word is badly overused, but in this case it's correct)

Cathedral

Thanks for reading.
These photos are by David Wall or from this site by Michelle.