Memories of England in pictures

Twenty-four years after moving to New Zealand, I am very fortunate to still have many friends and relatives in England and still be able to go back and see them. A consecutive Britrail pass provides the freedom to travel around the country on any train at any time, to visit people and places that played an important part in my earlier life and to take some pictures to remember them by.

My mother was brought up in Ramsgate and Margate, and during my own childhood we often visited these and other seaside towns in Kent.

My own childhood was spent in Gravesend. Returning there recently I found the town so changed that I hardly recognised it, and didn’t take any photos other than one of the house where I grew up.

Besides the outings to the seaside we often visited other parts of Kent.

My teenage years were spent in Yorkshire. I don’t often go back there now, but I took this picture during a delightful stay with an old school friend who lives in Wharfedale.

Oxford, where I attended medical school and spent most of my subsequent career, still feels like home. The city centre has deteriorated but walking by the river is lovely as ever.

And a favourite place full of memories – the College of Healing course, the Elgar museum, the walks on the hills – is Great Malvern.

A highlight of my time in London was a lunch party for 24 of the friends who have given me hospitality over the years.

As we all get older, and the state of the world gets more precarious, I know I may not see some of these people and places again. But I hope there will be more visits to England still to come.