"Space", the final frontier? The "Space Race"? "2001 A Space Odyssey"?
Nope! I'm talking about "outside space".
[Netflix]
My "Space" History
Since I became an adult, the outside space available to me has fluctuated.
As a student
I lived in a Hall of Residence in Salford, in a grotty flat in Upper Kersal, Manchester, two flats with no outside space in San Sebastian (Guipuzkoa), a "Wohnheim" (a workers' hostel in Stuttgart, Germany), a bedsit in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and a tower block with no balcony in Salford.
Davy Hall, Salford [Flickr] Briarhill Court, Salford [Reddit]
As a married working man
After I got married and started work, Jeryl and I got a mortgage to buy a semi-detached house in Walkden, Greater Manchester, which had tiny gardens front and rear.
Then in 1980 we bought a detached house on a corner plot in Thelwall, Cheshire. That had gardens all round the house. I could at last start gardening.
We stayed in that house for a quarter of a century until my wife and I split up and divorced.
For a while I lived in Bryn-Y-Maen, North Wales with my new girlfriend, Maude, in her cottage with a massive garden and a field.
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After that relationship ended I had nowhere to live, so my mum took me in at the ripe old age of 57! She had a semi-detached bungalow on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal in Thelwall (qv).
The bungalow had gardens front and year, plus I "annexed" a chunk of MSC land, in common with most neighbours. I had an allotment there.
Then I bought a detached house on a large plot on the other side of the Ship Canal in Latchford, Warrington. I was retired by now, so had time to continue with my gardening activities. It was 2008.
100 Wash Lane, Latchford [PW]
Spain
Pre-dating this my first wife, Jeryl, and I owned two properties in Ronda, Andalusia, Spain.
The first was a flat with a small terrace on the first floor, which we bought in 2001. The second was an end terrace house 50 metres away. We bought this in 2003 as a project, a "do-er up-per". That had a large private terrace with great views to the rear.
Piso Blanco, Ronda [Photo: PW]
After our divorce I was left with the two Ronda properties.
Maude, the girlfriend from North Wales, also bought a little house in Ronda centre with a long garden to the rear. Since I was retired I was able to spend lengthy periods in the City of Dreams, finishing off my house in the barrio and doing up Maude's house and garden.
Then, in 2008 my life changed for ever - and for the better. I met Rita in Ronda. In fact last weekend was the 17th anniversary of that fateful meeting.
I emigrated at the end of 2008, to "live in sin" with my new German girlfriend in her house in Montejaque, near Ronda. From the outside space point of view we had a huge roof terrace and an internal patio and a small sitting area in front of the house.
After marriage in 2010, we also decided to move to a larger property with easy access and lots of land. That's what we got - a 3000 m2 plot laid to lawns and a 10,000 m2 field.
I let a neighbour, Juan Antonio use most of the field to grow hay for his horse to graze in the summer. My gardener Rafael has a sizeable huerta where he grows vegetables, and another neighbour, Mercedes, uses a small plot, also as a huerta.
Both "pay me" in fruit and veg, Merche also gives us eggs laid by her free-range chickens.
Managing the "space"
I undertook a major project this year to create more allotment space for fruit trees and vegetables. Also to furbish a "man cave" and to re-organise terraces and seating areas.
The expansion of my huerta is complete, and the terraces are ready. The "man cave", in a wooden shed at the bottom of the garden, still needs tidying up.
Above photos by Paul Whitelock, except top left, by Karl Smallman
Links:
© Pablo de Ronda
Images:
Flickr, Karl Smallman, Netflix, Paul Whitelock, Reddit
Tags:
barrio, Casa Blanca, Flickr, Jeryl, Karl Smallman, Maude, Montejaque, Netflix, Pablo de Ronda, Paul Whitelock, Piso Blanco, Reddit, Rita, Ronda, Villa Indiana, www.help-me-ronda.com