Been to Borstal

It's a funny thing, how names of places or products get adopted as generics. Names such as Hoover and Biro have been common parlance for decades; and there are also generic words that aren't brand names such as laptop (misused to represent any kind of portable computer).

When I was young, one such name was Borstal, where bad boys were sent. Only when I moved here some thirteen years ago did I eventually discover that Borstal happened to be the name of the place where a correction centre/school was located, and was not the name of the establishment at all.

In reality, it is a place within south-west Rochester that is more or less a village, even having its own village hall, plus two churches, a few shops, a marina and a couple of country lanes.

Well, I've been there several times during the past years, and today I was back there again. This time, thanks to Google aerial and street views, I had a purpose, and that was to find a way onto the large green field that stretches from the residential area of that part of Rochester, wrapping around some of the prison land, and ending up at the M2 motorway. There is more such green space (lots of it!) on the other side of the motorway.

I saw all of that once I found an opening in the fencing at the end of Hill Road, a little beyond where the Street View camera car went. Along with a young couple and their dog, who were about a minute ahead of me, I too have now been up on the high point of that field, looking down on Nashenden Lane, the motorway and railway lines, and across the river to Cuxton.

I wish I had taken a camera with me; but I really wasn't expecting such a wonderful panorama of views. I shall try to go there again later this week, and take some photos that I can add here.