Chiswick Local's Trip Down Memory Lane Makes News In Canada

Alan Bignell returned to Montreal home after 51 years

newspaper cutting

Participate

Sign up for our weekly Chiswick newsletter

Comment on this story on the

A Chiswick resident has taken a trip down memory lane to a house in Canada where he lived 51 years ago. The visit by Alan Bignell to the house in St Catherine Street West, Montreal, that he shared with a group of four young English people, made local news in the Westmount Independent.

Alan's visit was recorded by a photographer who matched a 1968 photo of him sitting on the porch steps accompanied by his housemates, with the same pose, but this time with his wife, Arlene, and the present owner.

As a young man, Alan Bignell lived in Montreal for two years, sharing a house built in 1899 with four other young people from the UK. On this return trip, he was visiting Canada to promote his recently published book, ‘The year I became Al.’ which retraces his first year in North America.

While visiting Montreal, he discovered the house was still standing and because of its age now enjoys heritage status. The present owner, Vincent, was delighted to show Alan around the house which, although completely refurbished, was still recognisable from half a century ago.

Alan Bignall now in present day sitting on steps of old house

Image - copyright Alan Bignell

The resulting article in the Montreal paper has aroused interest from both the local historical society and the district library.

‘The year I became Al.’ is available from Amazon Books.The book's title comes from the fact that, after arriving in Canada, Alan was never called anything else but Al.

Alan lost touch with his Montreal housemates when he returned to England but is hoping publicity around the book might lead to a reunion.


Image - Alan Bignell

Alan lives in Bedford Park, with his wife and son, who is currently studying at Nottingham University.

During the time he lived in Canada and for several years after he returned to the UK, he worked as a copywriter in advertising. However, for the past twenty years he has taught the Alexander Technique both in Chiswick and in Central London.

He also plays guitar in a music group called A Wing and a Prayer which until last September played on Sundays at Our Lady of Grace church on the High Road and now performs country and Irish music at care homes in West London.

You can read more on Alan's weekly blog about the Canada trip and the book.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

June 4, 2019


Bookmark and Share