Explorations Blog — Danny Day

The ‘Down South’ Breakdown Investigation

Of course the title is exaggerated. This ‘trip’ was a very strange experience as I’ve always struggled to recall exactly where I went and what I was doing. During a specifically depressive mood, I clearly disassociated. I remember only small sections of things I did or places I went. I remember deciding on a whim that I should just ‘escape’ and so took a train as far as I could go. I had nothing with me. I remember buying a backpack and a camera when I arrived in the first town or city. Thankfully I did, as those photographs provide some clues as to where I was. Even then, the story isn’t completely clear.

Possible Route of 'Down South' trip – 2013

Leeds to Bristol via train - stayed overnight
Bristol to Southampton via Train - Stayed overnight in Cromwell Arms in Romsey just north of Southampton OR Bristol to Salisbury, then walked to Cromwell Arms (Pictured below)

No recollection / evidence of how I arrived here, other than walking in the dark down a long country road. This would appear to be the A27 but that's going the wrong way heading to Salisbury. Salisbury however, sounds familiar, and I'm almost wondering if I'd gone from Bristol to Salisbury and then walked from Salisbury to Romsey. I remember being absolutely exhausted when I arrived at Cromwell Arms and feeling lucky that I'd stumbled upon it, and just in time to be able to book in. It was pitch black, and walking along the road was dangerous as there no defined footpath. There were no lights and all I had was the light from my mobile. This feels accurate looking at the A27, although it's possible it could've been the A3090 I was walking down. Either way, how did I reach either one of those roads? Romsey is a small place but would've been big enough to find somewhere to hide for the night. I must've then walked from Romsey to the train station and gone to Brighton.
Romsey to Brighton via train.
Brighton to Slough via train.
Slough to Sunnymeads via train (Was meant to disembark at Wraysbury but missed the stop)
Walked from Sunnymead station to village of Horton
Stopped at 'Koppa Kitchen' for a drink (as per the internet: AKA Horton Arms, formerly Five Bell – pictured below)

Walked to Bull House / Fur House manor
Unsure where I went from there...
According to photograph of map, I went from Slough to Reading (which I don't recall)
And then to Oxford, and then finally back to Leeds

First images seem to be taken in Southampton, suggesting the possibility of buying the camera in Bristol. Unfortunately there files dates and times are incorrect, either they weren’t recorded correctly on the camera of they have malfunctioned.

Southampton - West Quay Shopping Centre - IMG_0050 (2)
50.9032224299215, -1.4082276512156582

Southampton – Premier Inn – IMG 0041 (2)
50.90720543714569, -1.3988926798728543

Southampton - View from hotel window, looking across St Andrews Road onto Trinity Road to the Southampton Lighthouse Church - IMG_0069 (2)
50.90872845623019, -1.3980382537280345