A Canadian Boy’s Journey Back Again … 48 Years Later, Part 1

A Canadian Boy’s Journey Back Again … 48 Years Later, Part 1

In 1978, forty-eight years ago, my parents took the family to the United Kingdom to live while my dad was on a sabbatical. We rented a house in a small village — Ripley, Surrey — and for one year, I attended a new school, made new friends, and tried my best to adapt to a new culture. I’m not going to lie to you … it was hard.

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The Beginning

I hadn’t yet started Grade 3. The trip took me away from everything I knew, from all my friends and from my life in London, Canada. However, I didn’t have much choice about the situation — I had to go. Even though the language was still English, there were many differences which were hard for such a small human to truly understand. It’s why today I’m so empathetic with immigrants and what they’re enduring as they adapt and try to forge a life in a new country, wherever it may be. Regardless, I managed as best as possible and lived in this new land for just under a year. I attended class (Form 4), ate hot lunches at the school, wore a school uniform, and trembled at the threat of corporal punishment for minor infractions such as not finishing a meal. I wasn’t used to some of the food, like kidneys, custard, and mushy peas.

When I look back, it was an adventure, though many parts were indeed a challenge.

After my dad completed his studies, we returned to Canada in June of 1979. I largely forgot about the experience as the years passed. The accent I’d unknowingly absorbed slowly disappeared, and time swallowed my memories. I attended high school, then university. I worked for thirty years as an educator. I had two daughters and my own family grew. I wrote nine books.

And then, in July 2026, my family decided to visit England and Europe on vacation. Without planning it, I suddenly found myself within an hour’s train ride of my former village, Ripley. It had been forty-eight years.

I toyed with the idea of returning. Should I? Did I have the time?

Would I even remember where I had lived and gone to school?

The Hunt for my Home

I knew the name of the village: Ripley in Surrey, near the city Guildford. However, none of us remembered the street name. My parents, now in their 80s, couldn’t remember details of that sort. We didn’t have records from that time five decades ago. A few notes and cards, but nothing with our mailing address or our house rental agreement. There were a few photos, faded and tinted yellow or orange now, but not many clues.

And so I used Google.

Here’s where Ripley is in relation to London and the nearest main city, Guildford.

I remembered the path I used to walk each day to school. I was only seven years old at the time, but there were some details we remembered about the street. We were near the main road, perhaps one or two houses up from it, on the South side, and I always crossed the main street for maybe a ten minute walk to my school. I have a report card, though it was more of a note from the teacher, Mrs. Eaton, so I had the school name: C of E First. It didn’t take long to find it, though I was still unsure because the school no longer exists! The building is still there, but it’s no longer a school for children for students up to Form 5. It’s now “Ripley Pre-School” or “Ripley Primary.” Nowadays, in Ripley, children are bused out of the village to attend school. I don’t feel happy about this. Even though I was only there for one year, more or less, it’s still a part of my history. I don’t want my school to disappear and dissolve into only memories, which themselves are ephemeral and transient. I want a place where I can go back … some place solid and real. Luckily, the building still exists and it’s used for other purposes, but it still stings.

Here’s where I believe the school is/was:

I used Google Street View to see if it matched with my memories. Parts did, but the camera angles were difficult to verify with certainty. However, after consulting with a former classmate, Lisa, who remembered me from way back (I was concurrently searching for information via Facebook queries) I confirmed that this indeed was the school. Tracing my path backward, I soon located my street and where I thought my house was, which we had rented at the time.

I decided that If I found myself with a few hours to spare during our upcoming trip to London, maybe I might get away to retrace those steps and see if I could find my old house.

In London, England

My family arrived on the morning of 1 July 2026, travelled via tube to our Airbnb from Heathrow, near a stop called Vauxhall, and immediately began our tourist trip to London. It was exceptional.

First, once settled at the Airbnb, we took the tube to Buckingham Palace and the Canada Gate.

We explored the park and the mind-boggling sites. Here’s the Palace:

We snapped many family photos in this area. We walked along the Palace and marvelled at the sights, then along the greenspace. There were loads of other tourists, also gawking.

A few hours passed …

It was hot out, we’d been traveling all night and morning, hunger gnawed at us, and I knew what I wanted. In fact, I’d been thinking about this for weeks:

Fish and chips, tartar sauce, malt vinegar, salt and pepper.

I knew I had to eat the classic meal at a nearby pub. I remembered, from 1978, traveling to London and eating fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, everything soaked in malt vinegar. It is one of my strongest memories from my year in England. Here’s my meal from this trip, though I didn’t eat the mushy peas. Deep within, I trembled at the thought of getting “the slipper” for not finishing my plate.

We found this pub simply by walking in Shepherd Market; it’s called Ye Grapes.

We spent another two days doing amazing things in London. It is not the city I remembered from 1978. It’s now cleaner with a mix of older architecture and new buildings. The streets in the core and West End are stunning.

Every street I turned down, I thought to myself, “This is the most beautiful street I’ve ever seen.” Then, I’d turn down a different street and think the same. That happened again and again and again.

A pub named St. James. A section of the wall that used to divide the core from Whitechapel. Whitehall Road and 10 Downing Street. The Tower of London. The Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Big Ben. Westminster Abbey. Trafalgar Square.

Here I am with my daughter just outside the Tower of London:

Here’s the Tower Bridge behind me. Note the mix of old and new. London is simply full of that. Towering shards of glass stretching up to the sky, while at ground level — the foundation — older brick buildings, stone walls, limestone, cobble. All of it seemed well maintained, and in fact, cherished. The Brits were clearly preserving their past, highlighting it, but also not shying away from pressing forward into the future.

Everywhere I looked … the old and the new.

I went to the show Book of Mormon on my own (my family went to see Phantom of the Opera):

Our group went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour and explored some of the areas in Whitechapel, like the London Wall, which used to separate Londinium from the surrounding, more impoverished, areas:

And a church in Whitechapel, near where two victims were discovered:

And then off to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey:

And a monument to one of my greatest inspirations, Agatha Christie:

Her writing inspired my own trilogy, The Tanner Sequence, which are murder mysteries in outer space.

And then to her play, The Mousetrap, the world’s longest-running play, showing in the West End at St. Martin’s Theatre since 1952. This is the seventy-fourth year, and our show was the 30,605th performance! Kudos to the actors; it was wonderful.

The theatre is absolutely charming and a monument seemingly frozen in time from 1916. One of the previous shows, before The Mousetrap began its historic run, was Sleuth.

Here’s St. James Tavern (the photo is not mine) which shows the incredible melding of older architecture with newer structures.

And in the midst of all of this adventure, the stunning sights, the tube, the stifling temperatures and the muggy Airbnb, I soon found myself with an afternoon and a chance to make the trek to Ripley, perhaps find my former house, and make the walk to my school once more, for the first time since 1979. I knew I’d never have another opportunity.

This was my one chance to revisit Ripley and see if it could stir a memory or two.

I knew I’d likely never return.

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Find Part 2 of this article HERE.

Find Part 3 of this article HERE.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3 of my article, A Canadian Boy’s Journey Back Again … 48 Years Later. You’ll see photos from then and now, my former school, my thoughts on the experience — some joyful and some wrenching — and a fabulous surprise meeting two current residents of Ripley, a totally unexpected chance encounter and an event which became the highlight of my journey. Watch this space! If you enjoyed this article and photos, let me know in the comments below.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 16 July 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007

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TSJ’s Awards

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THE WAR BENEATH:  FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister

THE SAVAGE DEEPS:  FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister

FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist