MY NUMBER'S UP - OR SHOULD THAT BE DOWN...?

Sometimes I'm not sure whether it's better to leave certain things where and as they are, or salvage them so that they survive beyond their allotted time and place.  For example, 29 years ago I bought the house number plate from the then-current (and now-deceased) tenant of one of my former homes, in which I'd lived from the age of 7 to nearly 14.  Within a few short years of obtaining the number, the house had new windows and front and back doors installed, and had I not got the plate when I did, it would've been consigned to oblivion along with the old windows and doors, etc., before I'd even known about it.

Several months back, I learned that the local council have plans to upgrade the lockups in that very same neighbourhood where I'd once lived, which would entail re-roofing them and replacing the doors.  Some lockups have been bought over the years and are now in private hands, so they might remain untouched and unrestored initially, but the owners will, eventually, have to effect repairs themselves as not all doors (fitted in the early '60s), are exactly in the best of condition.  In fact, some owners have already replaced the original doors, which swung outwards, with ones that swing upwards under the roof.

Limited edition model of Nobel 200

I therefore decided to ask the guy who rents (from the current owner) what had once been my parents' house and lockup to sell me the two number plates on the doors, so that they'd survive any future upgrade.  He kindly consented for free, only requiring that I replace the numbers with new ones so that the lockup's numerical sequence could be readily identified.  And that's how I came to own the two plates at the top of this post.  Come what may, I now possess a tangible reminder from the days when my father housed his Nobel 200 car (and then a Reliant Robin) in that very same lockup, behind those very same numbered doors.

The numbers plates had been painted over at some point in the intervening years since we'd moved (in the '90s perhaps), so weren't entirely visible from even a short distance away, but I plan on stripping back the paint and restoring them to their former glory.  It's a shame I couldn't have waited until the doors themselves were being replaced, as I feel a bit guilty about parting doors and plates from one another before a definite date for their 'retirement' has been set, but I couldn't run the risk of only finding out afterwards when it was too late to nab 'em, so I acted now to prevent such a thing happening.

Photo taken in the late '80s, with plates still visible
(if you enlarge the pic to its optimum size)

Like I say though, it bothers me a little that I've separated them from the only 'home' they've known for nearly 60 years, and if doors and numbers had sentience, I can't help but fancifully wonder whether they'd miss one another?  I suppose that when the doors are eventually replaced, I'll be glad I obtained the plates when I did, as there have been too many occasions in the past when I left such 'rescue missions' too late to do anything.

Right, now that I've once again confirmed that I'm totally bonkers, is there anything that yet resides in a former neighbourhood or home of yours, that you'd like to acquire out of a sense of nostalgia or sentiment - if you could?  Tell all in the comments section.  Oh, go on - it's no fun playing on my own.

Number plate from former house