Aylesbury may not be glamorous but it was the launchpad for my adult life: the voyage of discovery that continues to make me want to create and explore the world. I started playing the guitar here, got into the wonderful punk band, Peter Out and the Faders, discovered sex and drugs, got arrested, and met hundreds of weird and wonderful people.
I recently took a trip down memory lane with Peter Out's guitarist and songwriter, Mark Finnis. Hence these photos.
The town is alternatively attractive and ugly. The newer buildings seem to have dropped into position from a conveyor belt of post 60 modernism straight into the middle of town without any thought or care for how they fit in. If you see the shopping centre you'll know what I mean: it's amazing how the architects have fitted so much ugliness into such a small space.
But if you walk up towards the church you can see some lovely winding streets and beautiful timber frame houses that are centuries old. And right in the centre, though hidden behind rows of Victorian terraces, is the Grand Union canal, which is lined with colourful barges that stick two fingers up at the monsterous carbuncles ganging up on the horizon.
