--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London…" description: "\"Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange and alien, after only a three-month absence, as familiar places do when you’ve been away. It’..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png" --- # Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange… ![“Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange and alien, after only a three-month absence, as familiar places do when you’ve been away. It’s as if everything is a copy of what you knew before, similar, yet somehow lacking in its usual qualities, a bit like the wey things are in a…” quote by Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png) > “Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange and alien, after only a three-month absence, as familiar places do when you’ve been away. It’s as if everything is a copy of what you knew before, similar, yet somehow lacking in its usual qualities, a bit like the wey things are in a dream. They say you have to live in a place to know it, but you have to come fresh tae really see it.” [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Returning to a familiar city after a short absence feels both recognizable and oddly altered, highlighting how perception changes with distance and fresh perspective. **In simple terms:** Familiar places feel strange after being away. Key Takeaway Observe surroundings with fresh eyes. Themes nostalgia perception place identity disorientation Mood reflective melancholic Type observational literary When to use this quote - travel - relocation - reconnecting with hometown - adjusting to change Key Concepts psychology memory urban experience Questions to Reflect On - How does distance reshape your sense of home? - What details become noticeable when you return? A Different Perspective The feeling may be temporary and can mask deeper cultural shifts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Aliens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliens/) [Broadway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broadway/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Familiar places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar-places/) [London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/london/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) ## Related quotes > [To know after absence the familiar street and road and village and house is to know again the satisfaction of home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/to-know-after-absence-the-familiar-street-and-road-and-village-and/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [“How vast is my London! How strange my native place!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-richler/how-vast-is-my-london-how-strange-my-native-place/) [Emma Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-richler/) > [O happy, happy morning! O dear, familiar place! / O warm, sweet tears of Heaven, fast falling on my face! / O well-remembered, rainy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-thaxter/o-happy-happy-morning-o-dear-familiar-place-o-warm-sweet-tears-of/) [Celia Thaxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-thaxter/) > [I always find time to read novels and poetry as well as scripts; I like to enjoy different kinds of storytelling. I spend time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-mciver/i-always-find-time-to-read-novels-and-poetry-as-well-as-scripts-i/) [Rose McIver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-mciver/) > [“Like all men endowed with great mental mobility, I have an irrevocable, organic love of settledness. I abhor new ways of life and unfamiliar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/like-all-men-endowed-with-great-mental-mobility-i-have-an-irrevocable/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [If I had stood at the free-throw line and thought about 10 million people watching me on the other side of the camera lens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jordan/if-i-had-stood-at-the-free-throw-line-and-thought-about-10-million/) [Michael Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jordan/) > [“Did people... really kiss like that? She had had NO idea. She had imagined being kissed, and in her imagination she had been swept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-balogh/did-people-really-kiss-like-that-she-had-had-no-idea-she-had-imagined/) [Mary Balogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-balogh/) > [“I’d learned so much from traveling to familiar places that I figured I’d learn twice as much by going to a place I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-abbey/i-d-learned-so-much-from-traveling-to-familiar-places-that-i-figured/) [Gerry Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-abbey/) > [Being in unfamiliar places has no effect on my writing, except that it often means I'm caught up in the logistics of travel, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-swensen/being-in-unfamiliar-places-has-no-effect-on-my-writing-except-that-it/) [Cole Swensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cole-swensen/) > [The pleasant books, that silently among Our household treasures take familiar places, And are to us as if a living tongue Spake from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-pleasant-books-that-silently-among-our-household-treasures-take/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“the more one was lost in unfamiliar quarters of distant cities, the more one understood the other cities he had crossed to arrive there;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-more-one-was-lost-in-unfamiliar-quarters-of-distant-cities-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [There was really no friendship in modeling, though a certain amount of warmth comes from running into models you know on shoots, because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-alt/there-was-really-no-friendship-in-modeling-though-a-certain-amount-of/) [Carol Alt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-alt/) > [“If you want to love and understand yourself better, seek out unfamiliar people in unfamiliar places.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-orabona-foster/if-you-want-to-love-and-understand-yourself-better-seek-out/) Elaine Orabona Foster > [I need the sun, sand and ocean to rejuvenate my spirit, the food to enliven my body and all of the familiar places, friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-gealey/i-need-the-sun-sand-and-ocean-to-rejuvenate-my-spirit-the-food-to/) [Grace Gealey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-gealey/) > [“Innovative solutions to new challenges seldom come from familiar places”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyan-nagpal/innovative-solutions-to-new-challenges-seldom-come-from-familiar/) [Gyan Nagpal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyan-nagpal/) ## More by Irvine Welsh > [ I don't see \[ Trainspotting \] as an albatross, I see it more as a calling card. It's got me out to Hollywood, I've… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-don-t-see-trainspotting-as-an-albatross-i-see-it-more-as-a-calling/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [He emphasised basic truths: you are not dying yet, you have to live your life until you are. Underpinning them was the belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/he-emphasised-basic-truths-you-are-not-dying-yet-you-have-to-live/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“Without this kickstart to my day, I'd be lost. A day without a morning run is a day you fumble through, rather than one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/without-this-kickstart-to-my-day-i-d-be-lost-a-day-without-a-morning/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“There's nae reasoning wi some cats. You say 'reason', they mew 'treason'. Ken?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/there-s-nae-reasoning-wi-some-cats-you-say-reason-they-mew-treason-ken/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [It's crazy for somebody who's kind of empowered and wealthy like myself to say, "Oh, I don't need to be patronized by the state,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/it-s-crazy-for-somebody-who-s-kind-of-empowered-and-wealthy-like/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [When you go away, you see where you come from in a different light. I see Scotland, and the rest of Britain, as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/when-you-go-away-you-see-where-you-come-from-in-a-different-light-i/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [If it's something that I feel uncomfortable with, that's a reason for me to write it. I kind of like to make myself feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/if-it-s-something-that-i-feel-uncomfortable-with-that-s-a-reason-for/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [There's nothing worse than a violent beating from an unremarkable person. Physical violence with someone is too much like shagging them. Too much id…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-violent-beating-from-an-unremarkable/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [If I stop working and publishing, and TV, and film and all that, I would be dead within a couple of weeks. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/if-i-stop-working-and-publishing-and-tv-and-film-and-all-that-i-would/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I can see why the Russians love Robert Burns, I think that Russians and Koreans have a very similar outlook to Scots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-can-see-why-the-russians-love-robert-burns-i-think-that-russians/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [If you continue to transfer the wealth of the population of the planet to a very small amount of people, it becomes untenable at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/if-you-continue-to-transfer-the-wealth-of-the-population-of-the/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Most middle-class people I know don't really live like me. Middle-class people worry a lot about money. They worry a lot about job security,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/most-middle-class-people-i-know-don-t-really-live-like-me-middle/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [As soon as you've written it, you're thinking about how it can move into different mediums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/as-soon-as-you-ve-written-it-you-re-thinking-about-how-it-can-move/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“Begbie doesnae even notice; he's in his element, particularly good at funerals in the way a lot ay psychopaths tend tae be. Ah suppose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/begbie-doesnae-even-notice-he-s-in-his-element-particularly-good-at/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I'm more of a warrior than you'll ever be. I believe in the class war. I believe in the battle of the sexes. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-m-more-of-a-warrior-than-you-ll-ever-be-i-believe-in-the-class-war/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) [Explore all 348 Irvine Welsh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) ## More Absence quotes > [Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweeteneth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howell/distance-sometimes-endears-friendship-and-absence-sweeteneth-it/) [James Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howell/) > [The work, the work, the work. This is what the business is all about. This is the fun, the glory, the pleasure. It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-dusenberry/the-work-the-work-the-work-this-is-what-the-business-is-all-about/) [Phil Dusenberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-dusenberry/) > [Total depravity means the entire absence of holiness, not the highest intensity of sin. A totally depraved man is not as bad as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/total-depravity-means-the-entire-absence-of-holiness-not-the-highest/) [William Greenough Thayer Shedd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/) > [Local and state governments have outrun the federal government. The EPA has served notice that it will enact a rule requiring CO2 reductions by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/local-and-state-governments-have-outrun-the-federal-government-the/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-is-suggested-that-in-domestic-violence-at-least-the-presence-or/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [The absence of God in most spheres of life is perceived to be normal, and even Christians feel it as normal - which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/the-absence-of-god-in-most-spheres-of-life-is-perceived-to-be-normal/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“I was thinking how most people don't make you feel much of anything at all. Don't make you feel like time spent with them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lotter/i-was-thinking-how-most-people-don-t-make-you-feel-much-of-anything/) [Jane Lotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lotter/) > [Cooperation isn't the absence of conflict but a means of managing conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/cooperation-isn-t-the-absence-of-conflict-but-a-means-of-managing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/many-are-observing-ferguson-and-witnessing-the-anger-demonstrations/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention? Certainly not. Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/will-capitalist-economies-operate-at-full-employment-in-the-absence/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/we-must-begin-by-acknowledging-that-there-is-a-complete-absence-of/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange and alien, after only a three-month absence, as familiar places do when you’ve been away. It’s as if everything is a copy of what you knew before, similar, yet somehow lacking in its usual qualities, a bit like the wey things are in a dream. They say you have to live in a place to know it, but you have to come fresh tae really see it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irvine Welsh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london-seeming-strange-and-alien/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london-seeming-strange-and-alien/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/irvine-welsh-843_absence_ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london_2260081.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London seeming strange and alien, after only a three-month absence, as…” — Irvine Welsh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Irvine Welsh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ah walk doon Hammersmith Broadway, London...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london-seeming-strange-and-alien/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/ah-walk-doon-hammersmith-broadway-london-seeming-strange-and-alien/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```