Some beautiful things are tucked-away secrets that bring a sudden combination of surprise and awe when we find them. Such encounters become everlasting memories that linger forever to associate with how we feel about certain places. “New walk” is one of those places. It is a beautiful nineteenth century long pedestrian boulevard with shady trees, flowers, pretty houses and green spaces in an average English midland town called Leicester. You have probably seen one like it in an English movie where affluent ladies take a stroll down the boulevard with their umbrellas and long trains. Unlike in other English towns, this boulevard is well maintained to stand as a witness to the times when Leicester was one of the most prosperous industrial cities in Europe. The boulevard opens up at the town center and goes down in a long strictly-pedestrian walkway up to one of the biggest parks in Leicester — the huge Victoria park. Trees and flowers line up this beautiful walk and one can see a lot of small parks and elegant classic houses from one end to the other. Towards the end, its Englishness is completed with a clean and classy family boutiques and hotels that have preserved many of their old features. There are many ways to get to “New Walk”. If you come form the train station, just cross the street and you will find a small side street that will take you to the heart of the boulevard. If are coming from downtown, look for signs that would take you to one end of the boulevard. One of the most important features of “New Walk”, which is not new anymore, is the city's museum. Its a quaint white-washed small museum that has exhibition grounds, a café, a large piano in a concert area and a shop that sells unique arts and toys. “New Walk” is not a mere replica or an imitation display street in an amusement park. It is a genuine road that connects one part of the city to another, with a living soul and a real function; a boulevard where people live, walk, rest and meet, and where you can almost picture the ladies of yore, the old-time carriages and the prams. The street preserves the spirit of the time, yet it is well modernized for today's life. In “New Walk”, history is not an archaic monument we pay homage to but a living continuity of the past into the present and the future. It is interesting to know that preserving the boulevard is not solely a government job but a task initiated by concerned individuals who get private and government support for their initiative, a job well commended. We need to find and visit such beautiful places not only in far away shores but also in our cities and preserve them as they ensure the continuity of memory. They are like roots of trees, old yet beautiful and reliable.
