Hi Jude, I first met your amazing dad in 1981 as a nervous 11 year old on my first day at Blythe Bridge High School. For the next few years we shared a classroom in almost every subject (not sure why, he was much cleverer than me !!)
Some say our maths teacher Mr “Jimmy” Maland installed the infamous angled mirror above his blackboard to keep an eye on a young and already very sociable Mr Elsmore !! Like Nobby (Rob Hannaby) I also endured many a cold Saturday morning cracking the ice on the odd rugby pitch with your dad prior to a probable defeat.
The Blythe lads holiday in Lloret de Mar in 1987 was legendary, as was the weekend spent at the student house in Stechford, Birmingham in 1990 where I recall his room was rather tastefully decorated with “souvenir” traffic cones and the odd flashing light. (The Young Ones had nothing on that place).
Through something of a lager induced haze, the house in Chester was next where a night on the town led to an indoor water fight !! To those who recall it, “Kagoul Man” will live long in the memory !
Probably the memory of him which makes me smile the most was in 2003 when a group of us went to Andy Shaw’s stag party in Barcelona. There, I was lucky enough to “room” with your dad along with Slinny (Pete Slinn). Your dad travelled alone and arrived ahead of the rest of us from Stoke. When me and Pete entered our room we were greeted by him punching the air wearing his trademark cheesy grin…….and a full Superman outfit with one very un-Superman like accessory attached !!? !! Brilliant !!
Regrettably I haven’t managed to catch up with your dad for a year or two now but through the magic of Facebook his beaming smile continued to shine out through my phone screen on a regular basis. I know he’d have greeted me like a brother had our paths crossed again …. that’s the kind of true gentleman that he was and thats the bloke I shall always remember fondly as an old, but hugely respected and now, tragically, much missed friend.
Keep smiling Jude, your dad always was !!
Rob Booth, Meir Park, Stoke on Trent.