News: The Picture that launched a thousand memories
By Rob Leach
August 6 2014
To this day, I still don’t know who captured this photograph but it has been in my collection of ‘odds and sods’ for a while now. Every time I see this photograph I am taken back to the era when it was captured. Im not actually certain of the date, Tim Rodber looks very young, Buck Shelford looks smaller than I remember and Bayfs was and still is a giant. The date is not important because it’s the memories that this photo creates that drives me into writing.
Despite my ‘Welshness’ , I wasn’t actually that bothered about following Rugby apart from the six nations – being nomadic in the 1980’s flitting from town to town and in a drunken haze meant I had little time to any form of sport, let alone Rugby. It was a career move that sparked my interest and I saw myself moving from Letchworth up to Northampton, a place I had no knowledge of apart from knowing that Cardiff City FC had once bought John Buchanan from the Cobblers. Oh, I lie, one of my many father in laws made me drive from Letchworth up to Northampton so he could visit Brierlies – a wonderful experience . Settling into my new career in Northampton we were joined by a new recruit who, for his sins, came up from Newport. As a fellow Welshman, we soon created a lasting friendship and I had to start bluffing my knowledge of Rugby in order to keep the chat going when we were out for a drink together. It was hardly surprising that my new friend was passionate about Rugby and soon started training with the Saints playing for the seconds ( Wanderers I suppose ) on a regular basis. I was curious enough about his ability to play that I agreed to go and watch him at Franklins Gardens – date unknown. I must have enjoyed this experience, as I was curious enough to go and watch the first team just weeks later. Being ‘Bobby no mates’ I remember driving up to the ground, parking in what was probably Tescos(?) car park and filling through the turnstyle to watch the game unfold. This was prior to the 1991 cup final and so the legends wearing the GB&G back then were the likes of Hunter, Packman ,Moss, Thorneycroft, Steele, Baldwin, Olver,
Pearce, Alston, Pask, Rodber etc.( You really do get to feel old when you start watching the sons of those mentioned turning out for the Saints). Of course, I soon learnt that taking the car to a Rugby match was not a good move as I started to learn of the social scene that accompanied these games. It was wife number two that used to drop me at the ground for subsequent games and transport me back home after the game. Of course, I was still Bobby No Mates as far as the social scene at the Saints was concerned and I found myself attending the games on my own, having a beer in what I believe is now an education centre in the village and standing on the bank behind the goal – long before the temporary stand was hired when it became very posh to be seated. My passion started to grow and I bought a season ticket in the Main Wooden stand making the occasional foray into the Gordon Terrace for the hell of it.
Back at this time, or maybe a few years later, my memory is fading with the advancing years, the internet had started to become a usable tool for amusement at home. I invested in my first ‘Home Computer ( im not counting the ZX 81 and Spectrum ) and locked myself away for hours in the dining room where the machine was housed. By chance and using the search engines of the day ( AltaVista, Lycos etc .. I could be wrong ( this is becoming a common phrase in this article )) I stumbled across a site dedicated to Northampton Saints fans – it had a cheesy midi file playing Wendy when you accessed it, faceless posters made comments about the Saints. This was wonderful news for someone that was looking to share match day experiences with and perhaps share a beer with prior to the game. I cant remember when contact with these people was first made but I do remember thinking that Chris Gleadall was a short name for Christine Gleadall!.. I could meander through the archives of my mind all morning but, as I said at the top it’s the photograph that sparked the memories but more importantly it’s the chain of events that led me to knowing a lot of decent folk who I can now call my friends and am proud to do so.
There, 25 minutes of my time to write a simple article – its that easy.
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Good read mind
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
Christine when did you first launch the site please?
Terrace 'B' next to Mav, Shaddo, AB, Jeremy and Spud.
Has it really been that long... scarey
Getting on line back in those days required dialing in and listening to the modem sing away as it tried to negotiate a connection. Speed was slower than a snail on a go slow, no one else could use the line. Boy did it feel like the bees knees though!
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
[web.archive.org]
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014:08:06:10:46:00 by StBleach.
The guy I sat next to lived in the town, so always new all the info about the side from the Chron. Finding Chris's Geocities site back in the mid 90s enabled me to keep track of what was going on at the club... even though most of the suff was probably made up!!
If Mr G had a £1 for every time I visited the site from then to now, he'd be an exceptionally rich fella. I may not post many messages, most of them get deleted before the send button is pressed, but I've been around for a lot of the time this site has.
Full set on my website...
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
Also Pounamea, spelling, and her postings from NZ
It was Pounamu, Maori for Jade (I had to Google it mind)
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
Bob The Builder
Mike
Sartorial Elegance
Saint Andrew
Maquis de Stade
Mr & Mrs Big Al
Le Saint de Londres
Semper Eadem
Bog Toger
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143