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Tigers at Layer Road 21:11 - Sep 23 with 46983 views

In a strange twist of events l found myself in conversation with a young lady who had attended Layer Road for a match against Hull City in our first season in The Championship. The 5-1 encounter.

We were attending a promo evening for a band called The Datsuns in North London in 2008.

During the evening she explained that she had been present at a party that made the national news due to the tragic death of someone by the name of Mark Blanco.

The incident occurred in December 2006.

This incident will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday night at 22.00 in an hour long documentary and several people known to me have made contributions.

It may be of interest to some.

I am very much hoping that the police will reinvestigate the death of Mark Blanco as a result of what will be included in the content.

I know that what l was told by this young lady 15 years ago has been instrumental in the making of this documentary.

Tigers at Layer Road on 08:21 - Nov 12 with 927 views

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Random thoughts and memories

Part Twenty One

Hyde Park, July 1969

My friend James and l had enjoyed an epic day in our lives.

I am still not sure how many people were in Hyde Park that day for The Rolling Stones, several hundred thousand and counting....Alexis Korner, Third Ear Band, Family and a sensational performance by King Crimson that was so powerful and unexpected that the audience were in some kind of shock. The shriek of Robert Fripp's guitar and the blast of the sax was blowing leaves from the trees.

We head back to Colchester.

I think we were on the 11.30 to Norwich from Liverpool Street.

The train carriage that we occupied had a corridor and inside was a compartment of three or four? comfortable seats on either side. It was like luxury travel back then - nothing like the modern trains of today.

We find a compartment to ourselves.

We sit down opposite one another by the window. The train departs. As two sixteen year olds we are reliving the images of the day, which l think it is fair to say was the highlight of our lives thus far.

Two girls walk past in the corridor, momentarily they go off radar. Then they reappear. They are checking us out it seems. The sliding door opens and in they come.

They too had been to Hyde Park.

They were around fifteen or sixteen. I think the term used to describe their attire in '69 may have been 'Hippy Chicks'.

And they knew how to kiss.

There were even blinds on the window to shield us from the view in the corridor.

They pulled the blinds down.

[Post edited 12 Nov 13:30]

Tigers at Layer Road on 13:10 - Nov 12 with 866 views

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Random thoughts and memories

Part Twenty Two

I am seven years old.

Only child. I never felt lonely. There was always something interesting to do.

I am in the greenhouse of our garden in Margaret Road.

I am driving a steam engine. No one knows the greenhouse is a train, just me.

It must be the summer. Sun shining. Blue sky. Butterflies flutter around. My father is at work. My mother is preparing food in the kitchen

I have a transistor radio. At ten minutes to two the cricket lunchtime scoreboard comes on.

I live in Essex and l listen out for their scores. It is the first day of a three day County Championship match.

I await in anticipation.

Essex are 70 for 2.

Our garden has waist high fences around it. People can speak to one another. They are friendly and exchange vegetables and fruits from their gardens.

FAST FORWARD to 2024.

What is a waist high fence?

Make it 6 foot high and block out the people next door.

The front gardens, should you be lucky enough to have one are unlikely to have any flowers growing. Block paving for two or three cars.

Those cooking smells that used to come from the oven and hob are a rarity in many homes these days as a Deliveroo rider quickly hands over a branded fast food bag and cycles off to pick up another order.

This is SHIT living. A SOULLESS existence.

I am back on my train. We are headed to Romford.

Soon we will pull into Romford station. Out from the station l am under the bridge and headed towards Carlton Road.

We pick up some Roses chocolates for Grandma.

Arrive at No.58. Patsy the Labrador comes out to greet us.

We go down the long garden to see my Uncle's pigeons.

I love the sound they make.

Tigers at Layer Road on 15:28 - Nov 12 with 850 views

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Random thoughts and memories

Part Twenty Three

To be 16 years old in 1969 was a gift from God. Not that l believe in any God or have time for any religion.

I am in the back room of our house listening to the Hack radio in the corner of the room. One of the soundtracks of the summer was 'There's something in the air' by Thunderclap Newman. How apt. Why did the journey through '69 feel so exciting and illuminating?

We are just out of school and a few of us from the 5th Year at St. Helena in Sheepen Road continue our friendship which will be far more expansive than anything that had proceeded it.

I cannot recall how we discovered The La P'alette basement coffee bar in Colchester High Street, l think my friend's older sister may have put us on to it.

It was known as The Plate and l only discovered the alternative meaning of the word in a book l was reading.

So, we had The Plate, The Metro ( currently the snooker club in George Street ), The Headgate Public House, The Corn Exchange, Colchester Technical College, Essex University and numerous houses around the town where parties would take place to explore - not to mention supporting Colchester United under Manager Dick.Graham.

A group of us had become immersed in the music scene and Colchester was picture perfect for this endeavour.

We saw Genesis in the basement of The Metro on one of those magical Sunday evenings. Peter Gabriel reciting classical poetry between some of the tracks.

While hanging out in The Plate we would learn of house parties that were scattered around the town where kids would take guitars and vinyl albums to play.

There were two girls in my class who ended up sharing a bedsit together in the town centre.

We went to see them. It was very basic living but they had the vision to leave home and be independent.

That made quite an impression. From that moment l wanted to leave home myself and live in a similar way.

The four of us would hang out together and eat baked beans on buttered crumpets as a main meal, drink Camp coffee and listen to Van Morrison and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

😊😊😊😊

Tigers at Layer Road on 07:15 - Nov 13 with 799 views

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Random thoughts and memories

Part Twenty Four

Colchester, 2007

I am at home watching TV around 10pm.

I am aware of a fragrance. It gets stronger and stronger.

It surrounds me. I am engulfed.

This scent was worn by a girl who was in my company about 18 months previously.

She has been dead for eight months.

She was murdered.

Not by me but the police had good reason to question me about our association.

I go looking around the house for her ghost ...her fragrance follows my every step.

I can't see her. I even look in the airing cupboard. Not that she could have been hiding in there....but she is a ghost so she is capable of occupying any conceivable space.

I go out in the garden.

Walk around the house.

I know she is there but l cannot see her.

Gradually her scent becomes more faint.

Then it is gone.

She was here for about five minutes.

Tigers at Layer Road on 11:19 - Nov 13 with 765 views

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Part Twenty Five

I am in St Lawrence Bay on the Blackwater estuary.

It is 1988. It is a Friday evening and it is dark.

A friend has given me a lift from Colchester as it is my intention to buy an expensive motor vehicle that had been advertised in the Evening Gazette motoring section.

I had drawn out a substantial amount of cash from Lloyds Bank a few hours earlier.

We go to a property that is within 20 metres of the Blackwater and the river is lapping up in the moonlight.

The car is in a boathouse next to the property. The occupant of the house negotiates the padlocks on the boathouse doors.

He opens the doors. The red Porsche 944 is wrapped in sheets of tarpaulin. I had not seen that kind of devotion to keeping a car clean before. Nor since.

He unwraps the thing and after a few minutes - there it is.

He reverses the car out onto an unmade road that had numerous potholes.

I live on instinct.

I don't bother to test drive the thing and just hand him the money in £50 notes in a Lloyds Bank envelope. I think it was £9,000.

He looked perplexed. Scratched his head as l recall. It would have been normal practice to negotiate down to £8,000 or £8,500. I couldn't be bothered with that.

The registration of the car was XIA 888. Belfast plate and a car linked to the IRA as l would discover the following day in Wiltshire.

Had to change the plates on police instruction.

.

[Post edited 13 Nov 11:24]

Tigers at Layer Road on 11:43 - Nov 13 with 759 views

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Part Twenty Six

British Printing and Communications Corporation, East London, 1983.

I attended a funeral a few months ago and met up with a former Head Rep for BPCC who set up a meeting for myself and an associate in 1983.

The meeting was with Robert Maxwell who sat behind a huge desk with his black hair and red braces. Mr Maxwell was considerate, charming and mighty impressive in a thirty minute meeting that included coffee and biscuits.

BPCC would be printing a stream of travel brochures we were designing and Mr Maxwell said he would personally see to it that we got a good deal.

The man was true to his word.

Well, he was with us anyway. Eight years later he 'fell' from his yacht .

Tigers at Layer Road on 15:57 - Nov 13 with 715 views

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This is a test as the post about Ruislip Lido mentioned offensive language of which there was none.

😳😳

Oh, l better carry on with it then.

Random thoughts and memories

Part Twenty Seven

Summer '69, Ruislip Lido, sun shining through the trees and casting shadows, one of the girls has just bought 'Hollies Sing Dylan' LP....we go back to the designer house and play the album then her sister plays the piano in the dining room .

Their father is an airline pilot for British Airways and he is blessed with an educated and theatrical voice - the kind you hear when you fly into New York for the first time.

I had met one of the sisters in Colchester a few weeks before. For some reason this particular weekend is safely stored in my memory bank and when l revisit l'm aware of the light in the sky in West London during that incredible summer.

[Post edited 13 Nov 16:09]

Tigers at Layer Road on 17:34 - Nov 13 with 704 views

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Part Twenty Eight

Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel, 1984.

I am on the way home. It's been an interesting trip.

We board the flight and take our seats.

After a few minutes the plane begins to taxi across to the runway for take off.

I have a window seat and l look out to my right and l see a group of about a dozen men in army uniform running towards the plane and waving their arms around.

It is not what l would expect in Israel or anywhere else.

The plane begins to slow down.

It comes to a stop.

About six of the group who had been running across the tarmac are in the plane. They are checking a particular area of hand luggage about ten rows from where l am sitting.

I just expect that there will be an order for us to disembark.

But there isn't.

Their search lasts quite a while but eventually they leave the plane and we continue to the runway.

I never found out what that was about.

Tigers at Layer Road on 18:28 - Nov 13 with 694 views

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Part Twenty Nine

Apologies for firing so much stuff out but my phone is on life support and may need replacing any time soon.

This starts in 1996. I am working from my home and have the Toshiba tuned in to MTV.

This song and video comes on and l just stare into the TV.

And l am thinking, this is going to infiltrate my life somehow but l wasn't sure how. I don't know if it was some kind of premonition.

The song is 'Not to manic now' by Dubstar and the lead singer is making the most of her subtle facial expressions and the video production is sensitive and engrossing.

The singer is Sarah Blackwood.

A few weeks later l learned that Dubstar didn't write this song. The credit was 'Harling'.

Who was this?

Where was he or she?

How did this incredible lyric get written and what was the story behind it?

I traced David Harling. He was up in the Wakefield area. I got the story behind the song which is handwritten and somewhere in storage here. Or perhaps not.

When l spoke to Dubstar they said that this was the only song of several hundred that they had recorded that they did not write themselves.

David Harling had sent them a cassette demo of the song and they created their haunting version from that.

FAST FORWARD to 2006

I am in the company of Sarah Blackwood and we are discussing the story behind the words to 'Not so manic now'....l may have given Sarah the original letter from David or l may have posted it to her home in St Johns Wood.

She is quite an expansive artist - originally from Halifax and a valued contact.

Tigers at Layer Road on 20:46 - Nov 13 with 681 views

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Part Thirty

July 16th, 1980, Toronto, Canada.

After a bit of a fall out at home we head in different directions to reassess things. She goes to Wivenhoe and l catch a flight to Toronto.

After 48 hours in Toronto l feel quite in tune with this great city. I'm in a coffee shop down town and see a poster for The Who, Heart and The J Geils Band which is happening that night at the baseball stadium.

I can't recall how l got a ticket as it was a 70,000 sell out but l made it through.

I have a feeling it was the biggest Canadian audience for a rock concert back then.

Heart were a Canadian band and l knew their stuff. Crazy on You was quite some song and the Wilson sisters were sensational.

The Who did a great set.

The next day l went to an art shop and bought some pencils and a cartridge pad and did some drawings of cafes and street scenes. After about a week in Toronto it occured to me that l might even move there.

Toronto University was a great place to hang out and l ended up playing a few football matches for them, although l think they referred to it as soccer.

There was also an opportunity to play chess in some of the coffee houses. One of the waitresses came over and said if l could wait another hour until her shift finished she would challenge me to a game.

About an hour later she came over. I expected her to sit down and start a game but she said that she hadn't said what kind of game she would challenge me to.

She didn't play chess by the sound of things but she knew some moves that were new on me.

Tigers at Layer Road on 21:17 - Nov 13 with 674 views

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Part Thirty One

December 26, 1989, Roots Hall, Southend.

I get driven down to Roots Hall at great speed and meet up with Steve Foley who was caretaker Manager.

I am in the dug out and should have been at least yellow carded as l run out twice onto the pitch as we win two nil.

A few days later we have a home match at Layer Road and beat Hartlepool United by three goals to two.

I am back in the dug out but only run onto the pitch once but it is captured on television and shown on the news.

In the days leading up to this the Colchester United owner Johnathan Crisp grants me three wishes for Christmas after a successful business venture l complete with his girlfriend. He had put on a Christmas lunch at his home in Great Horkesley and was very appreciative of a project we had completed in London.

My three wishes were -

1.To take over production of the Colchester United programme.

2. To get the team to play in blue and white stripes again.

3. To have The Post Horn Gallop played when the team came onto the pitch at Layer Road.

All three wishes were granted and my involvement with the club became more expansive.

[Post edited 13 Nov 21:21]

Tigers at Layer Road on 21:47 - Nov 13 with 664 views

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Part Thirty Two

November, 1990, Layer Road, Colchester United v Reading, F.A. Cup First Round.

I think this was featured on Match of the Day because we get quite a few calls at Graphic Warehouse on the Monday following the match.

I think the Graphic Warehouse signage on the Barside may have been the most extensive branding on a football ground in 1990.

The next season several other major brands and products were visible at football grounds.

I was never sure if what we did at Layer Road had a bearing on this but l did pick up several new clients around that time.

One in Saudi Arabia.

This meant taking on a freelance translator who could speak and typeset in Arabic.

We had done a major project in Chinese and that also required translators.

Thinking back now, we were doing things in Colchester that l had never seen taken on in London.

We were sending artwork from Heathrow to China and Hong Kong and that was unheard of at the time.

As a result of this we got work for BT that l had printed in China at half the cost we were paying in the UK.

Some of the money that l put into the club went towards the signing of Steve McGavin and that was value for money.

Tigers at Layer Road on 22:16 - Nov 13 with 658 views

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Part Thirty Three

Meeting at Saatchi and Saatchi, London, 1990

My receptionist puts through a call from a leading advertising agency in London.

I get invited to London to discuss an advertising campaign for a Japanese car manufacturer.

The meeting takes place in a large office and there are about twelve of us around the table.

There are bottles of Perrier water and sandwiches and the account directors appear to be going around in circles and using all the latest jargon like plugging in and touching base.

I don't say anything for twenty minutes then l think xxxx it. Here goes. I stand up. Walk round to the white board and take a black and red marker and within two minutes l had drawn the entire production plan in front of their very eyes.

They looked at the board, looked at one another and l thought, well, l have xxxx all to lose here.

One of the guys came over to me. Shook hands and said the project was mine to take back to Manor Road in Colchester.

We put over 200 full page car dealership ads together that covered the entire UK in regional press in 48 hours.

It's 34 years later and to think all this happened before UK Holidays in the Sun project was even thought of, and the creator of that is no longer with us is quite something to contemplate.

Tigers at Layer Road on 18:10 - Nov 14 with 577 views

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Part Thirty Four

Summer of Sixty Nine....four of us go for a spin in a green Mini Cooper and end up at Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton.

There used to be a line of flag poles outside the main building there and our driver climbs to the top of one of these and manages to remove the Union Jack and it falls to the ground.

We somehow tie it to the roof of the car and return to Colchester with it fluttering in the wind.

That night we attend a house party in Prettygate in what l recall was virtually an unfurnished property. We use the Union Jack as a floor covering in the front room of the nineteen thirties built semi.

There are about thirty of us in the front room and as the evening progresses the flag is used as something of an oversheet as clothes are removed and the party gets into full swing.

Tigers at Layer Road on 18:31 - Nov 14 with 566 views

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Part Thirty Five

Nineteen Sixty nine must have been the year of parties but not many last for three days and nights.

One of our group of friends from the basement coffee bar in Colchester High Street had told us about a house party in Lexden.

As l recall there were two sisters living at the house who attended Colchester Girls High School and their parents were away for a week or so.

They had put the word out in several schools in the area that they were having what was known at the time as a bottle party. It was the summer holidays.

A few of us attended for several hours on the second night as l recall. It was a sight to behold. There were people everywhere. In the under stairs cupboard. In garden sheds.
Every room and staircase. Landings.

There were people in the bathroom and they didn't move when it was being used either.

Some of them had been there at least twenty four hours by the look of things and appeared to be asleep.

There was some great music. Captain Beefheart. Zappa. Beatles. Blind Faith. Dylan. It was a quite a scene and l always wondered if there was any cine footage taken because it would have found quite an audience on YouTube.

[Post edited 14 Nov 23:58]

Tigers at Layer Road on 20:30 - Nov 14 with 546 views

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Part Thirty Six

February, 1969, Ipswich

I am on the 5.15pm. train to London, Liverpool Street that will be stopping at Colchester.

I have just watched Ipswich Town beat Manchester United by 1 goal to Nil. The train is packed with fans and the Manchester United team and management are on the train with us.

In 1969 there only used to be a ten minute break for half time and limited amounts of stoppage time, if any.

Somehow the players have had a dip in the bath as l don't think they had showers back then and are squeezed in the carriage trying to find their First Class reserved accomodation.

They had come to the station in a fleet of taxis from Portman Road.

Every one of them walks past and George Best is polite enough to say Excuse Me. Sir Matt Busby. Denis Law. Bobby Charlton. Dave Sadler. Willie Morgan. Pat Crerand.
Great names.

I recall the same thing happening that season on a train with Manchester City and Mike Summerbee spent quite a while speaking to a few of us.

I never felt the least bit of animosity towards Ipswich Town. Was just glad of the opportunity to see First Division football that was just a 20 odd minute train journey away.

I also recall a derby against Norwich City that was several seasons earlier. My dad used to take me to matches until l was about thirteen then some of us kids from North Station area would make our own way there.

The Norwich match was played with a massive bank of snow surrounding the pitch and one of the refreshments trolley operatives managed to pull the thing on top of himself in front of a packed Churchmans end.

He must had got scolded by the boiling water and the laughter soon became muted when St Johns Ambulance went to his attention.

[Post edited 14 Nov 20:52]

Tigers at Layer Road on 23:51 - Nov 14 with 519 views

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Part Thirty Seven

St. Helena School, Sheepen Road, Colchester, 1967

I am in the classroom.

We are having a geography lesson that is being given by Mr Alan Pike.

He draws an outline map of England and Wales on the blackboard. Puts in the main rivers. The major cities. The hills. The little islands.

I learned them all.

He was a great teacher.

So too Roy Cross, our art teacher and Mr Munson who was a mathematics teacher and taught an entire class of 14 year olds how to play chess.

Each of these people influenced my life in different ways and l still remember them.

After leaving school l attended advanced mathematics at Essex University with Mr Taylor and life drawing classes under the tutorship of renowned artist Henry Collins.

Then l went to art school.

It was Henry Collins who changed my entire course of life and advised me to pursue a career in art and design.

I wasn't particularly good at English and that is still pretty much the case but l learned today that one of my books is part of course work in a creative writing module in Dayton, Ohio in the U.S.A.

Tigers at Layer Road on 00:20 - Nov 15 with 510 views

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Part Thirty Eight

Severalls Mental Hospital, Colchester 1970

I am not there as a patient. I get holiday work throughout the summer as a Porter.

They give me a mop and l have the task of washing down floors in Chestnut Villa.

I also perform other tasks that include washing up.

There are quite a few students working at Severalls over the summer.

One of my friends Bill Emerich is on a secured ward that had padded walls and the patients are wearing clothing that restricts their movements.

I go and see him in there one day. I think it was called Graham Ward.

The patients scared me. One did so by just running up to me and blowing into my face. He laughed.

I should have kept a written journal of what l saw in that hospital.

Chestnut Villa was mixed and some of the younger women patients didn't look like they should have been there.

Then l heard what some of them had done.

Tigers at Layer Road on 08:57 - Nov 15 with 461 views

thrillseeker

Tigers at Layer Road on 23:51 - Nov 14 by SparkfilmsTV

Alan Pike - a name from my school years

He was my Geography & Geology teacher and a good one at that

Tigers at Layer Road on 11:42 - Nov 15 with 430 views

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Tigers at Layer Road on 08:57 - Nov 15 by thrillseeker
Alan Pike - a name from my school years He was my Geography & Geology teacher and a good one at that

A little more about Alan Pike.

He was also our form teacher at North County Primary School and he left his post there at the same time that we were moving on to 'Big School'.

I remember him telling the class that he would be joining many of us at St Helena.

We were very pleased to hear that.

He had a black dog called Rex who used to chase it's tale and l think he resided in Brightlingsea at the time.

He used to put England international football match commentary on the classroom radio when matches were played at Wembley.

These matches were played on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon with a 3pm kick off. This must have been around 1963.

We would have heard the first half at school and l would have to run home to listen to the second half.

Alan Pike was also a local cricketer and played against St Helena School for the Teachers and Parents in 1967.

I remember facing his left arm spin bowling and pushing singles while my batting partner at the other end scored the lions share in a stand of over 200.

His name was Roger Hammond and he was by far the best footballer l ever saw during my time at school.

We all thought he would play professionally but it didn't turn out that way.

Living on Riverside Estate l often see the St. Helena badge on jackets of the kids around here and occasionally mention to them that l once attended that school and enjoyed my time there.

[Post edited 15 Nov 11:45]

Tigers at Layer Road on 14:22 - Nov 15 with 400 views

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Part Thirty Nine

Graphic Warehouse, Manor Road, Colchester 1988

I am in the kitchen area on the first floor.

One of my colleagues says there is a goth woman walking around who says she is going kill herself.

We look across to a landing area and sure enough she is standing at the top of the stairs.

I started to move towards her. She screamed. Threw herself down the stairs. She rolled out across the reception floor groaning.

We rush down. The receptionist joins us. We had clients in from Norwich.

She is screaming and shouting but somehow gets back on her feet. She manages to get to a sofa by the large rubber plant but somehow pulls it on herself.

We get her some water. Patch her up a bit.

After a few minutes she stands up, clears herself of any debris from the plant pot, straightens her hair and leaves by the front door.

We never saw her again.

There used to be a man about 45 and over six feet tall who had a habit of spinning on the pavement at great speed opposite our building.

It sounded as though he was reciting information he had gathered about the formation of the Roman empire.

He never came in the building.

One of the production meetings we had lasted an entire weekend. We were putting together a 300 page catalogue.

Colchester United were playing away to Sheffield United on the Saturday afternoon in the F.A. Cup and l asked our Norfolk guests if they minded the radio commentary being on while we waded through piles of page proofs.

They were fine with that.

It was a 3 - 3 draw at Bramhall Lane.

We treated our guest with a selection of foods from Guntons in Crouch Street. They were very appreciative. Fab clients.

It was soon our turn to travel to Norwich for following meetings.

As you enter Norwich there is a sign that says - Norwich - A fine city.

Tigers at Layer Road on 15:58 - Nov 15 with 372 views

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Part Forty

I recalled this in the past half hour on a dog walk.

One of my friends once asked me how Graphic Warehouse just seemed to spring out of nowhere overnight and how did it happen?

During 1986 l was working freelance, teaching Graphics at Suffolk College in Rope Walk over in Ipswich and had a two day per week retainer with an agency in London.

Some of the work could be produced at home and l used local studios and typesetters.

The first part of the idea was to buy premises. I viewed two commercial buildings in Colchester, one in the Hythe and the other was a former Markhams building in Manor Road behind Crouch Street.

I purchased the Manor Road building by way of a remortgage on our home and a bank loan. The building had to be completely refurbished. We cut new windows into the eastern elevation, gutted the interior, new electrics, heating and within 16 weeks it was ready.

Now the bit that l just remembered a short while ago.

The builder l used for the refurb was Norman Christie and he had done some work in The Colchester Chamber of Commerce office on the corner of Head Street and the High Street.

I had been visiting a friend there. Saw the work. Liked it and basically ripped off the glass and partition interiors. Oh, and everything would also be a bright white finish. Norman Christie did a first class job!

This was how l designed the initial mail shot we put out. I had access to files that had listings of all members of The Chamber of Commerce in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

I scanned every address and made a listing of 2,000 companies to mail out to. Designed the brochure. Produced 2,000 labels, stuck them on the envelopes and posted them off - staggered first class over a working week.

There was no way of knowing what kind of response there would be. Just struck lucky!

Tigers at Layer Road on 20:32 - Nov 15 with 334 views

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Part Forty One

Subject - Rettendon Essex Boy's Triple Murder, December, 1995

The clock has moved forward to my birthday on March 12, 1996. A mutual friend has organised the treat of a Birthday Blind Date type thing. She told me in advance l would not be disappointed.

We go out for a meal at a restaurant in Chelmsford which has a clock going backwards on the sign outside. The young lady l am in the company of is certainly not disappointing in any way and at one time she is dancing on the table.

We go back to her place a few miles out of Chelmsford.

I am in her living room. She is making coffee in the kitchen.

There are pictures around of boxing matches featuring Nigel Benn.

The young lady is featured in most of them.

So is Tony Tucker who was one of the three victims in the slaughter at Rettendon.

She brings the coffee into the room and we sit across a table and l have to ask her about the images on the wall.

We talk to around 4.30am and l have to get back to Colchester. She asks me to phone her the following evening.

To be continued.

Tigers at Layer Road on 07:20 - Nov 16 with 296 views

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Part Forty One - continued.

I meet up with Karen ( not her real name ) a few days later.

We go to a coffee shop which is part of a leisure centre complex in Chelmsford.

She asks me if l realise we had been followed by a black BMW with tinted windows.

We can see it parked up across the car park opposite.

She explains how she is in contact with an individual who has recently been released from Chelmsford prison.

He is a relatively low level drugs supplier linked to Tony Tucker.

We speak for an hour or so and l drop her back home and we are followed by the BMW. It doesn't follow me to Colchester.

To be continued.

Tigers at Layer Road on 15:44 - Nov 16 with 238 views

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Random thoughts and memories

Part Forty One, continued

It's Friday evening, around 8pm. Karen phones. She says "Can you come and get me?' 'Can l stay over for a few days?' Can l bring the dog?'. I say yeah to all three.

After about 40 minutes l get to her house. She is on the doorstep waiting. She has quite a few bags and the one year old female German Shepherd is in an excitable state.

I put the bags in the back of the car.

Karen seems very agitated, we set off and she asks if we are being followed but l am unable to ascertain as we pick up the A12.

I check the rear view and l tell her that all looks clear behind and she seems relieved.

We reach my place and unload the car. We have some tea and l prepare some food.

Karen says she forgot the dog food so we are off to Tesco at Highwoods and they have a decent range.

Throughout all of these little activities Karen is talking about the guys who have been watching her home and even following her to the local shop.

To be continued.

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