It was a little bit more than a chat. My third cousin by marriage Viv who is Laurie's daughter asked a few months ago if I knew anybody who could document her father's life.
Of course that person just had to be me because you know how much I love speaking to people about their lives and recording them for posterity. I think it's vital that we get a record of as many lives as possible. Talking to somebody like Laurie opens up a whole host of stories and memories.
So I made a date to pop round to see Laurie. Laurie loves to chat so I expected it to be a lengthy session, although I only had a couple of hours before jetting (?) off to Wymondham to take granddog Reggie for a walk ahead of my monthly meeting with regards to the Good News magazine.
But back to Laurie. I did something I have never done before but which is the norm today. I activated a voice recorder on my mobile phone. It was just too lengthy an interview to rely on notes. I still took some to aid my write up later and help with my memory.
The other reason for recording it was simply to have Laurie's voice saved for posterity (that word again). I had spoken to Laurie in the past about his life and had written a number of features for local newspapers and my Hethersett Herald magazine. These are available on the internet if anyone is interested. Most of the details from those articles will appear in my finished article. Its going to be a lengthy piece.
I know that even when I've written it I will need to pop round again to flesh up some bits and expand on others. You might call it a labour of love.
And talking about memories, I would like to give a plug to Colin Wilson who has produced a series of podcasts/presentations on You Tube of Hethersett's past. I know Colin would love some subscribers.
Isn't the word subscriber a difficult one for some of us of an older persuasion? It implies a cost or charge is being levied but subscribing in computer parlance usually means just signing up for free. Anyway Colin has included a commentary along with photographs from the village's past in a series of 15 minute programmes. Well worth a view if you live locally and have an interest in Hethersett History.
The link you need is: https://www.youtube.com/@OldHethersettPodcast/videos
Strange goings on on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire a few nights ago where I thought one of the contestants talked themselves out of £125,000 through arrogance.
But first we had a guy who got one of the questions wrong leading to £1,000 and had the rare distinction of leaving empty handed.
I keep toying with the idea of applying to go on The Chase quiz. I would like to meet Bradley Walsh and of course a win would be the icing on that particular cake.
But back to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to which the answer is "yes please." When I heard that the new host was going to be Jeremy Clarkson I wasn't best pleased as I dont particularly like the man. But I have been pleasantly surprised and reckon he's done a good job.
Another contestant romped away until he had a question about the Captain of Darwin's ship the Beagle. He asked the audience who came up with the name Beaufort. I was immediately suspicious because the audience had to go for one of the four names and Beaufort is quite likely the only one they would have heard of, giving a rather warped answer. So it proved. But this man's arrogance led him to go with the audience when he had other lifelines left and so instead of going home with a minimum of £125,000 he left with £1000. Some people never learn.
Today I'm off to Dereham to meet up with the guys from the Le Paradis Commemoration Group. The books have been delivered and hopefully in tomorrow's blog I will be able to give details of how you can get hold of copies. Exciting or what?