Norman comes from Great Yarmouth and I believe that he is still alive at the grand old age of 96. Our paths crossed a few times in the past, starting with the Norwich Rotary Club talk that I mentioned yesterday.
I don't remember anything about that talk other than the fact that it covered his refereeing career which took him all over the world and I do remember one joke he told which may or may not have been based on fact.
"In Japan you have to have a shower after having sex. On my tour there I was the cleanest referee ever," he quipped.
Anyway the next time I came across Norman he was manager of one of the building societies in Beccles in Suffolk where I was working. I believe it was the Gateway Building Society. Norman was previously a newsagent so I'm not sure how he got into the world of finance.
But he approached the Beccles and Bungay Newspaper of which I was deputy chief reporter and offered to sponsor a "ball of the month" competition which was basically open to local football clubs. The team of the month was awarded a brand new match ball along with the publicity to go with it.
It all went well and Norman presented the balls both as manager of the sponsors and also as a well known personality in the world of football.
These were in the days when mortgages were difficult to come by (yes those days did exist). We were about to buy our first home - a bungalow in Kirby Cane which was just a few miles from Beccles. Up to that point we had rented the newspaper office flat which was attached to the office.
Norman managed to get us a mortgage in record time. The Gateway Building Society continued to sponsor a ball of the month and, when I moved to Norwich, I continued the idea with the Norwich branch manager Ray Halliday. Gateway Building Society no longer exists. It was taken over I believe by the Woolwich but I remember those days with great affection.
I dimly also remember having lunch with Norman in the former Royal Hotel in Norwich when the World Champion snooker player Steve Davis was dining on the table next to us.
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A couple of days ago I mentioned putting my Italian photographs on my You Tube Channel which already has hundreds of photos from Norfolk and Suffolk and other parts of the UK.
I have put all the photos on and am aware that quite a few are out of focus and need to be erased. But in case anyone is interested in viewing them again - and there are some new ones the links are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mWcB_-NrPs&t=5s for part one
(730) Calabria Part One - YouTube
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUMXnUH0Ya8 for part two
(730) Calabria Part Two - YouTube
You might want to turn the music off as it might annoy you after a while.
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I have decided to add a new dimension to my blogs by using the Sunday or Monday blog as a review with photographs of the previous week (seven days). Let me know if you think this is a good idea.
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I promised an update a few days ago on my walking challenge. Most of you will know that I'm trying to walk 1,500 miles in 2022 in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
As of yesterday in the first 131 days of the year I have walked 589 miles at an average of just under four and a half miles a day. That means I'm on schedule to complete 1,640 miles. So I'm well on track. Once again I emphasise that I define a walk as a specific effort and do not include walking round the house or garden or anything like that.
To date I have raised £320 of my £500 target with plenty of time to go and another big push in October when I celebrate a significant birthday.
Huge thanks to all those people that have already contributed and if you would like to donate for this very worthy cause please pop along to:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/peter-steward