Fetch the family album…
It’s one thing to understand the past through its contemporaries, its commentators and even its heroes, it’s quite another to observe a period through the eyes of a 12 year old boy.
And thanks to Covid-19 and its infinite restrictions, my attention was turned to a special photographic collection – and one that was very close to home: that of my father, Noel Clegg.
As a boy, dad would travel to various racing circuits and trials events with his father, Tom, a motorcycle hobbyist and some-time Clubman’s TT competitor. Whenever Tom could escape from running the family haulage firm, Clegg Transport, he’d be off to inhale Castrol R and shatter his eardrums. And all with his son, Noel, at his side.
Granddad was the sort of man who was always prepared, with ready-made tarpaulin shelters, an infinite supply of butties and enormous flasks of tea at hand. While dad – a budding photographer at 12 years old – was seldom without a Kodak Brownie, borrowed from the neighbours on Phyllis Street, Rochdale.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Before we move on, let’s
