David Evans yesterday sent me this lovely gallery from Gerald Reece’s walk from Chasewater Railway yesterday morning (10th August 2019) – sadly the weather was atrocious and although I hoped to make it, I was unable to go and meet with my hero.

I had planned to walk with Gerald myself to celebrate his 80th birthday, and I’ll be writing to the man himself later to apologise and wish him well. 

It’s good to see some of Gerald’s old pals there and I’d like to thank Chasewater Railway and Godfrey Hucker for making them so welcome. I just love the Yoghurt shirt. For those puzzled about that, see this post.

For those wondering why I make a fuss about this fine man, Gerald Reece is the talented and superlative local historian, now resident in Devon, who wrote the seminal work ‘Brownhills – A walk into history’ upon which this blog stands.

Gerald did all his work by hand, in the days before the internet: This meant he spent long days in libraries, archives and record offices copying material by hand, and at no small cost. His photos were taken on film, not by digital means as we do so easily today. Gerald’s work was seminal, thorough and wonderful.

Anyone interested in our local history today will be aware of Gerald and just how much we owe to him; I wish him well and hope I can catch him one day soon.