Derek.R.Walker
proper brummie kid
A message which I formulated some time ago and which was in response to your post 695204 which was probably dated around August 2020, some how vanished into the ether. Anyway by chance I came across the message in my photos and this related to the football photos I had sent previously and you asked if I had any idea of the dates because you had a friend who also worked at William Newman between 1969 and 2005. The gist of the content is as follows:-
It's a little bit difficult to put any precise date on the footballing photos but I will do my best. My working life at William Newman and sons started in1955 (age15) as a commercial trainee and I completed 20 years service at the time of leaving in 1975, so your friend and I would have been there at the same time 1969 to 1975 at my time of leaving , a period of about 6 years. You will see from those dates that at the time your friend started I would have been age 29 my footballing career having come to an abrupt end due to injury. Despite this I played for St Andrews Athletic and Birmingham City Colts and although I was captain of Aston Boys during my school years I was never involved in Villa Trials which was a disappointment having lived most of my formative years in Aston. If you look at image 0084 that's me receiving the cup and I think I would have been around 20 the year being around 1960, likewise images 0082/3. It therefor looks that both the football and cricketing Photos are a few years before your friend joined the company. I take it Lyn that you had some connections with Aston, I go back a long time for example when the picture house was called the Astoria before it became the Crossroads Studio. Happy days, sorry I was unable to be a bit more informative.
Derek
