I adore this photo.
It sums up everything that reminds me just why I love the old steel city of Sheffield so much.
It's big heart.
For those that don't know the old man in the photo is ordinary Sheffielder Tony Foulds.
In 1944 he was playing in Encliffe Park , Sheffield when an American bomber crashed nearby killing 9 crew and he was so affected by the disaster he single handedly tended a memorial for the lost airmen for a lifetime.
Yesterday Sheffielders remembered the lost men by gathering in their thousands to watch a commemorative fly past of the crash site and I found it incredibly moving that Tony Foulds was there leading the tributes with an open arm wave, a few tears and perhaps some final closure on a childhood trauma.
I haven't been to Sheffield for over a year and I've sorely missed my urban family. Today's visit ( and I'm typing this on the train ) is slightly different as I am attending an official reunion of staff from The Princess Royal Spinal Injury Unit, so I'm catching up with many people I have not seen since 2005 as well as catching up with my friends of old.
I think the day will be emotional and healing
And the sight of that uneven, slightly grubby, inner city skyline with the Town Hall tower competing with the square hunk that is The Royal Hallamshire hospital and the city in between encompassed by seven low hills, will bring a tear to my eye.
It sums up everything that reminds me just why I love the old steel city of Sheffield so much.
It's big heart.
For those that don't know the old man in the photo is ordinary Sheffielder Tony Foulds.
In 1944 he was playing in Encliffe Park , Sheffield when an American bomber crashed nearby killing 9 crew and he was so affected by the disaster he single handedly tended a memorial for the lost airmen for a lifetime.
Yesterday Sheffielders remembered the lost men by gathering in their thousands to watch a commemorative fly past of the crash site and I found it incredibly moving that Tony Foulds was there leading the tributes with an open arm wave, a few tears and perhaps some final closure on a childhood trauma.
I think the day will be emotional and healing
And the sight of that uneven, slightly grubby, inner city skyline with the Town Hall tower competing with the square hunk that is The Royal Hallamshire hospital and the city in between encompassed by seven low hills, will bring a tear to my eye.