After being supplied with an "old" nickname (thanks Chris, directing from behind - as I seem to remember from our soccer years) Tony and I had the following exchange - most recent at the top - so start at the bottom!

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18th February, 2002

Tony,

Sorry for the long delay in replying – my daughter arrived here a week ago – and I haven’t been able to get on the PC (not completely true).

Ah-ha – Cotswold country…. I have some good friends (The Kunheims) who live in Fairford Hall, Fairford, not a particularly lovely village as I remember – but a great house!

Thanks for the Balmoral Drive details – particularly the names – Mottersheads & Forbuoys – I hesitate to revisit such places/memories because of one incident about 1988. I was on vacation with wife and kids in Johannesburg, South Africa and had taken a large part of the day to myself – re-visiting old haunts etc… my wife and I had lived there between 1969 and 1973. I had particularly fond memories of a bachelor  pad I’d once lived in in the Northern suburbs, enormous house in about 2 acres of lovely mature gardens, with a big swimming pool in the lawn in front of the main house. Around the main house were small cottages where “the boys” lived (about 5/6 bachelors, including myself) – it was idyllic… these were the bad old days of apartheidt and there were about 10/12 maids/drivers/gardeners etc.. I can remember my car was washed every morning, and the weekend barbecues around the pool were just fantastic. Very fond memories…….

Anyway, I duly drove to see the place again – only to find it being razed to the ground to make way for a small apartment block – the whole place was a dusty building site – with the rubble of the main house and cottages, pushed/piled into the swimming pool – illusions…. Gone!!

As for Singapore, it is a clean, well ordered place – and with the sun, sea, flowers etc a very easy place to live. I must say that Janet (who I live with) and I both preferred Hong Kong – probably because it was more lively – less “family” oriented, but give it a couple more months and I’m sure we’ll have got aclimatised.

If I can get on the PC – I’ll update the web-site with your details, also - have just received the “Team photo” from Chris Ward – either its very old and worn, or the scanner was low resolution, but some of us (alas you’re not there) are difficult to recognize.

All the best,

Mike C

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From:   "Tony Borlace" <peggy.andtony@virgin.net>    

Date:   Tue, 5 Feb 2002 17:30:35 -0000

To:   "michael curley" <mikecurley@altavista.com>

Subject:   Re: Tony it is!

Mike,

Thanks for your E-mail.

Nailsworth and Tetbury are both in the south of Gloucestershire in pretty Cotswold country.

The road you were thinking of was Balmoral Drive and the shops I remember  were, on the left going up Lansbury Drive, Belfields - the bakers, then a chemist, then a hairdresser, then two blanks then Chandlers - the shoeshop.

On the right was a greengrocer, a draper, then Mottersheads - the ironmonger, then the fish and chip shop, then a blank, then Forbuoys.

Yes it was the 90b - I once went all the way to Kew Gardens on it to meet my Dad after work to go to something or other !!

I was interested to read your news and in particular that you were in Singapore, which I couldn't tell from the address. I went there frequently in the 80's and always found it an exciting place to be.

I'm quite happy for you to put my stuff on the GP web site, and will look forward to hearing more in due course.

Regards  ---  TONY

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Tony!!

Yes – I’d say that was “reasonably successful”…. Group Chief Exec etc… – also congrats on the Grandson, but where are Nailsworth/Tetbury??

Sorry to hear about your Mum & Dad, my dad died when I was 16/17 and my mother about 10 years ago now.

My memories of Lansbury Drive, Grange Park, Soccer Team etc… are very mixed – clear one week and very cloudy the next. I think we’d moved over to the other side of Hayes Town (near the Station and Nestles building) even before we finished at Grange Park, so total time spent there was from age 5 to 11 and I’ve hardly been back there since. Its funny though – I think I remember most of the shops at the cross roads of Lansbury Drive and ??what road?? – there was a hardware/gardening shop on one corner – where I used to buy fireworks, a barber across the road, down from it towards the school was a bakery – penny rolls there! A fish & chip shop diagonally across from the barbers, and two or three shops up from it a newsagents/sweet shop (Gob-stoppers and honeycomb crunch). Other memories – the lollipop lady – must have been directly outside your house – and waiting at the bus stop just up by the cross-roads, waiting for a ?90b? to go to the dentist about 1 mile further on, where the busses turned around. Up at the Uxbridge Rd – the Essoldo cinema and The Crown pub, and the Rec.

I can remember driving around there about 15/20 years ago, and thinking how “small” it all was – childhood memories – and reality – I guess.

I don’t recall too much about the soccer team either… Chris Ward mentions practice and working hard for each other…. Er excuse me!! Don’t remember any of that. Do remember the allotments around the soccer pitch at Grange Park, the smell of bonfires there, also skylarks flying high overhead – twittering away 15 to the dozen – perhaps I should have taken more interest in what the opposition’s left wing was doing… ahh well!! I remember the Final – played at Hayes Town ground – a lovely summer evening as I recall – atmosphere and people in the crowd I can remember – but the score (Chris says 2-0) and any magnificent passes, interceptions – all gone (maybe there weren’t any to remember).

The old golf game I have mixed emotions about… I never played more often than once a week (people say you plateau and don’t get better at that rate), but always felt a bit guilty about spending a quarter of the weekend with “the boys”, when I was a family man – and now I have plenty of time – I don’t play! Very silly! Well done on the handicap of 12 - I don't think I ever got reliably below a round of 100.

My news is as follows…

The soccer career didn’t exactly “ascend” after leaving Grange Park… I went to Townfield Secondary school which was more towards Hayes Town, had a “tough” reputation – and we didn’t play soccer there. Around the age of 13 I went to Ealing Tech – and ended up as their goalkeeper  – in 3 matches – I let in 20 goals!! They didn’t invite me to play in the 4^th match….. but they should have ejected the defence – not me!! I think my soccer career ended on that sad note!!

Failed all 4 A Levels and fell into the computer industry aged about 18, retiring about 2 years ago – rarely worked for any company – I used to “freelance” writing programs and systems for anybody who wanted them, so not much of a “career”, just a succession of “projects”. Married a German lady in 1971, when I was living in South Africa (1970-1973), we returned to the UK (around High Wycombe – Penn)  in 1973, had 2 super girls, separated in 1989 and I left the UK for Hong Kong in 1993. The kids are now 27 and 25 – one in Somerset, the other backpacking around Oz & NZ – due to arrive here in Singapore (I moved here 5 months ago) in 3 days time. So – no UK “anchors” for me, except daughter number 1 in Somerset – I have no house there, in fact the house I did have in Denham I sold about 3 years ago (it was being rented out and I got fed-up with the agent fees, disruptions etc..) and I had to hasten back there and basically throw everything away – golf-clubs, computer, printer, power-tools, furniture, clothes – either into a skip or left out for the dustmen – one of the best things I’ve ever done…. No possessions! Foot-loose & fancy-free. And that was the last time I was in the UK.. so how the old country is doing, where Nailsworth/Tetbury are, and the such-like are difficult to determine from such a distance.

I have a web-site – and am adding “Grange Park” tid-bits – we’ll see where that goes… do you mind if I add your details..??

All the best,

Mike C

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From:   "Tony Borlace" <peggy.andtony@virgin.net>    

Date:   Thu, 31 Jan 2002 12:46:22 -0000

To:   "michael curley" <mikecurley@altavista.com

Subject:   Re: Grange Park........

Mike,

Actually Jake was an almost forgotten nick name I acquired in the later years at Bishopshalt - so just call me Tony now.

I retired over three years ago after a reasonably successful 33 years in industry. I ended up as Group Chief Executive of a billion dollar multi national employing about 13000.

I married Peggy in 1965 and we have a daughter Lisa (33) and a son David (32). Lisa just produced our first Grandchild Samuel who is 10 months and is the reason we decided to move to Nailsworth - they live just 10 mins away in Tetbury.

Peggy and I both became Christians in 1978 and have a fairly active Church life in a non aligned evangelical group which, since we moved, is now 'Salt and Light'.

I used to live opposite Grange Park at 145 Landsbury Drive, and my memories of those days are particularly poignet at the moment as my Mum died earlier this month and my Dad at about the same time last year.

The strange thing is I don't recall much about the football team - probably because I was only a reserve. I did get reasonably good later, and played for the 1st team at Bishopshalt. Also ran in their very successful cross country team. Golf is my main sport now and I'm looking forward to getting back into it, not having played since we moved at the end of November. I'm currently off 12 handicap.

I'll look forward to hearing some of your news.

Regards  ---  TONY

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From: "michael curley" <mikecurley@altavista.com

To: <peggy.andtony@virgin.net

Sent: 31 January 2002 09:59

Subject: Grange Park........

Jake!

Chris Ward has given me your email address, and passed on your nom-de-plume - hope I've got it right.

I used to play at right back in the Hawes Cup winning Grange Park team - where I believe  you were 12th man (or have I got the wrong game)??

I've had lots of news from Chris - also Ron Mills (centre-half - if I remember correctly) and would be pleased to hear how the years have treated you.

If you have a mind - I'll pass on my news after I hear yours..

Good luck,

Mike C

Back to Grange Park

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Britts Cackle Handa Chris Ward Ron Mills Tony Borlace Peter Turner Keith Richardson John Lugard Billy Bunn John McGill Frank Taylor Ken Hipper Grange Park Townfield Ealing Tech Hawes Trophy Colin Pool Robin Scrimshaw Photo 1958

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