Minor Project: Audio of Richard and Catharine's Account about Mr Plimsolls

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Transcript

What do you remember of him?

Richard: I remember that he had big white plimsolls, I remember that he was very scary and he had a coat that was too big for him, and he had a car in his front garden, which was an Austin A1 I think it was, an old battered thing. [Catharine: Black] black with a nice number plate on it, which would have been worth a fortune now. And that his wife killed herself, as far as I’m aware, as far as I remember, that’s what I was told.

Catharine: we were told that he chopped her up and put her in the freezer.

Richard: yeah that’s what we was told, but I think she’d drowned, I think is the truth in the matter

Catharine: that’s what Sadie said that she’d drowned in the bath

Richard: His little bungalow, as you’d come round the corner was opposite the church, [Catharine: the church garden I think it was] the church garden, and it was quite spooky really, so I would never walk past his house, I’d cross the road as we got to his house and walk up the other side, or not really walk I used to run. But then I’d used to make your mum walk down that side of the road, so he’d come and get yah. And that’s what used to happen weren’t it?

Catharine: I didn’t walk anywhere near him, and he’d come round the corner somebody would shout out, “HERE COMES MR PLIMSOLLS” and we’d all run

Richard: yeah, yeah, in actual fact who went and did knock down ginger on him?

Catharine: lots of people used to run up to his door and knock down ginger, then we all used to run, run a mile

Richard: Ian Mcdale

Catharine: Yeah, he probably did it

Richard: Yeah, it wouldn’t be Colin Forskit, cause Colin Forskit had a problem with his leg and couldn’t run properly, well there you go, but that’s another story if you want to know about Colin Forskit.

Catharine: he used to leave very early in the morning like before 8 o clock, with a bag in his hand. And as much as he was hunched over, he was very quick walker

Richard: Yeah, he used to come down the road, and I always used to think, cause I don’t know if you know or not, don’t know if your mum’s told you, but there used to be a tramp, that used to live in the woods down the road

Catharine: Yeah, ATF

Richard: Right, and- why did we call him ATF?

Catharine: Action Man Tramp Flasher

Richard: Yes, heh yeah, and he was like, I thought they were brothers, they could have been related to be honest with you, they looked alike, or is that my imagination getting carried away?

Catharine: Yeah, the old bloke was just bent over!
Did you notice anything odd or weird about him?

Richard: Well yeah, he didn’t talk to anybody

Catharine: He was strange

Richard: He just literally scared the life out of us

Catharine: I think he’d spoke to the adults, if an adult said hello to him, I’d think that he’d say hello to them, and I think that he was probably more alarmed that we were running away scared of him more so then anything else

Richard: yeah and I’ll tell you who used to talk to him a lot, was um Harroll… what was her name? Ya know [Catharine: She’d died] yeah she did die yeah. But she’d used to sit and talk to him didn’t she? [Catharine: I don’t know I can’t remember her] yeah because they lived a little bit closer to him then what we did, that was the problem you see, as when your down the road, further down the road, the stories got worse as they got down the road about him, if you know what I mean.
Can you elaborate a bit more?

Richard: Well I thought that he was a dirty old perv, personally, but you cant really say anything about that can ya? I got a bit worried in case he flashed at me
Catharine: But he wasn't that way inclined at all-

Richard: I still get nightmares about him now...

Catharine: I feel that as kids, we just made him more then what he really was, he was a little old, harmless man, going about his business

Richard: Yeah, who lost his wife, in the bath

Catharine: Yeah, who under tragic circumstances and I think that’s the reason why he used to leave so early and come back so late, to try and avoid us. Cause we probably scared him as much as what he scared us

Richard: I don’t know too much about that, cause we were only little now weren’t we? 

Do you remember anything other than his plimsolls? What else was he wearing?

Richard: Well trousers, and just a grey- a big grey dirty coat, really, might of been white

Catharine: I can remember him wearing blue shorts down to his knees, his black socks, white plimsolls, and a white vest top, in the summer, going about his business.

Richard: He was a skinny little thing, there weren’t a lot of him, he was like you know-

Catharine: He was tiny when he was bent over

Richard: Yeah, well I can’t remember him doing that, but I remember him like-

Catharine: What bent over?

Richard: I remember him being bent over, but I cant remember him ever wearing a vest [Catharine: Yeah I can] That would of really freaked me out walking past me

[laughs]

Catharine: He did though, in the summer its what he used to-, and then he’d used to go out and cut like the front of his garden and just be there and then he’d nip back into his house but you’d never be able to see into the house, and a crookedy old garage beside it

Richard: yeah, fallen down

Catharine: everything was falling down, and now they’ve made a lovely house out of it

Richard: have they?

Catharine: Yeah, a lovely bungalow

Richard: Oh well I’ll go over and have a look

Was there any other rumours that the kids would say about him?

Richard: Well you know what kids aren't they? Kids are kids 
Catharine: We just always under the impression that he killed his wife and chopped her up and put her in the freezer but then I think they said the same thing about Action-man Tramp Flasher as well

Richard: Oh I'm not sure about him

Anything else that You'd like to talk about?

Richard: No not really, that that wont come back to haunt me

Catharine: I used to have nightmares about him though, that I used to, in my dream, pop my head out the door, look to me right, and there he’d be in the bungalow, it wasn’t even his house, but the bungalow down here and every time I’d pop my head out, he’d lift the curtain up underneath it

Richard: huh… she might have issues…

Catharine: It used to scare the freak’n like out of me though

Richard: He was a bit scary wh-when your little at that age but nowadays it wouldn’t bother you in the slightest but when your like 8,9,10,11 years old running about

Catharine: And I think because he never used to say anything and he’d used to cross over the road, his house was on, as you were looking down * Park Avenue his house, his bungalow, was on the right hand side, he used to walk down slightly, and then cross over at like Joy Road and that would be where we’d all be playing, the other side of Joy Road and then he’d quickly walk down the rest of Park Avenue and straight up Parrok Avenue, and all of a sudden you’d be out there playing, and he’d be in Park Avenue and somebody would then shout out “HERE COMES MR PLIMSOLLS” and we’d all scatter in different directions, we’d run into other peoples houses, be fighting over each other to get in through the door. And the poor old bloke was just walking up the freaking road like he’d never said anything to anybody at all he’d never done anything malicious but everybody was so scared of him. But every day he’d used to go out for a walk, but he’d go to the shop, like before 8 o’clock and then come back at like up near 12 o’clock

Richard: Yeah… I thought he was out killing people.. funny you should say that actually cause there a lady who lives in Park Avenue now called Belinda, right? And she’s just down the road from there and she lost her cat the other day. I wonder if he’s got that? It’s all other Facebook, a little black cat, it hasn’t reappeared, been gone missing for 12 weeks

Catharine: But you know what, I don’t remember him dying

Richard: Well maybe he hasn’t

Catharine: Well of course he has, he was about 90 at the time

Richard:  He wasn’t that old, he was about 55

Catharine: Don’t be so stupid,

Richard: Well how old was he then?

Catharine: He was in his eighties

Richard: Was he as old as that?

Catharine: Yes!

Richard: Well he was quite fit, in actual fact I think that I’d like to be like him when I’m older...

*Richard: have you ever watched home alone? Is it home alone? Where he’s there on his own? And there’s that strange man that’s that and then he befriends him. Just like that! Watch home alone, might be home alone 2 or 3 something like that, that’s the spitting image of the bloke