Looking Back: The heat is still on for Tim 40 years later

Tim in the recreated photo in 2020Tim in the recreated photo in 2020
Tim in the recreated photo in 2020
Photographer Chris Porsz named this recreated picture from 2020 Red Hot with the original taken in 1981.

Chris said: “Tim Davies worked as a blacksmith in a forge at Thorpe Hall (now a Sue Ryder hospice) for five years in the early 1980s.

Tim took up the story: “It was something I always wanted to do, and the opportunity came up so I took it.

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“I learnt on the job and loved it all. It was a delightful and very satisfying skill to learn.”

Tim Davies captured on camera by Chris Porsz in 1981Tim Davies captured on camera by Chris Porsz in 1981
Tim Davies captured on camera by Chris Porsz in 1981

He later went on to work out of Grimsby on the highly hazardous deep sea fishing trawlers around Greenland and beyond for two years.

Tim added: “I returned home for a more settled, safer and quieter life so became a security guard in the local job centre as I am a sociable person and I like meeting and helping people.”

Tim, who has a daughter called Gwendoline, retired in 2012 and was a regular at the Wortley Almshouses until its closure earlier this year where he enjoyed real ale and the good company of his friends.

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Tim went to a forge in the village of Thorney for his reunion photo in 2020, where he met blacksmith John Downing.

He added: “I saw the forge and it started pulling on my heart strings, it brought back lots of lovely memories.”

•Street photographer Chris Porsz’s unique reunion pictures – where he recreates pictures he took decades ago – has earned him international recognition.

His second book, Reunions II, is now available. Go to chrisporsz.com for purchase details.