I must have walked past his shop in Queen Street hundreds of times. Often I saw a dapper white-haired gent standing in the doorway, always with a tape measure draped round his neck.

Until the tribute piece that appeared in Saturday's paper I had no idea what a great man he was.

As a young man, Mr Drewnicki and his family were booted out of their home in the dead of night and he was packed off to a notorious Soviet labour camp.

Later, after he was liberated, he and his Polish compatriots parachuted into enemy territory playing their part in Operation Market Garden.

These days, few of us have to endure such hardship, or display such bravery.

And one of the reasons we don't have to is because of the actions of Jan Drewnicki and thousands of others from his generation.

After the war, he settled in the city and lived a peaceful life. His job meant he played a part in numerous happy events for many city residents, making suits for weddings and other big events.

It should be a source of pride to Peterborians that Mr Drewnicki chose to make his home in the city. At a time when there is much debate about immigration, his story is a timely reminder of how immigrants can enrich a community.

I wish I'd met him.


How many Sir Alex's are there?

In my role as a social commentator I have stumbled across a new phenomenon in the city, which I've dubbed IMAF. It stands for I've Met Alex Ferguson.

I opened the ET on Monday and there was Bob Burrows, the subject of our "My Posh Day'' feature recounting his meeting with the footballing knight. Then on Tuesday, on Page 3, there was a picture of a beaming Fergie with Noel Cantwell's widow Maggie. I'm beginning to think there might be more than one Sir Alex.

I was a bit disappointed when, in yesterday's paper, there wasn't anybody claiming the Man U boss had been the best man at their wedding.

Mind you there was some bloke on the back page called Darren Ferguson. I wonder if he's ever met Sir Alex?

(I sat a few rows behind Sir Alex at the Posh pre-season friendly, does that count? – ED)


Snapper gets the bird

There are some small-minded people who think I put pictures of attractive young women on this page in a pathetic attempt to get people interested in my inane ramblings.

Utter rubbish of course. It is true, however, that I have a partner in crime at Telegraph Towers who tips me the wink when a suitable pic pops up on our national wire service.

He is none other than the ET's chief photographer Rowland Hobson. He's on holiday this week sorting out his patio, but he has a very able deputy in David Lowndes.

Passing the picture desk, I asked David if he had any quirky photos I could use on my page.