Looking Back: Million to one chance encounter led to picture
There are many amazing stories behind the pictures in photographer Chris Porsz’s Reunion books but the one that led to recreating a picture with friends Ricky Clarke and Phillip Boardman takes some beating.
Chris explained: “In 1982 mates Ricky Clarke and Phillip Boardman were doing their annual Penny for the Guy.’’
Ricky said: “We would make a guy and push him in a wheelbarrow or pushchair to Lincoln Road and sit there for the day and we’d often make about £20.
"The reunion photo in 2020 brought back lots of fun memories.”
Chris found Ricky after responding to a 999 call when he worked as a paramedic.
Ricky added: “I was having a heart attack and Chris turned up at my house at 2am.
"I had seen my photo in Chris’s Peterborough Telegraph column and I was trying to tell him while he treated me.”
Chris said: “I couldn’t believe this million to one chance encounter and I had a job to concentrate but managed to remain professional.
"That particular photo appears in my book Reunions 1 and shows Ricky (top right) and Phillip (bottom left) with their mates playing in a derelict house in Cromwell Road.”
Ricky has five children and lives round the corner from Phillip, who he is still friends with.
Philip has worked as an industrial roofer, a TV and video engineer for Granada, a scaffolder and a caretaker for the Wirrina Stadium.