They were caught on camera 30 years ago... so now they've been tracked down, how have they changed?
By ANDREW LEVY
Last updated at 11:28 PM on 18th May 2011
They were blink- and-you-missed-it moments that most of the subjects simply forgot about afterwards.
From the group of girls in white socks and plimsolls tucking into burgers to a pair of Teddy boys strutting down a street and a group of lads playing in a derelict house, these were everyday scenes from the early Eighties.
But while the people pictured have moved on, photographer Chris Porsz never forgot about them and — three decades later — he set about tracking down the subjects of these evocative photos to see if he could recreate the scenes.
Smashing time: Phillip Boardman Stuart Beach and Ricky Clarke play in a derelict house in the city. The boy in the doorway is Christopher Jackson, who has died, while the boy in sun glasses is Martin Bridges who cannot be traced
Revisiting the scene: It may no longer be derelict, but Phillip Boardman (sitting), Stuart Beach (left window) and Ricky Clarke can still have fun at the old house
With a combination of research, hard work — and a little help from the Mail — he has brought up to date the five images, which were all shot in Peterborough.
One of the most charming shows five schoolgirls sitting on a bench in the city centre munching Wimpy burgers in 1982, with the beautiful Norman Cathedral behind them.
‘We had just come back from netball training as we are all wearing plimsolls and knee-high socks,’ says Carole Howley (nee Giddens), 46, pictured with her sisters and two friends.
‘We practised on Saturday mornings and I think we must have stopped for some lunch on the way back.’
Former Teddy boys Peter Yates and Alan Medler got in touch with Chris Porsz after their picture appeared in the Mail a year ago, accompanied with an appeal for them to come forward.
Rocking in 1980: The quiffs are gone but Teds Peter Yates (left) and Alan Medler are still here
(From left to right) Nasar Ali, Ali Shauoat, Mohammed Riza and Mohammed Shahnawaz playing in Gladstone Street in Peterborough in 1980
The four men are still good friends and were delighted to pose for the reunion picture
While the pair’s receding locks made it impossible to recreate the sculpted hairstyles they had sported in 1980, the friends were happy to recreate their photo. ‘I dressed like that for about four years and my family always grumbled that I was taking too long in the bathroom,’ says Mr Medler, 47, who is married with three children. ‘It was surreal retracing our steps.’
Similarly, the four grinning 12-year-olds pictured playing in Gladstone Street are still in contact with each other.
‘We were really surprised to see the picture again. It brought back lots of memories for us all,’ says shopkeeper Nazir Ali.
Paramedic Mr Porsz recently found one of the cheeky-looking boys he snapped playing outside a derelict house in 1982 when he answered a 999 call to a man suffering chest pains.
(Left to right) Penny Yallup, Sarah Giddens, Louise Giddens, Carole Giddens, Juliette (surname not known) in Peterborough in 1982
Carole still regularly meets up with her two sisters, Sarah and Louise. Penny was a good friend of Sarah's and they are still in touch, but sadly Juliette died in her 20s, so her sister Alison stepped in
Rebooted: Xenia Gordon recreates the flamboyant skinhead look she modelled in 1983
That man was Ricky Clarke, who was originally pictured in striped trousers with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
Former skinhead Xenia Gordon was first snapped by Mr Porsz in 1983, when she was 17 and living in hostels in the city.
‘I think Chris just took one frame of me as I jumped out in front of him,’ says Miss Gordon, who lives with her partner and three children in Peterborough.
Mr Porsz first recreated a handful of his old photos last year, including sweethearts parting at a railway station and a young boy being ticked off by a policeman, and the pictures were published in the Mail.
‘You often see pictures of buildings then and now, but I think it’s quite unusual to recreate a scene with the same people,’ he says.
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