Walter Oakley has never forgotten his Huddersfield childhood and wanted to share this photo dating back to the early 1930s.
It was taken at the annual fair held at Woodhouse Church grounds in Fartown but unfortunately Walter is at the back propping up the piano so can’t really be seen.
He only had a paper copy hence why it’s not very sharp.
Walter, 88, was born in 1927 and now lives at Gateshead with wife Di. The couple have a son, Roger, daughter Rachael, two grandchildren and one great grandson.
He was born on Blackhouse Road in Fartown and also lived in Milnsbridge and Slaithwaite.
During his working life he was a chief engineer and director for TV firm Rediffusion.
He has a claim to fame – a thank you letter signed by world leaders George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.
He was on holiday at his flat in Malta when CNN called on his engineering skills to rescue vital TV coverage of the summit between the heads of the USA and Russia in December 1989.
Walter said: “No matter how busy they were they had time to sit down and write the letter which read: “Dear Walter, we are taking a short break to thank you for your help in this important summit.”
At one point Walter was going to sell the letter as it was thought to be worth around £1,000 but in the end decided to keep it.
Yet he said he was never paid for all his help.
“I was never paid a penny.” he said. “But they were delightful people to work for.”
