Sharon

In September 2008 Jimmy invited us to meet him in London, to thank us for running the Website over the last 10 years, although he has no connection with it he wanted to show us his appreciation. 

He invited us to preview the first episode of Parents of the Band.  Initially I was dubious, not because I didn’t want to go it was more a self preservation thing.  Meeting Jimmy Nail is something I never thought I’d get to do, after all who gets to meet their favourite Celebrity.  I wasn’t sure it was real at first, but as time went on and E-mails were exchanged it seemed more and more likely it was real.  I wasn’t convinced it was happening until on the 8th October we arrived at Jimmy’s Agent and they were expecting us.

We sat in the reception area waiting for….not sure who.  We thought we might be waiting for Jimmy but thought there would be other people turning up too.  It soon became obvious that no one else was turning up and suddenly Jimmy appeared.

After a brief chat he asked us what time our trains were??  he followed it up with “I’d like to take you out to dinner after you’ve watched the episode”.

Alan and I went into a room and watched the first episode of POTP, I use the term watched loosely as in reality we spent most of the time looking at each other and saying things like “is this really happening?” 

Once the show finished, as there was no one around I asked if I could take a photo, Jimmy initially said no but I guess my ‘puppy dog eyes’ got the better of him as he quickly changed his mind. Shortly afterwards we were standing in Oxford Street with Jimmy Nail and he was hailing a cab for us!

We spent the evening with him and he was the perfect host, the perfect gentleman.  There was nothing he could’ve done to make us feel more comfortable or more important.  He took us to dinner and was happy to answer our questions. He spent a lot of time praising and thanking us for not asking anything of him or bothering him regarding the website.

I wish I hadn’t been so ‘Star Struck’ as it meant that I didn’t make the most of the situation that I was in, I had Jimmy Nail as a captive audience on his terms and I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Once we left the restaurant Jimmy insisted on giving us £20 for a cab back to the station and he said “if the website is still going and I’m still alive in 10 years time, we’ll do this again”.  Hmmmmm, that was 10 years ago.

I’d always dreamed that I would meet him although I never thought I would.   It was an amazing and surreal experience that we will never forget and we can’t thank him enough for his kindness and consideration towards us

The £20 is still in a frame along with the photo that we took that night.

My name is Clare Blacklock and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Jimmy for helping me get my life back on track.

I have been a fan ever since the Spender series was first aired on the BBC and have followed Jimmy’s subsequent career ever since, have all his albums, and have seen him in concert numerous times, the first time in April 1995 at the Edinburgh Playhouse.  He made both mine and my Gran’s night when he smiled at me from the stage while I was dancing like a mad thing in the fourth row to “Ain’t No Doubt”. In the same year, I also got a signed photo for my 20th birthday which I still have - Gran called his record label and asked them to send one to me.  What a lovely surprise.

I have been through difficult times personally and took great inspiration from Jimmy’s autobiography, “A Northern Soul”.  After reading about the things he had been through, I thought that if he could turn his life around and make a success of things, there was no reason why I couldn’t either.  The first thing on the agenda was getting my independence back, so after 10 years of giving up on driving lessons, I decided to give it another go in early 2005.  It was during this time I remembered how much I loved the car used in the Spender series, the Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth, and wondered if I might be able to own one.  I found an online community enthusiastic about keeping these cars going, the Ford Sierra Owners Club, and joined. This spurred me on even more, buying my own Sierra Sapphire (a 2000E example with RS Cosworth styling) in the October and passing my driving test in February 2006.

It was at a club monthly gathering in December 2005 that I met fellow member and Sierra owner, Paul Lucas.  We started as good friends and after a few months we arranged to go on a “date”.  Ever since that day we’ve both been blissfully happy with Paul proposing to me during a trip to Venice in November 2006 and after moving in together, are planning to marry in autumn 2009.  Since then, we have bought our very own RS Cosworth which is our pride and joy and we exhibit it at Ford car shows round the country as part of the Ford RS Owners Club.

Jimmy’s work has brought a lot of pleasure to many people and I’ve enjoyed all his TV shows, films and music.  Our song is “Between a Woman and a Man” because we’ve both been through some rough stuff and the words just sum it up perfectly for us – not a dry eye when we listen to it, but in a good way.  This will be our first song at our wedding and we’ll both be drinking a toast to Jimmy.  If it hadn’t been for him, I would never have bought my car and Paul and I would never have met.  In a roundabout way he’s made two people VERY happy and perhaps one day we’ll both get the chance to say “thank you” in person :o)

THANKS JIMMY!!!

Alan Davidson
I knew Jimmy. We were friends from school so I new Jimmy (a.k.a. Bradford) for about 15 years. I used to go to watch Newcastle in the 70's with him in a big crowd of lads (the Newcastle 'bender' squad) who are all now in their 40's and settled down with a wife and family. My best memory of Jim is sitting in a transit van with him and about twenty other Geordies going to watch 'the Toon' play at Old Trafford. He remarked on the size of my boots (11) as they were one size bigger than his. The last time I saw him in person was in a pub in Newcastle around 1982, when he was with Miriam, his then girlfriend, and I asked him how he was doing. The next time I saw him was on Central's A.W.P. in 1984, which was a real surprise! I preferred Spender to Crocodile Shoes, as I used to look out for all the Tyneside landmarks. My brother is also an actor and he played a 'gum-chewing thug' in the episode about Kenny Cooper, the Newcastle player who went missing. He didn't have any lines so you will probably have missed him. If Jimmy uses a particular record label could you tell me and I will send a letter as I am sure he would be happy to meet up again. Thanks.