Dear Deb, John and Andrew and all of Tim's family, you won't remember me (but I did meet you Deb a couple of times 40 years ago), but I was a great friend of Tim's from Richmond road from about 4 years old and we stayed great mates until, inevitably, we drifted apart in secondary school. I just was so sad when my brother noticed Tim's obituary and sent it to me. I have great memories of a really fun childhood, mucking about with Tim in Richmond road, Ropner park,the Brickie and Quarry road in Eaglescliffe - usually involving us falling off a bike or an old Honda 50 or into the pond - inevitably turning up to see Molly in a filthy state and getting rewarded with beans and chips and cake! I remember great trips to Seaton Carew and Sands end in the big old Rover with Roy and Molly and sleepovers with Tim, playing old 78's on the gramophone in his bedroom and doing risky things with his chemistry set! How did we ever survive! Tim was different and was proud to stand out from the crowd and I don't think I appreciated that at the time. He had a wicked sense of humour and I remember one April Fools day, we got up at the crack of dawn and decorated our horrible math's teachers house with toilet paper and shaving foam! He never found out it was us. We also erected a pretend temporary bus stop in Bishopton road (and then felt guilty later when we saw an old lady standing by it). Later on, we both helped Mr Moody (I forget his first name, but I remember he married Molly some years after Roy passed) on his weekend milk round in Acklam and had a lot of fun for 50p pay! We both joined the Sea Cadets in Bowsfield lane (TS Fortitude) and learned knots, marching and sailing on the filthy River Tees at the weekend. I guess that's when we started doing our own things and making new friends, but I'll never forget Tim or the great years of friendship we shared.
Mike Harris
27/02/2024
