Photographer Tracks Down People He Snapped Almost 40 Years Ago To Recreate The Remarkable Images

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Nobby – Original, 1980/ Reunion, September 2015. Scotsman Michael Ross, affectionately known as Nobby, lived in a bus shelter for 10 years in terrible conditions after his house burnt down. Nobby, who used to be a headteacher, was given some golf clubs by a passer-by and indulged in his passion by sneaking onto the local course. Local residents thought he had died when he went into sheltered housing around 10 years ago and gave up his bus shelter home

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Good for Teeth and Bones – Original, 1983/ Reunion, January 2014. Layla Gordon is pictured drinking her daily bottle of milk at Queens Drive Infants School. She is now a housewife, with a long-term partner and two children and still lives in Peterborough. ‘I still like milk but sadly it’s not free anymore,’ she joked

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Queuing for the phone – Original, 1981. John Morris, Paul Barnard and Andrew Pollard (l to r) were seen queuing up to use the phone in Cattle Market Road. The school friends used to hang out together at weekends and often cycled into the city center on their bikes

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Reunion, May 2016. Now the phone box has been swapped for an ATM machine. John works locally as a plumber, is married and has two children. Paul, who is married with two children, works for a motor racing team and travels the globe looking after the car’s wheels and tires. Andrew, a window cleaner met his wife in Benidorm on an 18 to 30s holiday and moved to her home county of Essex so lost touch with the others. He said: ‘I hadn’t seen them for around 32 years – it was great to meet up again’

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Ice Creams – Original, 1981/ Reunion, February 2015. Donna Yarnell was five years old when she was photographed with her three-year-old brother Steven licking ice creams in their front garden. Her family moved out of the house two years later so it brought back lots of memories when the pair returned to the street in February 2015. ‘I was really surprised because the front gate was exactly the same,’ said Donna, who works in a pub, still lives in Peterborough and has four daughters. Brother Steven also lives in the city and has a son

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Butcher – Original, 1980. Richard Price started work at the butchers when he left school at 15 and is pictured here selling meat outside the shop when he was about 17

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Reunion, January 2015. Richard worked at the shop for three years. He still lives in the city and works as an entertainer. The butcher’s shop became a cafe.

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Pin Badges – Original, the 1970s / Reunion, January 2013. Punks (r to l) John Church, Gary Beckett, Ade Lawrence, and Pippa Hodgson were pictured in Cathedral Square, wearing pin badges. John, who is now a painter and decorator in the city, said: ‘The other lads were school friends and Pippa was a mutual friend. We used to hang out together and listen to punk music. I think I was about 15 and on the verge of becoming a punk.’ John is still friends with Ade and they play in a band together. Gary emigrated to Australia, where he works as a project manager and Pippa now lives in Spain

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Flute Player – Original, 1986. For many years, Neil wandered around Peterborough town center and played the flute outside the Co-op bank in Westgate

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Reunion, 2015. When the book went to print, Neil had not been seen for several months

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Hairdressers Shop – Original, 1980. Dressed in a fur jacket and gloves, Sandra Burford was pictured going into a hairdressers

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Reunion, June 2016. Sandra said: ‘I used to go there occasionally to have my hair cut by the apprentice because it worked out a bit cheaper.’ She used to work at the Hotpoint factory, but is now retired. Sandra is widowed and has a daughter and three grandsons. The hairdressers have changed hands and is now a Toni & Guy

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County school girls – Original, 1979/ Reunion, June 2016. Sandra Williams, Carmen Chin and Maureen Mayers were friends from County Grammar School but lost touch over the years and the school was converted into sheltered housing in 1985. ‘Carmen was my best friend and lived in my road, so we were always together,’ said Sandra, who is now married with four children and a step-daughter and works as a passenger assistant for disabled children and in a coffee shop. Carmen, who is married with four children and now lives in Lincolnshire, where she has a smallholding said: ‘I think we were the first year to go to the grammar school after it changed from being comprehensive.’ Maureen, who still lives in Peterborough and has four children, had broken her right arm when the photo was taken and hid it behind her back. She said: ‘We’d had freezing cold weather and we were playing tag and I slipped over on the ice’

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Tasbir’s first job – Original, 1982. Tasbir Singh worked on a stall at the market for four years after leaving school

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Reunion, July 2016. He then worked for BT and Royal Mail, where he is today. He still lives in the city and is married with three children and four grandchildren. He said: ‘I worked on the stall from the age of 18 until I was 22. It was hard working in all weather’

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Star Road – Original, 1982. Sisters Maria (left) and Annamarie Plavecz were photographed in Star Road

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Reunion, February 2014. The siblings, who have a Hungarian father, both now work as carers

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Jewelry – Original, 1990. Vicki Gracey (nee Frost) worked as a sales assistant at a jewelry store in Queensgate Shopping Centre for two years

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Reunion, February 2015. Vicki has since had jobs behind bars, in retail, hairdressing, and restaurants and currently deals with tenancy sustainability. She still lives in the city and is married with two children. ‘I’m a people person and I’ve always had jobs which involve working with the public,’ she said

Photo © by Chris Porsz/Geoff Robinson

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