callippo Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 is there a South Yorkshire equivalent of this guy? Josef Stawinoga , who died on October 28 aged 86, was a hermit who lived for nearly 40 years in a tent on the central reservation of the A4150 Wolverhampton inner ring road - between PC World and a bathroom showroom. The Polish-born Stawinoga, known locally as Fred, Trampee or Shakespeare, arrived in Britain after the Second World War, settled in Wolverhampton and dropped out of normal society for unknown reasons sometime in the 1960s. By the 1970s he had moved into a makeshift tent of plastic sheeting erected underneath a weeping willow on the ring road, where he was allowed to remain by the local council. Unkempt and dirty, with long matted hair and a 2ft straggly, yellowish beard, he became a local celebrity. He was revered by local Hindus and Sikhs as a saint who had shunned all worldly possessions, was awarded an honorary degree by Wolverhampton Polytechnic and even had his own 6,500-strong fan group - "we love you Wolverhampton ring-road tramp" - on the internet site Facebook. Local folklore offered several explanations for Stawinoga's chosen way of life. Some claimed he had served as a lance-corporal in the Polish Army Medical Corps and had developed a fear of confined spaces after being detained as a prisoner of war by the Russians. Certainly his well-attested dislike of anyone in uniform seemed to support this theory. Some suggested he chose a solitary life after a failed love affair. Others thought that he might be undergoing a self-imposed penance for something he had done during the war. On the occasions he did emerge from his haven, it was usually to pick up a brush and sweep the surrounding streets. After his death, a "friend" claimed that Stawinoga had served in the German Wehrmacht as a member of the SS, "and he was not one of the nicest chaps in the SS". Josef Stawinoga was born on December 15 1920. Little is known about his early life until he arrived in Britain after the war. He worked briefly as a hospital orderly in Wales before finding a job at the steelworks in Bilston. In 1952 he married an Austrian woman with whom he lived in a single room in a boarding house. By all accounts it was not a happy relationship: Stawinoga was said to have taken to locking up his wife when he went to work. She would cry and scream until one day, several years later, a neighbour smashed down the door to let her out. She fled, presumably to Austria. During the 1960s Stawinoga became increasingly eccentric. Before he moved into his tent he was evicted from nine lodging houses for not paying his rent, and he was often seen pushing a pram containing all his worldly goods. In 1967 he failed to turn up for work. Stawinoga rejected all attempts by the council to rehouse him and eventually the authorities sanctioned his unorthodox living arrangements, arranging for nine replacement tents to be erected over the original plastic sheeting to keep the rain out. Though he did not have a bath in 30 years he never went short of the essentials. Every day members of the local Asian community would come to pay homage with gifts of blankets, clothing and food - including, on one occasion, a live chicken which took up residence inside the tent until it vanished, probably under the wheels of a passing car. Despite the mystery surrounding his activities in the war, Wolverhampton City Council is said to be planning a memorial service for Stawinoga, and fans have set up a fund to raise money for a statue or plaque in his memory to be erected on the ring road; £200 has already been collected. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/17/db1703.xml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfish1936 Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Well, good luck to him; thanks to the council for letting him be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ami_j Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 i was in wolverhampton visiting my boyfriend when he died only found out about him when i saw it in their local paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddinburner Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Pond street NORA? whatever happened to her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister M Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 There was that elderley guy with a beard and lots of shopping bags who lived rough for years, used to see him round town up until a year ago or so. I seem to think that even the Star wrote an article about him, he never begged for money. There is of course Gemma who asks for change in a very weary manner and walks past before you've even had a chance to answer. Then there was a guy who used to spin a yarn about needing train fare to get back to a Leicester bail hostel, not seen him in a while. Recently I've been approached several times by black guy who's very affable, smiley and offers you his hand just before asking for some spare change. I have heard stories of an old woman who used to urinate on buses if she was challenged by the driver. Needless to say she was banned from the buses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Recently I've been approached several times by black guy who's very affable, smiley and offers you his hand just before asking for some spare change. He's been round and about for a few years doing that. Just avoid him. I've seen him on the train to Chapeltown so I got in a different carriage as he can be a pain. He doesn't look like he's homeless though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron sky Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 He's been round and about for a few years doing that. Just avoid him. I've seen him on the train to Chapeltown so I got in a different carriage as he can be a pain. He doesn't look like he's homeless though. I see my black handshaking friend gets about the town. Hes come to me many times try to give the golden handshake but leaves with nothing . Not a patch on Pond Street Nora or Duke of Darnall at least he had style so Im told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayggb Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 The old guy with beard and shopping bags etc did have a flat in arbourthorne at least for a while cos i picked him up in my cab,purely cos im nosey.he's from tideswell originally.he didn't beg or drink. There are a couple of othereccentrics nocking about and unfortunately a few conmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 What about Alf who roams around town. Or old Whitebeard that used to sleep around Hyde Park flats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bypassblade Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Pond Street Cyril, he was another one as well as nutty Nora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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