The boy from Aldershot ( with original audio from MF)

 Contact details below.

This blog will not go year by year.

I will try and cover as much as possible, but not chronically ordered.

Nevertheless today we start our journey in Aldershot, a town in Hampshire.

Besides a military base and some beautiful places , parks and churches the town has one big thing more to offer:

Martin Freeman.

The sweet little one

Philomena Norris and Geoffrey Freeman fell in love and started a family in 1957 with their first son Benedict, followed by Laura, Timothy and Jamie, before in 1971 the baby of the family arrived.

Martin John Christopher Freeman born 8th September 1971.

Random and probably useless side information but in the week Mr. Motown fan was born, the amazing Diana Ross had just another hit called " I'm still waiting ".

You can listen to it here.

 I'm still waiting

And of course THE mod legends released another studio album:

Full track list

 I'm aware that Mr. Freeman's parents got a divorce and his Dad died way too early but that is family business and not mine, and as a person who lost her own Dad quite early as well I know the difficulties, and the issues that comes with it, so talking about is never easy and we will leave it alone.

Back to Aldershot and a few impressions from the town.

I particularly like the church St. Michael the archangel.

Have a look....

Like Martin Freeman I was raised catholic but I'm not practising it regularly.

What I do like same as  Mr. Freeman, is occasionally going to church but preferably when it's empty.

Light a candle, have a chat..just me and God and get my thoughts straight.

In Martin Freeman's family Catholicism was a huge part of life or in his own words:

My first moral touchstone was Jesus.

So how about that for an uphill struggle.

Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, anything less than that and you're failing. 

 Martin went to Cardinal Newman primary school in Hersham.

The school and their statements are:

"To be a community of learners, believers and friends."

Martin and his childhood...some extracts and don't worry we will visit and re-vist his love for music separately and often.

Martin once said he had been " a short, wheezy boy" but didn't see it as a real obstacle.

I had a way around it, being funny , being a good dancer and into music.

Just having my own thing.

 But young Martin’s life was not always singing and dancing.

I had a dodgy leg. I had to have a hip operation when I was a kid.

You could say, Oh, he's a bit of an unlucky sod.

But I've always had in my mind not to think, Poor me.

Besides surgery and the leg issue, there was also asthma and hay fever but it's time that I leave and let you listen to Mr. Freeman himself telling you about it.

Just let me finish with the thought, that sometimes life throws a lost of crap in your direction and some people like him, just go along with it and push themselves instead of wallowing in self-pity, and I respect and admire everyone who deals with serious life issues and yet never stop going forward.

But now let's listen to Mr. Freeman and his early childhood memories.

Recorded in 2023 for Clouds Gardening.

Stay tuned for more coming later in the week.

If you have questions or suggestions or you want to chat don't hesitate to contact me.

sabsigb7@yahoo.com